Joan Osborne

July 21, 2016

Earlier in the year, singer-songwriter Joan Osborne launched a two-week engagement at an upscale, New York City club that was entirely devoted to Bob Dylan's music. She received a rave review in the New York Times."Like Bonnie Raitt, a musician to whom she has often been compared, Ms. Osborne is a fiercely intelligent, no-nonsense singer-songwriter," the Times noted. "Because Ms. Osborne's rock-blues voice is steadier than Mr. Dylan's eccentric shape-shifting delivery, her show clarified his lyrics and brought out the strength of his blunt tunes without sweetening emotions that come out ...

Phil Lesh & Friends

July 14, 2016

Great news for Deadheads with Phil Lesh & Friends heading to Maui for a concert in the Maui Arts & Cultural Center's Castle Theater on Dec. 29.A few years after the death of the Grateful Dead's iconic lead guitarist/singer, Jerry Garcia, Lesh, the band's legendary bassist, began playing with a rotating ensemble of musician friends. The concept involved bringing into the fold various rockers, soul singers, jazz artists and jam-band folks to reinterpret the Dead's music."I wanted to treat the music like repertory," Lesh told the Aspen Times. "Bring in different musicians, allow ...

Up close and personal with David Crosby

July 7, 2016

David Crosby has performed on Maui a number of times over the years - with Crosby, Stills & Nash, with his own CPR band and as a duo with Graham Nash. Now this legendary musician returns to our island in a solo show."It's fun to play in a band, but when you're by yourself the words really count and you can take people on a voyage and you're not fighting a lead guitar to get the words across," says Crosby. "You can work in more shadings and subtlety, and you're not trying to wave at people from a stage that's 100 yards away. I really like taking people on a voyage, so it works really ...

A classical education

June 30, 2016

Classical guitar virtuoso Benjamin Verdery will hold his 17th classical guitar master class on Maui, which includes a series of concerts presented in Makawao, Makena, Keokea and Lahaina.A "Maui Guitar Extravaganza" concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Makawao Union Church will feature Verdery, with fellow guitarists David Leisner, Simon Powis, and Ian O'Sullivan. The program will include both solo and ensemble performances."It's like a festival, a celebration of four different guitarists with different backgrounds," Verdery explains. "They all have a different approach to the classical ...

Reggae revelations

June 23, 2016

One of the longest performing reggae bands of all time, Third World has remained one of Jamaica's greatest exports, consistently popular among international audiences. Part of the group's appeal lies with its vision to assimilate elements from soul and funk, African music, jazz and pop to a solid reggae foundation."That's what we set out to do," says Third World's founding guitarist, Stephen "Cat" Coore. "It was just natural because when we were growing up, we heard a lot of R&B. We were all James Brown and Temptations fans, all Impressions and Delfonics fans, and Ohio Players and ...

United in song

June 16, 2016

A soulful singer-songwriter, surfer and environmental champion, Australian musician Xavier Rudd is especially acclaimed for his skills on the didgeridoo, the unique Australian instrument known as the yidaki by Aboriginal people in the Arnhem Land region of the country's Northern Territory."It's part of my culture and I grew up playing it," Rudd explains. "I could play it pretty quickly, and then I started learning guitar and it opened up a whole world of ideas and sound. It's powerful, and it's different from any other instrument. It's a ceremonial tool, and the spirit of yidaki watches ...