Mike Muldoon: Blog

Hi There,  I'm not much of a blogger, so you are much more likely to find something new on the News/Muse page.

I remember rehearsing with Israel and the band for what turned out to be Israel’s last Waikiki Shell performance in March of ‘97. We were getting ready to begin the rehearsal, setting up our gear and catching up with each other. Israel was sitting in his chair facing us. An older lady walked up to Israel and introduced her husband. I don’t know who the couple was, but I remember the husband’s name. It was Howard. I’m terrible with names, but I remember Howard. The lady said, “IZ, this is my husband Howard”, and Israel replied, without missing a beat, “Howard be thy name”. That is classic Israel.

Well, he loved his people, and gave it all to them on that last performance. This show was difficult for Israel. It took a lot out of him. Not long after returning home to the Owens Valley, I had learned that Israel was back in the Hospital. This time he would not be coming out.

What I will tell you now is strange, but it’s true. I don’t remember telling Gaylord [...]

By mid 1995 Israel was beginning to have greater difficulty with his health. It seemed as though he was canceling appearances more often than he had during the previous year. We continued to work, but I could see that Israel was having difficulty.

We all cared deeply for Israel and were pulling for his health to improve, but it was a struggle. It may sound strange, but not only was Israel my friend, I worked for him. When he could not work, the band could not work. I was able to make up for some of the lost work by doing sessions and teaching drums. I worked with my friend, Del Beazley, on his gigs. I also worked with Teresa Bright, Brother Noland and Glenn Medeiros. But still, I could see that I was going to have to make some difficult decisions as far as work was concerned.

Recording in Hawaii started to lean heavily toward the "Jawaiian" sound. As far as I know, Brother Noland may have coined that term. It's a mix of Hawaiian music and Reggae. In ‘95 it seemed as though [...]

Recording has always been challenging. It’s a challenge to capture a meaningful performance on tape in the very unmusical environment of the recording studio. Most of the time a percussionist is overdubbing parts. There is no interaction going on between players. Generally, when you do percussion parts, or any part for that matter, you are listening for problems when you go back into the control room. Everyone has a particular take on what is working and what isn’t.
The choice of sounds and combinations of textures are limitless, and generally the producer has the final say about what is working and what is not.
During one session for Kapono, everything I played just fell into place. I was really pleased with my performance, and came back into the control room to listen to the playback. When I entered the room Henry (Kapono) and Jim Linkner were not at all happy with the take. Jim said, “Mike, let’s do another one. I think you need to relax a bit and maybe play less”. [...]

Everyone who knew Israel knew this; at any time he might say something totally unexpected. He had a quick wit and was very funny, but could have an edge too. Two events stand out in my mind. One occasion took place while we were playing for the CEO of Aloha Airlines. Israel was doing his set and the CEO requested a tune. Israel told this CEO it would cost him a dollar. Folks chuckled. We played the tune, and then Israel wanted his dollar. The guy laughed, and there was a bit of tension in the air. Then Israel said, “I’m serious. Give me the dollar”. The CEO walked up to the stage and handed Israel the dollar. It was very tense. We went on to finish up the show and no one said anything about it. Another time - and this was in the book - we played a gig and Karen Keawehawaii was also appearing with us. Karen is a fine entertainer and folks loved what she was doing. The thing is, some weeks before our gig she was in the papers and local news because she was [...]