 And welcome to the Hawaii Smooth Jazz Connection. I am your host, Gwendolyn Harris. I am so happy to have my guest today here in the studio with me today. He is a saxophonist who is also an accomplished composer and educator based in the Pacific Northwest. He has lived and performed in over 50 countries known as a smooth jazz artist. His seasoned musical style incorporates Latin, classical, new age, rhythm and blues, funk and gospel influence. My guest has played with jazz greats Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Heath, Phil Woods, David Sanborn and Wynton Morsellus. Just to name a few, please welcome Mr. Kenny Paulson to the show. Welcome so much to the show. Thank you. Thanks for having me. So you flew all these miles and you just flew in a few hours ago and you're here doing the interview. I'm here. So I thank you. I thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now we're going to get started. You're here in Hawaii because you're going to be playing at some, you're basically you're playing at the medical conference here. That's your main gig. But then you're also going to be playing around Hawaii and we're going to talk about that later. We'll get to that later. Okay. So what you know is you come from a musical background, your mom, dad, your grandfather, Mr. Chubby Wayne Harshaugh, he played with Count Basie and Cab Calloway. So what was it like in that musical family? Oh, it was great. I mean, you know, music was everywhere. And what made it so interesting, especially because of my grandfather being around all the different heavyweight stuff, they would just come by the house like nothing to it. You'd be having jam sessions. Oh, yeah. Wow. Everybody hanging out. I mean, it was a lot of fun. Nice. Now, what made you choose the saxophone as your instrument of choice? Well, I started music for the wrong reasons. You know, there was a lady involved, you know, just like many other people. But I just after getting into it, I fell in love with it. And the rest is what you see, what you get. It's just a saxophone. That's right. It's just a saxophone. So you tell, just tell us. You said your grandfather would have the jam sessions, but you started as young age in those jams. Yeah, I would hang out and, you know, I'd love to see the guys do what they do, you know, and it was also interesting because after knowing the people, you know, you kind of know the personality and to see their personality come out of their instrument is a whole different, whole different thing, whole different thing. Just hearing them play, you know, it's a whole different thing. Now, you have lived in 50 countries and traveled extensively. And you've been, and I'm just going to name a few, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia. What was it like to teach music abroad? I know music is like a universal language. Right. But to teach in all these, those are just to name a few of the countries, but to teach abroad, what was it like? I was very interesting because, you know, when you hear people say music isn't in a national and universal language, it really is true. It really is true. And it's just everybody slings their things a little different than someone else, which makes it more interesting. And it was it was a good experience, very, very good experience. Now, what would you say might be some of the differences as music from the music abroad to the music here in the United States? What would you say if there are any? Some of it's different in ways that even the literature, the way they write it, for example, music in South America, a lot of people don't know, even a lot of musicians don't know, that it's written in two four and not four four, like most musicians have it here. They're right four four or they're right cut time, what we call cut time, which means twice as fast, you know, but down there they actually write it in two beats to a minute. Oh, OK. All right. Now, I want to I read your bio, I had to do some research. You know, when I when I have guests on the show, I always have to research them and, you know, dig a little deep into their bio. So I was reading in your bio where. You did experience like we all do still today, experience some racism OK, coming along, but you received your masters in jazz composition and arranging from Howard University. And like I said, I feel sorry for you because I went to Hampton University. But it's still a HBCU and I love my HBCUs. But you received your master's from Howard University, which is a HBCU. And for those of you that that do not know, that means historically Black College and University. So you traveled all around the world and you received your undergrad at at another college. So by going to a predominantly Black college and HBCU, what was it like attending that after all your travels and some of the racism that you that you had experienced? Oh, I was I feel like I