New boutique label pursues the eclectic

A keyboardist returns to Hawaii to make and produce the kinds of music that deserve exposure here

Shawn Livingston Moseley admits he left the islands 15 years ago because "there were not a lot of great options for me here as a musician." A keyboardist for the reggae band Dread Ashanti, Moseley took his skills to be furthered elsewhere, specifically the Berklee College of Music in Boston.* Five years later, he graduated with a major in music production engineering, and also found a friend and business partner in fellow student Rodney Alejandro.

'The Storm Before The Calm' A fundraiser for 'Aumakua Records featuring Shawn Livingston Moseley: Place: Mamiya Theatre, Saint Louis School Time: 7:30 p.m. Saturday Tickets: $32.50 Call: 550-8457 or visit honoluluboxoffice.com

After studio work in San Francisco (where he worked with acts like the Dave Matthews Band and Metallica) and running recording studios in Boston and Brooklyn, Moseley said "it was time to go home, stop work with major artists and work instead with indie acts, which is what I wanted to do all along."

The first step in that direction is the boutique label 'Aumakua Records, which he and Alejandro plan to introduce at Mamiya Theatre on Saturday night.

Titled "The Storm Before the Calm," the concert will feature the two sides of Moseley's music on piano -- what he calls "pulse classical," or contemporary classical styled after the romantic works of Beethoven and Chopin, and his more current jazz and hip-hop compositions.

Alejandro will take the role of concertmaster behind the Fender Rhodes piano, leading guitarists Jeff Peterson and Stephen Inglis, Jon Hawes on bass, drummer Jason Segler, Pumehana Davis Wadsworth on harp, rapper Najafi, and Navid and Melissa Chimera on vocals. Members of IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre will also appear. (Chimera's artwork will also be on display in the courtyard and lobby of the theater that night, along with pieces by Bryce and Judy A. NimtzMyers and Geoff Lee.)

"WHETHER they're musicians, dancers, painters or glass blowers, it's all relative," Moseley said. "It's about bringing diversity into the mix.

"I haven't played here back home in public for 14 years, so it was important that I invited a lineup of established artists to join me on stage."

Moseley hopes that a recording of the concert will be 'Aumakua's debut release. "Rodney and I are excited to see who's out there and how much work is needed to get their music wider exposure. This concert should help raise awareness of what we're trying to do."

It's no surprise that Moseley and company are presenting such an eclectic concert, considering the pianist's background. In the 18 months he's been back in Hawaii, he has not only been writing music, but doing art and design work, overseeing a surf clothing line for kids (Moseley was raised partly in Haleiwa), and doing soundtrack work for an acupuncture DVD, "Balancing the Chi," that coincided with his own treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome.

The show will start with four solo pulse classical pieces by Moseley. Before the rest of his guests join him for his contemporary music in the second half, Moseley and Wadsworth will duet on a live score to a silent underwater film by Morgan Hoesterey.

"This is going to be so cool," said Wadsworth, who played with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra as a teenager. "I'm so stoked because this will allow me to show a different expression as a musician. I'll be playing an electric harp using wah-wah, delay and reverb effects. It's a blue Camac, the first of its kind and one I bought in Ireland two years ago."

Moseley said: "These are all phenomenal and capable players. While we'll be reading chord charts, the music will all be based on feel."

CORRECTION Tuesday, June 5, 2007 » The Berklee College of Music in Boston is the alma mater of local musicians Shaun Livinston Moseley and Rodney Alejandro. A feature on Page 14 in last week's HiLife section erroneously identified the school as the Berklee School of Music. Please see the applicable Corrections Page for more information.