Hawaiian Jazz Nights with Jeff Peterson

Tickets available now for three wonderful evenings with one of Hawaii’s most gifted and respected musicians! From Hawaiian slack key guitar to classical to jazz, Jeff Peterson’s versatility makes him an artist highly sought after by Hawaii’s top recording and touring artists!

Coming up next week Friday through Sunday (May 15-17), Jeff Peterson will be performing his unique brand of "slack key jazz" as the featured artist in Kala Koa's Hawaiian Jazz Nights Series! Friday May 15 he will be performing at Lord of the Strings in Dana Point, Duke's Malibu in the Moana Room on Saturday night and on Sunday evening at Delzano's By The Sea in Redondo Beach.

The Lord of the Strings concert series features the best guitarists from around the world and focuses on acoustic styles. Past performers include Muriel Anderson, Andrew York, Laurence Juber and Ledward Kaapana.

The performance at Duke's will include an awesome appetizer reception with ono (delicious) food like Babyback Pork Ribs in Sweet Mango BBQ Sauce, Hawaiian Style Poke, Korean Style Marinated BBQ Sirloin Beef Satay, Thai Chicken Pizza, Moana Sushi Rolls, Primo Beer specials & More!

At Delzano's you get to enjoy great music and the price of admission here also includes award-winning cuisine prepared by Chef Rafael Solorzano with a gorgeous sunset oceanview from the Redondo Beach Boardwalk.

Jeff Peterson has performed at a variety of venues from Symphony Space in New York City to the National Folk Festival in Canberra, Australia. He appeared on Slack Key Guitar, Volume 2 which won the first ever Grammy Award for best Hawaiian recording in 2005. Jeff was a featured artist in the 2008 and 2009 annual Southern California Slack Key Festival in January 2008 which included Cyril Pahinui, Dennis Kamakahi, George Kahumoku Jr, Ozzie Kotani, Owana Salazar, Makana, Kimo West and Steven Espaniola.

The son of a Paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy), Jeff grew up on Haleakala Ranch on Maui. His fluency in a variety of guitar styles, including jazz and classical, has distinguished him as a prominent young artist with his own personal approach to slack key.

Peterson has performed with Eric Clapton, James Galway, Michael Feinstein, the Honolulu Symphony, Ledward Kaapana, Dennis Kamakahi, Hawaii Opera Theatre, jazz bassist Rufus Reid, shakuhachi master Riley Lee, and soprano Dana Hanchard. He has appeared in Europe, Asia, Australia and the US at countless venues, including the Symphony Space in New York City, and has also performed privately for Bill and Hilary Clinton.

Jeff Peterson has studied with David Russell, Carlos Barbosa Lima, Benjamin Verdery, Ozzie Kotani, Larry Koonse, and Joe Diorio, and has performed in master classes for Scott Tennant, Antigoni Goni, Ricardo Cobo, and Dusan Bogdonovic. Jeff currently lives in Honolulu with his wife, Kahealani.

2009 Slack Key Festival Highlights Part 2

One of the best parts of the Southern California Slack Key Festival is the reception held the night before the show that I have come to call the Concert Preview Reception. Duke's Restaurant in Malibu has been the perfect setting for this event and Josh and Brittany in catering have been wonderful supporters as well. Yes, it can be a bit of a drive depending on where you're coming from but every attendee would attest to the fact that it is so worth it! I mean, you get great food, drink and the chance to see the festival's artists up close and personal.

The artists are always so warm and full of aloha and they were greeted with the same from all the fans and that's what really makes this kind of event a success. I asked John Keawe's beautiful wife Hope to do the lei greeting as guests arrived and received, to their surprise, a goodie bag provided by Trilogy Spa.

And oh, the food. To keep costs low for the guests (and also for me) and still present a classy event, I worked on the menu with Duke's who also donated some appetizers including some of the most incredible shrimp and poke you'll ever eat. Even my friend who works in Hollywood and is exposed to vast amounts of the best food on a daily basis (her dog gets filet mignon and prime rib!) said dinner and pupus that night was amazing. Her mom was actually wondering if maybe she should have had more shrimp and poke since that was likely going to be dinner because how could it possibly get any better than that? But no, there was huli huli chicken, mahi mahi, Duke's famous hula pie and so much more. Even Primo Beer pitched in drinks, even before they were officially distributing on the mainland, just happy to be a part of the night's festivities!

Last year, Kimo West said it'd be no problem to bring his PA system in case any jammin' were to take place. I left it totally optional for the artists and to do whatever they feel. Well, George Kahumoku Jr got up and took the initiative, and so did Dennis Kamakahi, Owana Salazar, Cyril Pahinui, and they all had such wonderful stories to share. And speaking of wonderful stories, a couple days prior, Jeff Peterson and I had dropped in, unannounced, on Bill Tapia at his house in Orange County (just like how we do it in Hawaii!) and invited him to the reception where he also got up with his ukulele to jam on a few tunes with George, Jeff Peterson, and Kimo, as well as share his as-usual amusing anecdotes from his 90-year musical career (he is now 101!). He'd claimed he'd known Gabby Pahinui so I mainly invited him so he could come meet Gabby's son Cyril.

It's so magical how everything is just go with the flow....to see Makana jammin' with Peter Moon Jr and Lehua (Ledward Kaapana's sister) and Sonny Lim and Bruce Spencer from Maunalua - these artists never get together like this even in Hawaii but that's exactly what happened at this year's reception. Ever seen Cyril get up to do an impromptu hula followed by Bobby Moderow hamming it up? You probably never will again, either!

The photos under the heading Reception at Duke's capture just a fraction of the aloha that filled the room that night but that picture of Makana and Bobby Moderow sharing the mic is itself worth a thousand words.

Stay tuned for info about the Concert Preview Reception for the upcoming Aloha Falsetto Festival in July!