Aloha Live 2004 Tonight in NYC

It’s been just cold enough these last few nights, and with the calendar and the sun insisting that summer is truly gone from Northeast Ohio, I have found myself staring wistfully at pics in my office from our Hawaii trips of the last several years.

Twisting the knife in further, last weekend we visited my daughter at the University of Cincinnati, and stopped in for a few hours with most excellent friends in the area who showed us envy-inducing pics of their recent trip to Kauai. I can smell those orchids now.

So, if you, like me, love things Hawaiian, and if you, unlike me, are in teh NYC area tonight, stop by the Knitting Factory (74 Leonard Street) for Aloha Live 2004 with Willie Kahaiali’i (a.k.a.Willie K.), Amy Hanaiali`i Gilliom, Eric Gilliom, and Jackie Booth. Check out song samples from Amy and Willie live here.

And how’s this for a nice little bonus?

WIN!!!!
Roundtrip air on United Airlines for two to Hawaii
Five nights hotel accommodations at a select Starwood Hotel
Five day Alamo economy car rental

To enter please e-mail :[email protected]
With your name, e-mail, home address and phone.
Winner will be drawn during the show tonight.
You do not have to be present to win.

Here’s bios of the artists:

Raised on Maui, Willie Kahaiali’i (a.k.a.Willie K.) has been playing music and entertaining audiences since the age of 10. His father Manu Kahaiali’i, one of Hawai’i’s most respected musicians, recruited Willie and his brothers to perform in his band. From the very beginning, Willie was influenced by and exposed to a myriad of musical genres; from the Hawaiian, Jazz, and early R&B he heard at his father’s side, to the sounds emanating from the radio and TV from musical giants such as B.B. King, Santana, Jimi Hendrix, and Willie Nelson.



Amy Hanaiali`i Gilliom is one of Hawaii’s shining stars, who has won the hearts of many with the resurrection of Ha`i (female falsetto singing).

A multi-Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner, her last four albums have won her Song of Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Hawaiian Album of the Year, and Group of the Year. Her first album “Hawaiian Tradition” placed her on the World Billboard Charts, a first for an album written solely in the Hawaiian language.

Experiencing Amy in concert or listening to her CD’s truly validates her as a Hawaiian woman whose compositions reflect her journey through life, her genealogy and her love for the Hawaiian language and culture.



Eric Gilliom is one of the rare few, an embodiment of talent who is defined as much by music as by his genetic predisposition. Born into a family of gifted performers, his passion to entertain is inevitably inherent, and one need only spend a few minutes with him to realize he is a walking, thinking personification of art all his own.

Eric Gilliom released two critically acclaimed recordings in the late 90’s, “Into the Mystic” and “Like Chow Fun.” Gilliom lists Stevie Wonder, Sting and fellow local entertainer Jerry Santos, as writers who have inspired him over the years.



Jackie Booth was born and raised In Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Early on Jackie was influenced by her mother and sister. Growing up in a family where Hula has been passed down through three generations, Jackie began dancing at age 15 around Oahu’s famous Waikiki Beach. From then on, Jackie influenced the world of Hula through her Halau study with Kumu Hula Manu Boyd, as well as fifteen years of study and performance with the Royal Dance Company under the direction of Robert Cazimero of the legendary Hawaiian Music troupe The Brothers Cazimero. Hula has taken Jackie around the world, traveling not only extensively throughout the U.S., but to Japan and South America. She has even performed in the world-famous Carnegie Hall. For years, Jackie has been performing with Hawaii’s top Musicians, perpetuating a tradition handed down that “Hula is Life.”

For more festive island tunes, check out virtuoso ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro here.