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The Aliis Live: “Summer Sun”
Summer is just around the corner for most of you, the sun gradually warming the earth and breaking those spring clouds and rains away.
In Hawaii, it’s almost always summer. Which means anytime is the the perfect time to celebrate sunny weather. Right now sounds good.
The Aliis Live: "Summer Sun" (Photos by me_lv / Instagram)
Enjoy the sunshine with this track by The Aliis: a medley of three tunes, “Keep the Customer Satisfied”, “Didn’t We”, and “Summer Sun”.
What’s your favorite Hawaiian track to celebrate the summertime?
The Aliis Live: A Finale to Make Me Smile
The Aliis Live, a double LP made desirable among music collectors after DJ Muro included the super-charged “Finale” as the final track to his Hawaiian Breaks mixtape.
But there’s something missing from the album, something I feel is very important—liner notes worth reading.
The Original Liner Notes
The album’s original liner notes, probably written by the band’s manager, Irv Pinensky, don’t convey the exciting music you hear on this record (which I found at the Friends of the Library of Hawaii Music Sale).
No, in my opinion the liner notes give you almost nothing worthwhile to consider while listening to The Aliis Live. Check it out:
“The Aliis—a group for all ages—music from the 50s to our present day sounds are performed with equal feeling and musicianship. The album, recorded “live” at the main showroom of the Outrigger Hotel in Waikiki, showcases the versatility of The Aliis. Their combination of superior musicianship and great vocal ability have made The Aliis the most entertaining show group in the country today.”
What you do learn about The Aliis is: their music appeals to everyone, they can play tunes from almost any era with expertise, and their skills match the amount feeling they put into performing.
The Aliis “Make Me Smile”
While the liner notes say enough for the disinterested, I think The Aliis Live deserves more.
After all, just look at the musicians and the instruments they play!
The Aliis
Joe Mundo: piano, organ, brass
Al Akana: drums
Carlos Barboza: organ, brass
Rudy Aquino: vibes, marimba, brass
Benny Chong: guitar, bass
Bobby King: bass
Listen closely to “Finale” and you’ll find out that Benny Chong is a multi-instrumentalist. But read the liner notes and you’ll realize that almost every member of The Aliis plays more than one instrument.
So that’s where all that brass comes from!
The Aliis “Finale”
New and improved liner notes
I propose that The Aliis Live needs new liner notes.
Here’s my take, let me know what you think (feel free to add your own liner notes, too):
Explosive, unexpected, fresh—that’s The Aliis, a group whose musical talents know no limits. From early 50s pop to today’s jazz-funk grooves, these guys can dig it.
If you missed their performances at the Outrigger Hotel in Waikiki, don’t worry because this live album captures their unique enthusiasm to entertain audiences with powerful versions of classic songs.
The Aliis rule the entertainment world with presence and skill unmatched. With just one listen, you’ll find inspiration in the powerful music of The Aliis.
The Aliis—meaning “royalty” or “kings” in Hawaiian—reign over Honolulu’s nightlife. After years as Don Ho’s backing band, The Aliis prove their sound can survive outside the shadow of a showroom superstar.
Besides, musicians who easily switch between heavy horns to blazing guitar and organ solos—and continue to amaze listeners night after night, year after year—were born to be kings.
Here’s to new ideas
Have you ever wanted to rewrite lackluster liner notes of an outstanding album?
Summer in Honolulu: Reunion Show at Terry’s Place
Thousands upon thousands of people swarmed the Chinese Cultural Plaza in Honolulu’s Chinatown on the night of the Summer reunion show. Crowds filled the open space, food stands lined the walkways, strings of flags floated above the courtyard, and on stage was the biggest act of the night. Continue reading
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No Shortage of Good Music: The Glass Candle Band Reunion
I met bassist Bruce Imai—who co-founded the Glass Candle Band with guitarist Robert Shinoda when they were about 12 years old—on stage in between sets at the Glass Candle 2011 Reunion Show at Hawaiian Brian’s.
Bruce was happy to meet me, especially after reading my article last week. I asked him what it was like back then, when live dance bands were everywhere and soulful, funky music pulsed through the streets of Honolulu.
“There was no shortage of good music,” Bruce told me.
Bruce and Robert Shinoda got their first gig in intermediate school, as 12-year-old schoolkids at Niu Valley Middle School near Hawaii Kai and Aina Haina.
