Azucena shines in Waikiki

Blue Note Hawaii headliner Maya Azucena talked backstage with general manager Marco Olivari before taking the stage for the late set Monday. Azucena promised the audience that she and her musicians were going to give “a sold-out-crowd performance” and then made good with several powerful originals and an imaginative arrangement of Aretha Franklin’s 1971 hit “Rock Steady” that included rap and scat singing. She will perform two sets nightly through Sunday at the new jazz club at the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach.