HPRMusic

The Hawaiian Islands are getting a taste of Ireland this week.

For more than nineteen-years, Lúnasa has been one of Ireland’s most visible musical exports.  Their music blends traditional Celtic instruments like fiddles and tin whistles with a non-traditional rhythm section of double bass and guitar.  During their three island tour they’re joined onstage by bluegrass artist Tim O’Brien who will add a feel of Americana to their sound.  Kevin Crawford plays flute and tin whistle in the band.

Update: Megadeth has canceled their Wednesday and Thursday performances at The Republik.

A statement released by Megadeth management said “Due to a last minute scheduling issue, the band regrettably has to cancel the shows on March 2 & 3 in Honolulu”.

“Exotica” is a style of music pioneered in the late 50’s by artists like Martin Denny and Les Baxter giving birth to a style called “Tiki”.  For people outside the islands – the style painted a picture of what a tropical paradise could be.  Cocktails decorated with tiny umbrellas inside ceramic tiki mugs were paired with breezy jazz marked with an occasional bird call.

Legendary jazz vocalist and songwriter Dee Dee Bridgewater has earned impressive awards for her work in music and theater. She's touring the Aloha State now behind her Dee Dee's Feathers album through Sunday at the Blue Note Hawai'i.

Star-crossed lovers, fairies, and a weaver transformed into a half-donkey come together in an enchanted forest.

On February 14 at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, Hawaii Opera Theatre opens a new production of Benjamin Britten's setting of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This is the first Britten opera HOT has brought to Honolulu audiences.

Originally from Torino, Italy, Roberta Gambarini is a rising star in contemporary jazz. The vocalist, these days based in New York, is touring behind the collaborative effort "Connecting Spirits" she released with Jimmy and Tootie Heath.

Blues artist Marica Ball is touring the state right now.

Regarded as one of the finest guitar players performing today, Earl Klugh has a career stretching back decades. Just a teenager when first getting the chance to work with Yusef Lateef and George Benson, the jazz great has gone on to become a fixture of the genre himself, noted for his acoustic guitar playing, original compositions and interpretations of covers. Handpicked is his latest album.

Uncle George Kahumoku, Jr. discussed his latest album, Paniolo Slack Key, Songs of the Hawaiian Cowboy.

The documentary 'The Legend of Grey Wolf' is about the late singer, songwriter and storyteller, the Rev. Dennis Kamakahi. The title is from a name given to him by a Native American tribe in Washington state. His son David Kamakahi reflected on what it was like to grow up listening to his father's tales.

Entertainer Jeff Bridges is part of the Maui Celebrity Series at the Sheraton this Saturday, at an event that offers partial proceeds to Mental Health Kokua in their effort to help the homeless and those with mental illness in the Aloha State. He took time for this conversation with HPR All Things Considered Host Dave Lawrence.

Jim Messina has a long musical history, including quite a bit of experience in Hawai'i. He returns Thursday on Kaua'i before playing Maui Friday and Hawai'i Island Saturday. From Loggins & Messina, Buffalo Springfield and Poco, Messina has a lot to draw from when taking time for a conversation.  Hear his appearance on HPR's All Things Considered with ATC Local Host Dave Lawrence.  

Roy Hargrove wants to carry the torch of jazz music into an unstable future.  But after recording more than 20 albums and countless collaborations, he feels his work is far from being complete. 

Sax player and songwriter Kenny G is continuing a four-night run at the Blue Note Hawai'i in Waikiki through Sunday. While the musician has a reputation as one of the top artists in the "smooth jazz" genre, what may not be as well known is how his career began at an early age with a serious test of his abilities, onstage with a legendary voice in music.

Featuring music recorded over the last five hundred years, this unusual guitar duo, Frank Vignola and Vinnie Raniolo, are touring Hawai'i now; a show is on Maui tonight and several are ahead on Hawai'i Island.

Hawai‘i is getting a little taste of New Orleans music this week.

Brothers Keith and Phillip Frazer founded the Rebirth Brass Band in the early 80’s playing a style of music known as “Second-Line”.  It’s upbeat Jazz combined with elements of Funk, Soul, and Hip-Hop.  Imagine a full horn section playing a funky groove, accompanied by handclaps and shouts.  Second-line groups are a tradition in New Orleans, accompanying community events ranging from Mardi Gras parades all the way to Jazz funerals.

One of Hawai‘i’s longest running bands is hanging up their instruments for good.

Go Jimmy Go was founded in 1996- during the height of the third resurgence of Ska music.  Over the last 20 years they’ve released five albums and toured around the world.

Their mellow fusion of early reggae and classic soul has been a signature of their sound allowing them to transcend changing musical styles.

Chicago blues guitarist and songwriter Dave Specter has dates in the islands January 22 at Surfer the Bar at Turtle Bay and January 23 at Hawaiian Brian's in Honolulu. The regular musician at Buddy Guy's Legends called into HPR's All Things Considered and spoke with host Dave Lawrence.

See Dave live with Buddy Guy:

Brian Shimkovitz was on a Fulbright scholarship in Ghana when he got hooked on the cassette culture of the region.

There street vendors hawk West African recordings in a variety of genres, from highlife to African disco, old left-field soul to curious local pop.  As he explored the region- he found an Africa much richer and more diverse than the version usually presented in American media.

In October, HPR got a chance to record a special conversation with John Oates during the Hall and Oates tour stop in Honolulu. With a strong connection to the islands dating back decades, HPR All Things Considered Local Host Dave Lawrence sat down with him for a conversation we share today, on Christmas afternoon. 

MORE JOHN:

See the complete 2015 interview shot at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel:

With the retirement of Moon Kauakahi and the death of his brother, John, Uncle Jerome Koko is left to continue the legacy of the legendary Makaha Sons. He spoke about his solo release featuring producer Daniel Ho, called Makaha Sons Memoirs.

Steel guitars have played an essential role in Hawaiian music since they were pioneered by musicians like Joseph Kekuku and Sol Ho‘opi‘i.  In the early nineteen-hundreds - Herman Weisseborn developed a new type of instrument by creating a square hollow neck on the guitar that increased the volume of the steel strings.  But the introduction of electric amplification made that acoustic style obsolete.

A new documentary is capturing the music of Hawai‘i’s plantation history.

Japanese workers cutting sugar cane passed the time and dealt with difficult conditions by improvising songs called “Holehole Bushi”.

The name roughly translates to “dried cane leaf song”, and they became musical windows into the hardships of early plantation life

But the songs were almost forgotten as workers left the fields for the city.  Their memory was preserved in recordings from a music teacher named Harry Urata who recorded hundreds of examples in the early 80’s.