come home. I was very welcome. I enjoyed the Black experience. I mean, even our books were written by Black authors, you know what I'm saying? And so I learned a lot about myself being at Howard University. So it was great. I got a chance to network with my brothers, my fraternity brothers, which made a really nice, you know, five beta sigma. I don't mind seeing that. Go ahead and say it. Go ahead and say it. Go ahead and say it. I'm very proud of it. Very proud of it. So, yeah, it was a wonderful experience, you know, completely different from when I did my undergrad. Very welcoming. And I know exactly what you're saying, because like I said, I went to Hampton and going to predominantly white schools growing up, you know, going to Hampton, I was like, you know, you find you find who you truly are by going to that, going to a college like that. Now, your latest album, because the title of the show is called Kenny Polson for Lovers Only, your latest album for Lovers Only, this is your second album, which was just released. Correct. How did this album come about? Well, I like to think of each album as a project. And each project has a theme. And so you work within that particular thing. And for Lovers Only, for those of you who have had a chance to listen to it or even just look at the title tracks, you'll see that there's a lot of love songs on there and songs that are directed toward that direction. You know, pointed toward that direction. Well, I love it. So for those of you that have not heard it yet, this is it. You should you should get a copy of it. And I'm pretty sure he'll be having having them for sale. Where he plays. But I do know that on the album, you have some of the the remakes, I want to say. Of Love on a Two Way Street. I think that's Stacey Ladisong, Stacey Ladisong song. And la, la, la, la, la means I love you. Yes. Yeah, I love those songs. Well, Stacey Ladisong also, well, she did it after the moments. The moment she did it first in Stacey Ladisong. And then la, la means I love you was I remember who did that one. I'm Bill, wrote it. And it'll come to me. But it was one of my favorite tunes, so I had to do that one. You know what I mean? Yes, it's I love it. I know my favorite song on there is Innocence. And I know my link sister, who is here with us today, Miss Linda, her favorite song on there is Bless, because I've played it on my radio show a couple of times just for her, as a matter of fact. Now, what's your favorite song on the album? You know, it's a toss up because all of them are my babies. OK, and that's just like asking the mother, what's your favorite child? You know what I'm saying? So I really enjoy all of them. But I do like I do like blessed. And to be honest with you, I was surprised when a radio promoter decided that would be the first single off of really. Yeah, because that's the only one on this album that I'm playing. In our cell. Oh, and all the others I'm playing out to. Nice. Now, I do want to mention on this album, you actually play with some heavy hitters. And I'm going to I'm going to mention them here because I had to write them down. It took me a while to write them down off of the album. So you have Bruce Conte and Roger Smith, guitar and keys. They're from Tower of Power. Yes. Then you have Larry Gitton, the trumpeter from Cool and the Gang. Yeah. Then you have Phil Upchurch, the guitar, guitarist from Donnie Hathaway and George Benson. Tom Grant, who's just, you know, everybody knows that smooth jazz, the smooth jazz, the smooth jazz pianist, Fred Wesley Trombone, Parliament and Funkadelic. And then Michael Henderson, bassist and vocalist from Stevie Wonder and Miles Davis. Right. Now, how did you get those heavy hitters like that? Those are some heavy hitters. On a one album. Yeah. Well, the whole concept, I wanted to do smooth jazz with a blend of R&B. And it has been done before. So it's not the first time that that has been done, but I wanted to try to sound as original as possible. And it's close to R&B when I needed that that's or to slant that way, or as close to smooth jazz if I wanted to slant that way. So I decided I was going to call in my favorites for all my friends and just to see see what I come up with. And you listen to it, it has a it's a real nice blend of R&B and smooth jazz. Yes, it is. And I'm telling you, those are some heavy. Those are some very, very heavy hitters. That's that's all I can say on that. You need to get the album. You need to get it. Now, you've already collaborated with all these people. Who would you like to collaborate with? Somebody that you haven't, who would you like to? Oh, that's very good. I was shooting for the moon now. I just want to know who, who, who, who, who. I would love to collaborate with Stevie Wonder. You wouldn't know why I laugh. You say that. Why? Because a lot of my artists that come in here, that's the first thing that