By John Heckathorn
The 3rd article after the bikini one. :)
http://starbulletin.com/2008/03/23/news/heckathorn.htmlA BeBoppin' Night in Chinatown
At 8:15 one night last weekend, the Dragon Upstairs was virtually empty. By 8:45 the second-floor Chinatown nightclub was packed. By 9 the band was gathered around leader Satomi Yarimizo's piano, learning a brand-new tune written by trumpeter DeShannon Higa.The tune's called "Bop Tribal." So's the band. The crowd -- admittedly, it takes only 50 or so people to fill the Dragon Upstairs -- is here as a gesture of faith. This is Bop Tribal's first performance ever.
The faith was not misplaced. It was one of those rare nights: the right crowd in the right room for the right band.
In addition to Yarimizo and Higa, the quintet included tenor sax Reggie Padilla, bass player Jon Hawes and, from the Honolulu Jazz Quartet, drummer Adam Baron.
The quintet ripped through tunes by Horace Silver, John Coltrane, Clifford Brown. The crowd rocked along. "You go, girl," yelled voices from the back when Yarimizo came out smokin' on one of her piano solos.
Baron was thundering on drums, "channeling his inner Art Blakey," as he put it. On his way to the gig, Baron had stopped to help a pedestrian who'd tripped in a crosswalk, ending up with blood on his shirt. He'd had to go to Aloha Tower, the closest open place, to buy a new one.
"If I'd known all it took to get Adam to play like that was a new shirt," said Higa, "I'd have bought him one every gig."
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