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Aerosmith’s charismatic lead singer, Steven Tyler, will be busy on New Year’s Eve, as he will first open a star-studded celebration at Mala Wailea and then he will head to Lahaina to ring in the new year with the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band at a sold-out rooftop party at Fleetwood’s on Front St.
Tyler played a special concert Dec. 5 at Madison Square Garden, celebrating John Lennon’s 75th birthday, singing “Come Together” and joining country artist Eric Church for a blazing “Revolution.” Other performers included Willie Nelson singing “Imagine.”
A benefit for the Maui Food Bank and the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, the Wailea party lineup also includes Alice Cooper, Pat Simmons, Michael McDonald, Bob Rock, Willie K, Lily Meola and Pat Simmons Jr. As of press time, only a few tickets remained for this exclusive event.
Back on Maui after touring Australia and New Zealand with Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood is looking forward to rocking in the new year with an expanded blues band featuring Rick Vito, Gretchen Rhodes and Eric Gilliom. Expected party revelers include “Aloha Santa” star George Lopez and the film’s executive producer Oscar/Grammy winner Jamie Foxx.
“He’s really good, I’d love him to sing,” says Fleetwood.
With Fleetwood Mac’s extensive “On With the Show” world tour finally over, Fleetwood is adjusting to a more tranquil life on Maui.
“I haven’t really come off the road,” he notes. “We were working a lot, getting these huge injections of adulation. It’s been extraordinary. Christine (McVie) had the greatest time. She sang with Steven (Tyler) at the MACC in 2013, and she’s going to come back in the summer to Maui before we go in the studio.”
With the tour over, there’s talk of a new studio album.
“After Christmas, we’re going to regroup,” he explains. “Christine has recorded a load of great stuff with me and John (McVie) and Lindsey (Buckingham). She’s writing loads of songs. And Lindsey, John and myself have stuff in the can, so there’s a huge amount of music that’s really good. Stevie (Nicks) has her own career and she’s dedicated the better part of three years to touring, but there’s a sadness that she’s not part of the offering that one way or another will come out. I have a vague hope that Stevie will get on the bus and throw in some songs, but it wouldn’t be a Fleetwood Mac album without Stevie. Maybe Lindsey and Christine will do a duet album, and John and I will take a back seat. This may be the last chunk of music from this conglomerate of people and if it’s not all of us, it will be some of us.”
In time for Christmas, the iconic band just released a remastered, multi-disc version of their monumental, landmark album “Tusk.” A recent review in the United Kingdom music paper NME wondered: “Could it be quite simply, Fleetwood Mac’s best album?” Although the album is widely acclaimed now, at the time of initial release, the group’s label was reluctant to put out a double album, suggesting it was career suicide.
“The music business had really tanked out,” Fleetwood recalls. “When they found out we were doing a double album and the cost, in a marketplace that was already depressed, they were, don’t do it. Lindsey would have been frustrated. We still have the problem with three songwriters who only get two songs each. So a double album was a really good survival technique for the band. It didn’t sell like ‘Rumors,’ but it became iconic.”
Coming up, Fleetwood’s gallery will host a book signing at 5 p.m. Jan. 2 with photographer Daniel Sullivan, who has just published “The Maui Coast: Legacy of the Kings Highway,” about the ancient, 500-year-old road built by Pi’ilani which once circled our island.
“It’s an incredible, beautiful coffee table book,” Fleetwood notes. “It’s fascinating, with stunning pictures.”
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As a special Christmas gift to his fans, Henry Kapono is offering free downloads of four of his seasonal-themed songs through his website, www.henrykapono.com.
“With all that’s going on in the world together, we need to inspire positive change every day,” says Kapono.
He will play the MACC with the Rough Riders on Jan. 17.
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Performing Jan. 7 in Castle Theater at the MACC, acclaimed bassist Kurt Muroki remembers the first time he became entranced by classical music, while attending a concert at Maui’s Lihikai Elementary School.
