Category: Music

Brother Noland (Conjugacion), who marked his Waikiki comeback last month with a two-night gig at Blue Note Hawaii at the Outrigger Waikiki resort,  embarks on round two of his planned re-entry on the club scene.

His next pair of shows will be on the Big Island, as follows:

• April 11, at 7 p.m., at the Kaleiopapa Convention Center, at the  Outrigger Kona Resort, at 78-128 Ehukai St., Kailua-Kona. Tickets: $45, general admission, at  www.brothernoland.com
• April 12, at 7 p.m., at the Palace Theatre, in downtown Hilo’s waterfront. Tickets: $45, priority seating, $35 general admission, in advance; $5 extra on day of performance. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Noland’s Island Incredibles, his powerhouse all-star group, will perform in both shows. The group features Noland on guitars and vocals, with Gaylord Holomalia on keyboards, David Garibaldi on drums, Kata Maduli on bass, Michael Ruff on keyboards, Tavana on guitars, Fred Schreuders on guitars, Olivia Ruff on vocals, and Lila Chris on vocals.

Noland is introducing three new singles – “Ride the Water”, “Walkabout”, and “Las Vegas” –in the shows, notable for the group’s alter-native rhythms and funky grooves, embracing dynamic vocals that take Noland beyond the reef with his socko sound…

Locals loved Chamberlain’s ‘Island Sons’

Actor Richard Chamberlain, who died Saturday (March 29) following a stroke in Waimanalo, would have been 91 today (March 31).

While he was considered the king of the mini-series, because of his vast successes with the likes of “Shogun” and “The Thorn Birds,” locals adored him for his Honolulu-based “Island Sons” TV series, which was filmed here 25 years after “Dr. Kildare,” was his first big success where he portrayed a physician.

 I remember some women here mentioned they’d love to be treated by Dr. Daniel Kulani, a doc Chamberlain portrayed at the fictional Kamehameha Medical Center, because of his kind demeanor.

He had a gentle manner, on and off screen, and a sweet singing voice, too, recording the theme song from “Dr. Kildare.” He earned three Golden Globes, for his performance in “Kildare,” “Shogun” and “Thorn Birds.”

The series ran for one season on CBS, during the1989-90 season.

Donations may be made  in his name to either NPR or the Hawaiiia Humane Society…

And that’s Show Biz…

The Kilohana Hula Show, which opened on Feb. 15, 2024, as a free Hawaiian music and hula attraction at the Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell Amphitheater, will give its final performance at 9:30 a.m. Monday (March 31).

It was touted as a grand endeavor, with island musicians backing up a cast of hula dancers, sounding and looking like what Hawaii is all about.

The effort has dwindled down into an ensemble of five, still representing the aloha spirt in song and dance. But Kilohana will shut down at the end of the month, in a minimalist program at the Kuhio Beach Hula Mound, where it has been staged three days a week – on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays – since last fall.

Blow the conch shell: Monday’s show be the finale.

Kilohana had great intentions and enviable spirit, when it was launched in the amphitheater chock full of Waikiki visitors filling the seats, but no solid plan to keep the show afloat.

One of the troupers from the opening weeks is veteran entertainer Karen Keawehawaii, who also has been a rotating cast member playing for tourists at the Kuhio  Beach Hula Mound.

“It’s been a little more than a year,” she said with a tone of sadness, about the finale she’ll be part of,  as singer and ukulele player, and a kupuna.

But like any production, payroll becomes a major issue  without paid admission.

Kilohana  had lofty intentions, envisioned as a replacement, or a new-generation hula spectacle, like the long-running Kodak Hula Show, in same location in the shadows of Diamond Head.  

But the Kodak original was sponsored by the camera and film company, the title sponsor of the original show, which ran from 1930 to 2002 without charging an entry fee. The end was somewhat logical; cameras and film were being replaced by telephones with built-in cameras.

Kilohana originators maintained the free-admission policy like its predecessor but clearly struggled with the overhead of a show in a zone defined as a Hawaiian park, forbidding admission charges. At one point, the operators wanted to do an early evening show with paid admission to subsidize the morning shows, which was nixed by the city.

Footnote: Google “Kilohana Hula Show,” and an online image appears with the show’s title, with a “Southwest Presents” credit. However, if the airline became a title presenter, the show has kept it a secret…

And that”s Show Biz…

Robert Cazimero’s 76^th birthday on March 20 will become part of a celebratory birthday week-long event … and a fundraiser for his Halau Na Kamalei O Lililehua.

His special performances will be from March 19 to 23 at Chef Chai’s on Kapiolani Boulevard, with the usual mix of Hawaiian music, hula and fine dining.

Also in the works: an art exhibit at Gallery ‘Iolani, in the modest gallery next to Paliku Theatre at Windward Community College, which will salute and verify the kumu hula and entertainer’s life achievements and impact in local music and culture. As a recording artist, kumu hula, and nightlife entertainer in venues large and small, he has created – with his brother Roland, in The Brothers Cazimero –a personal and specific brand in island mele and hula. I’m told that there will be a piano on site, which possibly means if Cazimero’s present, he just might burst into a serenade. Watch for the gallery’s Caz viewing dates.

But back to the Chai’s event: Normally, Cazimero would stage a Full Moon Concert once a month, but for his birthday, once is not enough. Hence, the weeklong party. And yes, the champagne will be flowing.

Dinner service is at 5:30 p.m. Chef Chai Chaowasaree’s signature dishes are always featured, comprising an array of appetizers, sumptuous entrees, and savory desserts.

The show begins at 6:30 p.m. and tends to expand beyond the hour-long performance. Usually, Cazimero enlists Sky Perkins Gora and Bully Keola Makaiau to render specific hula. Typically, Cazimero marks his birthday throughout the month of March; since his calendar is chockful of b-day gatherings.

Because the Chai evenings will benefit Cazimero’s halau of singers-dancers, you can expect various gents appearing and joining kumu on the different nights.  The fund-raiser will support, among other things, Na Kamalei’s participation in this year’s Merrie Monarch Festival from April 20 to 26  in Hilo.

Tickets: $159 a person, available at chefchai@outlook.com or (808) 585-0011…

And that’s Show Biz…