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Ray Charles, Martin
Denny, Artie Shaw
will be honored

Gabe Baltazar performed a song in honor of the great clarinetist Artie Shaw to much applause at Sunset on the Beach last Sunday. He told Hawaii International Jazz Festival founder Abe Weinstein that the Sunset bandstand was just yards away from the Navy's Breakers Club where Artie performed in World War II. Young Gabe would crawl under the barbed-wire fence and listen to Artie, who was stationed here in the Navy. At the Sunset event, Gabe played "My Blue Heaven," which Artie recorded with his Gramercy Five. Gabe will play it again at the jazz fest's "Artie Shaw Tribute" next Saturday night at the Hawaii Theatre. "A Tribute to Ray Charles," with a 15-piece band and seven singers, including four Blues Sisters as the Raylettes, will be big in the show. There will also be a Tribute to Martin Denny by the group Waitiki, with Gabe; and Latin Soul, with Scott Martin on flute and sax. Piano Titans and Hawaiian Strings, featuring Owana Salazar, DeShannon Higa, Jeff Peterson, Abe Lagrimas, Jr., Mokoto Ozone and Don Grusin, opens the fest Friday. Things start swinging at 7 both nights. Free jazz clinics will be given at the theatre both days at 10 a.m.; call 941-9974 ...

Friends of Ledward Ka'apana, Kahoku Productions and the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach are being invited to a CD release party Thursday for Led's "Kiho'alu Hawaii Slack Key Guitar" album ... Tonight's the last night to catch "The Forbidden world of Don Tiki" at the Hawaiian Hut ...

Melveen celebrates with pals on Kaula's yacht

Melveen Leed scheduled her 62nd birthday party yesterday afternoon on daughter Capt. Ka'aikaula Nalua'i's 70-foot charter yacht, Hawaiian Rainbow. Melveen has thousands of friends but she held the guest list to 140 of them. "Kaula's captain's license is good for vessels up to 100 tons and she's only 28," proud mom Melveen said. "She went fishing Wednesday with two men who work on her yacht and caught a 200-pound marlin for the party." Melveen's actual birthday is July 18. She spent that day with Kaula, 28. Melveen celebrated on Maui the day before at a party thrown by Marlene Ortiz, who promised Krispie Kreme donuts for Mel's yacht blast ...

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