Symphony Conductor Article

COVER STORY

at Who Makes Th~A Matt Catingub speaks

cooly and ~arries a hip stick Hes also one of the worlds topmiddot pianists saxophonists and music arrangers

No wonder the Honolulu Symphony Pops plays to sold-out audiences

By MARK DOYLE T he Cabnan Matt theCat The Big

Kahuna Whatever you call him know this daddy-o the cats cool

Hes a saxophonist pianist vocalist conshyductor performer composer arranger bandleader Hes gone man Hes out there Hes crazy (thats a good thing)

Hes MattCatingub j ust in case youve been cruisin square on anothemiddotr planet and missed the whole ~wing thing Since he took over as conductor i or the Honolulu Symphony Pops three years ago the orchestra has been knocking em dead wilh sold-out performances Suddenly swilchedshyon audiences have been bouncing out of the Blaisdell snapping their fingers to the scorching swing rhythms of Count Basie Tommy Dorsey and Louis Prima playing in tJ1eir heads

It also hasnt hurt that headliners such as Diana Krall Michael McDonald Kenny Loggins The Manhattan Transfer Diane Schuur AI Jarreau and Toni lEmnille have bien flying over to perform entire repertoires WitJI the Pops arranged by the Catman hiroseII

Next up is Craig Schulman who wowod audiences here as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables Hell perform Broadway hits with the Pops on May 12-13

And suddenly the rest of the country is noticing thatour little symphony out here in the Pacific is landing big-name entershytainers - because we have a first-rate pops orchestra ladies and gentlemen and its more than hot its middotsmokin

What were doing here is the next level of risk-taking Catingub says settling into a tiny booth in a corner of Palominos dining room a glass of Single Barrel Jack Daniels on tJle rocks in hand Pops orchesshytras have always been a little edgier and more adventurous than regular orchestras But by bringing in recording stars like Kenny Loggins or Michael McDonald whod never performed with a symphoshyny orchestra before were taking it a step furtlier

I tell them I will conduct for you I will write for you I will arrapge for you I will perform with you ~ nake it easy for them to try something completely new

Catingub amd his sax back up Toni TenoiUe at Boother sold-out Pops concert They love it and the audiences Jlere have J really responded as well

W hen movie houses were first established in An1erica they were called the poor mans

opera Today look at how many people go to the opera and how many go to the movies Does the word populist suike a chord How about Pops Lets face it Eastern European classical musicmiddotcanmiddot be wonderful and culturally enriching but there has always heen a linUted audience for it Its no secret that the Honolulu Symphony has feIt the financial pinch for years as a result despite employing some of ilie finest musicians in the country

Nope this is a pops market Probably always will be Previous conductors have recognized this and drawn decent folshylowings in tJle past but nothing like what Catingub is doing Somehow with remarkable talent and creativity he has managed to artistically explore new ground with musical genres compositions arrangements and venues and make it fresh and appealing to the masses at ilie same tin1C The list of individuals whove accomshyplished something sinllJar is quite short In ilie big band world this is the stuff of which Iegel)ds are made - Sinatra Prima Gershwin Dorsey etc Could Catingub at 40 have ilie right stuff as well

He certainly has the talenL As the youngest son of j azz legend Mavis Rivers he was introduced to music at a young age through his mothers albums for Capitol Records and Frank Sinatras Reprise label Mavis born in American Samoa and known as Polynesias First Lady ofSong performed regularly wiili Matt at her side until her death in 1992

My mom was considered one of the best natural musicians who ever lived he says fondly 1 first met Frank Sinatra when was a baby so I dont really rememshyber it I did meet him on occasion later though I met a lot of musicians through my mom because she took me everywhere with her

I was raised in ilie San Fernando Valley which was right in tlle middle of the music world 11lat is to say many musicians and people in show business lived there in the 50s I went to Grant High School the band Toto went there Tom Scott Tom Selleck - a lot of people who went on to become celebrities or had parents who were already celebrities

Catingub started playing piano at 4 and by 7 he was spending hours on the ivories teaching himself songs The first song I learned to play on the piano was Let It Be (Beatles 1969) I liked all kinds of music still do Back then I loved The Beatles the Stones later on bands like Steely Dan Then I got into jazz pretty heavy

He played a variety of instnunents in his high school bands - piano drums clarshyinet - but it was the alto sax that captishyvated his attention and he quickly masshytered it at age 16 A year later he was pershyforn1ing at the Monterey Jazz Festival where he was recruited to travel to 1apan with an all-star tour featuring Diizy Gillespie Sonny Stitt Thad Jones Mel Lewis Kenny Burrell and Ruth Brown

SEEPAGE 55

Mid Week May l ~IH ~~

inger-poppin With TheCatman FROM PAGE 26

A

Most j azz instrumentalists (saxopbone) were influenced by people like Miles Davis Charlie Parker be explains My influshyences were Prank Sinatra Tony Bennen Ella Fitzgerald I didnt naIly care for music thatjust spishyraled oul and experimented I appreciated the talent but preshyferred tighter rhythms and melodies - songs that bad beginshynings middles and ends

h a showman is born In 1979 LouieBellson hired the 17-year-old phenomshy

enon for his pOwerhouse band featuring the hot young alto blower on a number of hit albums Catingub later joinetl the Toshiko AldyoshilLew Tabackin Big Band as lead alto saxophonist Hed arrived He was living a musician s dream But he needshyed more He could write comshypose arrange sing He was ready for Iis PV~1 band

He recruited lis mother as a vocaTist and in 1983 at 21 the Matt Catingub Big Band recordshyed its first album My Mommy and Me followed hy several more well-received albums for SeaBreeze Jazz

