“C’mon, it’s the Beatles.”
With those four words, Trever Veilleux, musical director of the UH-Hilo Jazz Orchestra, gives the only sales pitch needed for the band’s annual spring concert “All You Need is Love.”
The show is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 3, at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center.
“They, more than anyone, defined what pop music is,” Veilleux said. “There is pre-Beatles pop music and there is post-Beatles pop music. And everything that happened after the Beatles, in one way or another, has been influenced by the Beatles.”
The popular stage band, known for their fall semester Frank Zappa tribute concerts, will be joined by the Orchid Isle Orchestra under the direction of Cathy Young for the semester-ending Fab Fourfest.
“The show is focused on the latter half of their recording career, when they stopped touring and they started focusing more on the studio and using the studio more as a creative tool, around ‘Revolver’ forward, although you could add ‘Rubber Soul’ in that,” Veilleux noted. “For one thing, that’s when they started adding more outside musicians and started utilizing George Martin’s orchestral arrangements more.”
Followers of the jazz orchestra already have tasted what the band can do with Beatles music, as they’ve performed the so-called “Abbey Road Medley,” also known as the “Golden Slumbers” medley.
“We performed that last year as a tribute to (drama professor) Jackie Johnson when she was retiring and that’ll be part of this year’s show, too,” Veilleux said.
The orchestra will get its turn to shine, as it will be just them and a vocal on “Eleanor Rigby” — as it was when the song was released on “Revolver” in 1966.
“As much as possible, the arrangements are going to play out like the original records,” Veilleux said.
Also on the bill is “A Day in the Life,” the final track of the 1967 magnum opus “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” which was named the greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone.
“We’re going to be able to do those great orchestral crescendos that happen at the middle of the song and the end of the song with 40 players. I’m really excited about that,” Veilleux said.
“Sgt. Pepper’s” was one of the earliest albums digitally remastered for compact disc, and on “A Day in the Life,” listeners were treated to sounds not heard on vinyl.
“You can hear a chair creaking during the orchestral breaks. You can hear their road manager, Mal Evans, count off bars,” Veilleux said. “It’s pretty great that all that stuff stayed on the record, as far as I’m concerned. I love those little details and imperfections that make it special.”
On several numbers, the band will be joined onstage by dance troupe Dori Yamada and the 5,6,7,8’s. Yamada, who said she and her dancers choreographed collectively, describes herself as a “huge Beatles fan.”
“The mark that they left on music, fashion and pop culture can still be felt and seen today,” Yamada said. “We’re trying to add the Beatles’ own humor and irreverence to some of the things. I don’t think they took themselves too, too seriously, and that’s part of their appeal, for me.”
Yamada and her dancers have often been a part of the jazz orchestra’s productions over the past several years.
“What’s great about these shows are that we are the icing on cake for people,” she said. “They’re coming to see the band; they’re coming to have cake. They can scrape off that icing, take it or leave it. If we add color, if we add a little more life to it, that’s great. We’re here to support the orchestra. To me, the jazz orchestra can stand on its own legs. They’re that good.”
In addition, Harmony On Tap, a local women’s singing group, will open with a cappella renditions of Beatles tunes. Their version of “Here Comes the Sun” is a staple of their shows.
With electric guitars and keyboards, a full horn section, multiple percussionists and several vocalists — including band alums Mayumi Long and Lilinoe Kauahikaua — the UH-Hilo Jazz Orchestra is a far cry from anyone’s garden-variety college jazz band.
“What we put on is very much performance based and is much more like a rock concert than a school band recital,” Veilleux said. “It’s also great for families because this music is universal and is loved by all ages. You’re going to hear a lot of music you’re really familiar with. I think it’s a rare opportunity to hear something like ‘A Day in the Life’ or the ‘Golden Slumbers’ medley played with a large group where we can do those beautiful George Martin arrangements justice.”
Tickets are open seating, $12 general admission, $10 senior citizens, $5 students with valid ID and ages 17 and younger. To order tickets or for more information, call the Performing Arts Center box office at 932-7490 or visit artscenter.uhh.hawaii.edu.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
