The Honolulu Jazz Quartet, led by bassist John Kolivas, will celebrate 100 Years of Jazz at 7 p.m. June 4 at the Blue Note Hawaii club at the Outrigger Waikiki resort.
The HJQ, who won a Na Hoku Hanohano Award in 2023, also includes Noel Okimoto on drums, Tim Tsukiyama on saxophones, and Dan Del Negro on piano.
Special guests in the salute to jazz’s 100th birthday will include DeShannon Higa on trumpet, Jeannette Trevias on vocals, Kainalu Kolivas on vocals and guitar, and Robert Pennybacker on vocals and narration. Kainalu is John Kolivas’ son and Pennybacker is Kolivas’ brother.
The HJQ, from left: Okimoto, Tsukiyama, Kolivas and Del Negro.
Jazz, considered the only truly original art form, dates back to 1924, becoming a popular genre of music in such cities as New Orleans, Kansas City, Chicago, and New York, according to Wikipedia.
During the same year, George Gershwin penned “Rhapsody in Blue,” a milestone of the 20th century, elevating jazz to new heights and acclaim, with a growing coterie of jazzdom giants such as Duke Ellington and Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong launching careers with recordings of jazz.
Fletcher Henderson’s Big Band in New York City also established his jazz style that would influence others adopting the “new” music.
Fast forwarding 100 years, The Honolulu Jazz Quartet is approaching its quarter century of jazz performances, putting its own mixed plate mojo on jazz, embracing ragtime of the 1920s, swing of the 1930s, to be-bop of the 1940s, the “cool” phase in the 1950s, the funk of the 1960s, the fusion jazz of the 1970s and beyond, creating ever-changing motifs with a jazz foundation.
Kolivas formed HJQ at the urging of his mother, Dolly; its shelf-life longevity can be credited to the democracy within the ranks – there’s no “name” front man in the delivery of the music, with equal-time solo moments common for the members.
The concert will share this format, with a kaleidoscopic glimpse of jazz and jazzmen.
Doors open at 5 p.m. prior to the 7 p.m. show. Drink and food service will be available.
Tickets: $25 to $35 (first-come, first served), at www.bluenotehawaii.com or (808) 777-4890.
Emme’s final moments
A two-day farewell, to bid aloha to the late Emme Tomimbang Burns, will be held downtown at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, at 1184 Bishop St., where a Catholic mass will be held from 10:30 a.m. April 26. Inurnment will follow at 2 p.m. April 26, at the National Memorial of the Peace at Punchbowl.
A “Celebration of Life” will be held from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. April 27, at the Fil-Com Community Center, at 94-428 Mokuola St., in Waipahu. The event will remember Emme’s extensive accomplishments as a media mogul of Filipino ancestry for nearly 50 years, who made her mark as a radio and television personality, host and producer.
She was a proud graduate of Farrington High School, who died last Feb. 19 at age 76. She was the widow of Judge James S. Burns.
As announced in a sizeable obituary in The Honolulu Star-Advertiser this past Sunday, her family suggests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made instead to scholarship programs Emme and her husband supported. Checks can also be sent to the Hawaii Community Foundation and mailed to 827 Fort Street Mall, Honolulu HI 96813-4317, attn. Kevin Rapp…
Broadway grosses, for week ending April 14
The Lion still is King on Broadway, the lone $2 million achiever.
Yep, Disney’s “The Lion King” again heads the weekly grosses, followed by perennial top three colleagues “Hamilton” and “Wicked.”
The Top 10:
1 – “The Lion King,” $2,050 million.
2—”Hamilton,” $1,972 million.
3—”Wicked,” $1,957 million.
4—”Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” $1,731 million.”
5—”MJ the Musical,” $1,473 million.
6—”Merrily We Roll Along,” $1,465 million.
7—”Aladdin,” $1,395 million,
8—”Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” $1,388 million.
9—”Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” $1,331 million.
10—”The Wiz,” $1,288 million.
The full list, courtesy the Broadway League:
And that’s Show Biz…