The Black Cat was one of several dance clubs that thrived during World War II, when the influx of servicemen into Hawaii created a demand for live music in that wild jazz form known as swing.
Swingtime Hawaii
Surfer-trombonist enjoys
long-standing island ties
CORRECTION
Tuesday, July 27, 2004Mai Tai Sing was pictured at the center of Page D1 yesterday. The photo was misidentified as Ethel Azama.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.
While jazz musician Ira Nepus is "have trombone, will travel," the surfing enthusiast is not one to turn down a trip back to his adopted home of Hawaii.
Nepus will be participating in this year's Hawaii International Jazz Festival, both as an instructor in a free clinic and as a member of the 17-piece big band that's part of "Swingtime in Hawaii" night on Friday. The concert and morning clinic will be held at the Hawaii Theatre.
Longtime local jazz fans are familiar with Nepus' talent. The native Southern Californian comes with a rich musical pedigree. His father was one of the founders of the Hot Club of France in Paris of the 1930s, which also introduced international legends Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli.
Hawaii International Jazz Festival
When: 7 p.m. Friday ("Swingtime in Hawaii") and Saturday ("International Jazz")Place: Hawaii Theatre
Tickets: $20, $35, $45
Call: 528-0506
On Maui: Aug. 6 and 7 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center
FREE JAZZ CLASSES
All at Hawaii Theatre:Ira Nepus: 10 a.m. Friday
Ken Peplowski: A leader in the post-Benny Goodman era of clarinet and saxophone playing, 10 a.m. Saturday
Dave Choy: Sax demonstrations and rehearsal techniques, 11 a.m. Saturday
Info: hawaiijazz.com
FREE CONCERTS
Tomorrow: Noon to 1 p.m. on the lawn of the State Art Museum next to the state CapitolWednesday: Noon to 1 p.m. at Tamarind Park, downtown
ALSO
Concert and talk: 6 to 9 p.m. at the ARTS at Marks Garage, 1159 Nuuanu Ave., featuring a historical presentation and discussion of the swing era in Hawaii; $10
"My mother was a Spanish dancer," said Nepus through e-mail correspondence, "and still, at the age of 85, continues to dance and teach classical Spanish dance."
Nepus played his first jazz festival at age 15 in Los Angeles, where he found himself in the company of alumni -- including trombone great Kid Ory -- from Louis Armstrong's early bands.
Nepus was exposed to the islands while he was a member of the Woody Herman Orchestra. Heading back east from a tour of Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand, he said, "We played a concert at the Kahala Hilton, and that is where I first met pianist Paul Conrad."
Conrad become a close friend, and Nepus vowed to move to Hawaii as soon as possible. That happened in 1972, thanks to a University of Hawaii marching band scholarship. He turned into a true kamaaina, performing and teaching here until 1982.
"One of the big perks of moving to Hawaii for me was also the ocean, which I always loved," he said. "I started surfing at the age of 15, and, of course, Hawaii was always the surfer's dream come true. So I got to fulfill some of my dreams by getting to ride the North Shore and outer islands.
"It was a whole other world compared to California waves. You needed a whole different set of chops to ride Hawaii's waves, and it was a great learning experience, and a quality way of life, probably one I will never have again."
IN ADDITION TO meeting and befriending Conrad and other musicians of the time, Nepus also got acquainted with another one of his late musical heroes.
"I first met Trummy Young while working at Disneyland, just prior to joining Woody Herman in 1969, and he had come to play a week there with Earl 'Fatha' Hines.
"One night while backstage, enjoying the band on one of my breaks, Trummy asked if I could get him a spray bottle for his trombone slide. I gave him mine. When I moved to Hawaii in '72 and went to join Trummy on one of his Sunday jam sessions at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, I noticed he still had my spray bottle for his slide. We became the closest of friends ever since.
"To this day, Trummy is perhaps my biggest mentor, a big influence on my style of playing, and not a day goes by where I don't think about his teachings and friendship toward me."
