Maui Beat

East meets West

Saturday jazz festival to highlight cross-cultural connections

The East Meets West Festival on Saturday in Wailuku will highlight some innovative cross-cultural musical collaborations. Presented at the Historic Iao Theater, this concert will feature an array of island talent including the Hawaii Jazz All-Stars, the Chop Suey Jazz Orchestra, Zenshin Daiko and King Kekaulike High School's Na Ali'i Big Band.

New compositions and musical arrangements will be introduced at the show, focused on variations on the East meets West theme.

The Hawaii Jazz All-Stars features DeShannon Higa on trumpet, Reggie Padilla on tenor saxophone, Ethan Capone on piano, Jon Hawes on bass and Darryl Pellegrini on drums. They performed for the first time at Oahu's Blue Note Hawaii club earlier this year. During the Saturday concert, Higa will premiere his original arrangement of an old Taiwanese folk song, "Longing for the Spring Breeze."

Higa has played trumpet and flugelhorn professionally in both Hawaii and New York City for more than 20 years. A founding member of the group Bop Tribal, he has performed in such famous venues as Birdland, Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall. His credits include playing with Al Jarreau, Diana Krall, Gladys Knight and Wynton Marsalis. He was a featured soloist on the 2016 Na Hoku Award-winning record "Jimmy Borges," and currently leads several bands -- the Subtonic Orchestra, Quadpod and the DeShannon Higa Big Band.

"It's going to be great," says Casey Nagata, who directs the Chop Suey Jazz Orchestra and runs the music program at King Kekaulike High School.

The orchestra is a 20-plus-piece jazz band made up of local musicians, students and music educators, co-founded in 2009 by Nagata, which performs around our island.

"I was in college at the time and really liked jazz and had some friends who wanted to play jazz," he explains of the orchestra's founding. "We got some gigs and we've been together ever since. We have casual musicians and college and high school students, and some professional musicians."

Their repertoire includes traditional swing band music, songs associated with Frank Sinatra and Glenn Miller, and more modern funk and soul tunes.

"It's a wide repertoire," Nagata continues. "We have two vocalists that sing primarily with our group, Richie Franco, the band director at Seabury Hall, sings in a Sinatra style and does some rock tunes, and Brandy Lake is more of a soul singer who does (Eddie Floyd's) 'Knock on Wood' and Michael Buble's 'Feeling Good.' "

Growing up on Maui, Nagata loved jazz from an early age.

"My mom listened to a lot of jazz, and my grandmother was also into jazz, so I grew up around it," he recalls. "I went to a summer camp on Oahu and got exposed to big band music, and I minored in jazz in college."

A big fan of legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius' music (the orchestra performs his song "The Chicken"), he became enamored in college with Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

Excited to pass on this passion to his high school students, he oversees three jazz groups at King Kekaulike.

"The Na Ali'i Big Band is our top jazz band made up mostly of upper classmen, then we have freshman big band, and a smaller group that does jazz standards and Postmodern Jukebox-type covers," Nagata says. "I came here in 2011 and I kind of had to start from scratch. I figured, I love jazz, hopefully the kids do too, and maybe we can start a big band. The kids latched on, they love it. I'm very pleasantly surprised."

Before Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's concert at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center last week, the hot swing band's horn section met with some of the music students to share tips and jam together.

"They did a clinic, we had some great feedback and they played with us," Nagata reports. "We all played the Art Blakey tune 'Moanin' ' and had a great time. The kids absolutely loved it. The MACC really helped us out by bringing them over."

Playing traditional and contemporary big band-style jazz and swing, the Na Ali'i Big Band's repertoire ranges from Count Basie to Maynard Ferguson.

Also on Saturday's bill, Maui's taiko drum ensemble, Zenshin Daiko, under the direction of Anthony Jones, will entertain the audience with a combination of Japanese taiko and Western percussion. In one arrangement, Siuai Lau Fo will feature a variety of Polynesian percussion instruments.

As part of the festival, on Friday trumpeter Higa will conduct a jazz workshop at King Kekaulike High School. The workshop runs from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. and is open to the public. It will be followed by an advanced jazz musician rehearsal from 4 to 5:30 (to register for the jazz workshop, call 283-3576).

"DeShannon will do a trumpet workshop and improv session," Nagata explains. "It's open to everyone, not just Kekaulike students. Adults can bring a horn or sit in. DeShannon is a great trumpet player."

* The East Meets West Festival will be presented at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Historic Iao Theater in Wailuku. Performers include the Hawaii Jazz All-Stars, the Chop Suey Jazz Orchestra, Zenshin Daiko and the Na Ali'i Big Band. Kathy Collins will serve as emcee. Tickets are $25 for general admission, $20 for seniors and $15 for students and are available at www.mauionstage.com. AKAKU Maui Community Media will video and live stream the event.

*****

Comprising four graduates of New Zealand's famed Toi Whakaari NZ Drama School, the Modern Maori Quartet presents a unique show that features waiata (song), stories and fun.

"Billed as the new face of Maori show bands, handsome, hilarious and harmonious, the Modern Maori Quartet is entertainment at its best," praised New Zealand's Theatre Review. "Their performance ranges from clear, heart-felt vocal solos to powerful four-part harmonies, all sung with skill, passion and often humor."

The four performers, James Tito, Mataraki Whatarau, Francis Kora and Maaka Pohatu, are all trained actors and gifted singers. Their repertoire ranges from Maori favorites like "Pokarekare Ana," to rock and pop classics such as Elvis Presley's "Blue Suede Shoes" and Rod Stewart's "I Don't Want to Talk About It," through contemporary hits like Sam Smith's "Stay with Me" and Lorde's "Royal."

The quartet was formed with the aim of combining their musical abilities with their storytelling abilities as actors. They all have individual musical, theater, television and film credits, including performances at London's Globe Theatre, Kora's part in the group Kora, and Pohatu's starring role in Robert Sarkies' comedy feature "Two Little Boys."

"Being Maori, playing music and entertaining is a part of who we are," Tito told The New Zealand Herald. "It's really fun being a part of the group humor of the quartet. We want to take Maori entertainment to every corner of the globe."

So far, besides Hawaii, they have performed in Malaysia and Singapore, and during their trip to Asia in 2015 they were invited to the Sharq Taronalari World Music Festival in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

* The Modern Maori Quartet will perform at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10 in the MACC's McCoy Studio Theater. Tickets are $30 (plus applicable fees) and are available at the box office, by calling 242-7469 or online at www.mauiarts.org.

*****

Guitarist Ricardo Dioso and violinist Cambria Moss will perform at a free art opening at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Kahili Golf Course Restaurant in Waikapu. Artists presenting their works will include acclaimed visionary painter Loren Adams, who will also join in on accordion.

Adams has performed on accordion at rocker Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo restaurant, and he created "Red Rocker" space shoes for Hagar to wear on his Marching to Mars tour.

* For more information, call 866-5025.

*****

Two fantastic concerts at the MACC last week with the aforementioned nine-piece swing band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, who thrilled an enthusiastic crowd with a high energy, nonstop performance that kept the dance floor packed.

Two days later, Martha Redbone delivered one of the most powerful, moving shows of the year, presenting the dramatic musical work "Bone Hill: The Concert."

Backed by a terrific band, this extraordinary artist mesmerized her audience with a unique production that relayed the story of her Native/African American family based in a Kentucky mining region.

Beginning with a traditional Cherokee chant, she continued to tell her tale through brilliant, original songs that spanned genres from bluegrass, blues, and country, to gospel, rock and soul. It was a truly epic experience.