Stories — Review

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)...

For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you might've noticed a barrage of tweets last night linking to videos of Aura, Power Point, Phase 7, Nueva Vida (with Lil Albert and Carla Young Elsman), and Greenwood rocking some heavy disco-era tunes. Those were just 5 teaser videos that Irwin 'Supes' Santos posted to YouTube the other day, giving Hawaiian funk/soul discotheque fans a taste of the upcoming 70s Night Club Reunion live DVD set. Keep in mind: these videos feature rough audio mixdowns—and are not the finished product! For that, you've got to order the DVD! Good news:...

UPDATE: 2017 sees the return of 70s NCR with Mike Lundy and Aura! August 5, 2017 at the Ala Moana Hotel. Forty years in the making, the last reunion concert featuring Hawaii's biggest disco, funk, soul and R&B acts from the seventies finally came to an end Saturday night at the Ala Moana Hotel Hibiscus Ballroom. Pauline Wilson captivated the crowd. It was a blast, every band went all out, everyone was in high spirits. The dancefloor was jam-packed from the very first song to the last! For now, some thoughts on this year's 70s Night Club Reunion (the last...

I'm sorry for saying this, but if you weren't at the Hawaii Convention Center Ballroom to see Kalapana perform live at the 2011 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, you'll never know the feeling of hearing the band play "Naturally" that night. In front of an audience who lauded (they were awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award) yet mourned for the band and its loss of an irreplaceable lead singer and composer, Mackey Feary, Kalapana was fullly spirited in laughter and love. Kenji Sato and Malani Bilyeu at the 2011 Na Hoku awairds, 'Mourn' isn't the right word. Rejoiced, these people were celebrating...

I've been craving this culture for so long, it's a shock to be submersed in it again. Yup, I'm back in Hawaii and it's sun, sun, sun! And Hawaiian music, all kines. True, much of Hawaii's culture is wide out in the open: hula dancing, surfing, ukuleles, the shaka. But dig a little deeper and you'll find people willing to share a part of paradise that so many miss out on. I recently walked through the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center to take photos of people wearing Aloha Shirts. I came across were two men casually performing music outside of an...