2009 Aloha Falsetto Festival part 2

Probably the thing I like to do most in my shows is getting people to work together that don't normally get the opportunity to do so even when in Hawaii. This is not done in a random let's-throw-something-together-and-see-if-it-sticks kind of method. No, it is definitely thought out. Like when I gathered together Barry Flanagan, Jeff Peterson and Jim "Kimo" West to play as a trio for the 2009 SoCal Slack Key Festival, it was definitely a first for them and while they were unsure of how it would work out, I was confident that as top notch musicians, they'd pull it off and they did and it was a big hit! When I spoke to John Cruz last night he echoed those sentiments as we talked about how he gets to play with Hapa and Ledward on the current tour and how that would probably never happen in Hawaii due to schedule conflicts.

It was no problem putting together the "house band" for the 2009 Aloha Falsetto Festival (Jeff Peterson, Bryan Tolentino, Alika-Boy Kalauli IV) to back up Pomaika'i and Uncle Richard. Jeff hadn't played with Bryan or Alika prior to this but all three had a familiarity with Pomai's and Uncle's music already or had already played for them on separate occasions. But for backing Leokane Pryor, I had an idea that he and CJ would sound really good when matched with Aunty Geri and Carole's harmonies and that suspicion proved correct when we gathered for the 1st rehearsal with the four of them at Delzano's last Thursday. I appreciated Leokane's trust in me that I knew what I was doing and I'm glad he was happy with the result as was the audience! Here's an amusing interview with him prior to coming to California and meeting his backing musicians.

Speaking of unique musician ensembles, you will definitely see this at the upcoming 3rd Annual Southern California Slack Key Festival! Tickets on sale now at www.socalslackkeyfest.com

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2009 Slack Key Festival Highlights Part 1

Just uploaded the photo slideshow on YouTube of highlights from the 2nd Annual Southern California Slack Key Festival. I tell you, it felt so nice to be able to say "2nd Annual" and I can't wait to be able to look back and say "Wow, it's been 7/10/14/whatever years!" I'm a bit like a kid in a candy store because I get to ask not only friends of mine to be a part of it but also performers I've looked up to for a long time.

For this 2nd annual show I just did, I'm still patting myself on the back (lol) for assembling the trio that opened the show: Jeff Peterson, Jim "Kimo" West and Barry Flanagan of Hapa. As awesome as the first year's show was, I wanted to avoid having solo act after solo act so I elected to go with more groups which, to me, is really how it should be anyway - you know, a bunch of people jamming together enjoying themselves is always infectious and the audience really gets into it! Another good thing about having groups is that I feel it helps highlight solo performers even more, like John Keawe and Makana. To be honest, Barry, Jeff and Kimo were all a little hesitant when I first suggested a trio and I have to admit even I wasn't quite sure how I was going to organize their set - I just knew it was something I wanted to see happen. I did know that I wanted the show to start off with Hapa's Kaopuiki Aloha which I felt really captured the feel of what I was trying to achieve and I was confident that the three of them would really gel with each other so it was really gratifying to see them really having fun up there and saying how they were all mutual admirers of one another. I also secretly relished the thought of them really hashing things out, sweating over it and getting those creative juices flowing which is what I feel is the essence of being a musician. And hey, you never know, sometimes that's how things happen and special projects and recordings often spring from these kinds of encounters. Best of all, none of it came off forced, instead it felt very natural.

What I particularly loved is how the universe can show you that the music is bigger than you. What I mean by that is, as things developed and I came up with a set list that everyone seemed to go for, I really had my heart set on them ending the set with a bluesy jam that Kimo had come up with loosely titled "All Jam Up" (or what I thought would also be good was "405 Blues") which had parts emulating cars honking on a busy L.A. freeway because I thought it was very fitting for the environment but also because I knew all three could really play the blues. Instead, what happened was they all jammed on Jeff Peterson's original tune "Let's Ride!" and for their encore "hana hou" piece they all three played through Kimo's beautiful arrangement of John Lennon's "Imagine" and I couldn't have "imagined" a more beautiful ending to their set.