 Aloha, and welcome to the Hawaii Smooth Jazz Connection, and I am your host, Gwen Harris. My guest today, John Kalevis, is one of Hawaii's premier bassists, who is also known as an educator and composer. John graduated from Punahou School, where he played in the school orchestra, jazz band, and Hawaiian ensemble. My guest became a professional musician in 1979, the year he graduated from high school. In relocating to New York City, John performed in musical theater. Musical theater shows on tour and on Broadway. He also studied bass with Homer Mench at the Juilliard School of Music. In 1997, he successfully auditioned with the Hawaii Symphony, in which he has performed to present. In 2001, John formed the critically acclaimed Honolulu Jazz Quartet, which he recorded three albums and currently performs on Hawaii. In his jazz career, John has also had the privilege of performing with jazz giants, including Herb Ellis, Defile Marcellus, George Benson, Nestor Torres, Eric Maranthal, Don Cruisin, Conran Hurray, Larry Correll, and many others. Please, let's welcome our guest, Mr. John Kalevis. Welcome, John. Thank you, Gwen. Thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it. You know, I've seen you around town. Like I spoke earlier, I met you last year at the Nahuca Awards. Right. We were sitting at the same table with Kiyahi, so that was my first meeting you. Yeah. And then, of course, you know how Facebook is now. I do the friend request, so I became friends on Facebook, but I'm just so thankful that you are here today. You come from a musical family. Your mother was a classical piano teacher, and your father was a jazz saxophonist. How was it growing up in a musical family? Well, my mother was constantly playing music, playing her piano. She was teaching. People would come over to the house for lessons, although she did teach at Punahou and other places. And so that was my influence as far as hearing music a lot. She and my father actually divorced when I was quite young, so I didn't really know him that well. But I always heard my mother practicing, and then I kind of had an ear for music, so I would go to the piano and start playing some of the things that she was doing by ear, and that was a lot of fun. Now, what age did you start playing music? Say that again. What age did you start playing music? Who knows? It was very young. Very young? Yeah, because we always had music in the house with the piano. And then my mother, I don't know, maybe I was seven, six or seven years old, she bought me different instruments because she knew I loved music, so she started with the harmonica. Oh, wow. I'll play around with that. And she got me some conga drums, some bongos, guitar, and it was later that I got into the bass. Nice. Now, you graduated from Punahou in 1979, and you became a professional musician shortly after graduating. So what was your first gig or your first job, as they say? Yeah, well, while I was in high school, I used to play jazz with the Choy brothers, David and Junior Choy. That was in high school, and we would do a lot of weddings really for fun. But my first professional gig was in 79, I believe, was at the Diamond Head Theater. Back then, it was called the Honolulu Community Theater, and that was a show called Pippin, and the conductor was Donald Yap, who was a friend of my mother's. In fact, she got me to audition for Donald. So that was my first professional show that I played at the theater. It was a lot of fun, and I've been close friends with Donald even up to now. Really? Nice. Now, at 21, you moved to New York City, so that must have been an eye-opener moving from Hawaii to New York City. But you moved to New York City, where you played on and off Broadway, playing the Pirates of Penzance, Tap Dance Kid, and Big River. You worked with many great artists and actors, such as Miles Davis, Gregory Hines, Maurice Hines. So tell us about working on Broadway, and then tell us also about Mr. Working with the Great, or meeting the Great Miles Davis. Yeah. Well, the story is kind of interesting, because I moved to New York City in the fall of 1982, and I had actually played the show Annie, the show Annie, before I moved to New York. And the conductor, his name was Milton Green. He was an old timer from Broadway, and he was on tour with the show, and when they came to Hawaii, they used me to play on the bass. And so he told me, I told him I was going to move to New York, so he said, oh, I know all the Broadway show contractors, just tell them that you know me and that I recommend you. I said, oh, wow, thank you. That would be great. So that's what I did. So the first week I was in New York, I joined the local 802 in New York City, and they gave me the list of the contractors. I called each of them, and I said that I know Milton Green, and then one of them called me back. It was Earl Schindel, was his name. And he says, oh, you know Milton Green, huh? I said, yeah, we did a show together. He said, yeah, we go way back, because Milton had conducted my Fither on the Roof, the original, the original Fither on the Roof. So Earl Schindel said, and then he said, he said, well, can you play? So I'm like, what do I say to that? I