Interviews

A Sincere Feeling: Interview with Trombonist Ira Nepus

Sincerity breeds positive feelings in the people around you.

Just ask Ira Nepus, a trombone player from Hawaii by way of Los Angeles, California.

Turns out Ira has been performing, recording, and living music everyday for the past 26 years! When I interviewed Ira in December, (Ward at Hungry Ear Records put me in touch with him, small world, right?) I had no idea of his prolific career beyond Hawaii, which makes me wonder why I hadn’t found his official website sooner.

Ira Nepus

And get this: You know that Paul McCartney album due out February 2012, featuring Stevie Wonder and Eric Clapton? Yup, Ira’s a trombonist on that record, and he even worked directly with Sir Paul for 3 hours on solos!

Even at the age of 65, Ira Nepus continues to focus his efforts on one of his greatest passions: music. And the results prove that Ira’s positive energy, sincerity and perseverance have granted him all the opportunities he deserves.

Hey Ira, let me know what new gigs you find in 2012 and beyond! Thanks for a great interview, aloha!

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Aloha Got Soul: Basic background info: Where are you from, and what got you into music?

Ira Nepus: I was born in Los Angeles, California. My father was a jazz lover and musician and my mother was a Spanish dancer. I grew up with the best jazz and best gypsy music possible. When the elementary school orchestra was being formed, I wound up with the trombone at age 10 and never left it alone since.

What were your first impressions of the islands and the people living here when you arrived in 1972? And what brought you to Hawaii, college?

I first came to Hawaii in 1970 with the Woody Herman Thundering Herd Big Band on the way back from a tour of Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Phillippines, and Hong Kong. I fell in love with Hawaii immediately and vowed to return as soon as possible.

My parents said if you leave Los Angeles and become a beach bum, that wouldn’t be cool, so I got a Marching Band Scholarship at the University of Hawaii and moved in August of 1972.

At first, other than surfing, I felt like the Ugly Duckling. It took me about a year to get un-haolefied, and get with the rhythm of Honolulu. Lucky I played trombone, because that helped me meet a lot of the younger students who are the movers and shakers of Hawaii today.

Robert Shinoda was one of them. Ryan Hotoke another, and of course, Trummy Young was happy to see me, since we had met years ago when I worked at Disneyland in a top forty band back in the 60s. I had given Trummy a spray bottle for his trombone slide, and he still had it when I moved to Hawaii. We were instant friends.

What local musicians influenced you the most?

There were so many great local musicians. Probably my biggest mentor ever on the trombone, happened to be living in Hawaii when I was there, Trummy Young. We practiced together, and told stories, laughed a lot, and I got to hear one of the great influences for so many trombone players, right in my own backyard. Trummy taught me a lot of his material and I used to sub for him whenever he would go to a jazz festival on the mainland.

I learned a lot about life from Trummy. His spirit is still with me every single day. I have passed on a lot of his teachings to many of my students over the years. I will always be grateful to Trummy.

There were other great Hawaiian players, like Gabe Baltazar (probably the next biggest next to Trummy), also the guys in the Ox / Seawind group that went on to so much success. Then Mike Morita, the Choy Brothers, Ollie Mitchell, Gary Grant, Jerry Hey, and too many to mention right away.

With so many talented musicians, live gigs, and studio sessions all over Honolulu in the 70s, did you know at the time that this was a unique moment in Hawaii’s history? Or did you look back years later and realize it then? Today’s music scene is so different, I wish I could’ve experienced it back then!

We were gigging fools, and didn’t realize then how lucky we were. I cherish those days. And I respect every gig that comes along here today.

Vinyl records are some of the only examples of the music scene from the 70s and 80s that we can look back to today. But what about all the performances that weren’t recorded? What do you remember most about the gigs, musicians, and nightclubs of the time?

There was so much wonderful live entertainment back in the 70s. Every hotel and showroom hosted music 6-7 nights a week. We were gigging constantly.

Newspaper photo of Ira Nepus (top left) at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

“For 5 years I lived up in Manoa Valley with no telephone. If someone needed me for a gig, they would have to come put a note by my door and then I would take my bike to the Manoa Market Place and use a pay phone to call them back.”

We worked the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in the early evening, or Oceania near the Aloha Tower from Dick Jensen to John Rowles, full big bands in each venue, and then we would all go out and jam until the wee hours with Jimmy Borges, Betty Lou Taylor. A group called Ox (later Seawind) usually had an afterhours gig. We could listen or sit-in when the time was right.

Music Magic, Glass Candle over at Dukes, The Del Courtney Big Band put a lot of musicians to work over at the Royal Hawaiian. Trummy Young was playing at the Hanohano Room at the top of the Sheraton, Gabe Baltazar even got his own club named after him, Azure McCall and Tennyson Stevens, the shows at the Blaisdell where we would sometime become the added horn section to people like George Benson or Natalie Cole who were passing through.

Recording sessions would start after our normal nighttime gigs, so that way everyone could be available. We also recorded in the daytime before the shows, many of the Hawaiian artists from Al Harrington, Melveen Leed, Loyal Garner, comedian Mel Cabang, it was pretty wild times.

These are just some quick recollections.

A lot of people wonder how jazz, funk, and soul reached Hawaii, especially when they hear a band like Lemuria. What mainland acts were big at the time, and why do you think black American music became so popular in Hawaii?

Afro-American soul and R&B music just seemed to fit Hawaii. Maybe inspired by the local surfers and dancers in the dance clubs: Chaka Khan, Earth Wind and Fire, Tower of Power, got us all pumped up for driving to the North Shore and getting some waves. I still listen to this music to make me feel good.

“Lemuria was definitely influenced by sweet soul music from the mainland. But being Hawaii, it had its own twist on things which made it different and special.”

Kirk Thompson was a gifted producer. He knew how to get the best out of each artist. I am always grateful for him giving me the opportunity to do my own album.

Lemuria continues to remain something of a mystery to me. What was the energy like in the studio when you recorded the Lemuria album? Was the experience performing with the band as heavenly as the music? Please share your thoughts on this legendary Hawaiian funk band.

Kirk Thompson and Don Ho supported my album, Trombone Feeling, so I gave back to Kirk by recording the tunes on the Lemuria album. I don’t think we rehearsed much. Just like Trombone Feeling, it pretty much just happened in the studio. The vibe and energy of everyone involved was all about fun. The singers were magically soulful to begin with. It was kind of effortless. We played a few live concerts after the album, but that was pretty much it.

You say that “Lemuria was definitely influenced by sweet soul music from the mainland. But being Hawaii, it had its own twist on things which made it different and special“. What did you mean? Can you describe that “twist” and elaborate more on what makes Hawaiian Afro American R&B so special?

Those songs we had for Lemuria were special and not typical of the mainland soul. I can’t describe it exactly, but I think the romance that is available in the Islands had something to do with it. Dream-like quality. Lemuria also described a magical land, which Hawaii is, you just have to tap into it.

“There is a big spiritual aspect of living in Hawaii, an energy which rejuvenates the soul. You can find it if you seek it.”

You’re still performing today and fans around the world continue to enjoy your music. What’s the greatest thing about a 24-year-old fan (me) interviewing you about a scene that existed 40 years ago?

I think it is too cool that you are just 24 years young, and so passionate about the music we still love from over 40 years ago; and so organized and on it! I feel privileged. Thank you for asking me to describe whatever I can still remember.

Why did you leave Hawaii?

I never had island fever, ever. Around 1980 or so, the hotels stopped booking so much live entertainment and the economy of Hawaii was starting to get affected by the lack of prosperity on the mainland. I could feel the tsunami about to hit. I was already collecting unemployment, and barely making a living anymore.

