Member Spotlight: Abe Lagrimas Jr. — Multi-faceted, Multi-talented Local Hero Lots of Local 677 members talk up medical benefits, emergency financial assistance, equity and support during contract negotiations, and a general safety net of assistance. Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winner two times over, Abe Lagrimas Jr. (Solo Ukulele – The King of Pop, Beyond Words), […]
From the Suzuki method to the world stage, this classical-jazz violinist shows he’s all heart “Dr. Suzuki’s main idea was that if we put violins in the hands of young children instead of guns, maybe then we can have world peace.” Classical violinist Duane Padilla wouldn’t be where he is today without the discovery of a Japanese musician-turned-educator who […]
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT DeShannon Higa: The last Democratic Jazz Artist Throw any style at trumpeter DeShannon Higa, and he’ll run with it. More than likely, the Hilo native has already led the charge. A union member since 1994, the Honolulu-based Higa has mastered his own style of Democratic jazz, enveloping the traditional with the modern, EDM, […]
A longtime member of the Musicians’ Association of Hawai’i, George Kuo is an exquisite, but underrated, slack key guitarist whose reach extends far outside the islands. For those who’ve experienced him live, Kuo truly embodies the voice, or Ka Leo, of Hawaii. His exquisite voice and slack key touch, often on double-neck guitar, overflow with […]