said, yeah, I can play. This is on the phone. I can play. No, can you play? What am I supposed to say? I'm from Hawaii, but you know, he's just got to do it. So I said, yes, I can play. He said, OK, well, yeah, I have a show going on, Parts of Penzance on tour. And he said, but you're new in town, so you have to audition for the for the show with the conductor. So I said, OK. So I did, he gave me the music. He said, do you play guitar? I said, no. He said, will you learn to play guitar? I said, why? He said, because there's one song you have to play guitar. I said, OK. So he took me to Manny's music on 48th Street. We bought a guitar. He gave me I got one lesson from this guy named Mike Gary and find guitars, told me how to play the song. And then we went on tour and I was playing upright bass, electric and guitar on the show. Wow, so you played all those instruments in the show. Yeah, it was fun. Now, we talked earlier about Miles Davis and you told me that Miles Davis made the comment, bass sounds great. What was that? What was that? What was that circumstance? How did that come about? Yeah, I never actually got to play with him, but I was doing the workshop for the show Tap Dance Kid. And the workshop is supposed to get investors, you know, to invest in the show. And that was a great show. I had Alfonso Ribeiro, Hinton Battle. But anyway, we did a workshop and Miles was there with Cicely Tyson and the drummer was the famous Grady Tate, great drummer. And so, you know, we're playing and I look out in the audience and I said, man, that guy looks a lot like Miles Davis. So during the break, Miles actually came up to Grady, Grady Tate. And I was standing there, standing next to Grady and Grady Tate says, hey, Miles, you looking good, man. And Miles said, I feel good. And then he introduced me. He said, oh, this is John Calibis, our bassist. And I got to shake his hand and he said, bass sounds good. And it sounds just like him. That was 1983. I could have retired then. You were on Cloud Nine with that, weren't you? Yeah, I was. It was such a privilege to meet him. So you're in Broadway. I should say you're in New York and you're there for how many years? I lived there for eight years. OK, and then you decide to come back to Hawaii. Yeah. Now you're back in Hawaii and I see I see you around town. You've played with the symphony and you play with the symphony, I should say. But this Honolulu jazz quartet, you're the founder of that. What made you want to start this group up, the Honolulu jazz quartet? Well, my mother was a force of nature. She passed away in 2008. But back then she, you know, there wasn't a whole lot of gigs going on in town at that time. There wasn't a whole lot of things happening. And she said, you know, you should form your own group. Yeah, maybe, I don't know. She said, no, no, form your own group. So I happened to so I started to think about it. Yeah. And so I met Dan Del Nego, our pianist. He was in town with Miss Saigon, the show. And I actually got called to do do something because their bass player decided to take off. And so I did I did an event with those musicians. So I met Dan. And then so I like Dan's playing. So I got him actually on a couple other gigs while he was in town. And then I also met drummer Richie Pratt, who has spent a lot of time in New York. He was an offensive lineman with the Giants. Oh, wow. And a great jazz drummer. I actually saw him play with Gregory Hines on Broadway when I first moved to New York. Anyway, so I met Richie. And then I said, yeah, let's get a quartet together. And then I'm trying to think, well, who would be the horn player? Well, I thought different guys. And I said, well, you know, I've known Tim Tsukiyama because we played together in high school for the state select jazz orchestra with Gabe Baltazar was a leader of it. So I met Tim and I said, yeah, I like Tim's playing. So we formed the quartet. And we got the name because Richie Pratt used to play for the New York jazz quartet. So I said, hey, how about the Honolulu jazz quartet? That's a good name. That's how we got the name. Nice. Now, how many CDs do you have? Do you have out? Well, we only have three. Yeah, Sounds of the City was our first one, Tenacity. And then we did a third one, which was a live CD that we did in Seattle. Oh. So everyone, this is Tenacity. Which number is this one? That's the second one. This is the second one. OK. So this is the second CD by the Honolulu jazz quartet. He so graciously brought me one, because I'm definitely going to put it in my car when I leave here. You teach a workshop during the summer. I read your bio. I read it very carefully, because I wanted to get to know you. And this question is going to lead into a few other questions that I get into. But you teach a workshop during the summer at Punahou School that attracts students from around the world. Tell us about this workshop. Yeah, it was actually a few years ago that I did the workshop. And there were students that came from, I think it was Japan and some other places. And we had a nice, I wanted to teach a jazz ensemble group, teach them a little bit about improvisation. And that's what I love. I love jazz. And