“During that time it was fertile ground for great horn songs. We had bands like Tower of Power, Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears. [Locally] there were so many bands, a lot of competition. Glass Candle was one of the first bands in Hawaii to really feature horns… Other bands followed, but we had the leading edge.”
After some 40 years, Glass Candle once again proved they are one of Hawaii’s best performing acts.
Glass Candle Band (L-R: DeShannon Higa, Ken Suesz, Doug Rivera)
The Glass Candle Band with Little Albert (left: Doug Rivera, back: Robert Shinoda)
When you have three outstanding singers—Little Albert, K.K. Kaminaka, and Doug Rivera—you’re guaranteed to get great results. K.K. did a near flawless (and largely humorous) Barry White monolgue in the first set.
Little Albert sang with such power that strangers to Albert Maligmat’s music might wonder how this small guy got such a big voice. You don’t have to watch him perform live to believe me (check out “Movin’ In”), but there’s nothing else like hearing Little Albert belt “Do I Do” and “Me & Mrs. Jones” right in front of you. What a voice!
And what a stage presence! Albert bounced all over the stage. Albert felt the music move throughout his body, playing tambourine hits on his elbows, arms, hands, hips—anywhere that helped keep the beat.
Lil Albert at the Glass Candle Band reunion show
Robert Shinoda kept his cool at his position, stage left. As Glass Candle’s bandleader, Robert signaled to the musicians to change it up, extend a break, start a solo, or end a song. Without Robert, I don’t think the group would’ve been as tight as they sounded that night.
Robert Shinoda of the Glass Candle Band
Doug Rivera flew all the way from Sarasota, Florida, to reunite with his bandmates. You could immediately tell Doug was grateful having the time of his life once again. After all, Glass Candle rocked the dancefloor at Duke’s in Waikiki night after night—and made countless memories at the same time.
As I watched Doug and the guys perform, I saw hints of contemplation in his eyes (are you reading this Doug?) that gave thanks to such a remarkable group of musicians.
Doug Rivera of the Glass Candle Band
I couldn’t have asked for a better setlist, with songs like “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”, “Soul Vaccination”, or Billy Paul’s “Me & Mrs. Jones”, after which Little Albert threw a shaka! (A Filipino king of soul who throws a shaka after singing one of Philly’s greatest R&B tracks? Only in Hawaii).
But it was Kurt Ken (K.K.) Kaminaka whose jaw-dropping solo had everyone screaming. Not only did K.K. spin around on a swivel keyboard stand—while jamming a massive solo—the man sits down to read a book as his fingers fluttered over the keys.
As if sitting and reading weren’t good enough—wait for it—K.K. lifted his keyboard at a 45-plus degree angle and rocked the final bars of his solo. That’s how you end the year. I’m happy I was a witness.
I break a sweat just looking at these photos. Hands down the highlight of the night! (Check out all 20 photos of K.K.’s solo on Flickr.)
What else can I say?
Glass Candle rocked their reunion show—Hawaiian Brian’s was packed, the dancefloor filled up, and the musicians never sounded better. It was a great performance! (By the way, I still can’t get over that K.K. solo!)
Mahalo to trombonist Dale Nishikawa for giving me the opportunity to attend, and also for organizing the reunion show!
Roger Bong with Little Albert in between sets. Photo by Irwin "Supes" Santos.
The Glass Candle Band: Surviving the Test of Time
Time is a fragile thing.
Each year melts away faster than the last. For musicians, recording a song is the single greatest tactic to succeed the test of time.
Luckily for Glass Candle, their music survives with a handful of live recordings made with a cassette plugged directly in to the sound system. A set of vocal and horn microphones picked up everything you’re hearing, no mixing or dubbing.
The Glass Candle Band at Duke's in Waikiki
Announcement: Glass Candle reunion in Honolulu, December 16, 2011
The Glass Candle Band returns for a 70s Reunion Christmas Dance Party
Special guests Little Albert Maligmat & DeShannon Higa
Featuring Doug Rivera, Garin Poliahu, Kurt Kaminaka, Dale Nishikawa, Ken Suesz, Bruce Imai, Robert Shinoda.
8pm // Friday, December 16, 2011 // Hawaiian Brian’s
Tickets $10 advance / $15 door
For tickets call: (808) 224-0520
*Update on the reunion show, coming soon!
The Glass Candle was a band that played in various nightclubs in Honolulu, Hawaii in the early 1970s. The band, formed by guitarist Robert Shinoda in the 1960s, played at many high school dances in and around Honolulu. Venues like Kaimuki gym, Nu’uanu YMCA, Manoa gym, and many more on Oahu.
