Jazzed up Sundays
Downtown Hilo club hosts music to swing-along to
There’s something about jazz music on a Sunday evening that just seems perfect. That’s the atmosphere Sunday evenings at downtown Hilo’s Emerald Orchid when Lou Ann Gurney and Jazz Mele make music to swing-along.
Gurney, a veteran vocalist, has also released a new CD of jazz standards called “Joy Ride.” Produced by Jazz Mele’s keyboardist-leader, Gregg Perry, the recording transports the listener on a velvety smooth ride down memory lane, with songs such as “Route 66,” “I’ve Got the World on a String,” “Frim-Fram Sauce” and “Love is Here to Stay.”
“I had the opportunity to sit in at one of Lou Ann’s gigs about five years ago,” said Perry, a longtime LA musician, best known locally for the Kumanu albums “We are ‘Ohana” and “Earth Patriot.”
“... Over the years she asked me to fill the piano chair a couple of times and we deepened our friendship through our mutual love of swing music. When she was ready to make a CD she came to me to produce the project.”
Gurney said that Perry is the only person she seriously considered to produce the CD.
“I knew Gregg had high standards, abundant creativity and vast knowledge of music and recording,” she said. “What I learned and appreciated about him while working in the studio is that he was 100 percent supportive of me and totally dedicated to this project. His creative ideas and enthusiasm seemed endless -- and he brought music out of me that I didn’t know I had.”
“I think the songs on the CD accurately reflect Lou Ann’s talent as a vocalist,” Perry added. “I will also say that she has grown even more since the CD was released and continues to move forward developing her talent even today. The production was a bit of a challenge for me, as I had never produced a jazz project before. But we had great players from Hawaii and LA that made the songs swing. I’m pleased with the way the arrangements turned out.”
Before the Emerald Orchid gig, Gurney and Jazz Mele were playing monthly house concerts in Puna since last summer.
“I was interested in doing the monthly gig but was adamant that we have the best players we could find here in Puna,” Perry said. “That led us to Bruce David, Richard Lee and eventually John Parker.”
David is the drummer, Lee handles alto, tenor and soprano sax plus flute, and Parker plays a high-tech, slimline electric upright bass. Along with Perry’s roadhouse boogie piano and Hammond organ gospel blues, these cats sound tight as a submarine hatch.
“Bruce has a touring background having been on the road with Maria Muldaur for many years,” Perry said. “Richard is a professor in the music department at the University of Hawaii Hilo and brings a considerable amount of background to his game. And John comes from New York via Cleveland and brings a colorful history of road gigs and a deep background in many styles. Lou Ann’s steeped in the classic jazz standards of Gershwin, Porter, Ellington and the like. She’s just now really starting to get into some funkier arrangements like Marcia Ball and Teresa James; some New Orleans groove tunes.”
Gurney, a Waiakea Intermediate School teacher, explained her love of 1930s music in its historical context.
“It was a time of vocal experimentation and improvisation, the decade when music provided an escape from the Great Depression, and some wild times prevailed as people exhibited a daring disregard for Prohibition,” she said. “The great songwriters were kept busy writing for radio, movies and Broadway, while big bands and swing began to dominate the popular scene.”
According to Gurney, the late, great Ella Fitzgerald, who started out in speakeasies in the 30s before recordings and international fame, is her favorite singer. She and Fitzgerald share April 25 as their birth date.
“To me, she’s like a perfect musical instrument,” Gurney noted. “Her delivery and interpretation were innovative, and her scat style unmatched.”
Gurney said that her collaboration with Jazz Mele is serendipity, “the Universe bringing the right people together at the right time.”
“When I sing with them, it feels like I’m being lifted up to a higher level,” she said. “It’s exhilarating and more fun than you can imagine. These guys were born to make music and we all relate on the level of loving what we’re doing. I admire and honor each of them. Plus they make me laugh; they come up with some really funny stuff.”
Both Gurney and Perry expressed their gratitude to club owners Rhonda and Scott Nichols for giving them a venue to play. The band does not charge a cover; they’re paid via a tip pitcher at the front of the stage. The Nichols’ are in business to sell food and beverages, alcoholic and otherwise. Perry said that a little more consideration is needed from some who come to dance or listen or the music might not continue.
“We don’t like to charge a cover,” he said. “But we have several folks who come, don’t pay a cover, drink water for free and never leave a tip. ... We need your dollars to continue to do what we do, especially when we are performing in public venues. The club makes very little money when we gig on Sunday because many of our fans don’t drink alcohol. If the club continues to have meager sales at the till then we won’t be there much longer. So please come show your financial support for live music in Hilo. Bring a friend, have pupus, dinner and a couple of non-alcoholic juice drinks. And please, come and dance with us. We’re grateful for the opportunity to make music for you!”
Jazz Mele with Gurney and Perry performs Sunday evenings from 6-9 PM at the Emerald Orchid in downtown Hilo located at 168 Keawe Street.
“Joy Ride” is available at CD Wizard, Basically Books, The Most Irresistable Shop and All Things Beautiful. Gurney also sells it at her performances and will gladly autograph a copy. It is also available on line at CDBaby.com, www.louanngurney.com, www.pecktunes.com, with digital downloads on CDBaby and iTunes.
John Burnett - Hawaii Tribune-Herald Arts & Entertainment (18 Apr 2008)