“I was 6 years old at Lihikai,” Muroki explains. “I showed up at school and was told there was going to be a presentation by the Suzuki violins of Maui. They played everything from ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ to Bach. Immediately I said, this is what I want to do. At 6 years old, I knew music would be my life.”
In time, he would attend the prestigious Juilliard School and begin playing with celebrated orchestras and quartets, work on movie and TV soundtracks, and perform in concert with stars like Sting and The Who’s Roger Daltrey.
Graduating from Baldwin High School in 1990, Muroki recalls having attention problems in school.
“I have ADD and back then they didn’t know about it. My teacher said, ‘Kurt is very smart, but he just does terribly in school and we don’t know why.’ They couldn’t figure out what to do with me.”
A passion for music saved him, and guided by Baldwin teacher Lance Jo, he gravitated to playing standup bass with the school band.
“I didn’t love it at first,” he says. “It’s a very difficult instrument to play, but the next year I was in the youth symphony.”
His rise to prominence was kick-started by joining the Hawaii Youth Symphony, and he became the first bassist to win the Honolulu Symphony’s Young Artist competition.
In later years, he would perform with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, New York City Ballet and Tokyo Opera Nomori. He has also collaborated with the celebrated Guarneri, Juilliard String and Tokyo String quartets.
Besides the classical world, Muroki has played bass on the soundtracks of a number of movies including the Oscar-winning “The Departed,” “Noah,” “The Good Shepherd” and the remake of “The Manchurian Candidate.”
“I got a call to do my first movie not knowing what to expect, and I kept going from there,” he reports. “Robert DeNiro was there when we did ‘The Score.’ I was going to the restroom and he was coming out, and I nodded and he nodded. That was the coolest moment of my life.”
In the pop world, he has been included on albums by Bruce Hornsby, Train and Natalie Merchant, and he played with Daltrey at Carnegie Hall.
“That blew my mind, it was awesome,” he says. “And Sting was fun, we did some concerts with him.”
For his Castle Theater concert, Muroki will be joined by Joel Smirnoff (viola), Peter Wiley (cello), Joon Yoon (piano) and Carmit Zori (violin). Their program includes Ravel’s “La Valse” for solo piano, Rossini’s Duet for Cello and Double Bass in D major, Martinu’s Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola and Schubert’s Piano Quintet in A major, D.667, popularly known as “The Trout Quintet.”
“We decided on the program based around ‘The Trout Quintet,'” he explains. “It’s a real staple chamber piece that is a lot of fun to play. The inspiration for the piece came from Schubert walking in the mountains, enjoying nature. We have one of the greatest cellists alive today, Peter Wiley, playing it.”
As for the other works in the program, the Rossini duo was commissioned by a cellist who wanted to play it with the famous bassist Domenico Dragonetti. Muroki plays a double bass once owned by Dragonetti, and attributed to Nicolo Amati circa 1665.
“It was written for the bass player who owned my bass,” he says. “Dragonetti was very eccentric. He had a collection of life-size dolls, which he would bring to his concerts and he’d sit them in the front row.”
Looking forward to being back on Maui, he concludes, “None of anything I’m doing now would be possible without two of my heroes, Lance Jo at Baldwin and Henry Miyamura, who conducts the (Hawaii) Youth Symphony.”
* Kurt Muroki will perform at 7:30 p.m. Jan 7 in Castle Theater at the MACC. Tickets are $12, $45, and $65 (plus applicable fees) and are available at the box office, by calling 242-7469 or online at www.mauiarts.org.
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As part of a solo acoustic Hawaii tour, G. Love will play Charley’s Restaurant and Saloon in Paia and Fleetwood’s on Front St. in January.
G. Love and Special Sauce recently released their latest studio album, ‘Love Saves the Day.” It features a bunch of guests including Citizen Cope, Lucinda Williams, Ozomatli and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos.
* Tickets are $35 for the 9:30 p.m. Jan. 2 show at Charley’s and are available by calling 579-8085 or visiting www.charleysmaui.com. Doors will open at 10 p.m. Jan. 3 for the performance at Fleetwood’s. Tickets are $40 and are available by calling 669-6425 or visiting www.fleetwoodsonfrontst.com.