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With a second album recently
released, Vernon Sakata, former
background guitar man,
basks in the foreReview: Sakata delivers a fresh mix
By John Berger
Special to the Star-BulletinJIMI Hendrix classics rearranged as lounge music? That's one of the more unconventional projects Vernon Sakata has been involved with in his two decades as a journeyman guitarist. Sakata has been visible in recent years working with Henry Kapono, C&K, Nohelani Cypriano, Loyal Garner, Robi Kahakalau, Fiji, Kapono Beamer, and with Michael McDonald for "Dolphin Day" the past three years on the Big Island. Local rock fans old enough to remember the '80s as adults will also recognize him as a member of Shnazz -- the rock band that proved ahead of its time in Hawaii but made a name for itself with a self-titled debut album in 1980. The Hendrix project was a Shnazz spin-off.
"We did a Hendrix lounge show -- 'Purple Haze,' 'Fire,' 'Foxy Lady' -- in different styles. We did 'Little Wing' as a country song," Sakata said.
After all these years as either a band member or someone's hired sideman Sakata has been venturing out on his own as a solo artist. He released his first solo album, "Millennium," in 1998. His second, "Pandora's Box," came out late last year. Although he feels comfortable as studio musician, Sakata is still feeling his way as a solo performer.
"When you're the headliner you carry the weight. You take the blame if your musicians are doing whatever. When you're working solo you bring your experience watching and listening as a band member with you, but it's still different from being back there," Sakata says.
"When you're out there alone you are the whole show. It comes down to a question of all the years you've been performing with other bands have you really been learning and growing and putting something into it? If you haven't then it's really going to show in your solo project. If people have been following my career all these years I hope they say, 'Vernon? Oh, he's getting better.' "
As a soloist he also has to decide which songs to play and in what order. There's also the question of how much money there is to work with. On some of his promotional performances he performs with several other musicians. Other performances are strictly solo.
Modern technology makes it possible. Sakata played every thing on the album and laid down all the component tracks. He has several sets of tracks prepared for his live performances. One is a variation of a karaoke singer's "minus one" tracks that contains everything but the guitar. Others omit some of the other tracks as well. That way he can always give his audience the basic sound of the album no matter how many musicians are working with him.
"If I have a drummer and a bass player I can add the other tracks. I'd love to play with a full band but the budget doesn't allow for that. You can say that no two performances are going to be the same and you'll never know what you're going to get."
Both of Sakata's albums are eclectic and cosmopolitan musical tapestries.
"That's how I write. I take all the influences I have and they just come out. When record companies look at you they're looking to market you a certain way so it's a lot easier for them (if the whole album sounds the same), but I like all types of music and so therefore if I just did a straight jazz album or a straight Latin album I think I'd get bored with it. It's like the Ed Sullivan Show with a little variety in there. Chet Atkins to Jose Feliciano to Lawrence Welk. From the feedback I got for the first CD a lot of people like that."
Sakata is also doing his own promotion and like most contemporary musicians has a web site (http://www.iuma.com).
And as for his days as a hard rocker?
Sakata says no matter how where his curiosity takes him straight-ahead guitar rock will always be in style.
Sakata delivers a fresh mix
"Pandora's Box"
by Vernon Sakata (Woofy Doof VS-2000)The back cover art describes the contents as "World Jazz Acoustic Electric Guitar Instrumentals, " and Vernon Sakata delivers from start to finish in fine style. The 13 songs -- 12 plus a "danse mix" reprise of the opener -- draw on a broad spectrum of African, Latin, Caribbean, and contemporary American music. Several tunes sound familiar but none trespass on the hits of other artists or plagiarize the music of other cultures. Sakata is an explorer but no purveyor of musical colonialism.
Sakata offers something for almost any mood or situation. Some tunes are embellished with arresting noises in the undertracks. Others are straight forward contemporary American jazz. A few fuse elements of several cultures.
All too many local acts try to show off their versatility and end up with albums of awkwardly incongruent material. Sakata's guitars -- electric and acoustic alike -- provide enough of a common denominator that the diverse rhythms and textures mesh well while retaining their freshness and value with repeat play.
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John Berger, Special to the Star-Bulletin
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