KALAHEO — There were only four of them, but the tune they produced was recognizable. Members of the Kaua‘i All Alumni Band gathered Sunday at Kato Gym across from Kalaheo School for one of its practices and rehearsals. Tom Beck
KALAHEO — There were only four of them, but the tune they produced was recognizable.
Members of the Kaua‘i All Alumni Band gathered Sunday at Kato Gym across from Kalaheo School for one of its practices and rehearsals.
Tom Beck II, a well known musician around the island, worked through limbering his helicon, or sousaphone.
“This was built for a youth group in Germany, and when I found out it was available, I had to get it,” Beck said between his warm-ups and readying the four-valved instrument for play.
“We do the fun stuff,” said Marty Leonard. “We leave the complicated stuff for the big college bands. The idea is to rekindle the spark people had when they played in a high school band.”
Kathy Leonard of Live Music Kaua‘i said the group had just come off its holiday schedule where one of the favorite numbers was “Mele Kalikimaka.”
With the holidays behind them, Marty said they are looking forward to performing during the upcoming Mayor-a-thon.
“We do some public appearances through the coordination of Live Music Kaua‘i, and our practices are more fun times,” Marty said. “We don’t ask for the real long commitments. All of us in the Kaua‘i All Alumni Band just get together and have fun. We don’t have the long practice sessions.”
In keeping with the fun theme, Kathy added that one of the favorite pieces for the group is “Hawai‘i Five-O,” showing off a box containing the bit pieces for the composition based on the popular television show.
Kathy said the next rehearsal is at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Kato Gym in Kalaheo.
She said normally there are four or five people who come together, but is encouraging more people who still have their instruments to come forward and join the fun.
For those who want to rekindle the fun memories of playing in the high school, or college band, but don’t have instruments, there are accommodations that can be made.
“Normally, I play the flute, but sometimes when Marty leads I’ll do drums,” Kathy said.
Similarly, Marty interchanges between roles, sometimes being the group leader, and on Sunday, taking up the drumsticks.
Kathy said Live Music Kaua‘i has a goal of trying to get live music to more people in venues other than the bars. She said Live Music Kaua‘i also wants to get musicians into the classroom for musical education and experiences in those schools where budget cuts have cut back or eliminated music programs.
“OK, here we go — one, two, three,” Marty said snapping into a roll that introduced the segment, that although missing certain bit pieces, still had the strong presence of “Hawai‘i Five-O.”
Visit livemusickauai.org for more information.