My wife, June, we married in Hawaii in 1977, she helped me see the writing on the wall. I knew if I moved back to Los Angeles, I might have a better chance at making a living playing music. It was really spiritually hard to move back, and I went into a sort of depression for quite a few years when I did return.

In 1983 I was asked to open Tokyo Disneyland as the Music Director and Band Leader. Suddenly my life and energy mode changed again. I did that great experience for 6 months and then returned to freelancing in Los Angeles. There were musician strikes going on and work was slim again. I went into another financial slump, but then just kept taking any kind of gig to keep paying the bills.

Probably around 1985, things started picking up for me. I became a member of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra in 1986, over 25 years ago. I worked with Benny Carter (one of the greatest musicians of our time) as his musical contractor. The Gerald Wilson Big Band, Nelson Riddle TV sessions, and the ball started rolling big time and has not stopped since.

One of the big lessons I learned at the UH was from a young student when we were at our lockers in the practice rooms at the UH. He came from a family of sugar cane farmers on Kauai.

He said to me, “Ira, you know the difference between a successful person and a failure?! The successful person never gave up.“

So simple, and yet I share this now with students across the country whenever I get to do workshops at high schools or universities. So true. It is not just about talent, it is about focus and perseverance, and not feeling sorry for yourself, but hanging-in there.

Ira Nepus posing for a photo with none other than Ella Fitzgerald.

Anything else you’d like to say before your tour in Japan with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra? (The orchestra toured Japan in December 2011.)

I have been playing professionally for over 50 years now. And when I was a teenager I worked with Johnny St. Cyr (banjo player), who was one of the original members of Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five Band. He was maybe my first mentor and inspiration.

Around Christmas time back in the early 60′s, he sent me a letter with his philosophy on life, and it is still with me today. He told me, stay prepared, your lucky break could happen way later in your career.

I turned 65 last year (2010) and should be thinking about retiring, but actually my musical life and career is seeing miracles right now. Last year I recorded an album with Elton John and Leon Russell called The Union. We then went on tour in the U.S. and London, plus Elvis Costello (whose record project I also worked on), Greg Allman ( from the Allman Bros.), Jeff Bridges (the actor/singer/guitar player) and we got to have a great hang, all of us.

Then two weeks ago I was called in to play some solos for Paul McCartney, for his new album coming out in February 2012, along with Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, and a cast of thousands. I was the last musician to be put on this album project. Paul sat next to me for 3 hours letting me know how he wanted the solos constructed. It was perhaps the biggest thrill of my life.

In October 2011 I received the Jazz Educator of the Year Award by the Los Angeles Jazz Society. A few years ago, I had a solo spot on American Idol.

I have had a very lucky career, and Johnny St. Cyr’s spirit has stayed right there with me, along with Trummy Young, and Benny Carter, and a few other great friends and inspirations. In other words, don’t think you are ever too old for anything.

Next year I am planning a surf trip to Magdalena Bay, kind of Survivor Trip, on an island with only 12 surfers max allowed, no electricity, and we are just going to surf and fish for food. Should be an adventure, which I am all about anyway.

“My time in Hawaii from 1972-1981 helped to change my life.”

My degree at the UH in Education and Music, and all the great friends I met along the way, and the heart and soul (the Aloha Spirit) from the people of Hawaii.

There is no place like Hawaii. I learned so much from living in Honolulu, getting to play with the Glass Candle (I still admire Robert Shinoda so much) and visiting all the outer islands and learning the local differences of each island.

It took me over 8 years getting used to living back on the mainland again. And it took probably 20 years for my career to get back on track. But it is all about attitude and spirit. People around you can feel what is really going on with you. It has to be sincere.

Ira Nepus returned to Honolulu in 2011 for a gig at Gordon Biersch with Robert Shinoda, Bruce Hamada, Jim Howard, and Von Baron.

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Check out the funky title track, “Trombone Feeling”, by Ira Nepus.
(Thanks Waxist Selecta!)

It Starts with an Idea: Interview with drummer Scott Kohler

Social media is a marvelous thing. I’ve encountered enormous opportunities that simply would not be possible without today’s technologies.

Case in point: I tweeted about Hawaiian soul singer Babadu a few months ago and @itsscottyk retweeted it. I clicked to see who this person was, and it turned out it was drummer Scott Koher, who played on Babadu’s album (and a number of other recordings, like Music Magic’s “One Man Lady”). What a coincidence!

Scott lived in Hawaii for about 2 years, gigging with some of the state’s best musicians. Scott was generous to lend the time to talk about your experiences in the Hawaii jazz, funk and soul scene. Thank you, Scotty K!

Drummer Scott Kohler on the cover of an LP by California band Bon Tempe

Aloha Got Soul: Basic info: where were you born, when, and what first got you into playing drums?

Scott Kohler: I was born in Pasadena, California in 1956. My first desire to play drums was the opportunity to take music lessons at school. I was told I could not play drums until I had a year learning a “musical instrument”.

I was the worst violin player in the world for about half a year and quit.

As a result of my experience my advice to educators is to let kids play what they want. The drums were magic to me. I thought they were the coolest instrument. I spent hours a day practicing once I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I grew up in the San Francisco area in the 60s and 70s, and my local influences were Tower of Power, Santana, The Sons of Champlin and the Grateful Dead.

You came to Hawaii while with C&K, how did you meet C&K and how did you make it to Hawaii with them?

I studied for three years at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. I met Glen Goto and Dave Inamine, who are a couple of Hawaii’s best musicians to this day. Glen wanted to create a band and was using Seawind’s success as a possible model, so I flew out after my last semester at Berklee.

Dave and Gordon Uchima (sax for Kalapana and C&K) put me up for a few weeks until we could rent a house and start practicing. We recorded a little and for whatever reason we all decided to nix the band idea.

Scott Kohler played with various bands in California, including Bon Tempe

I moved back to LA and was auditioning with various bands when I got a call from C&K’s manager. They needed a drummer for their next tour and they had heard the tape we recorded, so I jumped at the opportunity. We played the west coast and ended up in Hawaii for a month or so before going to Japan.

The Japan tour didn’t happen, but I was meeting a lot of the local musicians and found Flip Nunez who offered me a gig at Keone’s with Sam Ahia. That was the start of my Hawaii residence for the next couple of years.

What was different about the music scene here compared to the mainland? What made it special?

Quite simply, “The Aloha Spirit”, embodied in the people of Hawaii, will always be the main distinction between the islands and the mainland. I loved living there, playing music there and going back whenever I can because of the people.

What was the energy like at the time?

The energy was great. There was a lot of talent, the clubs stayed open late, and most importantly, people went out to experience the music.

How long did u stay with C&K? Was it a natural transition when you left?

You can refer to my answer for the second question. I actually didn’t play that long with them, less than a year. I did the West Coast tour in 79? Or 80?, then came to Hawaii, played a stadium in Lahaina, then the concert at Aloha Stadium. The Japan tour was cancelled, but by then I was meeting other musicians and working with them.

You gigged with a ton of musicians in Hawaii, do you remember your favorite nightclub in Honolulu? Your favorite session? (live or in the studio)

I played gigs with most of the jazz folks in town. My favorite was Keone’s, by far, with Flip Nunez and Sam Ahia. We didn’t start until 11 pm and we played to 4 am. We got all kinds in there, quite a cast of characters would hang out there.

It was a perfect place to stretch tunes out. People loved Flip’s rendition of Les McCann’s “Compared to What”.

