Musicians
Alyse Hokamp
Robert Hokamp
Steven Harlos
Austin Crumrine
Greg Beck
Donations/tips: Venmo @Alyse-Hokamp, PayPal hokampmusic@gmail.com
Music
You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To
L-O-V-E
Venus
C’était charmant
Proezas de Solon
I Wish You Love
Apple Blossom Time
Romance cumbia
Can’t Help Falling In Love
No Other Love
Chopin Nocturne in Eb Major, Op. 9 No. 2
I Could Have Danced All Night
(Break)
Sentimentale
Always with you (from Spirited Away)
That Old Feeling
Girl From Ipanema
Planetarium (from La La Land)
These Foolish Things
Fly Me to the Moon
Maria Elena
Naquele Tempo
Koimachibito
Night
Plaisir d’amore (inspiration for the song Can’t Help Falling in Love)
O Sole Mio
Concept/development
Last summer, as I was wrapping up my flute recitals, I felt the need for a new project. I get restless without a focus, and I love the feeling and process of being intensely immersed in a project. For many years I used orchestra auditions for that purpose, but I didn’t get to control when or where those happened.
My idea was to do two things I’ve been wanting to do for a while:
1) start learning jazz and
2) present myself as a singer.
Knowing I work best with a deadline, at the end of July, I booked a show for Valentine’s Day. That gave me a good half a year to pick the music and develop some new skills.
In retrospect, I feel honored that my band agreed to the performance so far in advance, when the thing was merely an idea.
Singing
Initially, I thought I would make my debut as a singer, and do a full singing show. However, as it developed, I started to think it would be a bit strange to not utilize my flute playing powers in the performance. On top of that, I was getting stressed about learning so many new songs.
At that point I added instrumentals, including some classical pieces, and some Pan-Tones standards, including a few songs I’ve sung with the band.
I started voice lessons at the end of August. I’d sung for church services and a few songs at Pan-Tones shows, but never done any vocal training… I just practiced and did my best. However, since I was planning to present myself as a singer, it seemed necessary to take lessons. As it turned out, Robert also began voice lessons, and he agreed to take over half of the singing duties.
Dancing
I had heard and loved the Chopin Nocturne for most of my life as a dancer (now 30+ years), but only recently discovered which one it was. I planned to play the melody on the flute.
About a month before the show, I took promo photos, listening and dancing to Chopin while we were shooting. I started to feel like maybe I wanted to dance, and then maybe I ought to since I had it on the posters. I was on the fence about it, since I didn’t want it to feel like a gimmick, or the -Alyse Variety Show-. But it wouldn’t be the first (or second, third, or even fourth) time for me incorporate dancing into a performance.
In the midst of my waffling, we went to see my bandmate play The Rite of Spring with dancers (a couple of weeks ago). I LOVED IT. It was my first time to experience that piece with dancers, and it made me think… why did we ever separate music and dancing? They’re really two facets of the same thing, and if I thought of it that way, I didn’t feel so much like I was pulling tricks out of my bag for novelty’s sake. The truth was I really wanted to dance to the music.
I developed the choreography and concept for the dance piece over the following week or so. I decided to play the melody for the first half, then put my flute down and bust out some ballet moves. The dance is an expression of how I feel about creative work and life- generous but vulnerable. Curious, a bit afraid, but always searching for optimism.
Thoughts
I am so thankful to this awesome and versatile group of musicians, but “thankful” feels like a major understatement. It’s more like a heartfelt warm/fuzzy thing- feeling artistically supported in a risky endeavor. That’s a feeling of love, isn’t it?
Each song I chose is very personal, collectively encompassing different kinds of love feelings. Many of my selections are favorite songs or pieces that I’ve had a long connection to.
My musical upbringing started with ballet, which is where I was first exposed to classical music. Over years of pretty serious dance training, I spent many hours listening to music.
My other major musical influence was from riding in the car with my dad, who always kept the oldies station on (Oldies 107.9, in Honolulu). There were a handful of years where the station played a pretty specific selection of oldies. I still know every lyric and interlude of those songs, mostly from the 60s and 70s. That helps explain my affinity for that groovy era of music.
This performance is the culmination of a lot of work, energy, and love, but it’s also just the beginning of a lot of things. I can’t say what, because I don’t know yet. I definitely broke further out of my “classical flutist box,” which seems to be a unifying theme of my work lately.
Alyse Hokamp 