Saxophonist Michael Paulo has been working so much, he's been able to spend more time with his family in Hawaii than at his office at Noteworthy Records in California. Paulo flew over three weeks ago as one of the jazz artists featured at the Great Waikoloa Food, Wine and Music Festival on the Big Island. He was back less than two weeks later to help celebrate the official release of "The Voice," the debut album by 19-year-old Junior Maile. Paulo’s back again
for tribute to DadBy John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.comAnd he'll be in the audience at the Hawaii Theatre on Thursday when his father, pianist Rene Paulo Sr., is honored during the first-night festivities at the 8th Annual Hawaii International Jazz Festival.
"It's nice to see my dad still get out there and play," Paulo says. "Recently I invited him to come and perform with me in a concert in L.A., and he flew up. My mother came up and sang, my daughters danced, and my dad played the piano, and it was great. He's pretty much retired, and it's great to see him get back in the limelight."
A father-and-son duet was a big hit here when Rene sat in during Michael's set with the Honolulu Symphony in 1999.
Watching his father, and maybe some other members of the family, play on Thursday will be a rare bit of down time in a hectic summer schedule for Michael, who is working on an anthology album that will document his career as a solo recording artist. But his top priority this summer is launching singer/songwriter Junior Maile as the newest artist on Noteworthy's roster.
Paulo founded Noteworthy seven years ago as a small indie marquee for his own work. He gradually expanded the company catalog by licensing foreign albums for release in the United States -- a move that made titles by Pauline Wilson and drummer Michael White available here as domestic releases rather than as "imports."
The next step was signing fellow jazz artists Boy Katindig and Kerry Mow and helping them get their music into the national marketplace. Paulo has since gotten more directly involved as a session producer, but he's always worked within a basic "jazz" idiom -- until now.
"I'm stepping out of my realm," he says. "Basically, my strength was instrumental and jazz music, but with Junior's project I found an opportunity to produce a vocal record. I've done other vocal projects in Japan but nothing of this nature in my own back yard."
Why now?
He says the time was right. He liked Maile's music and felt Hawaii would be open to it. "Coming back for the last few years and seeing the blossoming of Hawaiian commercial music (and) pop music again reminds me of the '70s. I was part of a wave then with Kalapana and C&K and Country Comfort. Now we have the Jawaiian explosion, the Hawaiian pop music explosion with Fiji and Willie K and all that kind of stuff, and Junior is in touch with it. It's a great opportunity."
Maile is good with reggae-beat "island music," but at heart he's a balladeer who digs smooth R&B harmonies, and writing and recording love songs. Maile's ballads slip naturally into a mainstream R&B pop groove when Paulo and his studio colleagues do their thing with the instrumental arrangements. The combination of Maile and his originals, and Paulo and his colleagues, comes out as a fresh yet polished sound.
"The Voice" is off to a promising start, but Paulo is taking nothing for granted. He and the soft-spoken Maile have been making the rounds of morning radio shows, sitting for interviews and sitting in at the clubs. Paulo says putting in the street time has been great.
"I came to realize after coming back a few times, just hanging with my family, that a lot of people here weren't aware of what I've been doing.
"I was concentrating on the mainland and doing my thing up there. Now I'm making more of an effort to be more visible in Hawaii."
Place: Blaisdell Concert Hall and McKinley High Auditorium Hawaii International
Jazz Festival
Showtimes: 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday at Blaisdell and 4 p.m. Sunday at McKinley
Tickets: $20, $35 and $40 per night; students $5 (a four-day pass is available, as well as senior and military discounts). Available at the Blaisdell Box Office and Ticket Plus outlets, or charge by phone at 526-4400.
Online: www.hawaiijazz.com
Tomorrow
Hawaiian Jazz Night: A salute to the Paulo, Cazimero, Conjugacion and Baltazar families, with Hula Joe and the Hutjumpers, Jake Shimabukuro, Moe Keale, Jimmy Borges, the Betty Loo Taylor Trio and Melveen Leed.
Friday / Saturday
Tribute to Stan Kenton: With Carmen Bradford and the USC Big Band and Nestor Torres (Friday) and the Four Freshmen, Bud Shank, the Marvin Stamm Duo and the San Diego State Big Band (Saturday). Other Kenton alumni on both nights include Gabe Baltazar, Buddy Childers, Eddie Bert and Dick "Slyde" Hyde.
Sunday
Parade of Big Bands: Featuring the presentation of a lifetime achievement award to Gabe Baltazar and student scholarship winners, as well as the big bands from UH, USC and San Diego State, and the Oahu Junior Jazz Ensemble.
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calendars and events.
