Melveen Leed has finally earned her place on the Hawaiian jazz mantle. In her first Blue Note Hawaii gig Monday, she demonstrated that her passion for jazz was real, that she could sustain and deliver the form and focus that jazz demands.
Her Blue Note debut, at the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel, was red-hot. Over the decades Leed teetered between a Hawaiian tita and a local diva, but on this magical night of triumph and redemption, she proved she’s also a chanteuse.
In jazz, delivery is the thing, with tempo and mood defining the genre. It’s not what you sing, but how you sing it.
And sing she did, putting her stamp on “One Note Samba,” “The Nearness of You,” “Just in Time” and more. Her sterling backup crew — Dan Del Negro on piano, Peter Factora on drums, Byron Yasui on stand-up bass and, a true gem, Benny Chong on ukulele — created a genuinely warm tone, enabling Leed to chirp and interact, even when she departed off the jazz trail with a mini-“Aloha Monday” segment of Hawaiiana, including her signature “E Kuu Morning Dew” and the classic “O Kalena Kai.” For a full review, see my Show and Tell Hawaii blog.
Surely, this will be a steppingstone to fulfilling Leed’s longtime dream of performing at the Blue Note — in New York. …
DATEBOOK: The Danny Kaleikini Foundation is presenting “A Lifetime of Aloha,” a reflection of the career of Hawaii’s “Ambassador of Aloha,” at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Honolulu Country Club. The event is a fundraiser for the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii’s $12 million capital campaign project to secure land and build a facility, including the Daniel K. Akaka Community Center, in Kapolei — to serve and treat those with kidney disease. U.S. Sen. Akaka is honorary chairman for the campaign. The Stanton Haugen Smooth Jazz Combo will provide cocktail and dinner music, followed by a performance by Kaleikini, Nina Kealiiwahamana, Cathy Foy, Kanoe Miller, Rene Paulo, the Ala Wai Breeze Ensemble and Nicholas Kaleikini (grandson of the entertainer). Information: kidneyhi.org or 589-5966. …
Leo Days will don his Elvis Presley duds and revive The King’s hot hits in his “Tribute to Elvis Show,” as part of an Administrative Professionals Day offering, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
April 27 at the Pomaikai Ballrooms at Dole Cannery. The noon show, complete with full band, costumed dancers and backup singers, will differ from Days’ earlier “Burn’n Love” production at the Magic of Polynesia Showroom at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel. Al
Waterson will emcee; doors open at 10:30 a.m. Tickets: $45, includes lunch buffet and nonalcoholic beverage. Reservations: 695-4496 by April 25. …
WHEE, THE PEOPLE: Kalani Brady, aka “The Singing Doctor,” was spotted at the King Street Cemetery (opposite Straub Clinic &Hospital, where he works), playing his Kamaka ukulele while singing “Kanaka Waiwai.” It was a tribute to Manuel Nunes, one of the inventors of the uke, who is buried in this graveyard. Brady was part of a historic walking tour conducted by cemetery historian Nanette Napoleon. …
Erica Wong, former Narcissus queen, joins the cast of Lincoln Center’s “The King and I” on Tuesday. It’ll be her Broadway debut, in which she performs a specialty dance solo, “The Bird.” …
NAMES ‘N PLACES: Hawaii’s Michael Sun Lee, who portrays Harry Takayama on Netflix’s “Fuller House,” will be on the Big Island this week to promote the spinoff sitcom. Lee’s character was Stephanie’s boyfriend in the original “Full House” and will appear, as a grown-up, beginning in the ninth episode. Lee also has appeared as Lieutenant Kala in the “Hawaii Five-0” reboot. …
March Madness basketball playoffs have pre-empted episodes of “Hawaii Five-0” for two weeks, but CBS welcomes back Alex O’Loughlin and the H5-0 team on Friday. …
And that’s “Show Biz.” …
Wayne Harada is a veteran entertainment columnist. Reach him at 266-0926 or wayneharada@gmail.com. Read his Show and Tell Hawaii blog at staradvertiser.com.
