Author: Wayne Harada

Social media has been buzzing with reflection and condolences following the death of David John “DJ” Pratt, the lead guitarist for the music group Kalapana, who died Tuesday afternoon at his home. He was 66 and was found unresponsive.

He was a founding member of Kalapana and has become the fourth to die, following the earlier passing of Mackey Feary in 1999, Alvin Fejarang in 2017 and Malani Bilyeu in 2018.

Pratt, Feary, Bilyeu and Kirk Thompson were the original members of the band, formed in 1974. Kalapana  presided alongside Cecilio and Kapono in a friendly competition to emerge as prolific and grounding local boys who wrote original hit songs and performed in Waikiki clubs in the heyday of the 1970s to the ‘90s. It was the glory days of recording, concertizing, and touring shows here and elsewhere.

Reactions to Pratt’s death touched the nerves of fellow musicians.

Michael Paulo, a saxophonist who played with Kalapana in recent years. mourned the passing of his pal. “Once more I lost a part of my musical soul,” said Paulo. “I never forget always being in awe of him as a young musician, when I first joined Kalapana. His playing live on ‘Can You See Him’ was powerful and amazing; I can see him still with his long hair flowing down his face and sweat running off his brow, while ripping it up on that acoustic guitar 45 years ago. I was so privileged to be part of those performances. Rest in peace, my friend. You were one of Hawaii’s greatest guitarists.”

Glenn Medeiros, once a Hawaii act recording and performing pop ballads nationally and now the principal of Saint Louis School, recalled his admiration of a musical peer. “God has graced me with the incredible opportunity to travel to over 30 countries in my life,” Medeiros said. “During that time, I met so many talented musicians. I’ve always felt that Hawaii is the home of some of the greatest guitarists in the world. I believe we lost the greatest of them. I never had the chance to work with him closely but I’ve always admired him from afar.”

John Valentine, for decades a notable guitarist in Waikiki and still on the scene, had a iconic visual response: an emoji of a broken heart.

Kamasami Kong, a former Hawaii deejay who’s now a leading media resource in Japan, had a succinct reaction: “I feel numb.”

Beyond his recording and performing career, Pratt was a popular recording and sound engineer for TV projects and an audio sound engineer for live and video sessions where his craft would be mostly heard and seen through the lens of other artists.

Pratt also was an honoree when Kalapana was tapped as a Na Hoku Hanohano Lifetime Achievement Award winner, presented by the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts.

In recent years, Kalapana members featured Gaylord Holomalia, Kenji Sano, Maurice Bega, Randy Aloya and Michael Paulo.

Further details of his survivors or information of funeral plans have not been made public. …

The ill crowd\

Time for sending prayers and get-well wishes to:

• Rene Paulo, the renowned poet of the piano who used to regularly perform with his singing wife Akemi Paulo.  He has been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to a Facebook posting by son Michael Paulo.  Rene and Akemi relocated to California several months ago; a visit for a medical treatment apparently is how he caught the virus. Update: According to Michael, his dad is set to be released from the hospital Thursday (Sept. 9).
• Joe “Pekelo” Recca, the former singer and show emcee for Tihati Productions spectacles in Waikiki. His longtime battle with throat cancer has worsened; he is  hospitalized now.
• David “Kawika” Talisman, a private investigator with a history of music, composing and script-writing for TV shows. He also has been in the hospital to tend to issues with his prostate cancer.

On the road again

Local girl Tricia Marciel is prepping to spend the next few months at sea, joining an inaugural cast of performers aboard the Enchanted Princess, staging shows for the cruise’s maiden launching soon in the Caribbean. “After nearly two years of ups and down,” she said on Facebook about the pandemic and her new venture, “it’s going to be somewhat amazing to do what I love, feel purposeful and in my very small manini way, help a company and an industry that’s been very good to my recovery.” …

And in New York, Matt Yee brings his outrageous adult revue to the Triad Theatre, at 10 p.m. Friday (Sept. 10). If you’re in the vicinity, proof of vaccination is a requisite. Yee is known for his shows aboard the Atlantis and Royal Caribbean cruises in the recent past. …

And that’s Show Biz. …

Daniel Dae Kim, former co-star of  two island-filmed series, ABC’s “Lost” and CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0,” is this year’s Everywhere Man.

Man, he shows up in a myriad of shows, always delivering solid performances. He’s also produces shows via his 3AD  production company.