You were man behind the beat for many great tracks… Did anyone have a nickname for you?

Thanks for the compliment. I hardly think I did that much in a short period of time.

Maybe you can find out, I laid a track down on an album that Gabby Pahinui was to have recorded before his passing. That would have been a great honor, to be on one of his albums.

You played on Babadu’s album, do you remember what that session was like?

I don’t remember much about him, it was a project I was fortunate to play on. He had nice grooves,had a soulful voice and seemed to be a mellow, nice guy. I was thrilled to work with Kirk Thompson on Babadu’s album, one of the founders of Kalapana. That was the session where I met a lot of the really good musicians in Hawaii. I was thrilled to be a part of it.

What about Ira Nepus’ album?

Sorry, I forgot if I played on Ira Nepus’ album or not. It was an honor to work with him on Babadu’s album and a few gigs as he was a recognized talent nationally, and a very nice person as well.

Why do you think black music (jazz, funk, soul) was so popular in Hawaii during that time?

I’m not sure. I’ve always loved the music introduced by my African American brothers and sisters.

Did it feel like the perfect time to be playing music in Hawaii? Or was 2 years too short?

I feel fortunate to have been there at that time. There was a lot of live music, and it was supported by the locals, which were responsible for keeping it going, really. I think any of us playing during that time owe a lot of gratitude to those folks who would come out for an evening of music. Two years was what it worked out for me. I wanted to get back to the mainland and move on, but what a great experience while I was there.

Have you found many parallels in your financial career now and your musical career then?

I serve a number of artists in my practice because of my background. I studied composition at Berklee and have written a bit of music. Many times a composition is started with an emotional idea which starts as a phrase, and is developed by sometimes changing or adding things which you had no idea would be a part of the piece as you work through it. The end sometimes justifies the means.

Constructing portfolios for clients and managing through various market cycles and life events is much like a musical composition. I think that similarity has helped me in my business. We have to use all our experiences to arrive at who we are, don’t we?

Isn’t it amazing that this interview is happening because of Twitter?

I agree! Many thanks to you for reaching out to me. I think what you are doing is valuable and wish you the best going forward.

E Komo Mai! Cozy Hawaiian Grooves Mixtape + an Interview on Brazil’s coletivoACTION

Aloha Got Soul just got more fans in South America, thanks to the Brazilian black music blog known as coletivoACTION, which features rare groove music from around the world.

Back in October, blogger and graphic designer Raphael Morone contacted me with hopes of learning more about Hawaiian funk, jazz, and soul music. He wanted to add a Hawaiian mixtape to coletivoACTION’s impressive roster of mixtapes. I was more than happy to oblige!

The mixtape (click here)

A mixtape by coletivoACTION: "E komo mai! The cozy grooves of Hawaii"

The introduction

Na última mixtape do ano na Action, inspirados pelo calor que está aqui na Baixada, chegamos chegando no paradisíaco Havaí e sua exótica e pouco conhecida cena black dos 70/80′s. Só que desta vez, resolvemos fazer diferente. Entramos em contato com o Aloha Got Soul, um dos nossos blogs de música favoritos, voltado para este tipo de som para entrevistar seu autor, Roger Bong… 

(English introduction coming soon, check back!)

The interview

I don’t speak Brazilian Portuguese (you might not either), so I’m posting the interview in English here. In the interview, I share what I’ve learned about the 1970s and 1980s Hawaiian music scene. Plus, you’ll also find out how I first fell in love with Hawaiian rare groove music  (I started Aloha Got Soul in August 2010).

Enjoy!

coletivoACTION: In the blog, you said that the blog started after you listened the mixtape of DJ Muro’s. Can you talk a little about you and your passion and work for Hawaiian black music? 

Roger Bong: I moved to Hawaii in 1995 when I was about 8. The island lifestyle surrounded me throughout my childhood and teenage years. In 2004, my friend brought his aunt’s records to my house and we started sampling music and making beats. At 16 years old, I became addicted to digging for records and sampled anything I got my hands on, from Jackie Gleason to James Brown. Over time I started looking specifically for jazz, bossa nova, prog rock, funk—building my collection with soulful sounding music, though I had no idea there was Hawaiian funk/soul music out there.

In fact, I borrowed the Mackey Feary Band debut album from another friend and loved it. I played “A Million Stars” on repeat for weeks. But that didn’t trigger me to search for more local music. I honestly didn’t care much about Hawaiian music at the time, I wasn’t interested enough to know more than what was already on the radio.

In 2006, I went to college on the mainland. As the years passed, I started to miss Hawaii more and more. Then, sometime in 2010, I heard DJ Muro’s Hawaiian Breaks mix. It blew me away! When “A Million Stars” came on, I immediately recognized Mackey’s voice and remembered playing this song on repeat years ago. With that single song, the seed that waited so long to grow finally broke the surface, and my passion for Hawaiian jazz/funk/soul was born.

How the black music scene started in Hawaii? We all know the reach and impact of the genre in the music, but in Hawaii,  specially for us outside USA, is very unknown. Apparently, for the distance and the influence of the Japanese and Polynesian culture, it’s fantastic how these rhythms penetrate through the island.

I know this doesnt sound as romantic as you might hope, but Hawaii is just like any other place in the USA. We have the same access to music trends, so back then bands like Earth Wind & Fire became popular in Hawaii just as they did anywhere else. There are other factors, too. People are always coming to Hawaii, and I bet a lot of people who moved to Hawaii brought their records and knowledge with them. And there’s the Waikiki show biz scene, where locals play popular music to entertain tourists. No doubt a lot of artists were learning popular tunes of that era, whether it’s Stevie Wonder, Burt Bacharach, or Marvin Gaye. Society of Seven is a prime example of this.

Another reason people don’t know much about Hawaiian funk and soul is that local artists hardly get exposure beyond the islands, so the music scene continues to remain something of a mystery for most people outside of Hawaii.

Of course, the artists have the advantage of adding homegrown tropical and Asian influences to black music, which is why some Hawaiian black music sounds much more laid back, in my opinion. But I think locals just wanted to party! And what better what to groove in those days than to funk, disco, or soul music? The reach and impact of black music in the 70s and early 80s didn’t skip over Hawaii, it hit right on target!

How the importance of Ron Jacobs and his KKUA Records in the scene? Was there any other local label that launched black music from hawaiian artists?

He was one of the most popular DJs I Hawaii at the time. He still broadcasts and blogs at whodaguyhawaii.com. I think the KKUA Home Grown series was the first massive effort to showcase upcoming talent in Hawaii, and one of its greatest successes is Nohelani Cypriano. She still performs “Lihue” to this day!

Off the top of my head, local labels that released noteworthy music include Paradise, Silvercloud, Shell, Heaven, and Rainbow. There were also a lot of private label releases with good music. I’m probably missing something here, though.

Did the Hawaiian language receive attention of the artists? Is there any track you can feature?

The majority of Hawaii’s residents don’t speak fluent Hawaiian. A lot of people know words like aloha, mahalo, mauka (mountain), malama (respect), so you’ll find more contemporary artists using short phrases instead of entire songs in Hawaiian.

But the artists really stand out to me are Brandon Bray, Chucky Boy Chock, and Brother Noland. Brandon’s “Ho’opili”, which I believe was covered by another musician recently. Need to check on that. His family was fluent and I believe his uncle or grandfather was a well known kumu (teacher). Brother Noland’s LP “Paint the Island”, which is a perfect blend of Hawaiian and English language songs with jazz and soul. I love his track “Le Ahi (The Diamond Head Song)”. And Chucky Boy Chock is one of my favorites, he brings an original perspective to contemporary Hawaiian music by blending both urban sounds and traditional compositions.

