FRIDAY-SATURDAY
Jazz singer interprets Rodgers & Hammerstein
The tunes of Rodgers and Hammerstein, sung by Hawaii favorite Karrin Allyson? Can’t lose with that combination, especially this weekend in the intimacy of Hawaii Public Radio’s Atherton Studio, where Allyson will feature tunes from her latest album, “Many a New Day: Karrin Allyson Sings Rodgers & Hammerstein.”
The album is the fifth of Allyson’s 14 recordings to be nominated for a Grammy, for best Best Jazz Vocal Album, and certainly seems worthy of her first win. “A brilliant album that bridges the worlds of jazz and musical theater; Allyson may be the perfect singer to reinterpret Rodgers & Hammerstein for a modern, jazz-aware audience,” said DownBeat Magazine.
Local fans might find it interesting that the one of the focuses of the album is “South Pacific,” staged last year by Diamond Head Theatre. Allyson sings “Bali Ha‘i” and “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” from the 1949 Broadway hit.
Other tunes on the album include “Edelweiss” and “Something Good” from “The Sound of Music,” and songs from “Oklahoma!” and “The King and I.”
“Their music is filled with innocence, optimism, a confident, can-do response to any problem, an appealing wise-guy humor, a sense that we all belong together on this wonderful planet,” Allyson said in a statement.
Backing Allyson will be pianist Jim Howard and bassist Bruce Hamada.
Where: Atherton Studio, Hawaii Public Radio, 738 Kaheka St.
When: 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday
Cost: $30-$65
Info: hprtickets.org or 955-8821
FRIDAY – JAN.31
UH presents a spectacle of the epic “Battle of the Monkey King”
Shadow puppetry and other Balinese theatrics take the stage in “Battle of the Monkey Kings,” a production by the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s theater and dance department.
Based on part of the famous Hindu Ramayana epic, this is an original University of Hawaii production. The music was composed by UH lecturer I Made Widana and will be performed by the UH Gamelan Ensemble. Balinese puppet master Ketut Wirtwan and set designer Made Moja came to Manoa to help with the show.
Doctoral candidate Annie Reynolds translated the play, which tells the story of a demon’s attempts to take a goddess as his wife and the two monkey brothers whom the goddess enlists to fight off his armies.
“One of the alluring aspects of this type of shadow theater is that it is created through low-tech magic,” said UH theater professor Kirstin Pauka, who is directing the production. “Everything is handmade, often from simple materials, and the visual images are created through a complex overlay of puppetry, moving scenery projections, shadow acting and dance, with live gamelan music creating evocative soundscapes to enhance the visual elements. … The performers all have multiple roles as puppeteers, dancers, actors and special-effects operators.”
Where: Kennedy Theatre, 1770 East-West Road
When: 7:30 p.m. today, Saturday and Jan. 29-30; and 2 p.m. Jan. 31
Cost: $7-$22. Special pricing Saturday: $4-$12, one show only.
Info: etickethawaii.com or 956-7655
Hargrove and Klugh perform at the Blue Note
The fanfare continues at Blue Note Hawaii, the new Waikiki jazz club established by the New York venue.
Texas-born, Berklee- and New School-educated, Grammy-winning trumpeter Roy Hargrove finishes out his gig this weekend. He’s one of the most versatile players around, having won a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album with “Habana” in 1997 and another for Best Instrumental Jazz Album in 2002 for “Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall.” Known for his involvement in the New York jazz scene, he’s also leader of the RH Factor, a band that fuses funk, hip-hop and soul with jazz.
Opening Tuesday on the Blue Note stage is Detroit-born, Atlanta-based guitarist Earl Klugh, whose smooth acoustic guitar stylings have led to 24 listings on Billboard top 10 charts. His latest album, “Handpicked,” reached No. 1 on the Contemporary Jazz chart and featured Hawaii’s ukulele wiz Jake Shimabukuro on the Eagles hit “Hotel California.”
Where: Blue Note Hawaii, Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort, 2335 Kalakaua Ave.
When: Roy Hargrove, 7 and 9:30 p.m. today and Saturday; Earl Klugh, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Jan. 31
Cost: $25-$45
Info: bluenotehawaii.com or 777-4890
Also: Italian jazz singer Roberta Gambarini is coming up Feb. 2-7; Grammy- and Tony-winning singer-songwriter Dee Dee Bridgewater holds court Feb. 9-14.
SATURDAY
Music festival takes aim at Lyme disease
Take in some tunes and learn about Lyme disease at the Ticked Off Music Fest on Saturday.
The festival is a fundraiser for the Ticked Off Foundation, a nonprofit that assists Lyme disease patients in financial distress. It also aims to educate people about Lyme disease, which, though not common in Hawaii, has the potential to cause problems because the ticks that spread it are found here. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control receives reports of about 30,000 cases of Lyme disease annually. The fevers, headache and muscle and joint pain caused by Lyme disease, if left untreated, can last for years.
The audience will be entertained by Oahu reggae musician Mike Love, pictured, actor-musician Les Stroud of TV’s “Survivorman” and Celtic musician Melissa Cox, who has headlined the Hawaiian Scottish Festival.
Festival founder Gregg Kirk, a musician from the Northeast and former Lyme disease patient, also will be on hand. Kirk contracted the disease in 1999 and suffered with the illness for six years before he was diagnosed.
Where: Pikake Room, Blaisdell Center
When: 4 p.m. Saturday
Cost: $30
Info: TickedOffMusicFest.com
The Honolulu Jazz Quartet pays tribute to John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, 7:30 p.m. today, Medici’s at Manoa Marketplace; $20, medicismanoa.com, 351-0901.
