Abe Lagrimas, Jr. will be one of the featured performers at next week's inaugural Eruption Music Festival. (Courtesy Dailey Pike)
BY JASON GENEGABUS / jason@staradvertiser.com
Local recording label Pass Out Records will kick off the inaugural Eruption Music Festival next week with a number of events planned at various locations.
According to organizers, the four-day festival will showcase “music that effaces corporate-defined genres and has a preference for artists who self-define new perspectives on intercultural sound.”
Featured performers this year include tenor saxophonist Tim Mayer, Latin jazz pianist Zaccai Curtis, Hawaii’s own jazz drummer Abe Lagrimas Jr. and their modern exotica group, WAITIKI 7. In addition, conductorless chamber orchestra Firecracker Pops and the University of Hawaii Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Reginald Padilla, will also make appearances during the festival.
First up is “ERUPTION / DISRUPTION” on Tuesday, Oct. 23, at the Musicians Union Building at 909 Kapioland Blvd. starting at 8 p.m. Billed as a “public jam session” led by Lagrimas and Curtis, with backing by bassist Randy Wong and other musicians. Admission is $10 (free for participating musicians); $6 for students. Click here to buy tickets.
On Wednesday, Oct. 24, “COCKTAIL-TOA: The Eruption of Tiki Drink & Music” will bring 1950′s Waikiki back with performances by Wong, Lagrimas, the Kahiki Serenaders, Greg Paré and Lopaka Colon at Lemongrass Cafe, 83 N. King St., starting at 8 p.m.
Along with the music, cocktails featuring bitters from newcomer Hawaii Bitters Company will be served by HBC co-owner Kyle Reutner to go with pupu by Lemongrass Cafe. “Waikiki Tiki: Art, History and Photographs” author Phillip Roberts will also speak, and excerpts from new films “The DVD of Tiki” and “Hawaii: Home Movies from the 1950s, 60s & 70s” will also be screened. Admission is $25.
At 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, the WAITIKI 7 will headline “The New Sounds of Exotica” at Hawaiian Brian’s, 1680 Kapiolani Blvd. This is the third time in three years the band has performed in Hawaii, but next week’s concert will be the first time the band joins forces with a string quartet and horn trio. The all-new lineup has been dubbed Firecracker Pops. Tickets are $20 at the door.
The festival will conclude on Friday, Oct. 26, with a 7:30 p.m. concert at UH-Manoa’s Orvis Auditorium headlined by the Eruption All-Stars and the UH Jazz Ensemble. Visiting artists Mayer, Curtis, Lagrimas and Paré will be among the special guests that evening. Tickets, priced at $12, will be available at the door.
For more details on ticket prices and other festival information, visit www.eruptionmusicfest.com or follow the festival on Twitter.
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Jason Genegabus is Entertainment Editor/Online at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and has covered the local nightlife, music, bar and entertainment scenes since 2001. Contact him via email at jason@staradvertiser.com.