Why the scene have small attention of people with so much quality of the music created? 

We’re stuck on an island! Haha. Not many people look to Hawaii as anything more than a vacation destination, so people don’t expect to hear Hawaiian music beyond ukuleles and steel guitars.

But with Aloha Got Soul, there aren’t really any other websites out there like it, so I’m hoping my work brings much deserved attention to the scene. Hawaii’s bred some of the best musicians on the planet, whether funk and soul or traditional island folk, and these artists need to be recognized outside of Hawaii.

The Mackey Feary Band in Chinatown Honolulu

Mackey Feary is a institution, can you comment the importance of him in the music of Hawaii?

Mackey, everyone knows his music here. He is one of Hawaii’s greatest, most talented songwriters, a legend. You might say Mackey is to Hawaii what Tom Jobim is to Brazil.

When the band Kalapana debuted, they crafted the perfect balance of contemporary sounds and island lifestyle. “The Hurt” was and still is one of the most popular songs, it was their first big hit. Kalapana gave Hawaiian music the fresh sound it needed in the modern world, and it would not have been possible without Mackey. His music was both fragile and heartwarming, catchy but not poppy, ernest yet hiding something else.

Unfortunately Mackey’s drug use brought him a lot of trouble. He committed suicide in 1999. The people of Hawaii were so saddened, hearts sank. His music filled the souls of everyone here and around the world, his legacy will carry on for a long time.

In the mid eighties, apparently, the scene stopped to produce like it was in the past years. Is there any reason for that?

Trends changed, tastes changed, time moved on. Club owners started hiring DJs instead of live bands–it was a lot cheaper to hire one guy than four or five. That said, I think a lot of the funk and soul groups saw this change as a signal to move on, they found less and less work, so maybe it was time to start thinking of a career. Some of the musicians who are reuniting these past few years haven’t played music in decades.

Also, Hawaii started embracing reggae around that time, which evolved into Jawaiian music, which was I think peaked in the 90s. Hopefully funk and soul music will find its way back into the popular music scene of Hawaii.

Is there any other artist actually that continues the legacy of Mackey Feary, Vic Malo and other legendary musicians of the island?

Not that I know of. Most of the music I hear on the scene nowadays is similar to the rest of the America: hip hop, electronic, indie music. And honestly, beyond Mackey Feary I don’t think many of today’s artists know of Vic Malo, Lemuria, Phase VII, Aura, Music Magic and others. That’s why Aloha Got Soul exists, so the music isn’t lost.

9) Do you have something to say that we didn’t asked but is important for our readers to know?

I’m collaborating with a local streetwear company called Fitted. We are going to release a t-shirt and mix CD in early 2012, stay tuned for the first big Aloha Got Soul project!

Aloha from Hawaii, obrigado!

In Search of “My Life”: Interview with Eddie Tsuru

Remember when I said I don’t have all the details on Brandon Bray? That statement continues to remain true, but the article I published (thanks to musician Chuck Davis) helped bassist Eddie Tsuru find his way to Aloha Got Soul.

Eddie emailed me in June this year to see if I had a copy of Brandon’s first single, “Glad You’re In My Life”. Unfortunately, I don’t. I’ve never heard the song, either. (Anyone out there have this 45? Please send me an mp3!)

Eddie’s currently a member of the Dave Walker Band and is living in Big Sky Country—Montana. In our interview, Eddie recalls an impressive number of bands he performed with, from fusion group Merlin to wedding entertainers Kaleidescope.

Mahalo Eddie for the memories!

Bassist Eddie Tsuru performing with the Dave Walker Band.

Aloha Got Soul: I heard that Brandon [Bray]‘s first 45 single, “Glad You’re In My Life” was produced almost entirely by Brandon. Is that true?

Eddie Tsuru: I’ll tell you what I remember about those recordings. We first went to Jim Linkner at Audissey Recording Studio, it was my first time in the studio and Jim got a killer sound for the rhythm section. We had a violinist come up with some string parts, it sounded great but we ran out of tracks. Brandon then went to Sounds of Hawaii to redo the tracks, I’m pretty sure it was Audy Kimura that ran the sessions there. Audy might have had a hand in some of the production.

How did you meet Brandon?

I was in a band at that time called Merlin, we did music from Jeff Beck, Deodato, George Benson, Tom Scott, Chick Corea, and originals. The members were Kevin Hirasa on guitars, Dwight Okamura on keys, Mike Kam on drums, and myself on bass. We later added vocals and became “Easy Life” (the first vocalist were Dennis Oshiro and Joanne Villanueva, later replaced by Ricky Oshiro and Joy Nishimura, Steve Sakaue replaced Dwight).

Kevin found an ad at the University of Hawaii seeking players to record on a project. We auditioned for Brandon at the Washington Intermediate School choir room.

Did you remain friends through the years?

His family took us to dinner at a showroom to see Carol Kai (I think it was her) and after that I just ran into him one more time at a music fest.

Can you recall what “Glad You’re in My Life” sounded like? (I’ve never heard it before).

From what I remember it was a kind of 70′s pop/rock sounding tune, catchy lyrics.

What led you to email me about the 45?

Since it was the first recording that I ever played on, I would search for it every few years. Your blog was the first mention on it that I’ve come across.

What other musical ventures did you have in Hawaii during the 1970s and 80s, and what eventually brought you to Bozeman, Montana?

Some of the bands that I played in in the 70′s were Faucet (power trio), Highway (top 40), Mirage (top 40), Merlin (fusion), Easy Life (house band at Escapades), Kaleidoscope (wedding band), Julius Obregon, Jimmy Dykes Band, Ken Morimoto (house band Chaco’s), and Island Society (winner of 1980 battle of the bands and house band at Sir Johns). One of my favorite gigs was with Rick Hayman Band, we had a house gig at O’Tooles. Rick sang, Rainbow on piano, Roscoe Wright on drums, Doug MacDonald on guitar, and Bob Braye on drums later. Musicians like Kit Ebersbach, Woodchuck McPowell, Peter Factora, Renalto Gascone, and Eileen Uchima would fill in for the band members.

A memorable project was recording the theme song for “Whateva”, a play writen by James Benton, Benny Rietveld wrote the song and we recorded it with Phil Bennett, Robert Shinoda, Alan Leong, and myself.

I quit playing in the 80′s lived in LaJolla, San Fran, Irvine (CA), Toronto and ended up in Montana. It is beautiful here and property is affordable but I do miss the Pacific Ocean.

I haven’t heard of many of the bands you mentioned: Merlin, Easy Life, Faucet, Highway, Island Society… Did you record any other 45s/LPs with any of those bands?

The members of Merlin played on Brandon’s 45, we played some outdoor music fests and a few parties there was not many venues to play our style of music. We added vocalists and became Easy Life and played in clubs, weddings, parties and other events.

Faucet was a hard rock band that just did parties.

Highway played at dances some of the members crossed over to I think Greenwood, Kaleidoscope, and a few other bands.

Island Society was a band led by Ken Morimoto. They did a 45, Which was the prize for winning the Battle of the Bands 1980 at the HIC during the Jerry Lewis Telethon.

I left for the mainland before that recording, I believe it was a Christmas song. We played at some nightclubs and some of the members were Billy Halem (Phase Seven), Gordon Tokishi (I think he played with Olomana), Lasinga Koloamatangi (currently performs in Germany), Alex Ancheta, and I don’t remember the rest of the members.