so we were able to do that with the group. And some great things came out of it. Actually, Grant Parvalio, who's a fine pianist. Yes, yes. I see him at jazz mines. And I see him around as well. He was in the class. And Ryan, who teaches at Moanalua Middle School, Ryan Howe. So it was for some fruit. It was nice. But yeah, teaching is a good thing. Well, we have to go on a quick break. And when we come back, Mr. Calabas is going to play for us. So don't go anywhere. We will be right back. Hey, loha. My name is Andrew Lening. I'm the host of Security Matters Hawaii, airing every Wednesday here on Think Tech Hawaii, live from the studios. I'll bring you guests. I'll bring you information about the things in security that matter to keeping you safe, your co-workers safe, your family safe, to keep our community safe. We want to teach you about those things in our industry that may be a little outside of your experience. So please join me, because Security Matters. Aloha. Hi, Mabuhay. My name is Amy Ortega Anderson, inviting you to join us every Tuesday here on Pinoy Power Hawaii. With Think Tech Hawaii, we come to your home at 12 noon every Tuesday. We invite you to listen, watch for our mission of empowerment. We aim to enrich, enlighten, educate, entertain, and we hope to empower. Again, maraming, salamat po, Mabuhay, and aloha. And welcome back to the Hawaii Smooth Jazz Connection. We are here today with Mr. John Calivas. And we talked in the first half of the show, but the beginning of the second half of the show, we have a treat. He is going to be playing for us. So John, I give it to you. A club, I was just bouncing away like I'm in a club. That was awesome, John. Thank you, thank you. As soon as we get you back hooked up here, I want to find out where we'll be playing. Where is the quartet going to be playing? Where can we see you around town? Well, we have this coming Saturday, which is May 10. We're going to be at a nice jazz club called Medici's. OK. And that's in Manoa. Yeah, the Manoa Marketplace. And we're going to debut some new arrangements. Oh, nice. We're really looking forward to it. It's a totally new thing for us. We all wrote some great arrangements. And then so far, it looks like we're booked at the Blue Note on June 21. So we look forward to the Blue Note on the program. And then we also have one coming up at the Manoa Valley Theater. See, they're celebrating their 50th anniversary of the theater. Oh, are they? Yeah. And so they asked several different people over the months to play. And they asked my group as well. And so I need to just check the date real quick. Awesome. Yeah, but that's going to be in August. So you're going to be at Medici's, the theater, the Manoa Theater, and Blue Note. Yeah, August 6 is the Manoa Valley Theater. August 6 at Manoa Valley Theater. OK, then you're going to be at Blue Note and Medici's. OK, so my viewers, we have to check out Mr. Calivis at these places. We're going to get back to the interview because I have a few more questions for you. But before I ask you these questions right here, because I tend to veer off a little bit, but I have to ask you this. You went to Punahou. Now, you should already know the question I was asking. You went to Punahou because I'm pretty sure everybody wants to know. You graduated in 1979 from Punahou. Did you know our former president, President Barack Obama? Barry? You mean Barry Obama? Barry? Oh, is that what you called him, Barry? Yeah, he was Barry to us. Yeah, well, actually I knew him from about the fifth grade when he first came. And so, yeah, we're kind of buddies back in those days. And yeah. Well, next time he comes, you need to look him up. Well, we'll see. He's got his regular guys he hangs out with. You have to be a part of those regular guys. We've got to give him the blue note. How about that? OK. Get you playing that blue note. We'll get him a blue note. Now, let me ask you. I have a few more questions to ask you here. And this one I ask all of my guests just because I grew up playing music in the schools. And right now, they're gradually slowly taking the arts out of the schools. So you teach and affiliate it with a number of schools here on Island, Punahoe, Moanalua Middle, and High School, and Iolani School. With some schools slowly taking music and the arts out of the schools, how can we keep music alive and in our schools today for our children? What do you think can be done? That's a good question. It's so important to have music. And I know some schools that don't have a music program, per se, but they do try to do certain things in the school, like ukulele, for instance, and teaching some different instruments. But I don't know. I don't know what the answer is to that, but I think it's very, very important for music to be in the schools, education at all levels. Elementary, middle, and high school. It's just such an important thing. And occasionally, we get to play, demonstrate. I know we did that at Kamehameha a couple of years ago where my quartet actually played with some of the students there. And they have different ones that do go to the schools. But they really should have, like Moanalua Public School, that has a really