There’s a recent mission-to-Mars adventure, “Stranger Aboard,” streaming on Netflix. Kim is one of four actors – the others are Anna Kendrick, Toni Collette and Shamier Anderson – in this a sci-fi outer space thriller written and directed by Joe Penna, about an unexpected stranger on board a flight mission lasting two years. Kim, Kendrick and Collette are the astronauts; Anderson is the mysterious hijacker, initially unconscious, who wants to return home but can’t.

He’s starring as Cassian Shin, in NBC’s medical series “New Amsterdam,” kicking off a new season Sept. 21.

This past summer, he was heard but not seen, providing the voice of Chief Benja in Disney’s animated  “Raya and the Last Dragon.”

Wearing his producer’s hat, Kim is a producer of ABC’s “The Good Doctor.” He also was on camera when he portrayed Dr. Jackson Han in the series’ second season; the show’s fifth season launches Sept.  27.

Kim also was a medic, Dr. Michael Onitsuka, in “Blast Beat,” a modest project which premiered in the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.  And in an Asian rom-com, “Always Be My Maybe,” he played Brandon Choi.

He’s  completed a number of earlier shows – including playing the King in “The King and I” on Broadway –and also has voiced a couple of video games. Off camera, he also has emerged as a leading voice of supporting diversity in films and TV and is an outspoken voice against Asian hate crimes. …

Aoki: a voice of concern

Better late than never.

While many critics enjoyed the shallow and satiric soap opera of mostly privileged white characters holidaying at an unnamed Hawaii resort in HBO-HBO’Max’s recent mini-series “The White Lotus,”  Guy Aoki, founding president of MANAA, has hurled a missive of dissent to the producers for the lack of Asian/Pacific Islanders in prominent lead roles.

MANAA stands for Media Action Network for Asian Amerians, and Aoki –a Japanese American civil rights activist  for decades and former island resident —  has been a vigilant, powerful critic of movie and TV shows that lack or dismiss diversity in casting.

Aoki contends that producer-creator Mike White has treated Asian and Pacific Islanders in Hawaii as invisible servants, just like his white tourist characters, for not tapping locals of Asian and Polynesian descent to reflect the true colors of Hawaii.

“The White Locus,” a six-episode mini-series, premiered on HBO on six successive Sundays, with further streaming via HBO Max. The project was taped at the Four Seasons resort a year ago on Maui, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, with acting cast, crew and techies taking over the  hotel with proper protocols in place, making lemonade out of lemons. That is, by creating an entire “bubble” of film actors and crew, quarantined in facilities open to no one else during the shoot, enabling one production company to work on a project in an uncertain time amid the cloud of COVID-19 which shut down nearly everything else in Hawaii.

By excluding APIs from the project, Aoki contends that White neglected the fact that “APIs make up more than 60 per cent of the population,” and cast white actors and two black/biracial actors in leading roles.

Aoki asserted that “only two members of the hotel staff are APIs with speaking lines.  Lani (Jolene Purdy) appears only in the first episode and is then never seen again. Kai (Kekoa Kekumano), the Hawaiian love interest of Paula, the biracial black tourist (Brittany O’Grady), does not speak until the fourth and fifth episodes.  He also just disappears, even when something significant happens to him in the sixth and last installment of the miniseries.”

Aoki concluded that “Lotus,” set on Maui, “is a hollow attempt at promoting its anti-racist message when actions speak louder than words. Given Hawaii’s painful history of suffering at the hands of colonialism and racism, not featuring API characters more prominently in a show addressing the very subject feels like an added injury to an already hemorrhaging wound.”…

Special deal for unticketed Kahele fans

Kuana Torres Kahele, who opens a multi-show stand tomorrow night (Sept. 9) t at Blue Note Hawaii, has added performances on Sept. 12. Robert Cazimero is his special birthday-gift star.

Showtimes are 6 and 8:30 p.m.; doors open at 4:30 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $35 and $25.

The appearances mark Kahale’s Sept. 8 birthday and timed to the arrival of his latest CD, “Kahiwa” in which he has re-recorded 18 classics from his 25-year career of performances and recordings. Pre-orders will received autographed copies of the disc.

But here’s the special deal. If you are already vaccinated, and have proof of receiving the shots, but have not yet secured seats for Kahele’s opening night – as well as for the Sept. 12 shows – you could get free tickets. Reserved and lounge seating are eligible; some space remains for the opener; more seats available for the Sept. 12 show.

The offer only applies to new sales. When ordered at www.bluenotehawaii.com, use the code KUANA for no-charge seats; remember, you must have proof of being vaxxed and show that validation as well as a photo ID. The offer cannot be applied to seats already sold.

And that’s “Show Biz.” …