John Berger review of 'Pacific Tinge' - Honolulu Star-Advertiser April 1, 2011

‘Pacific Tinge’

Crosscurrent

(Jazz Hang)

Trombonist Patrick Hennessey is recognized by those in the know as an important resource in the never-ending struggle to preserve the cultural foundation of the Royal Hawaiian Band. His biography of RHB Bandmaster Heinrich “Henri” Berger has yet to find a publisher, but will be essential reading for Hawaiian music fans and city officials alike when it does.

In addition to being a historian and the RHB’s former principal trombonist (he retired in 2009), Hennessey is one of the nine members of Crosscurrent, the BYU-Hawaii Faculty World Improv Ensemble. If the Hawaii International Jazz Festival had survived the death of its founder, the late Abe Weinstein, these guys would be an excellent choice as local headliners.

Band members David Kammerer (trumpet/flugelhorn/vocals) and Jay Lawrence (vibes/drums/percussion), the co-producers of the project, are on a mission to add elements of indigenous Pacific Islander music to mainstream big band jazz. It’s an admirable albeit challenging objective; keeping the mainstream jazz elements up front ensures that the project will reach its intended audience rather than being wrongly categorized as “world music.”

Jazz fans won’t be disappointed. Crosscurrent embraces a wide range of contemporary jazz genres, and plays them well. Take “Ka Ua o Ho'oilo (Winter Rain),” for example. Never mind the title; with solos by Kammerer, flautist Larry Cook and guitarist
Robert “Bear” Goldsmith, it is a beautiful piece of music.

Some of the cross-cultural experiments work better than others. Rearranging Tongan songs for performance by a jazz band with Hispanic elements thrown in as well is one of the best. The band’s reworking of a traditional Samoan song is another. Slipping Polynesian percussion instruments into the rhythm section on “Taravana Samba,” and a Samoan vocalist on “Leafaitulagi,” are also good ideas.

There are also places where the efforts to integrate feel forced. Crosscurrent is so solid as a mainstream jazz group that well-intentioned experiments can be gilding a lilly.