KAPA‘A — His fingers danced on the keyboards and the magic filled the auditorium Tuesday, when Matt Lemmler visited the Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital in Kapa‘a. “He said he was on vacation and wanted to come and visit the residents,”
KAPA‘A — His fingers danced on the keyboards and the magic filled the auditorium Tuesday, when Matt Lemmler visited the Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital in Kapa‘a.
“He said he was on vacation and wanted to come and visit the residents,” said Josie Pablo, the hospital’s recreation director. “I didn’t realize he was such a prestigious performer.”
Lemmler, recently elected Governor to the GRAMMY Recording Academy, had just finished a tour with the Seventh Annual All Angels Jazz Festival in Lihu‘e, which wrapped up Sunday with a jazz mass, “A tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.”
Aki Conquest, who has coordinated several visits by musicians and performers to Mahelona Hospital, said Lemmler, enjoying his first trip to Kaua‘i, had planned on a vacation following the festival and asked if there were hospitals or care homes he could visit. The request led to Conquest’s suggestion of the visit to Mahelona Hospital.
“Our piano is so old and hasn’t been used much, I didn’t think it would work,” Pablo said while Lemmler’s deft fingers encouraged a powerful and lively escape of notes which pummeled the senses of the audience.
Amidst the barrage of musical notes, locks to the past were unlocked and smiles, amidst some stoic faces, blossomed in people’s eyes as memories were rekindled and lips moved in synch with the tunes being rendered by Lemmler.
Lemmler is considered to be one of the most original musicians to recently emerge from the birthplace of jazz, influenced by the music he heard growing up in New Orleans, states notes from the All Angels Jazz Festival program.
He is an accomplished jazz pianist, vocalist, producer, arranger and educator.
“What era is this music from?” Placido Valenciano, the Mahelona Hospital vocational therapist, asked.
Pablo said she didn’t recognize any of the tunes.
“It’s from before my time,” she said, but like the residents who connected with the jazz musician’s fingers, she too, came to life when Lemmler’s hana-hou production of “When the Saints go Marching In” triggered familiarity in the recreation director’s memory.
Lemmler said the magic of music is why he does the visits to hospitals and other places where people cannot otherwise enjoy his concerts.
“When you see their reaction, it’s undescribable,” he said. “This is why I keep doing this.”
Father Bill Miller, coordinator of the All Angels Jazz Festival at the St. Michael and All Angels Church in Lihu‘e, said Lemmler will probably return for future festivals.
Visit www.mattlemmler.com for more information.