Nepus also remembers Kid Ory with fondness. The trombone legend and innovator retired in Honolulu, and died at age 87 in '73. Ory was already ailing when Nepus moved to Hawaii.
"When he passed away shortly thereafter, Trummy formed a trombone choir to play for his open-casket funeral in Honolulu." Nepus was an honored participant.
Trummy Young played trombone at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
NEPUS' other fond memories of his time here extend to the vibrant music scene at the time.
"Hawaii had a great jazz scene going on back in the '70s. There were the guys from Seawind (then called Ox), Ollie Mitchell (our mentor from Los Angeles), John Madrid, Gary Grant, Gabe Baltazar, of course, Ernie Washington, Doug MacDonald, Sam Ahia, Ethel Azama, Jimmy Borges, Betty Lou Taylor and too many great players to mention.
"There were lots of shows for us to play, plus plenty of after-hours jam sessions and regular jazz gigs. I worked with Robert Shinoda, who had a very popular band called the Glass Candle. Del Courtney also moved back to Hawaii and created the weekly tea dances at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which had some of the top players in his band, and he brought a wonderful sense of professionalism to the Hawaii music scene.
"Dr. George Takushi ('Doctor T') had the Torches, made up of some of the finest local musicians, and played the Point After on a weekly basis and lots of private parties. There were shows backing Dick Jensen, the Society of Seven, John Rowles, which kept us working five to six nights a week, plus all the recording sessions that were done in the islands.
"I did my first solo CD in Hawaii. Bruce Hamada, Noel Okimoto, Rich Crandall, Azure McCall and so many wonderful players helped me out. Kirk Thompson from Kalapana produced it, and Don Ho was the executive producer who helped put up the money for it. It wound up on heavy playlists around the mainland, right up there with names like Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass. I couldn't believe it! It was a wonderful time to be a musician in Hawaii."
Singer Ethel Azama, a veteran of the '70s scene.
HIS RESIDENCY in Hawaii ended in 1983, when he was accepted an offer to become the music and band director for the grand opening of Tokyo Disneyland. Nepus spent six months there before returning to L.A. to live the life as a freelance trombonist, which he has been doing for 20-plus years.
That's because he hasn't wanted for work since his move. He's a member of one of the country's top big bands, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. And on the industry side of things, "I am asked to record as a soloist on a lot of groups' CD projects, from Hiroshima to Big Bad VooDoo Daddy.
"I do a considerable amount of motion picture and television background music," Nepus said. He recently "finished recording a song for television where they told me that was Tia Carrere singing the vocal."
He's also the artistic director for the Gardens of the World's annual summer concert series in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Nepus also helps produce jazz festivals in his home area of Ventura County, as well as in Japan and Utah. But there's always room for Hawaii in his busy life.
"I am looking forward to reuniting with my 'aikanes,' even ever so briefly during the festival. (Festival director) Abe Weinstein and I worked as professional musicians during that period together (in Hawaii), and we had some fun, great times."
Clarinetist Artie Shaw performed while stationed here during WWII.
BACK TO TOP |
The isles’ annual jazz festival
pays tribute to the golden age
of a distinctly American sound
Hawaii's pop-culture heritage includes, of course, hula, surfing and dusky maidens in the sunset. To that, let's not forget the syncopated 4/4 of swingin' jazz. Hawaii not only influenced jazz, it was a humming hotbed of hard-working swing clubs during the buildup to wartime and after.
Thanks to information provided by clarinetist and jazz popularizer Abe Weinstein, who's presenting the 11th annual Hawaii International Jazz Festival, here are some highlights of downtown Honolulu's romance with jazz. Music lovers can hear some of the old sounds again Friday night at Hawaii Theatre, when the festival's theme is "Swingtime in Hawaii." On Saturday the musicians expand their repertoire to "International Jazz."
» The local flirtation with jazz began with Harry Owens' "Sweet Leilani," and when it was covered by Bing Crosby in "Waikiki Wedding," a new genre of Hawaiian music was released to the world. Owens, the bandleader at the Royal Hawaiian, was a master at mixing the hapa-Hawaiian croons of the day with finger-snapping orchestrations.
