The Honokaa High School Jazz Band is on its 2018 Oahu semester tour . The band is playing at several venues over the next few days. Last night (April 19) they played at Centerstage at the Ala Moana Center. Under band director Gary Washhburn, the band wows crowds with their renditions of popular jazz, pop and rock tunes. The band showcased their virtuosity by covering popular standards such as “Route 66,” “Cry Me a River,” “Moondance,” “The Closer I Get To You,” and several others. Washburn has written music for the band. They played two of his upbeat, toe-tapping, instrumental compositions which showcased the talents of various members on keyboards, drums, sax and brass.
The latest collaborative video from Mana Maoli / Playing For Change features a group of Hawaii based musical acts singing John Cruz‘s “Island Style” and the song “‘Oiwi E.”
From their YouTube channel video page:
Jack Johnson and dozens of artists joined more than 1,000 Hawai’i keiki (children) in this beautiful medley. Weʻre excited to present our 2nd ʻSong Across Hawaiʻiʻ collaboration with Hawaiian nonprofit @Mana Maoli, filmed across many breathtaking Hawaii locations as part of their #ManaMele project, which features a Music & Multimedia Academy and Solar Mobile Studio with programs in more than a dozen schools.
Turn it up and let the music bring in the light! To learn more about this medley and Mana Mele, follow Mana Maoli on FB & IG, and visit manamele.org, where you can get a personal copy of this video for a donation of any amount.
Playing For Change is a movement created to inspire and connect the world through music, born from the shared belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. Our primary focus is to record and film musicians performing in their natural environments and combine their talents and cultural power in innovative videos we call Songs Around The World. Creating these videos motivated us to form the Playing For Change Band—a tangible, traveling representation of our mission, featuring musicians met along our journey, and establish the Playing For Change Foundation—a separate 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to building music and art schools for children around the world. Through these efforts, we aim to create hope and inspiration for the future of our planet.
The Hawaii Files / Hawaii Radio & Television Guide do not endorse the linked content presented above. It is provided to you for informational and entertainment purposes only.
The Polynesian Voyaging Society is hosting a three day exhibition and open house for Hokule’a at the Hawaii Convention Center. The exhibition started on Sunday June 18 and runs through today, June 20 finishing at 5:00 p.m.
The highlight of the exhibition is seeing the Hokule’a up close and getting a chance to climb aboard the fabled vessel for a few minutes. This is being done online as well as at the convention center on the second floor. Media reports have stated that the online reservations are filled. As luck would have it, I was able to reserve a space in person and got to board Hokule’a for a short time after waiting in line for about 45 minutes yesterday.
The pictures from this visit and the event, which includes a number of educational, ecological and scientific exhibits on the second floor. Access to the exhibits are free. The only paid events are the lectures being presented by a number of people in the sailing, Hawaiian and intellectual community.
Hokule’a tied up near the Hawaii State Convention Center.
Hokule’a arrives at Magic Island, 6-17-2017. Photo by Sonny Lapenia.
Visitors onboard Hokule’a.
The wait in line to board Hokule’a was about 45 minutes.
On board Hokule’a for a 10 minute stay. Solar array for some of the 21st century electronics.
One of the Hokule’a crew members talking about the round the world voyage.
The Hawaiian sailing canoe Hokule’amade its triumphant return to Hawaii today from its around the world voyage that started three years ago in 2014. The arrival of Hokule’a to Magic Island in Honolulu turned out to be an epic, historic event complete with a flotilla of several other sailing canoes and numerous smaller vessels that went out to sea to greet the canoe. Hokule’a spent the last weeks of its worldwide journey sailing to Hawaii from Tahiti, much like it was on her first trip to and from Tahiti back in 1976.
Volumes of stories have been told about the remarkable canoe which go far beyond the scope that this blog will ever achieve. What we have here is just a tiny snapshot of some of the pictures that we managed to capture on this day of homecoming.
