Weekend Round-Up: Hip-Hop, Lukas Nelson, George Harrison

By Madeline Ziecker

Musicians performing at "Collective Soul Sundaze" for the Seed Project at Oceans in Kihei. Photo by Madeline Ziecker.

MAUI UNDERGROUND HIP HOP ‘SEED PROJECT’ PRESENTS: “DOIN IT IN THE PARK” Friday, Sept. 30 at Kalama Park from Noon – Sunset and beyond. Free.

A new, much needed, and quite unexpected movement is starting on Maui. “The Seed Project,” created by Jimmy Jacobs, AKA Goldawn Won, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of Maui’s youth by nurturing and developing their talents and skills.

The Seed Project began in 1997, when Jimmy Jacobs decided that he wanted to dedicate his musical talent to a greater cause, urging a collective effort to replace adolescent rebellion and angst with music. He picked up a mic (among several other instruments), and was reborn as Goldawn Won, hip-hop master of the South Side.

808 Connects, Jimmy Jacob's Maui-based company in association with The Seed Project.

Jimmy said, “I was kind of a bad kid. Hip-hop saved my life. I had the opportunity to utilize my energy and my frustration through music instead of getting in to trouble, thanks to my own teachers. I want to give the same opportunity to kids in Maui of this generation.”

Jimmy has organized both isolated and weekly music events and workshops to benefit Maui’s artistic youth. Every Thursday, Jimmy and 5-10 other professional musicians offer free performing arts and life coaching at Kalama Park in Kihei. On Sunday night after Little Beach fires die down, The Seed Project has been hosting a fundraiser at Ocean’s with free-style hip-hop performances by musicians involved in the organization, “Collective Soul Sundaze.” Keep updated with Goldawn Won’s Facebook feed to see which Sundays this event will be held further.

Friday, September 30, The Seed Project will hold a free potluck and all ages underground hip-hop show at Kalama Park from 3 p.m. until sunset, “Doing It In The Park.” There will also be an after-party at a secret warehouse location. Guests who are 18 years and older may stay until midnight, but from midnight until sunrise the event has a 21 years-old and up restriction. To find out information about the secret after party, attend “Doing It In The Park” or add Goldawn Won as a friend on Facebook.

FREERADICALS PROJEKT OPENS FOR LUKAS NELSON AND  THE PROMISE OF THE REAL Saturday , Oct. 1 at Charley’s starting at 9 p.m. $25 cover.

Charley’s has finally created the perfect musical cocktail, well worth the $25 cover. Freeradicals Projekt, a Maui-based band conceived by guitarist/songwriter Rama Covarrubias, will open for the esteemed Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real. There’s nothing like two good  bands with Maui roots playing on the same night in Paia, which of late has been hard to come by.

Freeradicals Projekt combines the styles of R&B/Soul, Funk, and Alternative Jazz. Band members come from diverse backgrounds, contributing a range of stylistic twists to their alternative and successful experiments. Current members consist of Rama Covarrubias on lead guitar, Francisco Perez and Shea Derrick on vocals,  Ami Shorr on his saxophone, and Michael Lawton on percussion. On Saturday night, the band will perform selections from their newly released album, Soulfire Radio, which can now be purchased on iTunes.

Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real are a classic American rock & roll band based out of Paia and southern California. Since their album release of Promise of the Real in 2010, the band has toured the nation with the refreshing zeal of young bands from the 1960s. The band now consists of Lukas Nelson on vocals/guitar, Anthony LoGerfo on drums, Tato Melgar doing percussion and Corey McCormick on bass.

Concert-goers should get to the show at Charley’s early enough to buy tickets and have a beer, or three.

SCREENING OF MARTIN SCORSESE’S RECENT FILM, ‘GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD’ Sunday, Oct. 2 at the MACC’s Castle Theater starting at 6 p.m. Tickets $20

Each of the Beatles has something special to bring to the turn table, but Martin Scorsese chose to base his documentary on George Harrison, the Beatle who exhibits emotional depth and charming cynicism, a far cry from the psychedelic playground of the Beatles or John Lennon’s sunny enthusiasm.

The documentary follows both Harrison’s personal and professional life with images from his early life in Liverpool, his travels in India where he incorporated Indian culture into his music, and his place in The Beatles.

The film will also include previously unseen footage and interviews with Olivia Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Ravi Shankar, Eric Idle, George Martin, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector, Pattie Boyd and Eric Clapton, among others.

Tickets available at the MACC box office or at mauiarts.org . This screening is a fundraiser by Maui Film Festival and Maui Tomorrow Foundation to support Bringing Back Baldwin Beach – The ‘Trees Please’ Project.