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Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

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  • Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

    For those who don't like smooth jazz, this won't be of any interest to you! Local sax player-made-good, Michael Paulo, brought a couple of his friends from the mainland for a concert at the Royal Hawaiian Theater in Waikiki this week-end...guitar player, Peter White, and keyboardist, Gregg Karukas. The concert was :::S:M:O:K:I:N' H:O:T::: I've been to a lot of jazz concerts in my life and, for me, this one ranks as my #1 favorite. I'm completely wired right now! I was jammin' in my seat the entire 2 hours!

    I wish I had review skills but I don't! So I won't...'cept to say that it was one of those magical nights when all the musicians were not only feeding off each other's energy but also feeding off the incredible energy from the audience...and vice versa.

    Michael called his dad, 79 year old Renee Paulo Sr., on stage for several numbers including a touching father/son duet and a jamming version of 'Last Tango in Paris'. There was no grass growing under Renee's feet. That guy still has the midas touch on keyboards. He went back and forth with Karukas on one number and the crowd went crazy.

    The thought I had throughout the evening was that this concert needed to be at the Shell (on a dry, warm evening!) with 10 times the number of people! However, I doubt my heart could've taken 10 times more excitement!

    It appears that Michael Paulo Hosts Smooth Jazz Nights is aiming for a monthly gig with Paulo bringing in more of his mainland jazz friends. 'Cept for March, with 2 concerts. March 27 & 28 he'll host Bobby Caldwell, Greg Adams and Hawaii's own Pauline Wilson. I won't miss that one, either!!! My iPod is full of Karukas, Caldwell and Wilson. After tonight I'm gonna add lots of Peter White. I just became one of his Facebook fans!

    Tomorrow will probably remind me of the day after Christmas when I was a kid...a big letdown!

    Did any other HTers attend?

  • #2
    Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert tonight

    Dayam...Paulo hit another home run with tonight's concert. I have to revise my post above to read that that concert is still my #1 favorite jazz concert...for instrumentals! Tonight, featuring outasight jazz vocalist Bobby Caldwell, former Tower of Power trumpet player Greg Adams and Seawind vocalist Pauline Wilson, is my all time favorite jazz concert...for vocals!

    Adams had the almost full theater on their feet dancing. He didn't give us a choice. He insisted on it and we all complied! FUN!

    Wilson opened the show with Seawind favorites. There's a new Seawind CD about to be released; initially in Japan. She sounded great.

    Caldwell, who plays keyboards and guitar, brought his keyboardist from Joisey <g> with him. He was backed on vocals by Wilson and local guitar player, Zanuck Lindsay. I'd pay to listen to Caldwell sing the Yellow Pages!

    And Michael Paulo was absolutely magical on sax and flute. Hawaii has every reason to be proud of that local boy.

    Another :::S:M:O:K:I:N' H:O:T::: concert! Oh, and in 2 weeks...Deniece Williams, Ray Parker Jr., Freddie Washington, Brian Simpson and, of course, Michael Paulo. Can't wait!

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    • #3
      Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert tonight

      Aloha tutusue and mahalo for the updates. I just saw the flyer for next weekend's shows featuring Deniece Williams and Ray Parker Junior. I wish I was free so I could attend but I've got prior engagements to attend both nights! DOH!

      I'm sure you'll let us all know how it goes and no doubt it will be :::S:M:O:K:I:N' H:O:T:::

      http://www.smoothjazznights.com/
      Toku toa, he toa rangatira ~ He whakatauki
      My bravery is inherited from the chiefs who were my forebears ~ Maori whakatauki

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      • #4
        Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert tonight

        Thanks KD. I hope work doesn't interfere with attending the concert. I'm loving this series! I'm really anxious to hear who Michael brings in for May. I'm also loving the stadium seating with cup holders at the Royal Hawaiian Theater. The bar is pricey but it's nice to have it available.

        ETA...Michael told a cute story about the last time he worked with Bobby Caldwell, 20 years ago. It seems another sax player had commited to Caldwell's gig but then had to back out. Michael ended up filling in for...Boney James!
        Last edited by tutusue; April 2, 2009, 05:49 PM.

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        • #5
          Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

          :::H:O:T::: :::H:O:T::: :::H:O:T::: :::H:O:T::: :::H:O:T:::

          Just when I think the music can't get any better...it does. Whatta night of jazz. On a scale of 1 to 10, the first tune was a 10 and it was all uphill from there. Deniece Williams has an octave range that must be off the charts. She and sax player, Michael Paulo, exchanged riffs. How in the heck can a voice do that?! Add to that the talents of guitarist Ray Parker Jr., keyboardist Brian Simpson and bassist Freddie Washington and the night became absolutely magical. For the 3rd straight concert the audience went wild, dancing in the aisles, in front of their seats and even in their seats!

          A full night of jazz (we continued on to the Lewers Lounge after the concert!) and a full Easter (literally) makes for one very tuckered tutu!

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          • #6
            Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

            Huh oh...I have to start resting up NOW. The next concert in this series is May 9...one night only...and Michael Paulo is bringing in Rick Braun and, once again, Gregg Karukas. YOOOOWZAAAAAH!!!!!

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            • #7
              Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

              Last night's concert was, once again, incredible. Trumpeter Rick Braun is such a good entertainer. The entire band rocked. Local bass player, Steve Jones, brought the house down on one number. Jazz bliss, I tell ya!

