The Alonzo Spirit Band: Music for the Soul
By Ma‘ata Tukuafu
It was in 2007 when Alan “Alonzo” Rosen began hearing voices in his head; not crazy voices, but rather, he was hearing notes, lyrics, melodies, and completed songs. After meditation or sometimes in dreams, Alan would hear music and he started writing everything down. Soon he had over 80 original songs with lyrics; every single one had a positive or uplifting message.
Alan, an accomplished Hollywood TV writer/producer/director (Archie Bunker’s Place and Elvis Meets Nixon, to name a few) moved to Hawai‘i Island in 2000 and immersed himself in the culture here. Through his friendship with Clay and Shorty Bertelmann, he documented the Makali‘i ‘ohana (Hawai‘i Islandʻs voyaging canoe family) for many years, and became close to the voyaging community. In 2008, he released the documentary Mau Voyager, a three-hour biographical tribute to Master Navigator Papa Mau Piailug. It was while completing the documentary project, that Alan began capturing the songs he was hearing onto his computer.
“When the songs started coming through, I was just in awe, because I’d never written music before,” Alan says. He had written lyrics for other people in the past, however this was new.
Three years passed and one day while in meditation, Alan says, “The spirits got after me, they said, ‘Well? When are you going to record these songs? We didn’t just give them to you to have them sit on your computer.’ I’d never thought about recording them.”
The first thing he did was reach out to his good friend Chadd Paishon, captain of the Makali‘i, who is also an amazingly talented musician. Chadd had heard some of Alan’s songs and he arranged to have Charlie Recaido (a member of the band Kohala) engineer the first sessions at Lava Trax recording studio in Waimea. Charlie played bass on many of the songs, and soon after, he suggested that sisters Ginger Bertelmann and Melissa Samura come in to record vocals with them.
Other talented musicians agreed to work on the first self-titled CD The Alonzo Spirit Band, released in 2013. Because of the abundance of material Alan had to work with, he began recording enough music for three albums at once. One important famous Hawaiian performer who participated was Lorna Lim, the beautiful singer and musician from the Lim family, who sang three songs: “Lay A Little Dream on Me”, “A Song to Sing You on Your Way”, and “I’ll Be The One To Walk You Home”.
Alan heard Damon Williams’ hit song “Coconut Girl” and asked him if he would sing a few of the songs for The Alonzo Spirit Band CD. Charles Brotman, (also of the band Kohala, and owner of Lava Trax) was in the studio one day, when he heard Damon sing “Find The One”. Alan laughs when he recalls Charles saying, “Oh that’s how it’s supposed to sound,” after hearing Damon record it.
Rupert Tripp Jr, Iris Downey, and Hawaiian musical legend Sonny Lim are other Hawai‘i Island vocalists featured on the first CD. Alan fondly calls all the contributors together “The All-Star Studio Band,” a collection of fantastic and accomplished musicians who bring the songs to life. He found more local talent who added their instrumental voices to the mix: Karl Kasberg on keyboards, Colin John and Charles Brotman on electric guitar, Michael Surprenant on drums, and members of the Bump City Horns (Jesse Snyder on tenor sax, Andrea Lindborg on trumpet, Duncan Bamsey on baritone sax, and Gary Russell on trombone), and many others.
Alan would initiate the recording process by creating a “guide track” of himself singing the melody and playing the chords for the song on his guitar. Then he would play the simple track for the musicians and he found there was so much expertise, they would make suggestions on how it could sound.
“Sonny (Lim) would come in and I’d play him the start of the song, and he would get it right away, without hearing the rest of it. He’d ask which instrument I wanted, guitar or ‘ukulele and he’d just start playing.” He adds that Karl Kasberg has that same ability on the piano/keyboards, as well as guitarists Luke Clebsch, Pat Eskildsen, and Chadd Paishon, who can play in any style of music the piece calls for.
Part of Alan’s role as a producer has been to get the right musician for each song. The Alonzo Spirit Band does not have just one style and each CD contains a variety of genres: pop, reggae, rock, jazz, and soft melodic ballads. Alan says the songs came out like that, and they determine who should sing them. He wouldn’t ask Sonny Lim to play on a loud rock song; rather, he would invite Luke or Pat to play lead instead. On reggae songs, Pat and Jamin Wong are the main musicians, along with Damon on ‘ukulele. Most important to Alan has been the release of positive messages and uplifting music through the contributions of talented local musicians.
