Acclaimed violinist Meg Okura to perform with virtuoso saxophonist Sam Newsome for Maui shows
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Acclaimed jazz violinist Meg Okura returns to Maui to perform with virtuoso saxophonist Sam Newsome at Kihei Charter School's Altitude Deck on May 24 and a Sunset Jazz show at the Maui Ku'ia Estate Chocolate Factory on May 25 to benefit the King Kekaulike High School Music Program.
Okura will perform with keyboardist Jeff Hellmer, bassist Dave Graber, and drummer Kevin Garland at both shows.
The Kihei concert is Jazz Maui's "Musical Tribute to Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month" show featuring original works and reimagined melodies from Japan, China and beyond, celebrating heritage through the universal language of jazz. The NaAlii Jazz Combo and Wilmont Kahalalii will open.
The founder of the New York City-based Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Okura has performed at Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, and the Hollywood Bowl. A Grammy nominee, she was hailed by All About Jazz as "The queen of chamber jazz," while The New York Times described her music as "grandiloquent beauty that transitions easily from grooves to big cascades to buoyant swing."
"I'm a jazz composer," said Okura. "I write from my stomach, not from my brain. If it doesn't have an emotional connection, I scratch it out. Almost every piece I write is a combination of different influences."
Among her varied collaborations, Okura played on David Bowie's albums "Heathen" and "Slow Burn," Ziggy Marley's "Dragonfly," and the Nat King Cole tribute "Re: Generations," along with Stephen and Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley and will.i.am.
Before her transition to jazz, Okura was a noted classical violinist. The youngest winner of the Tokyo Young Musician Debut Audition, by 17 she was the concertmaster chair of the Asian Youth Orchestra. After making her solo debut at the Kennedy Center at 19, she studied at the Juilliard School as a classical violinist and became enamored with jazz.
"I became a composer because composition professors said I'm the most talented composer they had seen in 30 years of teaching at Juilliard," she recalled. "I was not interested in making modern, abstract music. I wanted to write something really pretty. So in order for me to be able to do that, I needed to study jazz. But I did not realize that knowing a little bit of jazz was kind of meaningless. I had to almost stop classical violin to really humble myself to start all over again as a beginner jazz player and expose myself to different types of improvisation. I played a lot of gigs that involved improvisation, which happened to be in the Jewish music scene in New York, and I also did a lot of avant-garde music."
Among her lauded albums with the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, she released "Music of Ryuichi Sakamoto," a tribute to the legendary Japanese musician. Jazz Times said "Meg Okura has given a stunning reintroduction to the music from the genius of Ryuichi Sakamoto."
"I had to find my own sound, which is to combine classical influence and mostly acoustic sound, embracing all of my identities from the past, embracing my classical background as well," she noted. "That was my way of making sense with my life."
On her most recent album, "Lingering," she collaborated with Grammy winning pianist Kevin Hays for a collection of duets. The duo played on Maui in 2024. The centerpiece of the album is Okura's Jewish suite, "Seven Short Pieces," which recalled Bartok's "Romanian Folk Dances."
Lauded as a trailblazing pioneer, soprano saxophonist Newsome has released several brilliant, critically acclaimed recordings and has appeared on more than 40 as a side musician. A professor of music at Long Island University, Brooklyn, his extensive resume includes performing with Donald Byrd, recording and touring for five years with Terence Blanchard, working with the Mark Morris Dance Group and performing with Okura's Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble.
His music combines straight-ahead jazz, world music (drawing influences from North Africa and East Asia) and experimental jazz, using extended techniques.
Reviewing his album "The Straight Horn Of Africa: A Path To Liberation," Downbeat praised, "Newsome's music evokes ancient peoples and places, revealing the African origins of jazz and popular music. This is naked soprano sax devoid of modern concepts, a pure voice achieved by an absolute master of the instrument."
All About Jazz hailed Newsome's "Blue Soliloquy Solo Works For Soprano Saxophone," as "not just a recording of solo soprano saxophone pieces; it's an eloquent and daring discourse on the scope of possibilities that the instrument offers."
The Meg Okura & Sam Newsome Quintet will perform at 5 p.m. May 24 at Kihei Charter School's Altitude Deck. Seating is limited. Tickets are $20 and $10 for students 18 and under. They also will perform at the Maui Ku'ia Estate Chocolate Factory at 5 p.m. May 25. Proceeds from this concert will support the 2025 King Kekaulike High School Music Program Japan Tour. Advance ticket purchase is required at Mauichocolate.com/pages/sunset-jazz or JazzMaui.org.