I don’t know if you read the entire article, but I learned that Brandon was gay. Was that apparent to you at the time? What was your general impression of Brandon after working with him on “Glad You’re In My Life”?

I didn’t know that Brandon was gay, he was pretty young at that time. He was easy to work with, he wrote good songs, and was still trying to find his voice when we did the project.

Could you tell me your thoughts on the music scene during the time? From what I know, Hawaii was so much different than it is today, so much has changed. Back then, jazz-fusion, disco, funk, soul and pop music was being played almost everywhere. Plus, there was tons of great innovators to learn from at the time: Chick Corea, Deodato, George Benson… What made that era of local music so special?

There were a lot of places to play at, especially if you did dance music (top 40, R&B, Funk), or backed up singers. There weren’t as many places to play Rock (hard rock, blues rock, prog rock), or Blues. A few years into the disco era clubs started to use DJ’s and drop live bands.

Bassist Eddie Tsuru.

Enjoyed the interview? More interviews with Hawaiian musicians.

A Love Supreme: The Lyman Legacy Lives On

Sometimes a realization hits you so hard, you don’t believe it’s been staring at you for so long.

Case in point: I recently re-connected with guitarist Alika Lyman, a good friend of mine since elementary school. Continue reading »

Doing Something Special: An Interview with Jay Molina

This weekend, jazz-fusion band Music Magic reunites for a three shows at Jazz Minds Café.

I had the opportunity to ask Music Magic bassist/vocalist Jay Molina some questions over email before the band’s rehearsal this past Sunday.  Continue reading »

Robin Kimura Interview: Part 3

Last update: 31 August 2011

I set myself up for a lot of work when I interviewed Robin Kimura of Greenwood. Robin had so many stories to tell, and I’ve been typing as fast as I can to get his words down.

So I gave Part 3 the chance to go uninterrupted for most of the excerpt. We talked about Hawaii’s high school dance circuits,  intermediate school, Waikiki night clubs, the Spence Cliff restaurant chain,

You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

…

Robin Kimura: I play for another cover band called RKSB with some of the Greenwood guys. It stands for Royal Kunia Street Band, but it’s so long and everyone screws it up so we just say ‘RKSB’. Well you know there’s RKSB, there’s Powerhouse, Funkshun. When Greenwood got back together, when I first approached the guys in 2005 to do the first reunion, I think everybody understood that we didn’t want to get into a routine—cause it’s real easy to get into a rut after nine years of playing.

So we said, let’s keep this a reunion band. What we’ve been able to do, probably cause we don’t see each other all the time, is—with this band that I have, I call it our Point After band, it was the last Greenwood band we had, and we’ve been together now for seven years! This band was together for like, maybe a year, year-and-a-half with these members So we were way, way longer [together] than we had been [before]. I think this was the closest band, we kinda became a family.

Greenwood at The Point After

When we did this reunion thing, it was a good thing for a lot of us. A lot of us were going through different personal things in our life, and it was one of these blessings that gave us energy, rejuvenated us, you know. It helped us through some tough times. We’re at that age where we’re losing parents, family members. Some of ‘em are going through rough family times, you know, situations and stuff. It’s just a good thing, you know.

So we said, why don’t we finish this recording thing that we didn’t finish? Let’s do a CD. Doesn’t matter if it sells or not. We have a concept for it, the angle we want to take is—we’re not into originals, we wrote a bunch of ‘em but what we wanted to do was—you know, what the 70s Night Club Reunion showed us was that truly, that period of time with Hawaiian entertainment, contemporary entertainment [in Hawaii] was very special. It was at its height, you know?

Aloha Got Soul: Did you know it at the time?

Robin Kimura: No. I don’t think any of us knew. We were just riding the tide, right. It was the thing to do, right.

What do you do?—You start off playing high school circuits, right. ‘Oh! Let’s get a band together!’ You know, everybody was doing that!

Aloha Got Soul: What was that all about, the high school circuits?

Robin Kimura: Well, I wanted to—I got into…my first album, rock album, contemporary album, was Rolling Stones Greatest Hits, you know, “Satisfaction”. There was a garage band that used to practice in the garage [near my house] and they used to play “Good Lovin’” by the Rascals, “Gloria” by Van Morrison, and “Hang On, Sloopy” by the McCoys, and “Satisfaction“. I used to just wait for them to practice! Sit across the street on the stone wall and I just loved it, you know?

So in 6th grade, my classmates and us we formed this lip-syncing band. We were doing like “Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’” by Crazy Elephant and “Incense and Peppermints” by Strawberry Alarm Clock, you know, Paul Revere and the Raiders “Louie Louie”. My dad cut out this fake guitar for me! It was just lip-syncing, right, just playing around.

And then to intermediate school: shock, change of life. From a small private school, Buddhist private school to, like, public school! It was like, holy crap where did these assholes come from!?—oh, sorry—but I was probably the worst guy in my school, and these guys are like criminals! They’re 7th, 8th, 9th grade and they’re asking me for money!

So I survived that, but as I got to the 9th grade and—you know, it was a new school but [when] you’re in third year you know everybody, right? That music thing, I kept on buying records and stuff.

One day, our drummer—or he became our drummer. I remember we were talking, I said ‘You know what, we should form a band. I think I’ll play bass, cause it only has four strings, it’s easier. [laughs]

Little did I know that, you know, four strings but there’s a lot going on. And then I said, ‘You play anything?’ He said, ‘Oh I took drums in 7th grade’. I said, ‘OK, buy a drumset, you’re my drummer!’ I kinda forced him to buy a drumset.

So then I said, we gotta get guys, man! So we raided the band guys and said, ‘OK, I need to know who’s the first and second trumpets…No, the first, second and third in case on of those two guys don;t want to come. I want the same thing with the trombones and the same thing with the saxes.’

And that’s how we got our brass players: we went to them—they were pretty much concert guys [who didn't play much contemporary music]:

‘You want to play in a band?’
‘Yeah, OK!’
‘We gonna play Chicago.’
‘Wow! …Chicago!’

And we found our keyboard player, found our—you know, just got started over there.

High school dances were a big thing during that whole time. Manoa Gym was a big one, we never got to play there cause they shut that thing down.

Aloha Got Soul: How often did these dance things go on?

Robin Kimura: Every week. Friday and Saturday. You wouldn’t believe it Roger, I mean, on a given night, maybe 5 or 6 of them going on at different high schools.Back then, it was different. The high schools, we played at so many high schools. I mean I can tell you, we played dance parties—Kaimuki High School gym was, after Manoa closed, that was the place. [If] you made it to Kaimuki, that was it! Wow, that’s big time!

Greenwood, 1975

St. Louis, we played there a lot. We played at Kalani, Roosevelt—in fact, our stuff got ripped off at Roosevelt in between bands! And they had to shut the thing d—I still remember White Light was playing, we had our stuff in the van. I think we played already and we were watching them, and our van, all our cars got hit. They shut down the dance.

I recovered my stuff the next day cause our booking agent called me and said, ‘I found some stuff in the bushes, try go back.’ They stole our monitors! Kinda heavy, yeah? So I went back the next morning—nobody wanted to come with me:
‘You wanna come wit me?’
‘Uhh I tired…’
‘Ah you dicks!’

I had to go by myself! I was like, oh shit I hope these guys don’t come back! So I’m looking behind the bushes, and there was like a hill. I thought, crap, I’ll walk up there and I saw something shiny. It was our speaker, they just dumped it cause it was too heavy to carry. I took one in each hand, running down the hill—you know how you get that superhuman strength, right—throw ‘em in my car…

But sorry to digress. We played at Nanakuli, Kailua, you name it.

