Stories — Interviews

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....

Fans of the musically masterful Al Nobriga probably wonder what he's been up to ever since moving to Nashville, Tennessee some 15+ years ago. Nobriga was a staple in the Waikiki club scene and recorded a number of albums filled with original compositions and a few covers. Guess what, Al's keeping the music alive at St. Bernard Academy, a Catholic independent school with acclaimed academic curricula and nearly 150 years of existence. "Mr. Al was a musical institution in Waikiki playing many of the night spots and recording three albums. In 1973, he wrote and recorded a song that won...

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...

(I've come to think that my blogging is like a jet plane. I started off with new posts every 3-5 days, taking flight into the world of Hawaiian music. Now the plane's cruising with the clouds, flying at a steady pace. In other words, I'm now focusing on quality over quantity, an idea I picked up from reading this blog about rare soul music.) After my interview with singer/guitarist Murray Compoc of Tender Leaf, I got in touch with Toshi Nakada, owner of the Japanese record label Cool Sound. I heard that Cool Sound wasn't able to contact any of...

(This post has been updated since its original version first appeared) Today marks an important moment in Aloha Got Soul's existence, as well as the history of Hawaiian music (in my opinion, at least). I've been lucky enough to interview—let alone track down—Murray Compoc Spencer, the lead singer from Tender Leaf. Tender Leaf was a band from the 1980s whose sound could be described as easy-going soul with essences of psychedelic music. Its two founding members, Murray Compoc and Darryl Valdez, first met while working as drivers of the city bus (aka The Bus). They discussed music and jammed together,...