Aside from his early solo sucshycess Catingub has since lead the jazz ensembles program at the Grove School of Music In Los Angeles served as director of the New Zealand Youth Jazz Orchestra from 1985-90 and as musical director for Jack Jones and Toni Tennille - The Captain amp Tennille his longtime friends

As a singer Catingub s talent didnt really emerge until tl95 He made Iris debut at Carnegie Hall as part of a Frank Sinatra celshyebration singing There j No You as a tribute to both Sinatra and to his late mother

Both Frank and my mOfll recorded it he says Its always been my favorite song she sang And when she recorded it she was pregnant with me

Though Sinatra is one of Catingubs all-time favorite entershytainers his passion for swing music goes even deeper He has been leading swing bands for two decades most recently as the Big

Kahuna in the Big Kahuna and the Copa Cat Pack Comprised of 12 hard-charging and talentshyed musicians they put on a high energy glitzy show that includshyed Hawaiian retro coslOmes and five swing-dancing couples The Copa Cat Pack ha~ toured from the Pacific to SlOttgart Germany perfonning repertoires hat include

Hawaiian hapa-haole songs Catingub explains It really started taking shape and sort of evolved into something called Hawaiian Swing

With his strong island roots shySamoan mother Filipino father - Catingub found blending classhysic Hawaiian pop lOnes and big band swing a natural move for

mothers ashes arc buried on the NQrth Shorejust off of Laielve felt a spirilOaI connection to this place ever since After the funershyal (1992) everything just seemed to fall in place And it has just gotshyten better and better

Despite his musical heritage and impressive credentials Catingub remains an

at bowling (he averages 180) AclOllly Im pretty serious about it guess its that pershyfectionist thing But we have a lot of fun Sometimes Henry (Kapono) and his wife join us

Sure sounds like a regular gUy Vicky and I live in Harbor Court right now but we want a house he says We have dogs and cats

Catingub a k D the Big Kahuna fronts the Copa Cut Pack wbicb bas taken Hawaiian swing to Europe aDd is working on a scltond i1bum

homage to various jazz greats plus swing-fling vcrsions of island classics such as The Hufqlau Song Hawaiian War dlianIm Jlue Hawaii PeaTly Shelisand others shy

The group has already cut an albunl called HawaiiaJl Swing for the Concord Jazz label and is preparing to release a new on called Shake Those Hula Lips Both are good foUowups to Catingubs acclaimed 1998 Concord debut Gershwin 100 which blends the easygoing spirshyit of paradise with Gershwins popular big band sound

TItis new swing sound startshyed with an effort to combine eleshyments of Western culture and

ltiTl He also feels Hawaiian music lends itself well to symshyphonic orchestration which is why he opens each of his pops perfomlances with local talent Entertainers such as Hapa Kapena Henry Kapono Pure Heart Kealii Reichel Robi Kahakalau Na Leo Pilimehana and others have either already appeared or are scheduled to appear with the orchestra

When Kapena opened for Toni Tennille Kapena front man Kelly Boy DeLima said For me this is a dream come uue to play with the Honolulu Symphony

1 love Hawaiian music Catingub says I have at least

55 cousins who live here My

affabledown-to-earth guy Hey Imjust regular folk I like to eat at places like Alan Wongs and Roys now and then but I also love Zippys plate lunell places hamburgers sairnin

He also has a linle secret someshything he prefers to keep oui of the limelight because he says it might not be that congruent with his image as an artsy symshyphony conductor

Oh what the heck lll tell you I like to bowl he says lowshyering his voice to a whisper In fact he bowls at least once or twice a week with Vicky his wife of four years 1 dont do sports really I mean look at me Im horrible at golf But Im fairly OK

We want a yard in a neighborshyhood This is Hawaii Its our home you know You shouldnt have-to live indoors

Being indoors at the Blaisdell Concert Hall however is anothshyer matter

Catingub comes totally alive on stage Dressed in a while dinner jacket with his black ponytail hanging low down his back hes the epitome of cool class as he taps his feet and directs the orchesshytra with his baton Hes all over the stage deftly moving from piano to Sax during the same num- shyber You know youre watching an incredible talent

Hes the man the one and only Catman

Riding In A Limo Luxury middotIs No Stretch FROM PAGE 14

senglrs often ask him where 10 evenmiddot24 hours youre at their beck year around but slightly peaks durshy Chun-Hori rented a limo in April In 12 years as a chauffer Ive eat and what to see Hes prepared and call Sometimes I leave my ing prom season The company for his junior prom This was his changed as a person The clienshy to banter with them on curnmt house before sunrise and relum handles 10 to 30 reservations a day first time - both 10 the prom and tele I deal wih are so sophisticated events or to detail island histoshy well after sunset It would not be at a rental rate of $60 per hour to ride a limo It was fancy he I found myself having to adapt to ry Hes also aware hat sometimes unusual he says to start work at (with a two hour minimum) says It makes you feel imporshytheir tastes and expectations he should only speak whcn sposhy 6 am and finish at 2 am the next We dont just provide transshy tant A limo makes the whole occashyFrom the things I say to the places ken to day portation Were not a taxi service sion that much more special He 1suggest they vL~it - they are at He loves meeting people and Proms and weddings are anothshy Youre buying a ride but it says hes happy he could take his a whole different level and I had says thats the best part about this er big source of revenue for limshy comes with customer service date out in style It had a n to rise to it job The worst part ousine services Takako Walker and a friendly aloha spirit she bar and every tiling Except V

Nakagawa considers himseUmiddot a Your schedule revolves around manager of Sharp Limousine says was only juice in ours concierge 011 wheels His pas- the client Ifhey hire you for 810 Tours says business is busy all Sixteen-year-old Matthew Five more years M att

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