Sonny Chillingworth program will bring back memories

Learning that Harry B. Soria Jr. is featuring the late great slack-key guitarist and singer Sonny Chillingworth on his "Territorial Airwaves" show tomorrow, 5 to 6 p.m., on AM 940 radio, brought a smile to my lips. Sonny and his wife, Kiki, were good friends and I loved his music, as did my family and friends. I invited the Chillingworths to a party at my apartment one weekend. They brought along three musician-singers -- Tony Bee, Mike Garcia and Tony Boneza. They played for about three hours. Garcia and Boneza left after that but Sonny and Bee stayed and played more music. My pals Tim Smythe and Richard Lee grabbed a guitar and uke and joined them. This went on until dawn. Then Kaliko Burgess, who lived down the hall, came over wheeling a shopping cart that carried a half-gallon of vodka and Bloody Mary mix. What a great time that weekend was. Bee was the last to leave -- on the third day ...

staggering on: In tomorrow's show, Harry traces Sonny's recordings from 1964-75. He also takes the audience from Sonny's Hawaiian slack-key sounds, through his Portuguese, katchi-katchi and country-western music. Besides radio, listeners can click open the on-demand show on the "Territorial Airwaves" page at either www.hawaiian105.com, or www.am940hawaii.com, to get Harry's latest show ...

It was 25 years ago this week that Seth Markow's jazz radio program, "The Real Deal," got the down beat. It's the longest-running jazz show in Hawaii radio history. Catch it on KIPO 83.9 FM Friday and Saturday nights from 8 to 10 ...

Beckham's arrival charges up Benihana

Benihana at the Hilton was full of excitement Monday night when soccer great David Beckham and other members of the Los Angeles Galaxy came in for dinner. Beckham was gracious and posed for a photo with a couple and their toddler. Bodyguards were on hand to make sure everything went well ... The smooth sound of Kenny G's sax will fill the Blaisdell Concert Hall March 15 when he stars in the Honolulu Symphony Toyota Pops Concert at 8 p.m. Matt Catingub conducts. Supporting act is the duo of singer-bassist Bruce Hamada and pianist Jim Howard, a couple of guys who pump out plenty of good music ... Patrick Gey has joined Louis Vuitton as a personal shopper ...

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Ben Wood, who sold the Star-Bulletin in the streets of downtown Honolulu during World War II, writes of people, places and things in our Hawaii. E-mail him at bwood@starbulletin.com