Most notably, Glass Candle ‘graduated’ to the Waikiki nightclub circuit and played from midnight until 4:00 AM at Duke Kahanamoku’s in Waikiki in the early 1970s.
The last versions of Glass Candle. Clockwise from upper left: Frank Marcella, Bobby Gonzalez, Robert Shinoda, Larry Trella, Doug Rivera, Dirk Thomas, Joe Goodman.
Horns, original music, snazzy outfits, and songs from bands such as Blood Sweat & Tears, Chicago, Earth Wind & Fire, and Tower of Power made Glass Candle a favorite for Honolulu’s club-goers.
Those were the days… and the bands that played bring back great memories. Bands like Greenwood, Forgotten Dynasty, Glass Candle, Johnny’s Rock Society, White Light, Pinky’s Rose Garden, Funny Company, etc. *sigh*
Then as we grew older and started hitting the nightclubs, more bands came to light such as Natural High, Power Point, Aura, Asian Blend, etc. *sigh*
— Rodney Lee, Mid-Life Crisis
Glass Candle disbanded in the mid 70s and the members went on to various endeavors. Sometime around 2006, Hawaii experienced a resurgence of interest in popular nightclub dance bands that played in and around Waikiki in the 1970s.
Groups like Greenwood started reuniting for 21st century performances. As public interest (and audience sizes) grew, more and more bands reunited.
It was bound to happen: Glass Candle reunited for a performance at the 70s Nightclub Reunion in 2008. Time tested their talents, but the musicians prevailed by giving one of the best performances of the night.
From the Glass Candle soundcheck at about 1pm that Saturday you could just feel the vibes, feel the electricity. It was so cool to finally hear the band during their soundcheck and meet in person people I had always heard of and looked up to.
And they did not disappoint at all. Not only great musicians and singers but they were so down to earth, respectful, humble and just good people enjoying the moment.
Doug Rivera who was actually found about a week or so before the event told me, “I would never miss this opportunity to do this.”
But perhaps one of the coolest things to come out of all of this was Glass Candle bandleader Robert Shinoda writing in an email to our band’s leader Robin Kimura, “If it wasn’t for this we would probably have lost touch with one another and perhaps never seen each other again ever.”
— glasscandleband.com
Glass Candle at Duke's in Waikiki
A fan’s testimonial of their 2008 reunion reveals the excitement of hearing one’s favorite band perform after so many decades:
I graduated from Iolani [High School] in 1973 and Glass Candle was always my favorite band. I loved it when they were booked for our Student Council dances. Later I would spend many late nights at Duke’s dancing and being entertained. For all of these years I’ve had fond memories of the band and whenever I got together with old friends and talked about dances and clubs, I would always bring up your group.
Last week I chanced on the article in the Friday entertainment section of the Star Advertiser about Nohelani playing with her band at the 70′s Reunion. About the fifth paragraph down, when I saw the mention of Glass Candle being one of the acts, my mind went “WHAT! GLASS CANDLE?*&(%$#@^!+.” I read through the article carefully and didn’t get any more information about your appearance, but immediately showed the article to my wife and said that Saturday night we HAD TO go to the show.
Beyond my wildest expectations! That’s how great you guys were performing that night. We showed up on time not knowing where you would be scheduled in the rotation, and we enjoyed the first two sets a lot. All of the music we heard that night was great, but when your set began, my wife and I made sure to be on the dance floor and we stayed there for the entire set.
The group amazed me by being so together after all of these years. It must be such a rush for you to be together again. The vibe from the dance floor was that you guys were on top your game, and having a great time. I have a great big smile on my face right now thinking about the performance that night.
Even when these fragile moments melt away like a glass candle, the passion of artists proves stronger than history itself.
The music of Glass Candle lives on.
Listen to more music by Glass Candle on YouTube and their website.
Music Magic Reunion Recap: The Band Makes the Name
Music Magic, their name lives up to the show!
Some 28 years after the group disbanded, Music Magic proves worthy of their name with a string of reunion shows at Jazz Minds Café. I was lucky enough to catch one of their weekend performances on a Friday night (one of five gigs total).
It blew me away.
Jay Molina, Darryl Blouin, Fred Screuders, Al Pascua, Peter Factora, and Fred Li all sounded tight as ever. (Not that I would know, this was my first-ever Music Magic performance!)
Super funky, super soulful, super jazzy. Just the right blend.
