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Iz tribute
a showcase for
isle musicians
More than 20 bands
Medeiros captures new sound By John Berger
will take part
Special to the Star-BulletinGLENN Medeiros won't be singing at Tom Moffatt's "IZ: The Man, The Music, The Tribute" concert Saturday, but he will be there with several members of the "Baywatch Hawaii" production team when they check out the six-hour extravaganza at the Waikiki Shell. The concert will pay tribute to the late musician whose music influenced the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. May 20 was the anniversary of Iz's birthday.
More than 20 bands will take part in the tribute. Moffatt is presenting traditional Hawaiian chant, hula and falsetto, as well as Jawaiian, local reggae, hapa haole and pop. Genoa Keawe and O'Brien Oselu are sharing the bill with O-Shen, Ten Feet & B.E.T., Pure Heart, Ho'onua, Brittney Anelaikalani Jennings, Natural Vibrations, the IZ Band featuring Del Beazley and Moe Keale, and the Hoku Award-winning duo of Amy Hanaiali'i & Willie K.
This will give the audience and the Baywatch group quite a mixed plate of local music, and as a result, people nationwide may soon be hearing more Hawaii music.
As musical coordinator for "Baywatch Hawaii," Medeiros has been working with Greg Bonann and several of the show's other senior executives, trying to convince them to add more local music on the show. Medeiros and Frank South, co-executive producer and head writer, have been spending a lot of time out on the town listening to everything from traditional ki ho'alu and hapa-haole music to Jawaiian and local reggae.
South is already a big fan of the Jamaican-based "island music" that dominates the local airwaves -- Fiji and O-Shen are two of his favorites -- but the interest in making "Baywatch Hawaii" a worldwide showcase for Hawaiian music extends all the way to the executive suites of parent company, Pearson Television.
Katherine Capisarow, Pearson's head of music publishing, flew in from London this month to hear the Brothers Cazimero, Henry Kapono and Brownskin perform at Chai's Bistro, and then joined Medeiros, South and others in catching Fiji and Three Plus in a midnight concert at Pipeline Cafe.
Cory Lerios and John D'Andrea, composers of the music beds for each episode, are flying in from L.A. for the IZ tribute.
"Greg has been open to all my suggestions about using more local music, but Frank has the real push this season. He doesn't want to miss a concert and he just loves the local music," Medeiros said. "They're talking about featuring some of the groups in the show itself.
"Greg feels that (local) music is a key to the show, and I think for most people in Hawaii being on a national television show is a plus.
"We've had great experiences from the beginning with Fiji and the Makaha Sons; they went out of their way to help us. We wanted to use more local music last year and the music is going to be exclusively local now -- original songs and local artists."
Medeiros' latest job is a milestone in a long career that started when he won I-94's "Brownbags to Stardom" contest in 1986. He signed a national record deal with Leonard Silver and Amherst Records, and hit No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 with his debut single, "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You." Medeiros not only made the Hot 100 six more times between 1987 and 1990 but topped the Hot 100 with "She Ain't Worth It" for two weeks in 1990.
Ten years later, he's still the biggest recording artist to come out of the "Brownbags" contest and one of the few local pop artists to make any of the six major Billboard charts while living in Hawaii.
Medeiros achieved greater success in Europe after 1990 than in America and eventually decided to put his personal life ahead of his international career. He returned home, spent several years developing his skills as a multi-faceted showroom artist, working with Frank DeLima at the Polynesian Palace, and graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a degree in history.
He also got married. Three months ago he became the proud father of Cord Medeiros.
Medeiros continues to record on the Amherst label. He is also sharing his 15-plus years experience in the record business teaching voice, writing and producing songs for himself and other artists. He's even getting back into performing at Chai's.
He sees "Baywatch Hawaii" as a vehicle for getting Hawaii's music into homes around the world.
"I think more than anything else the reggae music will be worked into the show because of its popularity here and its international appeal, but there are going to be times when we need authentic Hawaiian music going all the way back to chant."
"I think here in Hawaii we have some of the best guitarists in the world but outside here and California and Japan, people haven't heard them. If we get the right time slots in the United States I think the show will change that."
Honoring Iz
What: Celebrating Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole. "IZ -- the Man, the Music, the Tribute Concert," with local performers from all genres including Genoa Keawe, Willie K, Pure Heart, Reality, Moke Boy, Baba B, The Krush, Natural Vibrations, Ho'onua, Ka'au Crater Boys featuring Ernie Cruz, Ten Feet and B.E.T., Sean Na'auao, O-shen, Soul Free, and the IZ Band with Del Beazley and Moe Keale
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