HONOLULU – 2024 kicks off with a roster of local and international recording artists beginning with two-time American Idol finalist DeAndre Brackensick. The Blue Note Comedy Series continues with Luenell for one-night only, two local comedy showcases and the hilarious Dan Cummins. Reggae giants Big Mountain return for two nights and Broadway star Morgan James takes the stage for one-night only. The Mike Lewis Big Band returns and the Candlelight Series continues with four productions including a tribute to the music of Taylor Swift and Queen. Legendary 70’s super group, Sister Sledge, make their Blue Note Hawaii debut and George Kahumoku Jr. performs with Daniel Ho and Tia Carrere in their renowned Slack Key Show®. Motown legends The Four Tops grace the stage and 12-time GRAMMY® nominee Musiq Soulchild performs for three nights. Tavana is joined by Keith Batlin for a night of rock, blues and everything in between and Latin-rock legends Los Lobos celebrates their 50th Anniversary to round out the month.
Parking is validated at the OHANA East Hotel for $6 for four hours and at the Outrigger Waikiki for $15 for four hours valet.
Blue Note Hawaii 2024 SCHEDULE
DeAndre Brackensick
Tuesday, January 2
Tickets: Premium Seating $35, Loge Seating & Bar Area $25
Showtimes: 7:00 p.m.
DeAndre Brackensick fell in love with music at four years old and began performing on stages by the age of 12. He was a two-time finalist on American Idol before being discovered by Russell Wilson and Ciara. His vocal prowess on social media caught their attention and they immediately knew they had to be involved. “Dre is a once in a lifetime vocal talent, and Russ and I are so inspired and grateful to play a role in sharing his gifts with the world,” Ciara says. Now signed to Beauty Marks Entertainment, and represented by West2East Empire, Dre is poised for a breakout 2024 with his limitless vocal ability and commanding stage presence.
Luenell – Blue Note Comedy Series
Thursday, January 4
Tickets: Premium Seating $40, Loge Seating $35, Bar Area $30
Showtimes: 6:30 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
Luenell is the self-proclaimed “Original Bad Girl of Comedy.” She may be small in stature, but she more than makes up for it with her big personality, booming voice and infectious laughter. Luenell, has been thrilling audiences with her brand of comedy for more than 30 years. With the touch of a remote control, her body of work in television and film can be found on network and cable television as well as popular streaming services. Plus, fans can also tune into her popular YouTube show — that is, Hey Luenell — for comedic thoughts on her mind.
Big Mountain
Friday, January 5 & Saturday, January 6
Tickets: Premium Seating $45, Loge Seating & Bar Area $35
Showtimes: 6:30 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
Big Mountain first hit the charts in 1992 with the song “Touch My Light,” from their debut album “Wake Up.” They followed it up with “Baby, I Love Your Way,” written by Peter Frampton, which became one of their most well-known commercial hits. Big Mountain tours extensively to this day, headlining festivals and international stages.
Morgan James
Sunday, January 7
Tickets: Premium Seating $35, Loge Seating & Bar Area $25
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m.
Doors: 6:00 p.m.
Morgan James is a Juilliard trained singer, songwriter, and actress. On Broadway, Morgan was in five back-to-back original companies: The Addams Family, Wonderland, Godspell, Motown: The Musical, and Kristin Chenoweth’s For The Girls. Her most recent studio albums, “A Very Magnetic Christmas” and “Memphis Magnetic,” are full of classic and original soul music.
Mike Phillips
Monday, January 8
Tickets: Premium Seating $35, Loge Seating & Bar Area $25
Showtimes: 6:30 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
World renowned saxophonist Mike Phillips is known as one of the most electrifying instrumentalists today. Mike is the first musician signed by Michael Jordan to the Nike Jordan Brand, home of the Air Jordan, and is the only musician in the world to have recorded and toured with the legendary “Big Three” of American soul and pop music: Michael Jackson, Prince, and Stevie Wonder, not only as a member of the band, but as a featured soloist.
Blue Note Comedy Series & Comedy U Presents
Local Comedy Showcase
Tuesday, January 9 & Wednesday, January 24
Tickets: Premium Seating $20, Loge Seating & Bar Area $15, +$5 Day of Show
Showtimes: 7:00 p.m.
Comedy U is back for another night showcasing Hawaii’s local comics.
