Friday
Streetlight Cadence returns to Honolulu
Not too long ago Streetlight Cadence was one of Honolulu’s most entertaining musical acts, with their soul-searching originals, inventive covers and unusual instrumentation (violin, cello, accordion and guitar) embodying the notion of “alternative.”
The group relocated recently to Southern California, but it’s returned to Hawaii for the holidays. Streetlight Cadence appears at Hawaii Public Radio’s Atherton Studio today for a pre-release performance of its new CD, the aptly named “Beyond Paradise.” It’s a really early preview, as the disc isn’t due for release until next summer, but it will be available for purchase at this performance.
Jonathon Franklin (violin and vocals), Brian Webb (cello and percussion), Jesse Shiroma (accordion) and Chaz Umamoto (guitar) initially met as college students six years ago and began playing together to help raise money for groceries and rent. Most of the band members have a classical music background, but rather than the concert stage, the group quickly found a home playing at restaurants, venues, weddings and corporate events.
Their following grew quickly, earning them tours on the mainland and in Japan. Earlier this year they won the Hard Rock Cafe Honolulu’s Battle of the Bands competition, and their album “Kalakaua Avenue” won the Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Alternative Album of the Year.
Since relocating to L.A. earlier this year, the group has been making the scene, playing venues like the Ruby Theatre and Station Hollywood. They’ve also started posting a series called “Kitchen Sessions” — short, one-take videos recorded in (where else?) someone’s kitchen. They can be seen on their Facebook page: fb.com/streetlightcadence.
Where: Atherton Studio, 738 Kaheka St.
When: 7:30 p.m. today
Cost: $15-$30
Info: hprtickets.org or 955-8821
Friday
Benefit show features top entertainers
Take in some splendid entertainment and help give the gift of music to children with cancer at a fundraiser for Ryan’s Light.
Two-thirds of Hawaii supergroup The Rough Riders — Henry Kapono and John Cruz — along with Kamuela Kahoano, Ron Artis, Siire, Simplisity and Dance Troupe Tahiti Mana, are among entertainers performing on behalf of the nonprofit organization founded in memory of Ryan Dustin Wagner. Ryan, son of a military family, died at age 6 in July 2011 after a 10-month battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Proceeds from the event will go toward the purchase of ukulele and ukulele lessons for pediatric cancer patients at Tripler Medical Center, where Ryan was initially treated, and at Kapiolani Medical Center for Woman & Children. To date, the foundation has donated more than 60 ukulele to young cancer patients in Hawaii.
According to the foundation’s website, ryanslight.org, Ryan loved music, and he received music therapy treatment at City of Hope, a hospital in California. Ryan spent the last two weeks of his life in Hawaii, visiting sites around the island and enjoying the sunsets.
The event will be hosted by local comedian Jose Dynamite, and children’s entertainers Captain Smew the Pirate and Malia the Mermaid will be on hand to take photos with keiki. There will also be a silent auction and raffles.
Where: Hawaii Yacht Club, 1739 Ala Moana Blvd.
When: 3-10 p.m. Sunday
Cost: Free; donations accepted
Info: ryanslight.org, 221-0916 or 551-0673
“Christmas at Queen Emma Summer Palace,” an evening of stories and music. 6-9 p.m. Saturday; $5, daughtersofhawaii.org or 595-6291.
Australian dance-music duo Nervo returns to The Republik, riding a wave of popularity.
Willowy twin sisters Mariam “Mim” and Liv Nervo started out as models but quickly made a name in music writing singles for Ke$ha and Kylie Minogue and doing remixes of Katy Perry and Thirty Seconds to Mars. They co-wrote the Grammy-winning single “When Love Takes Over” with David Guetta, a tune that, after being recorded with Destiny’s Child’s Kelly Rowland in 2009, is credited with helping to popularize electronic dance music in the U.S. The tune reached No. 1 on the charts in the U.S. and many other countries.
Since striking out as Nervo, their catchy melodies and slightly naughty lyrics have put them alongside a variety of household names, working with top producers including Afrojack, Steve Aoki and Nicky Romero, and on the road with the Britney Spears-Nicki Minaj Femme Fatale tour.
The pair also continue to spin at clubs and parties, and at festivals such as Lollapalooza, Electric Daisy, Ultra and Tomorrowland, which used their tune “The Way We See the World” (co-written and co-produced with Afrojack, Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike) as its official anthem in 2011. They’ve also had a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Club Play Chart with their 2013 single “Hold On.”
Their success in music has led them back to modeling. Mim’s upswept semi-mohawk and Liv’s flowing locks have appeared in Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan, NYLON and other fashion/celebrity publications.
Where: The Republik, 1349 Kapiolani Blvd.
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Cost: $35-$45
Info: flavorus.com or 855-235-2867
Friday
Bill Cunliffe brings jazz prowess to Oahu
Grammy-winning jazz artist Bill Cunliffe swings into town for a gig at Jazz Minds Art & Cafe today.
Cunliffe is a pianist and arranger who is known for his innovative and swinging recordings and compositions. In a long and celebrated career, he’s received five Grammy nominations, winning the 2010 Grammy for his orchestral arrangement of a medley of tunes from Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story.” He scored the film “On the Shoulders of Giants,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s award-winning homage to the Harlem Rens basketball team of the 1920s and ’30s, getting a nomination for an NAACP Image Award for Best Album.
Cunliffe began his music career listening to his mother play classical music and hearing pop tunes on the radio. When he heard a recording of Oscar Peterson, he decided to go into jazz, and made an impression, winning the 1989 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. He began his career with the Buddy Rich Big Band and worked with top soloists such as Frank Sinatra, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard and Benny Golson.
He’ll be joined by drummer Dana Hall, a frequent collaborator. Hall, director of jazz studies at Duke University and artistic director of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, has performed with artists such as Branford Marsalis, Ray Charles, Roy Hargrove, Joshua Redman, Clark Terry and Diana Krall, and released his own CD, “Into the Light.”
Local bassist Bruce Hamada, winner of the 2004 Hawaii Music Awards’ Studio Musician of the Year Award, who frequently is asked to back up visiting artists, fills out the trio.
Where: Jazz Minds Art & Cafe, 1661 Kapiolani Blvd.
When: 7:30 p.m. today
Cost: $15
Info: dancindaveproductions.com or 342-8232
