By John Berger
Special to the Star-BulletinThere's a joke probably older than vaudeville about the route to Carnegie Hall being "practice, practice, practice." Maui's Nathan Tanouye became a member of the house band at Caesar's Palace by following a similar route. "I always practiced a lot (because) I knew I wanted to play professionally and I thought it was fun to improve," Tanouye explained last week from his Las Vegas home.
He was majoring in classic trombone at the University of Hawaii and a member of the UH Jazz Band when the group played the First Annual Hawaii International Jazz Festival three years ago.
The fourth annual festival runs Thursday through Sunday at Hawaii Theatre.
Tanouye came out of the first event with scholarship offers from two mainland universities. One was a four-year scholarship at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and he was off to Nevada.
"I knew I wanted to play but I had been concentrating on the legit (classical) side. I didn't really start seriously working on jazz until I got to Las Vegas and started studying with Stefan Karlsson."
Tanouye will graduate from UNLV with a double major in jazz studies and trombone. In addition to his spot at Caesar's Palace, he fills in for other musicians around the town and backs visiting acts like Natalie Cole, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett and the Temptations. He's also worked with Don Rickles, and played on the lighter side of the scene with "The Golden Boys of Bandstand" -- Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell and Fabian.
Among the most memorable of his Vegas jobs was playing a concert with Chicago and meeting James Pankow, the group's trombonist. " "It was the first big job I had here, and he's a very amazing player. I learned a lot just listening to him (play)."
Tanouye was introduced to the trombone as a fifth-grader. Within a year he'd become an avid student ("Chicago was one of the few rock bands I liked because they had a horn section"). He prefers the basic slide trombone over the valved version. Although he could continue playing Vegas he's looking forward to continuing his education, probably on the East coast.
"This town has a lot of good jazz to offer, but as far as the whole musical experience goes I'd like to be somewhere else where there's a bigger range of music. But I wouldn't trade this experience for anything." Tanouye is perhaps the most prominent recipient of a scholarship through the Jazz Festival (1997 Cherry Blossom Queen Cheryl Koide is another). Unlike some charity events in which the beneficiaries receive an unspecified "portion of the proceeds," the Jazz Festival scholarships are not determined by ticket sales or reduced by concert expenses.
"The (scholarship) program embodies some of the basic American values -- teamwork, self-reliance, commitment," Bunky Green explained from his Florida office. Green was president of the International Association of Jazz Educators when Abe Weinstein asked his assistance in setting up the educational programs that are key elements of the jazz festival here.
"People are always calling me for advice on how to put programs together, but I'm so busy (as a teacher and performer) that I'm at the stage where I can pick and choose (what I become directly involved with). If I get involved with something it's because they're building something with vision," Green said. As director of jazz studies at the University of North Florida he's a teacher/administrator. As a jazz musician he travels across the North America and Europe.
"Not all students will turn out to be great great players, but even the ones who don't function as a future audience who can appreciate it (and) it's an audience- building process. That's why all the professional, high-marquee value people should get in on this because they're only helping to build their own future audiences."
In addition to providing students with four-year scholarships, the festival program includes free jazz clinics that give younger students the opportunity to listen and learn from the stars of the show.
"When all you have is wonderful performers that come and play and go, there's no education going on because it's all about money," said Green. "Nobody's going to come in for nothing. It just doesn't work like that, but when you can reach out into the community and give something back you're building for the future. That's the thing that gives it legitimacy in the eyes of the people that really care.
"We've got to push to get more kids involved. The kids can have an opportunity to be the winner of a scholarship (and) if they're serious about music they'll get an idea of what it entails, what you have to know; and the clinics are free. You come, you perform, you do a kid clinic and you come off the stage and talk with them. Every kid who's interested should be able to be a part of this."
Hawaii International
Jazz FestivalWhen: 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday
