MUSICAL GUESTS
King Louie & Renato Caranto Trio
Louis Pain, "Portland's B-3 Organ King" is an Oregon Music Hall of Fame inductee and veteran Northwest and Bay Area musician and recording artist. He brings nearly 40 years of musical history to the Big Island having performed and recorded with jazz, soul and blues legends Martha Reeves, Bo Diddley, Bernard Purdie, Curtis Salgado, Mel Brown, Paul Delay, Bruce Conte, Cornelius Bumphus, Ty Curtis and Linda Hornbuckle to name a few. Fellow Oregon Music Hall of Fame inductee Renato Caranto is a longtime musical partner and featured soloist. Renato is widely considered to be one of the finest Tenor Saxophonists working today. His extensive resume spans many genres of music having toured with Country music icon Merle Hagard, and contemporary jazz diva Esperanza Spaulding. Louis released two highly acclaimed albums 'KIng Louis Blues Review" and "King Louis Organ Trio", with both receiving Four Stars from Downbeat Magazine and both making the best albums of the year list. This will be their fourth appearance at a Hawaii Island Veterans Memorial event and the third time headlining the Festival.
Allison Adams Tucker
Allison Adams Tucker, a multilingual singer based in San Diego is making her fifth appearance at the East Hawaii Jazz & Blues Festival. Allison was raised by classically-trained musical parents and began performing before the age of 5. She has studied voice, piano, flute, violin and holds a BA in Music Vocal Performance and Linguistics. As a child, Allison fell in love with languages and cultures. She sings in six languages, having lived and performed in Japan and Spain, and traveled to more than 15 countries. Her passion for other cultures are reflected in the rhythms, melodies and lyrics from Brazil, Italy, France, Japan and Latin America woven throughout her music. Allison’s debut CD, “Come With Me”, was co-produced by jazz guitarist Peter Sprague, (Dianne Reeves, David Benoit and Chick Corea), and arranged by Grammy winning pianist Kamau Kenyatta (Earl Klugh, Patti Austin). It received international acclaim and was nominated by the San Diego Music Awards for Best Jazz Album in 2009. Allison’s second CD, “April in Paris”, celebrates songs of springtime around the globe. It was recorded in Paris during UNESCO’s 1st annual International Jazz Day. This recording took place at the conclusion of a nine-concert tour through Italy. Her third album "Wanderlust" released in 2016 received 4 stars from Downbeat Magazine. Allison's performance resume includes stints at the "Bluenote" in New York City and the legendary jazz venue "Ronnie Scott's" in London. Her latest album "Retro Trilogy", released this year, is a collection of jazz re-imaginings of iconic music from the 1970's, 80's and 90's. She worked with New York producer Matt Pierson to release 18 tracks and 3 EP's within one album.
Larry Dupio
After a three year hiatus, Hilo's own "Lightning" Larry Dupio returns to the East Hawaii Jazz and Blues Festival for his fourth appearance. Larry is a two time Na Hoku Hanohano Award Winner who grew up musically inspired by Blues Masters Muddy Waters and Johnny Lee Hooker and the guitar legends of his era Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana. He won "Rock Album of the Year" in 2018 for “Lightning Strikes Hilo” and “Love and Lightning”in 2020. Larry has shared the stage with music giants in the industry, Charlie Musselwhite, Johnnie Johnson, Canned Heat, Johnny Lang, Jesse Colin Young, Commander Cody, Ziggy Marley, David Lindley, the Radiators, Jimmy Cliff, Mick Fleetwood and Willie K. The Dupio family also lived in the Pacific Northwest for ten years where Larry was fortunate to be a part of the prestigious ‘Rose City’ music circuit. During that time, he won Portland Guitar Center’s “King of the Blues’ contest. He was also nominated as ‘Best Guitar Player’ in the Cascade Blues Association’s ‘Muddy Waters’ contest in Portland, Oregon. Larry recently "Sold Out" the Palace Theater in Hilo with his Tribute to the music of Carlos Santana. He'll be performing with his talented quartet featuring Yumbel Marrasi on bass, Noah Eads on drums, Jason Sherbundy on keyboards and special musical guests.
Seattle Groove
Seattle jazz pianist Deems Tsutakawa put out three albums under the group name "Seattle Groove" which was a collaboration with Northwest Vibes player Kevin Boyd. Deems also played every East Hawaii Jazz and Blues Festival before his passing in 2021. As a tribute to Deems and this special musical partnership, original members of "Seattle Groove" Kevin Boyd, Dave Yamasaki, Bradley Leighton, Tom McElroy and Owen Matsui will be performing selections from those albums along with Ed Bisquera and Asha Azama on key's, Jason Gay on Saxophone, Steve Bader on Drums and special guest Keahi Conjugacion, who sung on the first Seattle Groove album.
Wayne de Silva
Former Hilo Saxophonist Wayne de Silva returns home to make his first appearance at the East Hawaii Jazz & Blues Festival. Wayne has spent the past 40 years playing, recording and touring in the mainland. After graduating from Hilo High School, Wayne spent his early career playing in Waikiki during the 70's and touring the mainland with a popular Hawai'i night club act. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston and holds a Masters in Music from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Wayne is currently a resident of Las Vegas and has been active in the Las Vegas music scene for twenty five years. Along with working shows, recording, and leading his own groups, Wayne taught saxophone at UNLV and was Assistant Professor of Jazz Saxophone at Brandon University in Manitoba Canada. He is currently a member of the Jazz Outreach Initiative Orchestra and is featured on their recording “A JOIful Noizz”. Wayne is also a featured soloist on "The Fantasy Vocal Sessions" albums produced by current Santana and former Etta James keyboardist David K. Mathews.
Wade Fernandez
Wade Fernandez is an international award winning musician, artist and educator. He's an indigenous Rock and Blues guitarist, song writer, and renown native flute player from Wisconsin and enrolled member of the Menominee Nation. Wade has performed at Woodstock 94', the Kennedy Center and made over 70 international tours. He's also performed with Jackson Brown and the Indigo Girls. He is a certified teacher with a degree in music and serves as adjunct faculty at Marquette University. This will be Wade's first appearance at the East Hawaii Jazz & Blues Festival and first visit to the Big Island.
Fuego
Fuego Latin Orchestra Hawaii. Composed of eight stellar musicians, plays a variety of musical genres encompassing rhythms from tip to tip of Latin America. This Big Island born band has been blessing the local stages with their infectious beat for many years. Its new and upgraded (Orchestra Version) boasts a four horn section pumping out crisp melodies and powerful harmonies, instrument virtuosos on bass, keyboard, congas and drums and Spanish speaking Argentine Native interpreting all your favorite classics for Latin Social Dancing. Hit the Heat and get ready to move your feet with this incredibly talented group of musicians. This dynamic Orchestra is dancers best friend, spreads emotions and happiness to people. Yumbel Marassi - Lead Vocals and Bass Noa Eads - Drums and Backup Vocals Mateo Belmarez - Keyboard and Backup Vocals Michaeloha Elam - Trumpet and Backup Vocals Lance Aguirre - Trumpet Jesse Snyder - Saxophone and Clarinet William (Bill) Wingert - Trombone Brad Belmarez - Percussion, Backup Vocals and Bass
