‘Iolani’s three stage bands presented their final concert of the year on Sunday afternoon, May 20th at the Hawaii Theatre.This was the first appearance of the bands at this theatre and it was a great venue for them. Previously, the spring concerts had been held at the Hawaii Convention Center’s auditorium but the seating capacity was very limited, so this year we thought that the Hawaii Theatre would be a more suitable site. The use of the Hawaii Youth Symphony’s sound shell helped to focus the sound together with the skilled sound engineering of Vance Kitaoka of our Audio-Visual Department.
Stage Band 1 opened the program with John LaBarbera’s Best Coast with Alto Sax soloist Mark Teramoto, followed by Ricky Don’t Lose That Number with Kaci Onouye on the Alto Sax. Count Basies’s Jumpin’ at the Woodside featured soloists J.R. Bunda on Baritone Sax, Daniel Barr on Trumpet and Micah Baclig on Trombone. The closing number was Tito Puente’s Ran Kan Kan featuring many soloists. This group was amazing! The ensemble playing was tight and the intonation was very good. The soloists are developing very well. The group has great potential and I look forward to hearing them again, mostly as members of Stage Band 2.
Stage Band 2 began their part of the concert with Nat Adderley’s Work Song, featuring a variety of soloists. Stanley Turrentine’s Sugar was next which showcased the seniors in this group – Sean Campbell on Guitar, Will Caron on Alto Sax, Troy Lee on Drums and Melissa Nip on Alto Sax. Four Brothers, Jimmy Giufffre’s tune made famous by the Woody Herman band featured the sax section. Stage Band 2’s section of the program concluded with Lennon and McCartney’s Got To Get You Into My Life which featured soloists Royce Furukawa on Tenor Sax and Vicky Le on Guitar.
Stage Band 3 started their section with Scotty Morris’ Mambo Swing and it really swung with a real variety of soloists. Senior Guitarist Stephen Lim performed Wes Montgomery’s D Natural Blues, playing beautifully.
Guest soloist Jimmy Borges was warmly welcomed to the stage and he sang the Rodgers and Hart standard, Where or When, followed by Bricusse and Newley’s Who Can I Turn To. Both of the songs were from the Frank Sinatra Library and Jimmy and the band really brought back the great sounds of the Sinatra era with these two upbeat arrangements. We were very fortunate to have the opportunity for the band to work with this amazing artist. Garry Chun of our Audio-Visual Department sat in with the band on lead trumpet for these tunes and helped the band deliver the great brass sounds demanded by these arrangements. Jimmy praised the band and its director Curtis Abe for their fine work. The bands final number, Herbie Hancock’s Cantaloupe Island gave every senior in the band a chance to play their final solos. Considering that all but four members of the band were seniors, the tune went on for quite awhile, with every senior putting their own twist on the tune.
Congratulations on a fine program by a great group of students.
