COURTESY OF ALO
From left -- Dan Lebowitz, Steve Adams, Zach Gill and Dave Brogan.
ALO returns
to the islands
It's not quite a year since ALO was last in Hawaii in March of '03, and the band is delighted to be coming back to the islands for a round of gigs, starting tonight in Kihei, Maui, and ending next weekend here on Oahu.
I mean, who wouldn't be happy to be coming to Hawaii in February? Group spokesman Steve Adams was calling from somewhere in the great American west last Friday on the way back to San Francisco from a series of shows in snowy Colorado.
These are great times for ALO. Adams confirmed that a new album is on the way, and now seems as good a time as any to clear up a couple of issues that confused some people here during their last visit.
ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra)
Where: Wave Waikiki, 1877 Kalakaua Ave.When: 10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday
Admission: $10, 21 and over
Call: 941-0424
First, there's the name. ALO is the acronym for Animal Liberation Orchestra, but for the benefit of anyone who didn't listen to the lyrics of "Animal Liberation" (one of six impressive, progressive entries on the quartet's current CD, "Time Expander"), the band members aren't vegans. Nor are they animal rights activists who advocate attacking research facilities or throwing paint on people who wear fur coats.
"The name of the band was kind of given to us by a friend and is more along the lines of liberating the human spirit and finding the animal within yourself," Adams said. The original version of the group was as a nine-piece that came together in 1998 and performed as the Animal Liberation Orchestra & The Free Range Horns. The primary objective, Adams explained, was to get people to dance "and really let go."
Since then, ALO has forged ahead without a horn section for a couple of years. The most recent change took place when Dave Brogan replaced Shree Shujam Das on drums after they recorded "Time Expander" in 2002, but the name and vibe remain.
"It's still very much about getting people to let go and really encouraging audience participation and sing along, dancing, and responding to the music almost in a jazz sort of way," Adams said.
Turning to another piece of unfinished business, he explained that the vaguely Hawaiian-sounding "Kolomana" was inspired by the band's encounter with a character they met in Arizona, and isn't intended to be mistaken as a Hawaiian or neo-lounge song.
"We were on tour and this character just kind of came out of nowhere and decided he wanted to hang out with us. He was a self-proclaimed shaman from the islands of Hawaii somewhere, kind of arrogantly talking about these things about himself and telling us what he was doing in Arizona. We were entertained by the character of him, and (singer) Zach (Gill) decided to write about it. The song kind of tells the story of us meeting him.
"There were people (in Hawaii) last year who weren't really sure what it was all about and were looking for these words, but we hadn't been in Hawaii before we wrote the song, and we weren't even sure if this guy was even from Hawaii. We were just going with the references that we picked up from him and writing some music that went with that."
The song, however, is a smooth blend of funk, acid jazz, soul and psychedelia, with a touch of contemporary exotica thrown in.
ALO PLANS to release a new, still-untitled album in June and Adams describes it as a distinct step away from the eclectic potpourri of genres found on "Time Expander" and into a new amalgam of compatible styles.
"I'd say it's a little less electronic and dance-y, a little bit rootsier. There's some slower tunes and down-tempo stuff, and our friend, Jack Johnson, is going to be on the album. He did a vocal track and a guitar track for one of the songs, so there's some of his vibe on there a little bit."
And as for ALO's two-nighter at Wave, Adams says they'll be playing a lot of the new material.
But is there any chance that Johnson might join them onstage this year?
"I'm not sure. ... (His wife is) having a baby and I think it's due the week we're there, but we're hoping to connect with him somewhere at some point. Last year, we had a chance to go hang out at his place and actually ended up recording some music just for fun with him on drums." (There could at least be an off-chance Johnson may join them when the band plays in his hometown Haleiwa Joe's next Friday.)
But with or without Johnson, Adams says that ALO will put on a good show.
"We're at an interesting point in the evolution of the band because our drummer, Dave Brogan, jumped on board about a year-and-a-half ago, but we played with him in 1996. There's a long history to the band."
That turns out to be something of an understatement. Adams and Gill met in elementary school. They later met guitarist Dan Lebowitz in junior high and started their first band.
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