Over at the Moana Hotel, bandleader Johnny Noble became known as "Hawaii's Jazz King," and his concerts drew big, lively crowds, particularly in the nationwide "Hawaii Calls" broadcasts. He also wrote "Hawaiian War Chant," which became a must-cover for working bands of the period.
» As swing swept the nation in the late '30s, Hawaiian musicians working abroad picked up the fundamentals and passed them on when returning home. The massive influx of servicemen during World War II created a demand for live music, and every street had live music and dance clubs. The fairly new technology of records and radio also made the music universal. Some of the clubs, such as the Black Cat, became world-famous.
The Roof-Top Garden at the Alexander Young Hotel was a jazz club of the 1950s.
Swing was the lifeblood of the war, the antidote to the pain and privation of the period, and became known as an indigenously American sound. Ironically, given its influence, the swing period lasted less than a decade, shorter than even rap or metal music.
» The '30s also heard KGU announcer Harry Soria Sr. broadcasting jazz from the notorious Casino Club, famous for its Taxi Dance Hall, on Nuuanu Avenue near Beretania Street. We're talking Andrew Blakenee and the Brown Cats of Rhythm. Other clubs included the Paradise Club on Hotel Street and Leroy's on Ala Moana and Coral Street. Leroy's featured Eddie Sereno's dance band, which included Sereno, "Toto" Aspera, Goichi "Twerp" Nakayama, Al Baang, Tommy Carter, Charles Santos, Tony Soares, Ronald Choo, Alec Abing and Angel Baptiste.
A decade later, the Swing Club on Hotel Street showcased bandleader Que Martin with vocalist Del Graham, drummer Danny Barcelona, Lester Vactor on bass and reed men Charles Abing and Bobby Kamaunu.
» During the war, musicians donned uniforms, and many wound up in Hawaii, such as Artie Shaw, Ray Anthony, Sam Donahue and Claude Thornhill. Gabe Baltazar was influenced by Frank Rehak, a military trombonist who was stationed in the islands. Even guitarist Gabby Pahinui absorbed jazz structures as a young man working in Hawaiian bands during the war.
» Trummy Young was stranded here in 1946 when the band he was with broke up. He started working at downtown venues like the Casino, the Brown Derby and Gibson's Bar. Louis Armstrong caught him at Gibson's and shanghaied him in 1952. Young went on the road with Armstrong for years, appearing in TV specials, movies and concerts.
» The taxi-dance music halls, created mostly for servicemen to meet girls, also served as a prep academy for swinging musicians. It was possibly the only time in Hawaii's history that musicians could make a living at their art. They also got to sit in with the likes of Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Artie Shaw, Ella Fitzgerald, Abbey Lincoln and others.
» Jazz was at its hottest between 1947 and 1959, with music in clubs such as the Blue Note and the Brown Derby on Nuuanu Avenue; Two Jacks, the Tradewinds, the Swing Club and Gibson's Bar on Hotel Street; the Playroom on Bethel Street; the Roof-Top Garden at the Alexander Young Hotel where Bishop Square now stands; the Orchid Room at the Waikiki Tavern, featuring Hawaii's Reuben Yap, Baltazar, Harvey Ragsdale and Mervin Werner. Yeah, baby.
» But in the late '50s, ground zero for live music moved from downtown Honolulu to Waikiki to serve the tourist trade. We're talking the Orchid Room, the Queen's Surf, the Penthouse, the Zebra Room and Club Blue Lei on Kalakaua Avenue; the Clouds and the Little Dipper in Kapahulu; the Shell Bar at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the Banyan Court at the Moana Hotel and Trappers at the Hyatt Regency; Duke Kahanamoku's in the International Market Place, Betty Riley's Copabanca, Keone's and the Jazz Cellar on Lewers Street.
Others came and went -- Gabe's, Kojack's, Club 88, Sir John's and the Wagon Wheel. And one by one they closed down, as hotels focused on tamer entertainment, and Hawaii's live-music industry never quite recovered.
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