Aloha Got Soul: Who ran these shows?

Robin Kimura: A lot of these were fundraisers. A lot of them were organized by social clubs.

Aloha Got Soul: What are social clubs?

Robin Kimura: Social clubs—oh, that’s a great one, Roger! …OK, imagine this: You get a group of either girls or guys—it was either a girls or guys kinda club—so girls would get their friends, guys would get their friends. And then they would have an advisor, which is one older person. It could be, if you were a middle school club, an older advisor could be in high school.

And you make cards, right. The whole thing about that word ‘social’ was for these clubs to meet up, and they would have a social, a club social. And they would invite a club of the opposite sex over to meet, mingle, and you know some of them became girlfriend-boyfriend. But it would be lotta times at somebody’s house, it would be sponsored by one of the members. They would do games, interactive stuff, it was huge.

If you look at my annual, from my high school, there’s a section just for clubs.

Aloha Got Soul: And you would do everything from small get-togethers to gym dances?

Robin Kimura: What happened with those guys is, they would raise money so they could do things like neighbor island trips and everything. So they would organize a fundraiser.

One of my fondest memories were from a [social] club called Memories. They had the cutest of all the girls, right. I mean, literally, if you were a dog you weren’t gonna be in there! You had to be the best of the best. So they would put on a dance at Kaimuki gym and they would make the flyer and everything say ‘Sponsored by Memories’.

A typical dance would have three bands.And back then you would either independently book them which was very hard, or you would join a booking service. We were part of Hawaii Booking Services, with White Light, Natural High—a lot of us were a part of that.

Greenwood, 1976

And they owned the [band's] name, so when you left you had to change your name. Like New Experience, they changed to The Krush afterwards. They were Exotic Five before that I think, I forget. Ashberry was Sage before. Natural High was Talisman. That was just part of it.

If you were an upcoming band and you needed exposure they would put you in the middle of three bands. So the first and last band would play one hour, the middle band would play hour-and-a-half.

Usually, the tail-end bands were the veteran bands. Let’s say you got a call and said, “You guys are gonna play Nuuanu High first from 7:30 to 8:30. Then you’ve gotta pack up and you’re gonna go to Kaimuki High School and you’re gonna finish up the night. You’re gonna play from 10:30 to 11:30.

That’s how it was. We had a lot of these nights where we had to move from one place to—one night we play at three places! We played at the State Fair, the Maryknoll High School gym, and then we had to go to the Magic Mushroom, which was a club on, um, Ala Moana Boulevard. It’s still there, it’s called the Gold Bond Building.

That [Magic Mushroom] was like a stepping stone into Waikiki because a lot of us—White Light, Natural High, Greenwood, New Experience—a lot of us played there first before we went to Waikiki. That’s where we got the first feel of ‘club’ from [being on] the high school circuit.

Aloha Got Soul: And how old were you guys? 10th grade?

Robin Kimura: We were probably by then seniors, 12th grade. We paid our dues by playing on the high school circuit.

Aloha Got Soul: Most bands did that, right?

Robin Kimura: Yeah, you went up the ranks.

It was $10 all-you-can-drink for guys. $5 all-you-can-drink for girls. But, you know, cheap liquor, everything was through guns. They would have these big bottles of vodka that went ‘pchou‘ when it came outta the gun [and was only a small amount]. The orange juice was made out of Start, which was like Tang. It was powdered drink.

So that’s how we got our start: Social clubs, putting on these dances, being a part of it; and the graduating into the nightclub circuit. Of course getting in to Waikiki was the ultimate goal.

Aloha Got Soul: Was it tough?

Robin Kimura: It was tough. First of all there were a lot of bands, not only local bands, but bands from the mainland. Mean really great bands. So after a while you kinda got a feel of the different houses and who would play different houses. There were a lot of clubs.

Spence Cliff was big. Spence Cliff Restaurants, they’re gone now, but they had a lotta lot of different restaurants around town, I mean, all over the place. They controlled several big clubs. Hawaiian Hut which is attached to the Ala Moana Hotel, if you go on Atkinson [Drive], it’s that bowl-looking thing at the end of the building. That’s actually going to be turned into a worship hall. Ala Moana Hotel was converted into like a condo, more like a time-share, and it’s owned by a Jewish church.

That’s where guys like Phase 7 played, and this unreal band called the Sound Barrier, from Seattle I think. They only had like five guys, no bass, keyboard bass, couple brass players. They were unreal.

Manila Machine from the Philippines. You know Eddie Ramirez who played with Phase 7? The trumpet player? He was with them, he was also with the Society of Seven. He was a very renowned trumpet player and orchestra leader from the Philippines when he came over here.

And so Spence Cliff had Hawaiian Hut. The Hula Hut, which was Natural High’s place, they were on Beachwalk [Blvd.], they’re gone now. It was called the New Tokyo Restaurant first, and Liz Damon got here start in there. I remember here opening up.

And the Tiki in International Market Place is kinda still there. Waikiki Beef ‘n’ Grog is now where the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center is. The Cock’s Roost is also in the International Market Place, kinda at the top. they had the Point After, at the Hawaiian Regent, that was where we ended up at. That was where Aura and Power Point played. Toward the time we ended up there it was the club.

And then you had the Sting, which was in Prince Kaiulani Hotel, they had a different crowd. I wanna say the majority of people who came to our stuff were not the Sting crowd, they were more the Spence Cliff, C’est Si Bon-type crowd.

And then the Infinity, which was at the Sheraton Waikiki, it was downstairs. In fact, right when you walk up to the hotel you’d go down the stairs and it was a big room down there. There were a lot of mainland bands, like the Burgundy Express, they were frickin’ awesome, they were so good. And then the Louis and Clark Expedition, they had like, I swear, like 12 guys. But had two guys fronting the band, Louis and Clark, a white singer and a black singer, and a big band.

Robin Kimura and Radio Jockey Kamasami Kong

Those two bands were in there a lot, the Kasuals played there, Phase 7 went into there, but it was primarily mainland bands.

And on top of that, you had a lot of different, small clubs all over the place. So on any given night people can do the club hopping, you could do 2-3 clubs, it was crazy. I mean, week nights, now. You talking seven nights a week. It was feverish for a couple years, and then eventually went down. Everything is cyclical.

It was heightened by Saturday Night Fever, when that happened, at Point After they’d have a John Travolta dance contest on Monday nights when we played, and if you won you’d get to go to the Point After in Japan. The Point After was out of Dallas, I think, so there was one in Dallas and one in Japan, one in Honolulu, I think one in Seattle, one on the East Coast.

Eventually, you could start to tell that the support wasn’t there. I can’t remember if it was a recessional thing but the clubs would start cutting back, they would eliminate off-night bands.

Aloha Got Soul: Off-nights means?

Robin Kimura: That’s when the regular bands would take one night off. That’s what we [Greenwood] ended up doing, instead becoming a full-time band at one place, which we said weren’t gonna do. Of course, we did the exact opposite because we played full-time off-nights.

At one point we were playing Sunday nights at C’est Si Bon for the Kasuals, Monday night at the Hula Hut for Natural High, Tuesday at Tiki for White Light, and Wednesday for whoever was at the Beef ‘n’ Grog, at one time it was Golden Throat with Nohelani. Everybody else played there, Krush was in there when they were called New Experience. So we were moving every night.

We had Thursday off, and then we played Fridays and Saturdays at dances or weddings. Or we went to Kauai Resort, played there Friday Saturday, come back Sunday and play at C’est Si Bon.

[...parts of the interview were not transcribed...]