fine orchestra program in the middle school as well as a high school. So that's a great model for the public schools. And it's just such an important cultural thing. And it's just so important. That's one thing that I'm working to do, trying to figure it out, is how we can get it back in the schools. Because I know growing up, if I didn't have music, I did other things, sports and everything else. But music was my love. Was my love. Is there anyone that you would like to collaborate with? Are there any artists that you would like to collaborate with? You mean here or worldwide? I want to know here. OK, I'll tell you what. You give me a few here, and you give me some worldwide. You tell me. You tell me. Oh, boy. It's really, there's so many. Because in all genres of music, there's ways to collaborate. And here, I play sometimes with Teresa Bright, actually, weekly. And she's been talking to me about doing something with our quartet. That would be fun. We actually recorded a tune that Keola Bhima wrote, called Real Old Style. And to collaborate with him would be great. Do something there. There's this, it's just endless. I mean, looking at the great musicians, Chick Korea. Chick Korea. And he was here. He was here about a couple of months ago, like last year, a couple of months ago. But he was here. Did you meet him? I didn't actually meet him, but I did come to the show. Because I know the bassist Eddie Gomez is one of my heroes. OK. But I did get to talk to Eddie. Let me, can he play with us one time, Eddie? See, you never know. You never know. Are there any new projects for the Honolulu Jazz Quartet? You know, right now, we've kind of going through, I don't want to say revival, but it's like, I got new life in myself. Because after when my mother passed away back in 2008, she was the one that inspired me to have the group. And I just didn't really write anything after she passed away. I just kind of, you know. But I got, I visited my brother, Nick, in San Francisco just about six months ago with my son, Kainalu. And I got to hear, well, when I was there, I was looking at what's in town. Because San Francisco has some great jazz. And my friend, Robin Eubanks, who's an incredible trombone player, we played on Broadway together. He plays with the SF Jazz Collective, the Francisco Jazz Collective. And they were playing. So I said, oh, let's go, let's go. So my son, who's actually a punk rocker. But of course, he grew up hearing jazz. But we went to the show and both of us were just blown away. And what was so interesting about the group is like a 10-piece group, I believe. But their arrangements are so interesting, so different from what I've heard. They'll just do a song and they'll just make it so interesting with the tempos and the keys. And they keep changing keys. And they keep doing it. And I really was inspired by that. And at that time, they did their own music. And they were also featuring the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim. But totally different, it's not like what you hear. But you hear the melody. So that just inspired me finally after over 10 years of not doing anything new stuff. It really inspired me to talk to my group. And so I talked to Dan, Tim, and Noel. And I said, what do you think of this? I had them listen, watch YouTube of SF Jazz Collective. And they said, yeah, this is cool. So I said, yeah, why don't we all do some arrangements? And so we used Gershwin as a feature. But we did some arrangements of our own things, too, and standards. And that's what we're going to feature at Medici's next week Saturday. Oh, OK. I will be there. Great. I will be there looking forward to hearing the group. And I'm glad you took that trip to enlighten you, to wake you up, to get back into doing something. Yeah, it was so inspiring. I haven't been inspired like that in a long time. Nice. And I said, yeah. And Bobby Hutcherson, the great vibe player who passed away not long ago, he said, you don't have to play standards the way they've always been played. He said, you've known them for many years, and you've changed. So why can't you play it a different way? How you feel. Yeah, because I've pretty much been a traditionalist. And yeah, I like to play, so what, how it's always been played, you know, but it doesn't have to be played. You can make new arrangements. You can make your new arrangement and make it your own. That's right. Make it your own. Yeah. Well, John, I thank you so much for joining us here at the Hawaii Smooth Jazz Connection. It's been my pleasure, because this is my first time actually sitting down talking to you. So this was a treat for me. And to learn about the Honolulu Jazz Quartet, that's another treat. So again, thank you so much for joining us. Everyone, Medici's, Manoa Theater, and Blue Note Hawaii, check out John Calivas and the Honolulu Jazz Quartet. Thank you. Thank you, Gwen. It's been a privilege. Thank you for asking me to be here. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you, everyone, for joining us here on the show. We will be back next week when we will have Mr. Deschan and Higa next week. And you might have a surprise guest. Until next week, Aloha and God bless.