              The theater had a new configuration allowing for a club atmosphere, with 2 bars, on the floor level and the stadium seating retracted to approx. row H making all the stadium seating at a low balcony level. There isn't a bad seat in that theater.

              The one downer last night was a drunk heckler. At least he heckled with slurred statements of enthusiasm but he was LOUD, obnoxious and non-stop. If someone asked him to pipe down, he would for a few minutes...but still "talk" to the musicians, just not yell! To make it worse, the musicians were acknowledging this jerk! And, even worse, yet...he sat 3 seats to my right with no one in between! He came over to me a couple of times to profess his love for the 3 headliners. I told him I was there to listen to the music, not him! Why he continued to be served, I'll never know. While the concert wasn't even close to being ruined for me, there's not much I dislike more than being around a drunk; a loud, obnoxious drunk.

              I'm looking forward to June!

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              • #8
                Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

                June 20 - Peter White (Midnight in Manhattan) and Philippe Saisse (Masques)
                July 10 and 11 - Hiroshima

                Oooooooowheeeee, baby! Can't wait. I haven't seen Hiroshima in concert since they played the Shell when the Hawaiian Electric theme song was first popular...what?...early-mid '80s? Peter White is incredible in person and am looking forward to my first Philippe Saisse live experience!

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                • #9
                  Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

                  ohhhhh - i wish you would not keep posting about these concerts. I'm so envious that you get to go & I don't.
                  "Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be."
                  – Sydney J. Harris

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                  • #10
                    Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

                    I had to miss the June 20 concert. Painful, I tell ya! I heard it was the best one yet! *sigh* Just a reminder that Michael's bringing in Hiroshima for 2 concerts, July 10 & 11. Tickets are available thru Honolulu Box Office.

                    Have my tickets...can't wait!

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                    • #11
                      Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

                      Hiroshima tonight...and sold out! Wuuuuuhuuuuu! Can't wait!

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                      • #12
                        Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

                        Ooooooh myyyyyy gaaaaaawd! Whatta concert. :::H:O:T:::H:O:T:::H:O:T:::

                        After 30 years together, Hiroshima is still unique and timeless. And, they had Kenny Endo on taiko drums. Outta sight! Endo had a solo that went on for about 3 minutes before Hiroshima's drummer, Danny Yamamoto, joined in for a duet. Since I'm a percussion-slut I was in heaven! Those 2 were completely in sync, as if they'd played together the full 30 years instead of 2 nights.

                        Of course, it wouldn't be a Hiroshima concert without "Hawaiian Electric"! And, holey moley, did they ever deliver on that one! June Kuramoto is just so eloquent on the koto. She takes that beautiful instrument to a whole new level.

                        No Michael Paulo for this concert which disappointed me a little. But, the group delivered big time and I understood Michael's desire to let them be. The obligatory "hana hou" was shouted over and over and out walked the bass player, Dean Cortez, who was with Boz Skaggs for his world tour. He had an amazing solo in progress when the rest of the band sauntered on stage and joined him. Then...

                        ...out walked Jake Shimabukuro! He blew the guts outta the theater! Unreal. Even the band members were shaking their heads. Then...

                        ...out walked Michael Paulo whose sax solo rocked the joint. Incredible. Then...

                        ...Michael and Jake started dueling and the audience went wild! Well, I went wild as did the two 20-something, African-American males behind me! They were a hoot! I got so into it that I was oblivious to everything else going on around me except those 2 guys! I wanna sit with them at all future concerts! The rest of the band joined in for that final song. What an amazing end to an amazing concert with a well deserved standing O. Egads, did we ever get our money's worth!

                        Now I have to write a eulogy. From one emotional extreme to the other...

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                        • #13
                          Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

                          Great to hear it and know there is still hope for superb music played live!
                          Rare these day's, but it can still happen.
                          https://www.facebook.com/Bobby-Ingan...5875444640256/

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                          • #14
                            Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

                            I'm so looking forward to a another concert tonight...Michael Paulo and Jeff Lorber with added, local guest stars...at Aloha Tower Marketplace, the old Pier Bar area. The entire ATM should be rockin'! Check it out...

                            Unfortunately, tonight is jammed packed with various events around Oahu, all worth attending! Oh, to have the ability to, miraculously, be in more than one place at one time!

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                            • #15
                              Re: Michael Paulo's Smooth Jazz Nights concert series

                              DAYAM...another great concert! Because the Royal Hawaiian Theater is now home to a Chinese Cirque type show Michael had to make a change of venue for his Smooth Jazz Nights. As mentioned above, that turned out to be ATM.

                              My not so humble opinion is he needs a venue that will allow for a much larger crowd and better seating arrangements. Four of us decided to attend and, once there and seeing the seating arrangement, decided to find a viewing location outside the perimeter that had been set up. We chose the 2nd floor lanai of the food court, makai side. The sound was great. Great view of the stage altho' we were quite aways back. Beautiful view of the moonlit water. My 3 friends are hoping for the same situation next month. Not me! I really, really missed being in the midst of and a part of the audience and all the energy that comes with it...that jazz-adrenaline high! I really missed the total experience.

                              I video recorded a 14 minute song with my still camera and just played it back on my computer. Chickenskin, even the next day! The picture stinks but I didn't expect anything else. The tiki torches are prominent! The sound is great, tho'.

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