THE NIGHT STUFF
Jazz musicians fuse at thirtyninehotel

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Ryan Kunimura of Kalihi plays tenor saxophone for the NEWJASS Quartet at thirtyninehotel. Photos by Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

"We're still teaching ourselves," says Quartet drummer Justin James of Mililani.

The crowds have been steady for NEWJASS performances on Tuesday nights. Chris Hamerski of McCully and Meeta Patel of Waikiki get cozy.

NEWJASS QUARTET Where: thirtyninehotel, 39 N. Hotel St., 599-2552 Hours: 10 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Tuesdays Cost: $5 (21 and older only) Age of crowd: 20s-30s What to wear: Casual to casually dressy Resumes: Ryan Kunimura played with ska-rockers Tantra Monsters. Justin James' father is local jazz drummer/drum instructor Chuck James. Why NEWJASS, not NEWJAZZ? It was the original spelling of the music genre before the late 1910s.

And at the center of it all, a quartet of inventive young jazz musicians confidently working their way through lengthy sets of crafty live bebop.

Go ahead and pinch yourself. San Francisco is 2,393 miles away, it's Tuesday night and you're still in downtown Honolulu at thirtyninehotel.

NEWJASS Quartet formed with simple enough aspirations. Drummer Justin James and tenor saxophonist Ryan Kunimura wanted to hone their jazz chops alongside young Honolulu musicians angling for similar vibe.

Two weeks after its first-ever gig, at a Cinema Paradise after- hours party at thirtyninehotel last September, NEWJASS was invited to headline Tuesday nights at the venue.

A weekly crowd of a couple dozen grew to a hundred-plus by the end of the year. And audiences — mostly twenty- and thirtysomethings — have been steady ever since.

Talented local musicians are invited to play with NEWJASS each week, but Kunimura and James remain the quartet's constants.

On the evening I stopped by, NEWJASS was digging deep into refined, yet freewheeling, sets of post-bop Wayne Shorter and Brad Mehldau, and hard-bop Bobby Timmons. James, Kunimura and guest guitarist Gilbert Batangan and upright bassist David Cheorini shared equal moments of gritty, audience-appreciated inventiveness.

"We're still teaching ourselves," said James, modestly, of his and Kunimura's jazz skills. "We try to learn a couple of new standards every week to put into the set list. We also throw in a lot of obscure (works) that no one ever hears about.

"Playing at thirtyninehotel is about connecting (with) and teaching ... (an) audience that may not have had the great fortune to be around jazz through their lives."

Until your next Bay Area jazz club crawl ... there's Tuesdays at 39.

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8005.

NIGHTSPOTTING ...

CAFFEINE & RADIOINACTIVE

Los Angeles underground rap veteran Radioinactive (aka Kamal Humphrey) headlines an evening of live and very mixed sounds sponsored by Unity Crayons Saturday at Coffee Talk. Up before Radioinactive's smart, humorous flow are Suspicious Minds, Dead Monkeys, Black Square, PainKillers, Space Catalog and Lightsleepers. From 8 p.m.; all ages welcome. Entry is $5. More information at 384-5706 or www.unitycrayons.com.

SIGNALS AT SIX ... MONTHS

Bassick and Pussycat Projects "Signals" makes it a half-year on Saturday with another evening of breakbeat and house mixes. DJs IKON and Byron the Fur will feature mixes from their "Signals:S1" disc — the first of a monthly series of "Signals" mix CDs. Copies of the disc will be given away throughout the night. At Wave Waikiki. Doors open at 9 p.m. Pimpbot and Speed Limit play live from 10 p.m.; IKON and Byron the Fur take over the tables from 1:30 to 4 a.m. Ages 21 and older only. Check out www.djikon.com for more details.