The Magic of Mack: Robin Kimura on Mackey Feary and his Band

My interview with Robin Kimura was lengthy (in a good way), but not nearly as long as the extended performances Greenwood played at Waikiki’s popular discos back in the 1970s.

Greenwood started out in Waikiki clubs as the ‘off-night’ band—when a club’s main performer had the night off. But when it came to Mackey Feary, Greenwood actually played after the Mackey Feary Band—sometimes with Mackey joining the funky ensemble for songs like ‘Nightbird’ and ‘The Hurt’!

Here’s another excerpt of my interview with Robin, as promised in part one.

This time, Rob remembers Mackey and the Magic Mushroom, a Honolulu nightclub on that became Greenwood’s stepping stone into the Waikiki nightclub scene. Enjoy!

Rob Kimura with Mackey Feary at the Point After

Aloha Got Soul: Was Greenwood the band for Mackey Feary on off-nights?

Robin Kimura: “That was at Magic Mushroom. So, Mackey’s Kalani [High School alumni], DJ Pratt’s Kalani, you know, but little bit older than us. Mackey was closer to our age and he knew Owen, our guitar player, really well.

“When he kinda broke off from Kalapana—I don’t know if they were gone at that time, I think they disbanded—Mackey kinda went on his own and he formed his band. So our booking agent and the owner of Magic Mushroom gave Mackey the opportunity to get started by doing kinda like a dinner show. And they said, ‘OK, we want to do the back end of the evening with Greenwood, so you guys can do the dance portion of the night.’

“It sounded good in the begining, but if I looked at it now I could see the major hole in the booking. We had two different crowds. The people that came to see Mackey is not the dance crowd. And you expect them to stay for us, right? And the nightclub dance crowd is not like a Mackey crowd. So it was like oil and water.

“It didn’t work. What happened eventually was Mackey—I don’t know if it was the time or the amount of nights he played—he just couldn’t sustain the crowd to get the revenue he needed. So that kinda ended.”

Aloha Got Soul: How long did that go on for?

Robin Kimura: “It was supposed to go through the whole summer cause I remember we blocked off the whole summer, and after about one month they cut it. I was pissed because I had July and August with no gigs. We had to scramble. And, on top of that, they didn’t pay us for the month we played. So we were out like two grand. I was furious!

“But, you know, it’s one of those situations with entertainment, that’s what happens.

“And then Mackey kinda—he was fighting drugs at that time too, sad to say. But we had some good times, talk story, you know, during practices [and] got close to him. I remember him coming into the Point After and was like, ‘Rob! Eh you know what man… completely off the drugs! How do I look?’ I said, ‘You look really good.’

“He said, ‘OK, I got the band [together] and kinda re-did the band—and we’re playing at Fisherman’s Wharf. I want you and Owen to come down and check us out. Let me know how we sound, I trust you guys, you know, Kalani [alumni].’

“That was one of the last times that I seen ‘em cause they didn’t last in there too long. By the time we wanted to go in there they were gone. And then we just kinda lost touch after that, yeah.

“I still remember him telling me about ‘Moon & Stars’, he wrote that in eighth grade!

“One of the neatest memories I have playing with them [at Magic Mushroom] is—he wanted to stay away from Kalapana stuff yeah, he like do his own thing. But when we took the stage we told him, ‘Mack, c’mon, come up sing ‘Hurt’.’ He goes, ‘No…’ and we said, ‘You know what, people gonna love it. We ain’t Kalapana. They gonna see you, that’s your song, you wrote that.’

“So he came up, sang that. I said, ‘Come up, sing Nightbird!’ Sang ‘Nightbird. We was doing that for a while until he said, ‘I no like sing Kalapana anymore.’

“We said ‘OK, come up and sing Stephen Bishop then, you know, ‘On & On’. He came up and sang that with us. He’d come up and was like, ‘Ho, this song is high! Record key, brah I don’t play ‘em in record key!’

“I still remember that, during the song he turns back and goes, ‘This song is kinda high!’”

Aloha Got Soul: Was he a big influence on you guys?

Robin Kimura: “I want to say no. That wasn’t our genre, but we played Kalapana stuff. Like ‘Hurt’, ‘Nightbird’, ‘Naturally’, you know, just because they were great songs and it kinda fit into our mix. But we weren’t in that Country Comfort, Summer, Kalapana, top-of-the-shop kinda thing.”

Aloha Got Soul: You guys had more of a mainland sound.

Robin Kimura: “It’s kinda funny because even now when you see the bands take the stage, you get comfortable or your band is suited for a certain artist. You play certain artists, it fits into your make-up.”

Greenwood at the Magic Mushroom, 1976

Stay tuned, more to come! Check out these vintage and new school Greenwood pictures.

Read the previous excerpt, The Story Behind the “Sparkle”: Robin Kimura on Greenwood’s 45.

The Story Behind the “Sparkle”: Robin Kimura on Greenwood’s 45

Over coffee on a Sunday morning last month I chatted with Robin Kimura, the bandleader of Greenwood, a brass-heavy funk band that played almost every club in Honolulu back in the 70s.

As the driving force behind the 70s Night Club Reunion, Robin recently found a spark of inspiration that renewed his passion for music. He’s led Greenwood in a string of celebrated reunion shows, 20 years after Greenwood disbanded in the 1980s. He also performs with his new group, RKSB, or Royal Kunia Street Band. (Not the Robin Kimura’s Street Band, but close!)

We talked for over an hour. Sharing memories of the golden era of Hawaiian funk music moved Robin emotionally. I could see the nostalgia building in his eyes, almost bringing him to tears… He was overjoyed that a 23-year-old fan wanted to hear his story, to learn about a time that Hawaii’s music scene will never see again.

We had a long conversation, so I’m going to break our interview into parts.

Today, you’ll learn the story behind Greenwood’s sought-after 45 single, featuring their English version of Tatsuro Yamashita’s “Sparkle”.

Scroll down to read the interview excerpt below.

—

Robin Kimura: “We recorded this thing in, I don’t know, ’84 [1982 to be exact], and it did absolutely nothing over here! But it was more for us, you know. We just wanted to, before we ended it all, at least get a recording … So we said, ‘OK, let’s do a 45, and then maybe we can do an album—ha! (laughs at the idea)’”

Aloha Got Soul: ”That was after you broke up?”

Robin Kimura: “After we broke up. We were still kinda in touch with each other and we said, ‘We didn’t the performance thing, what’s missing?’ So that’s what we ended up doing.

“We picked these songs from Japan. A lot of us were listening to different stuff. Couple of us were listening to these bands from Japan and we thought, ‘Wow, these guys are really good. Maybe what we can do is translate it into English. A lot of people don’t know about it so it might be a neat angle.’

“So we did that. It wasn’t the greatest of mixdowns, and when it got translated into vinyl we lost—we lost a lot of frequencies. It just didn’t turn out the way we wanted.

“But I think we made about 1000 copies. We went out to the records stores [to sell them] and it was, like, nothing, you know?So I ended up giving up a box to each of the guys and I kept a couple of boxes.

“I don’t know when it was, was it 2006? 2007?”

Aloha Got Soul: ”I think your website says 2009.”

Robin Kimura: “Yeah, you’re right, 2009. I got this email outta the clear blue from this company in Japan—I guess vinyl was making a comeback, right, [I'm] oblivious, I didn’t know what the hell’s going on! It’s like,what!?

“But because they were familiar with it… I don’t know how he got his hands on it but he found it somehow, I don’t know if it was Jelly’s or what.

Aloha Got Soul: ”People find this stuff.”

Robin Kimura: ”I know! They do, right, they’re hunters!

