FRIDAY

>> “Crazy talented” Conkarah will storm the town

Jamaican musician Conkarah brings sweet-sounding reggae-inflected tunes to The Republik Friday.

Born Nicholas Murray, Conkarah was born in Jamaica and attended school both there and in the United States, moving to London after school to work on music. He first got attention internationally with his tune “Run Away,” which combined reggae with drum-and-bass beats and was featured on a video shot on gritty backstreets of London.

He’s now returned to Jamaica, but his musical passions have carried him far. Two years ago he produced a video shot in the Solomon Islands featuring islander Rosie Delmah, then just 14, joining Conkarah in his reggae version of Adele’s “Hello.” It got more than 5 million hits on YouTube and even caught the attention of Kris Jenner of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” fame, who commented, “These kids are crazy talented!”

Conkarah’s got a knack for turning pop tunes into reggae, as in his version of Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and Bruno Mars’ “Versace on the Floor,” which starts out as a straightforward cover before morphing into a reggae ballad. Not surprisingly, he’s got a strong attachment for Hawaii, recently releasing a single, “Aloha,” that he’ll feature here.

SATURDAY

>> Vandals don’t take punk too seriously

The Vandals, who brought humor and satire to punk rock, stop in at Hawaiian Brian’s on Saturday.

The Southern California band first formed in 1980 and brought a pop sensibility to the hard-driving, aggressive sounds of original punksters like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. Rather than head-banging, hair-shaking stage performances, they’re known for their awkward, almost comical productions, as in the video for their remake of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” in which guitarist Warren Fitzgerald, wearing a wig and mustache and dressed in white shorts, tank top and red suspenders, dances in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Perhaps their top hit is “My Girlfriend’s Dead,” in which the protagonist tries to explain away the absence of his girlfriend — she dumped him — with lines like, “I say it’s leukemia or sometimes bulimia, or a great big truck ran her over and chopped off her head.”

They’ve also drawn some flak over the years for things like performing for the Orange County Young Republicans in 1984 and experimenting with country music with their 1989 album “Slippery When Ill.” They remain defiant through it all.

“Some may say we don’t care about important issues,” the band said on its website. “Maybe we care more about them. Punk rock can get heavy handed and young people should probably have a little fun before becoming depressed by world crises.”

The band now consists of Fitzgerald, original band member and bassist Joe Escalante, drummer Josh Freese and frontman Dave Quackenbush.

THURSDAY

>> Yamanaka shares how recordings can have hiccups

Award-winning singer/songwriter Mark Yamanaka will offer an unusual look into his profession for a select audience Thursday.

The six-time Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winner performs at the Hawaii Theatre for a show that will be recorded by Hi*Sessions, a local video production company devoted to making high-quality recordings of local musicians.

Only about 100 seats will be available, with the audience seated onstage looking out into the theater.

“It kind of gives people a glimpse of the production and some of the things we got to go through,” said Yamanaka. “It’s hard work, and people don’t get to see that. They just get to see the end product.”

A lot can go wrong during a recording session, said Yamanaka, who has previously shot Hi*Sessions videos on a soundstage set up in a home in Kaimuki. “You can have issues with the instruments,” he said. “You can have issues with your voice. I know on a few occasions my voice has sometimes not cooperated with me. … I actually really hope some of those things happen so people can see what it’s like behind the scenes.”

Yamanaka will certainly display his beautiful Hawaiian falsetto, which helped him earn Na Hoku Hanohano Awards for Male Vocalist of the Year in 2011 and 2014. But even that can be challenging. “Hawaiian falsetto has something called the ‘ha‘i,’ a break in the voice that is sort of like a yodel,” Yamanaka said. “When you try to attempt a ha‘i and it doesn’t happen, for a falsetto singer that’s the worst.”

THURSDAY-NOV. 5

>> Saxophonist Sanborn blowing in to Blue Note

David Sanborn is probably the most prolific and popular saxophonist of our day, with six Grammys, collaborations with a diverse group of artists ranging from David Bowie to Stevie Wonder, regular appearances on television and compositions for movies.

Considered one of the original “smooth jazz” artists — he reportedly eschews the term — Sanborn has had 17 recordings reach the Billboard 200 charts, starting from his album “Sanborn” in 1976 to “Here & Gone” in 2008. His 1991 album “Another Hand” is considered a classic. “There’s nothing shallow or contrived about the album, an exploratory, heartfelt effort generally defined by his introspective, soul-searching improvisations,” allmusic.com says about the album.

Sanborn started playing saxophone as a youngster as a way to exercise after a bout with polio. He remembers listening to music while bedridden and being kicked out of his school band for being too slow. He overcame this barrier with arduous practice sessions and started playing professionally at age 14 in Chicago, later pursuing music studies in college.

His virtuosic performing and funky compositions were regularly featured on late-night TV appearances on “Late Night With David Letterman” and “Saturday Night Live.” He’ll play two sets for four nights in a row at Blue Note Hawaii.