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Wood Craft Ben Wood |
Ground Floor
jumps Fridays with
vintage jazz musiciansA small group of homegrown, vintage jazz musicians gather each Friday, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., at the Ground Floor restaurant and knock out solid standards that have the audience yelling for more. Jade Sen tipped me about the action and said I would love it. She was right. The nucleus of the KatBox group is made up of Henry "Boxhead" Yoshino, Farrington High '48, on alto sax, and Kats Ota, McKinley '50, on keyboard. Gabe Baltazar, McKinley '48, on tenor sax, often sits in with his pals as does Gabe's brother, Norman, McKinley '50, on trumpet. Myrna Suemori, Roosevelt '55, is the band's singer. When they cut loose together and Myrna starts wailing, the place really jumps. The sax harmony by Gabe and Boxhead is beautiful. Last Friday night Myrna sang "Don't Get Around Much Any More," "Taking a Chance on Love," and other favorites. Guests also sing. Bea Goodwin was the guest star of the night Friday. Her hana hou of "Take the A-Train" was terrific. She's got the goods. Mimi Nguyen, who used to sing with Trummy Young at the Shell Bar, and Ron Diamond, who was on-stage at age 13, performed. Ron had the gang swinging on "Fly Me to the Moon." Attorney Pat O'Connor sang, as did Bobby Ishihara and Roland Aton. It's a groovy scene ...
Bishop Museum honors Buyers, Kobayashi
J.W.A. "Doc" Buyers and Bert Kobayashi will be honored for their exceptional leadership at Bishop Museum's Bernice Pauahi Bishop Awards Dinner June 25 at Hilton's Coral Ballroom. Music written for Princess Pauahi will be performed. Straw hats from her personal collection that her husband, Charles Reed Bishop, donated when first establishing the museum, will be on view. Gowns that belonged to Queen Liliuokalani and Queen Emma will be displayed. There will also be a silent auction. Tickets are $150; call 848-4169 ...Former Merchant Marine skipper Robert "Bob" Levy, 81, is now a doctor, having received his doctorate in Marine Technology from Hamilton U. in Evanston, Wyo., through computer studies. Bob, a sailor's sailor, captained ships in World War II that came under heavy enemy fire ...
Tony Ofril will be installed as president of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii at the chamber's Golden Jubilee Installation Banquet July 3 at Hilton's Tapa Ballroom ...
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Ben Wood, who sold the Star-Bulletin in the streets of downtown Honolulu during World War II, writes of people, places and things every Wednesday and Saturday. E-mail him at bwood@starbulletin.com