FRIDAY-SATURDAY
>> Sheena Easton brings flexible range to stage
Sheena Easton, whose powerful vocals carried her to a decades long-career on stage and screen, comes to Blue Note Hawaii for two nights this week.
Easton burst on to the scene during the 1980s with her first two singles, the disco-pop tunes “Modern Girl” and “Morning Train,” then would go on to record the torch-song like theme song for the 1981 James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only.” The song was nominated for an Oscar; Easton ended the year winning the Grammy for Best New Artist.
Easton’s bright, penetrating soprano, first developed as a child and then refined at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, proved malleable for a variety of styles, while her doe-eyed good looks, which could range from wholesome to smoldering, undoubtedly helped with sales too. She recorded the country tune “We’ve Got Tonight” with Kenny Rogers and Spanish-language song “I Like the Way You Are” with Luis Miguel, which took a Grammy for Best Mexican Grammy. She had a synth-pop hit with “Strut,” but got pulled into the controversy over provocative lyrics with “Sugar Walls,” a song written for her by Prince, who also performed “U Got the Look” with her. Easton is the only artist to have a top 3 hit on all of the main Billboard charts: Adult Contemporary, Dance, Pop, Country and R&B.
Her abilities translated to acting as well, with an extended guest appearance on TV’s “Miami Vice” and stage roles in “Man of La Mancha” and “Grease” in the 1990s. As recently as 2017, Easton was back on stage again, in London’s West End production of “42nd Street,” receiving praise from The Guardian for bringing “poise and star quality” to the production.
SHEENA EASTON
>> Where: Blue Note Hawaii
>> When: 6:30 and 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday
>> Cost: $45-$65
>> Info: 777-4890, bluenotehawaii.com
SATURDAY
>> New breed of Platters bring back oldies — real oldies
Nostalgia buffs, it can’t get much better than The Platters, so doo-wop in to the Hawaii Theatre this weekend for some great old tunes.
Originally formed in the early 1950s in Los Angeles, the group had one of the great American hits with “Only You (And You Alone),” which 75 years later is still one of the most romantic ballads you’ll hear. Aside from Tony Williams beautiful lead vocal, the song was made famous by a stutter effect he used on the word “only,” which came about when the group was practicing the song in Platters leader Herb Reed’s old car.
As a quintet with the somewhat unusual lineup of four men and a woman, The Platters produced a strings of hits, including “The Great Pretender,” which they performed along with “Only You” in the 1956 film “Rock Around the Clock,” considered the first rock ’n’ roll film. They also hit No. 1 with “My Prayer,” “Twilight Time” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”
Early on, they experienced the effects of racism, staying in segregated hotels in some parts of the country while on tour. “Only You” became a hit after it was mistakenly aired during a radio show that was supposed to feature white musicians only. Later, the group underwent several lineup changes, which led to a proliferation of groups calling themselves The Platters. After a series of legal challenges by Reed, who died in 2012, there is now only one; it consists of Brian McIntosh, Lance Bernard Bryant, Leslie Mon’e and Michael Rogers.
THE PLATTERS
With The Classic Drifters
>> Where: Hawaii Theatre
>> When: 8 p.m.
>> Cost: $59.50-$150
>> Info: 528-0506, hawaiitheatre.com
SUNDAY
>> Korean opera singers give voice to classics
It’s a week for great singing, including opera, as a duo of acclaimed singers from South Korea — educated in Korea and New York — will give a program of light opera, love songs and German lieder at Medici’s at the Manoa Marketplace.
Performing this Sunday will be soprano Yuri Park, pictured at right, who’s received praise for “exquisitely agile, polished and organic singing” by Opera News. She’s performed as Musetta in Puccini’s “La Boheme” in New York and as Pamina in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” as well as Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” and has performed in Carnegie Hall and at the Vladivostok World Music Festival in Russia.
Tenor Jinho Hwang, pictured inset, has become known for his interpretations of the dramatic Italian bel canto and dynamic spinto repertoire. He has performed solo at the National Opera Center in New York and in Carnegie Hall.
The program will feature classic arias like Di Capua’s “O Sole Mio,” Puccini’s “E lucevan le stelle,” and Gershwin’s “Summertime,” as well as “Over the Rainbow” and the lieder “The Shepherd on the Rock” by Schubert.
Accompanying the duo will be clarinetist Gunhwan Jung, who has performed at Carnegie Hall, and pianist Pavlina Nakalenova, who studied at UH. Medici’s has become known as a jazz spot, but it’s part of the Manoa School of Music & the Arts and features classical performances as well.
AN EVENING OF LIGHT OPERA, LOVE SONGS AND LIEDER
>> Where: Medici’s at Manoa Marketplace
>> When: 5:30 p.m. Sunday
>> Cost: $15-$50
>> Info: 351-0901, honolulumusicatmedicis.com
SUNDAY-TUESDAY
>> Take it easy with relaxing tunes from Take 6 at the Blue Note
Take 6 is one of the most decorated vocal ensembles in music, and with good reason. Their lush, smooth sound and creative arrangements of gospel, jazz, R&B and soul music are pleasing to the ear, challenging to the mind and soothing to the soul. They’ve won 10 Grammys in soul, gospel and jazz categories, and they’ll cover everything from The Beatles to Justin Timberlake to Norah Jones.
The group is steeped in the music of the church, with all of its members singing in choir and later at at Oakwood College, a Seventh-Day Adventist school. Tenor Claude McKnight, brother of the great R&B singer Bryan McKnight, took the harmonies he learned from that tradition and started a group as a barbershop quartet, eventually adding more voices from his background as a trombonist.
“We’re always trying to push ourselves,” he said in an oral history video for the National Association of Music Merchants. “We’re always trying to see not just how many layers can be in the music, but how we can approach and attack all of the things that you would normally listen to with instrumental music. … We don’t ever want you to listen to a song and think, ‘Man, if they’d just done this!’”
Members bring various dimensions to the group’s sound. Bass singer Alvin Chea studied classical piano originally, then switched over to pop after hearing Earth, Wind & Fire, a major influence on the group. Tenor Mark Kibble recently took a Grammy for his arrangement of the “Spider-Man” theme for instruments and vocals. The other members of the group are tenors Joel Kibble and Dave Thomas, and baritone Khristian Dentley.
TAKE SIX
>> Where: Blue Note Hawaii
>> Cost: $35-$45
>> When: 6:30 and 9 p.m. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday
>> Info: 777-4890, bluenotehawaii.com
