REVIEW BY JOHN BERGER / jberger@staradvertiser.com

Ten years is a long time to keep a group together. The Honolulu Jazz Quartet — John Kolivas (bass), Tim Tsukiyama (sax), Dan Del Negro (piano) and von Baron (drums) — celebrates that milestone in great style here.

All but one of the nine tracks are from a gig at a Seattle nightclub. Kolivas’ brother, John Pennybacker, writes in the liner notes: “Studio recordings capture a jazz group as it would like to be. Live recordings capture a jazz group as it is. And in the world of jazz, is is far more exciting than would.”

Right he is! It doesn¹t take anything away from the quartet¹s two studio albums to applaud the verve of these recordings. Like the four equal partners they are, each guy steps forward for well-deserved solos, and each steps back so that the others can shine.

All things considered, the most notable track is the quartet¹s imaginative reworking of Keola Beamer’s “The Real Old Style” as acoustic jazz. While their own instrumental compositions all deserve careful listening, their
take on Beamer also displays their skill as arrangers of artists’ work in other musical genres.

The quartet commemorates its 10th anniversary by closing the album with the group’s first-ever recording, “Remembrance,” written by Kolivas and Pennybacker in 2001 in response to the 9/11 attacks. Including the song — a studio recording made with vocalist Anita Hall and Richie Pratt on drums — breaks the “live” format, but with the exception of a line about “a hole in the sky,” the song and its sentiments can now be heard in a broader context.

‘Remembrance / Live At The Triple Door’

Honolulu Jazz Quartet (HJQ Records)

Available now via CD Baby

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