“So they wanted to buy whatever I had and I only could find this one box.

“So we sent it to him and we kinda kept in touch, but then it died after that. But we were just happy—Wow! Someone wants a hundred copies.

“And then about a year afterwards, I guess some of the 45s were circulating around and another company contacted us. These guys were much bigger. That [other] guy had like a boutique store, these guys had like several internet sites under different names and several stores in different cities. So they said, ‘We want to buy whatever you guys have left.’

“I couldn’t find another box, so what we had to do was we had to repress it. But the challenge was—the mixdown tape that we were supposed to have been given by Sounds of Hawaii, which was a studio we were into…

“Well, we didn’t check it. So when we put it on the reel, it somebody else. It was another band! It’s like, ‘Who the hell is this!? They don’t even have brass! They’re playing rock. ‘

“So we were like dead. We didn’t have anything. So what they had to do was, they took our 45 and, you know, digitalized it. And they, they—it was going back and forth, I mean, it was taking forever—they finally got a decent copy. They took like 500 copies, cause we told we had to make 500 copies so they said, ‘We’ll take em’.

“We sent everything. And then around Christmas time we get this email telling us that—I guess they have a Top 40 within their system—right at the New Year’s, for two or three weeks [our 45 record] hit number one! We were like, What!?”

Aloha Got Soul: “It must’ve been because the songs were Japanese, right?”

Robin Kimura: “What is was was the side B, the Tatsuro Yamashita song “Sparkle”. What happened was DJ Muro put it on his Hawaiian CD mix, you know with Aura and everyone, and he started playing in the clubs. And it just caught on.

“Then, they [the Japanese company] ended up taking a couple hundred more after that.

“It was a neat situation for us because we had life after death…”

—

Stay tuned for more of my interview with Robin Kimura of Greenwood. Mahalo to Rob for the time and memories (and the coffee!).

Brandon Bray, a Contemporary Hawaiian and His Story

I don’t have all the details on Brandon Bray, so I hope I’m not doing a disservice to his friends and family who knew him well. But his story needs to be told, regardless if I don’t cover everything from beginning to end.

First off, a huge mahalo to Chuck Davis, one of Brandon’s closest friends. Chuck’s a talented musician and comedian and an all-around nice guy. He’s got lots of stories about Vic Malo and Mel Cabang. But none of this here would be possible without him! Also, shout out to Rodney for introducing me to Brandon’s music.

Brandon Bray lives on for those who remember him from the 70s and 80s Hawaii music scene. (And also with record collectors, evidenced by the recent eBay auction for his 1979 self-titled debut album on Hula Records).

In the mid-1970s, Chuck answered a newspaper ad calling for musicians to play for a young, rising star.

Turns out Brandon Bray was only 16 and already had his own self-produced record.

Brandon released a single 45 rpm called “Glad You’re In My Life” (circa 1975; b-side unknown). Check out that link, it says “w, m & arr. Brandon Bray”. Looks like he wrote, mastered and arranged the entire track. “He basically directed the entire thing by himself,” Chuck told me.

Where did Brandon get his single played? At the local Zippy’s Restaurant jukebox! (Other places too, of course).

The meetings following the newspaper advertisement fell through and the musicians never had the chance to perform together.

“Brandon was more music-oriented than show-oriented,” Chuck explained. “His entertainment skills were more geared around music than a show, like Al Harrington or Don Ho or Melveen Leed.” So Brandon’s show biz gig didn’t happened.

But Chuck and Brandon started hanging out more and even formed a band that played at Paradise Park (reporters called them the Paradise Serenaders, nothing to do with Rodney Arias). They worked on various projects throughout the years, including Brandon’s first LP.

Brandon got a contract with Hula Records sometime around 1978. Chuck had a hand in some of the arranging and composing, and even wrote the music for Hoapili, which Brandon wrote all the words for—in Hawaiian.

Yup, Brandon was fluent in Hawaiian. A rare case even in Hawaii. For those who don’t live here, you’re more likely to hear Japanese, Cantonese, or Filipino languages before hearing Hawaiian spoken fluently in any given day. I’ve only heard fluent Hawaiian conversations at the Na Hoku Hanohano awards.

From his photo I thought he’d be Japanese-Caucasian. But apparently one of his relatives was a kahuna, or Hawaiian priest. Brandon also earned a degree in Hawaiian language (in high school?).

I guess that’s why the cover says “A CONTEMPORARY HAWAIIAN AND HIS MUSIC”.

Brandon graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1978 and went on to study law or sociology. All the while his music career was just starting to blossom.

Check out “Manoa Rain” by Brandon Bray from his debut LP on Hula Records:

Brandon’s music extends beyond the disco-funk sounds you’re hearing now. He later delved into religious music and even won a Na Hoku Hanohano award in 1987 for his album Healing Love (most likely a cassette-only release). There’s another cassette-only album out there called Nana I Ke Kumu, but I haven’t heard that one either.

Brandon dipped in and out of recording music from 1970s to 1990 and his final album featured some of his original tunes re-arranged for the 80s pop sound (I haven’t heard it yet so I can’t give you any more details).

Apparently Brandon worked as a legal aide and he never entirely focused his energy on the music business, which is probably why he never became as famous as some of his contemporaries. Education and a steady career took priority.

After the release of his final album, sometime in 1988, Brandon fell ill with AIDS. He was gay.

Chuck recalls the final day that Brandon was with us.

“Watching a man lose 30 pounds when he was light to begin with … Just watching him slowly deteriorate so fast was … I cry now, but back then I wanted him to die because of the pain that was involved …

“He was taking some really strong medications that were pretty magic[al] on his body … He would call me and tell me how good he feels—he felt like he was on top of the world! But the next day, it was back to normal …

“The day he was on his death bed, I got a call while I was teaching kickboxing. I was teaching these two guys … their mother was a medical doctor, their family were doctors.

“Brandon calls me from the hospital and tells me, ‘Chucky, I need you to come to the’—I was always at his begging call—so he said ‘I need you to bring me this, I need you to buy me some aspirin, I need you to buy me this.’

“OK that’s okay Brandon. ‘And I need it because I’m going to go into surgery.’ So I go to the store and buy all this stuff.

“The boy [Chuck's kickboxing student] takes me down there in his truck. We go into the hospital. Brandon was sitting in the room, hallucinating on all the drugs they’d been giving him … All the sudden the doctor says they need to take him to this other room because ‘Brandon’s just having some complications’.

“And I’m thinking okay, Brandon’s just having some complications right now, you know; he’s having a seizure, you know. So finally after they take Brandon away, the boy pulls me over and says, ‘Uh, I gotta tell you this: he’s dying.’

“‘What do you mean he’s dying?’

“‘They are taking him to this room where they hook you up because all of his vital signs are going down,’ the student told Chuck.”

That night, Brandon went into a coma and passed away.

Chuck was the last of Brandon’s loved ones to see the talented musician before he left the world.

Brandon died in circa 1990 from complications with AIDS.

No matter how much Brandon’s debut LP ever sells for on eBay, nothing is more valuable to me than learning Brandon’s story from his good friend. Thank you, Chuck, you’ve opened a doorway for me and many of Brandon Bray’s fans around the world.

Here’s Chuck’s outstanding tribute to Brandon’s song, “Manoa Rain”.

Mahalo for reading this far! Please consider donating to Aloha Got Soul to help document this Hawaiian funk, disco, soul, jazz and contemporary island sound. I love this music as much as you do, and sometimes I need an extra cup of coffee to keep me going.

If you knew Brandon, please feel free to join the conversation and leave a comment below.