comes out their mouth, is Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder. That's used to cats, used to cats. And I would love to also collaborate with, you know, believe it or not, some classical people. You know, your mom would be fun to collaborate with because my, my musical palette is all over the place. You know, right now I'm working on a project that's going to be Latin more of a Brazilian slide of things because I lived in South America for seven years. Wow. Particularly Rio de Janeiro for five years. And so I fell in love with that music also. So in the Latin side of the house, who would you want to work with? Roberto Zeal would be a lot of fun to work with. Deja Vuon would be one to work with. I could, I could name, you know, I was just thinking of as well as Roberto would have been great to to work with also, but we just. When I was living down there, I didn't live very far from Antonio Carlos Jobin. He would have been fun to work with. But we call them Tom, Tom Jobin. And it was a nice guy and very, very friendly. And he hung out a lot too. A lot of people don't know that, but it was really cool. I can imagine. Now they're taking. And I asked this of all the artists because me growing up, I play music. I've played music all the way up to college. Started out in the school system. And as you know, now they're taking the art and music out of the school. So what is your thought on that? What is your thought on that? Well, my biggest concern about them cutting music is the sensitivity that comes with music. When you take that out, you take that away from students that they don't get a chance to grow with that. And at the same time, they're also taking with them possibility of creativity. Right. And regardless of the other subject, music encompasses all the subjects. It takes a little from every, every single subject and it's all synthesized into one. I'm going to have you hold that thought. OK. We have to go on a quick break. We'll be right back. Aloha, I'm Stan Osterman, Stan the energy man every Friday here on Think Tech Hawaii. If you're really interested in finding out what's going on in energy, especially here in Hawaii, but also all the way around the world and especially if it has to do with hydrogen, look into Stan the energy man every Friday, 12 o'clock, Think Tech Hawaii, either Aloha. Aloha. I'm Keisha King, host of At the Crossroads, where we have conversations that are real and relevant. We have spoken with community leaders from right here locally in Hawaii and all around the world. Won't you join us on thinktechhawaii.com or on YouTube on the Think Tech Hawaii channel. Our conversations are real, relevant and lots of fun. I'll see you at the Crossroads. Aloha. Aloha and welcome back to the Hawaii Smoothies Connection. I am your host, Gwendolyn Harris, and in the studio with me today, I have visiting saxophonist, Mr. Kenny Olson. We have been talking about his career, his new CD that's out, and the question that I just asked him before we went to break was how did he feel about having the music and the arts taking out of the schools? And he answered that question. But the next question that I'm going to ask you is, what can we do about it? Well, parents can advocate for that. I'm going to tell you this from being also an ex-administrator is that administrators do not like to deal with parents, especially when parents are upset. And when you really look at the thing and think about it, as far as education is concerned, students are the clients of education. Because it's really, if you look at it like in a business sense, okay, students are the clients. And the advocates for students are the parents because a lot of times students don't know how to articulate what they need or what they want. Some of them just aren't able to because of their age and some of them just aren't able to because they just don't know how to express it, but parents know how to do that. So if the parents decide to come up in arms because of all the taxes that they pay and everything that's involved, because see like the schools get their funding from the state, the education follows the child. If the parents decide that they want to come up in arms about music education in the public system, it can happen. They have more power than they realize that they have. Well, I really want to, I'm working personally on trying to find a way to keep the music in the schools here because I just think that kids need that, they really do need that. So what would you tell? There's a lot of musicians that are out there today. So some make it and some do not make it. Some just decide to give it up, they can't do it. But what would you tell an up and coming musician that's coming up in the music career today? They're coming up in music for a career. I tell them not to give up no matter what goes down, keep doing what you do. And don't be afraid to