Fred Schreuders (left) and Jay Molina (right) of Music Magic performing live at Jazz Minds Café.
They hit every song with enough energy to excite the crowds into rounds of shouts and howls. If there was a bigger dance floor, people would’ve stood up and, how do you say? Get their groove on.
And the percussion: flying all over the place, and loud, too, just like Darryl’s shirt, bright gold. Darryl was another show of his own accord, adlib-ing and scat-ing his way through songs, even singing Stevie Wonder’s “Do I Do” with the same conviction as the Wonder man himself. So good.
Songs included “People Make the World Go Round”, “What’s Goin’ On”, “Spain” by Chick Corea, and Music Magic originals “Ray Alan” and “Only Ours to Share”, and more.
Fred Li (right) and Darryl Blouiin of Music Magic
My iPhone failed to make any decent audio recordings. Luckily, YouTuber bassplayer60 just uploaded some videos of Music Magic! (*Note: Darryl must’ve changed shirts for the 10:30pm show, because he was glittering gold a few hours earlier).
Mahalo to Jay Molina and the crew for a truly magical moment in Hawaii’s music history! And thanks to Fred Li and Joe Hee of No Hum Yet and Sound Systems Hawaii for organizing the Music Magic reunion shows!
Read more Music Magic
Doing Something Special: An Interview with Jay Molina
Mixed-Up Music Magic: The Many Styles of Hawaii’s Jazz-Fusion Group
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
Mixed-Up Music Magic: The Many Styles of Hawaii’s Jazz-Fusion Group
Hawaii’s jazz-funk-fusion pioneers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Music Magic, released two albums to their name. They gigged to sold out crowds in Honolulu after their single, “One Man Lady”, hit the scene. Continue reading
Treasures on Tape: Mackey Feary Unplugged
To die-hard fans of Mackey: you’ll smile, you’ll cry, you’ll cherish these recordings that YouTube user paxukulele recently uploaded.
Despite the poor audio quality (not only was it a live recording, it’s on cassette tape, remember those things?), the 9 minutes 33 seconds of Mack and friends jamming is a perfect way to uplift anyone’s mood. You won’t find these recordings or photos anywhere else, as they come directly from one of Mackey’s friends, via paxukulele.
Close your eyes and transport yourself to a low-key house party where Kalapana’s lead singer keeps rhythm on his acoustic guitar without missing a chord or losing a beat. Mackey’s golden vocals pierce through the white noise of this analog recording, not that I’m surprised—it’s a testament to the irreplaceable, amazing power of his voice.
Tracklist:
1) “Pen in Hand” by Conway Twitty
2) “One Day” by John Batdorf
3) “Las Vegas Turnaround” by Hall & Oates cover (Mackey covers this on his final CD)
4) “To Be True” from Kalapana’s debut album
5) “Still There With You” by Mackey’s album “From the Heart”
To be honest, I don’t know many of these songs. Are they originals? Are they covers? Who were his friends singing along with him? Is there dialogue between songs? Are there more songs that weren’t included? My favorite track so far is “One Day”, but I enjoy all of them wholeheartedly.
Here are some notable YouTube comments so far, why not join the conversation?
“These are true treasures. This is the Mackey I remember. I can just imagine them sitting around a cassette recorder and singing while Mackey plays the guitar. But when he sang “One Day,” my heart broke. “One day, I’m sure we’ll all be happy. // Peace will soon find everyone. // One day, I’ll wake up in the morning, and all our troubles will be gone…“ We miss you, Mackey and hope you are at peace. You are still in our hearts.”
—jodyy121
“This is the Mackey that I remember. Your posting keeps his music and his memories alive. Sat., 8/13, would have been Mackey’s 57th birthday! Great early birthday gift for him and his fans. We lost him much too soon. Mackey, you are still very much missed and still very much loved. I, too, hope you have found the peace that your gentle soul deserves.”
—Windansr
And another comment from Michael Velten, who helped me put together the Mackey Feary discography in Absolutely Mackey: The Definitive Guide (which is still a work in progress. It’s tough maintaining a Hawaiian music blog when my time is so limited).
“tapes giving me chills man. This is some of his best stuff! Like bossa nova almost. The possibilities could have been endless if Mackey had got in the studio more and explored sounds like these! In a way it’s cool that he did not though commercially, and has gems like these made from just sitting around with his friends on a lazy sunday. Unreal.”
—
Mahalo to paxukulele and his friend for sharing these treasures with the world!
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