The Alonzo Spirit Band’s second CD And Float Away was released at the end of 2015. In addition to original pieces, The Alonzo Spirit Band pays tribute to “My Sweet Lord” (written by George Harrison) and “A Beautiful Morning” (by The Rascals,) both re-imagined and given an island flavor. This upbeat and joyful CD bounces from one genre to another. “Walking in the Light” is a blues/rock shuffle, “Aloha Au I Ke Aloha” is sung in a buoyant pop style, three of the songs are ballads including one sung by Lorna Lim, the title song is a melodic jazz/pop duet featuring Damon Williams and Iris Downey, and “Cosmic Cadillac” has a rock and roll feel. (For this CD, Charles Brotman took over the engineering and co-mixing reins.)
To create the video for “My Sweet Lord”, Alan chose the location of Pu‘ukohola Heiau National Historic Site to film lead vocalist Damon, Ginger and Melissa and also included all of the musicians who played on that track. As is the nature of a studio band, not everyone could make it on the same day for the video filming.
“There’s a lot of talent just in that one video,” Alan says. “It took us two and a half days to shoot because everyone couldn’t be together at the same time.”
He had Damon sing and walk along one of the paths, passing various musicians featured on the song, because it was the only way he could get Pat and Sonny into the video.
Damon says he truly enjoys working with Alan in the recording studio. Damon, for two decades now a successful artist in his own right, has assisted Alan with mixing and production, as well as recording more vocals. Some of the current music for the upcoming fourth CD has been recorded at Damon’s studio.
“Alan is a very solid and spiritual person,” Damon says. “He’s had a very worldly life, yet he has turned his focus over to spirituality. He brings people together to do the things that get the project done. All I’m doing is helping him to facilitate his vision.”
The Bright Side is The Alonzo Spirit Band’s third CD, released in 2016. This album continues to bring forward the happy and positive vibe of the group. While And Float Away had a successful run on 52 Triple A (Adult Alternative Audience) radio stations across America, The Bright Side did even better, with songs spun on more than 80 Triple A stations and some commercial radio stations as well. Represented by radio promoters in Los Angeles, Alan says he’s very grateful for promoter Crystal Ann’s ability to get the songs onto the airwaves.
Pat Eskildsen, a member of Kahulanui (a band that plays Hawaiian swing/big band music from the 1920s and 1930s) is featured playing bass and lead guitar on many of the tracks. One song Pat backs is “The Word”, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and performed by The Beatles, giving it an island pop sound.
“I really love studio work. We take an old song and change up the style completely,” says Pat. “Between that and Alan’s originals, we’re being creative with material that doesn’t have any type of reference. Creating a groove with only a click track, we have to come up with something, and it sure sounds a lot better when everyone has recorded on it.”
Ginger Bertelmann says she has been working with Alan for more than six years now. Interpreting the music and singing with Melissa Samura has been fun and rewarding for her, and she enjoys being part of the project. Melissa adds that Alan could have chosen other people to sing many of the songs on the albums, and she feels privileged to be a part of the Spirit Band.
Truth Music (aka Luke Clebsch) is the man behind some of the guitar and harmonica heard on both And Float Away and The Bright Side. He plays many instruments and teaches at the Big Island Music Academy.
“Alan is a lot of fun to work with. His whole intention behind the music and his approach and attitude is open hearted,” Truth says. “We have a lot of fun exploring sounds.”
Alan says the recording experience takes him back to the time he was working on sets with actors. He says it is kind of the same, working with musicians in the studio, though with a difference: now he is a caretaker of songs, nurturing them and releasing them into the world. Overall, he feels grateful for the gift of the songs from the Spirits, grateful for all the talented singers and musicians, and grateful the songs are getting heard on the Triple A stations. One may say the Alonzo Spirit Band has truly been inspired by the voices Alonzo heard in his head. ❖
The newest and yet unnamed fourth CD will be released later in 2018.
For more information: alonzospiritband.com