ask for help. Sometimes that help comes in a financial way. Sometimes that help comes in advisory way. But don't be afraid to ask for that help. Most musicians know what they need or they at least have an idea of what they need. But everybody is not the type of people that would advocate for themselves in a proper way. So as long as they don't give up and long as they don't be too shy to ask for help, no matter who that somebody is, even if they meet somebody famous, they ask the question, how do you get certain things? How do you make this work? Because music really is a business. Yes, yes it is. Now, what's coming up next for you in your career? What projects do you have going on? Besides what I'm doing here in Hawaii, I'm actually working, I sort of mentioned it, I'm working on a Latin CD and it's more of a Brazilian slant on things. And what I have done is written arrangements on Brazilian selection. And I've gotten some of my friends who, heavyweight musicians, heavyweight musicians, like I did on this project. A lot of people here in the States don't know who these people are, but the people in Brazil and in other parts of the country know who they are and they're really, really heavyweights. And so I'm excited about it, I really, really am. What's the timeframe we're looking at for it to come out? Well, if it works out the way I'm hoping that it'll work out, we could be talking about this next year. Okay, okay. So it's something where I need to start getting my little dancing shoes on for right now. That's right, get ready. Get ready because it has a nice feel, it's a happy feel. Well, you're going to be playing something, you're gonna be playing a little something for us. But meanwhile, while you go ahead and get ready, I wanna tell the people here in Hawaii, Mr. Kenny Poston, he is going to be around Hawaii. He's going to be playing on July 25th at Jazz Mines from seven to 10 p.m. Then he'll be at Medici's on July 26th from seven to 10 p.m. Then he will be on the Kona size, he will be going to Kona and playing a Gertrude's Jazz Bar, which sounds like that's gonna be a fun gig for you. And he'll be there from seven to 10. And then on the 29th, as I said, he is here for a playing for the medical conference. And it's the Jazz and Scholarship Luncheon at the Hilton, Hawaiian. And that's from 12 to 3.30 p.m. If you want to know more about this, you can go to your website is... KennyPolson.com. You can go to KennyPolson.com or you can go to, go ahead. They have to make sure you spell it right. Okay, you have to make sure you spell his name right. Please spell his name right. K-E-N-N-E-Y-P-O-L-S-O-N. If you leave that E out, you'll get a long shorman on the East Coast. So it won't be me. So you heard that, everyone. His name is spelled K-E-N-N-E-Y, E-Y, okay? P-O-L-S-O-N.com. Also you can go there and then you can also go to my Hawaii Smooth Jazz Lovers group because I'm always posting events that are happening around in the area. But Mr. KennyPolson is going to play a little something for us right now. This is for all the birthday people. That means everybody does. Okay, yes, that's everybody. Everybody has a birthday. That's everybody. Thank you. Whose birthday is in the house? Well, thank you so much, Kenny, for being here. I know the people are going to look forward to seeing you around the island, because I know I'll probably be here. I'll probably be at all the events. But thank you again for being here. Again, you just came off of a flight and came straight here to the studio. So again, I thank you. Thank you, thank you. Can I give a shout-out? You can. Give all the shout-outs you want to. Go ahead. Give me a shout-out. I want to give a shout-out to everybody. I want to give a shout-out to everybody who I'm going to meet at either of the performances. And I want to make sure that I get a chance to meet, especially all the brothers in blue. Five Beta Sigma brothers, you guys come out. I'm challenging you right now. So you heard that, all of you. Five Beta Sigma fraternity and Brothers Incorporated. That's right. Your frat brother is here on island, so you need to come see him. And the Zetas. And the Zetas, too. And the dogs. The Zeta, Five Beta Serrani, you guys. You need to come on out and support him, okay? All the Divinon. That's it. All the Divinon. Because Linda's AKA over there, she's looking to be like, what about me? Yeah. Anyway, for those of you, this is Kenny's CD. Get it. Where can I get it? KennyPulson.com. KennyPulson.com. Or any other performances this week. We also got two stars. Okay. We also got CDs and T-shirts. Come on out and get them. I thank everyone. I thank you, Kenny, for being here. Thanks for the invitation and thanks for having me. Thank you. And I thank everyone for tuning in here to the Hawaii Smooth Jazz connection with me today. Your host, Pointle and Harris. Until next time. Aloha and God Bless.