Candlelight: Tribute to Taylor Swift
Wednesday, January 10
Tickets: Zone A $66, Zone B $63, Zone C $54, GA Standing $32
Showtimes: 6:30 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before in Honolulu. Get your tickets now to discover the music of Taylor Swift at Blue Note Hawaii under the gentle glow of candlelight.
Candlelight: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
Thursday, January 11
Tickets: Zone A $58, Zone B $47, Zone C $36, GA Standing $32
Showtimes: 6:30 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before in Honolulu. Get your tickets now to discover the music of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at Blue Note Hawaii under the gentle glow of candlelight.
Sister Sledge
Friday, January 12 & Saturday, January 13
Tickets: Premium Seating $65, Loge Seating & Bar Area $55
Showtimes: 6:30 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
Sister Sledge are known as one of the most iconic female groups of all time. As the pages of the Chicago Tribune have asserted, Sister Sledge “has the stuff legends are made of.” Sister Sledge became a household name with the blockbuster release of the iconic “We Are Family” album, which featured the hit songs “He’s the Greatest Dancer,” the seminal title track, “We Are Family” as well as “Lost in Music,” “Thinking of You” and “All American Girls.”
George Kahumoku Jr, Daniel Ho & Tia Carrere
From Maui’s Renowned Slack Key Show®
Tuesday, January 16
Tickets: Premium Seating $35, Loge Seating & Bar Area $25
Showtimes: 7:00 p.m.
Featured regularly at Maui’s renowned “Slack Key Show®,” this group shares the uniquely Hawaiian styles of slack key guitar, ‘ukulele, and songs both traditional and new. Their music’s origins reach back to the early 19th century when Portuguese immigrants brought the ‘ukulele and Mexican cowboys brought guitars to Hawai‘i along with their ranching knowledge. Since then, Hawaiians made these instruments their own and these dynamic musicians reflect the best of traditions, musical virtuosity, and sparkling compositions.
The Four Tops
Wednesday, January 17 & Thursday, January 18
Tickets: Premium Seating $85, Loge Seating & Bar Area $75
Showtimes: 6:30 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
The Four Tops occupy a place of high honor among Motown and rhythm and blues royalty. Their breakthrough hit, “Baby I Need Your Loving,” released in 1964, was followed by “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” in 1965, becoming the group’s first number one hit and shooting them to super stardom. Since then, the Tops have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and have received the GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement Award.
Musiq Soulchild
Friday, January 19 to Sunday, January 21
Tickets: Premium Seating $55, Loge Seating & Bar Area $45
Showtimes: 6:30 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
12-time GRAMMY® nominee Musiq Soulchild has built a reputation for being musically gifted. Deeply inspired by the R&B and soul sounds of the ’70s he uses the name “Soulchild” as a way to show respect and admiration to his biggest musical influences, including Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway and Marvin Gaye.
Mike Lewis Big Band
Monday, January 22
Tickets: Premium Seating $35, Loge Seating & Bar Area $25
Showtimes: 7:00 p.m.
Local trumpeter and bandleader Mike Lewis returns to the club with his 17-piece big band!
Candlelight: A Tribute to Queen
Tuesday, January 23
Tickets: Zone A $57, Zone B $46, Zone C $35, GA Standing $32
Showtimes: 6:30 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before in Honolulu. Get your tickets now to discover the music of Queen at Blue Note Hawaii under the gentle glow of candlelight.
Tavana With Special Guest Keith Batlin
Thursday, January 25
Tickets: Premium Seating $35, Loge Seating & Bar Area $25
Showtimes: 7:00 p.m.
Tavana is joined by Keith Batlin for a night of rock, blues and everything in between.
Candlelight: The Best of Hans Zimmer
Friday, January 26
Tickets: Zone A $60, Zone B $46, Zone C $36, GA Standing $33.50
Showtimes: 6:30 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before in Honolulu. Get your tickets now to enjoy the best of composer Hans Zimmer at Blue Note Hawaii under the gentle glow of candlelight.
Hawaii News Now Presents
Dan Cummins
Blue Note Comedy Series
Saturday, January 27
Tickets: Premium Seating $50, Loge Seating $40, Bar Area $30
Showtimes: 7:00 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.
Increasingly popular stand-up comic and podcaster Dan Cummins will be playing 40+ cities on his 2023 Burn It All Down Tour. He released his third one-hour standup special, “Dan Cummins; Get Outta Here Devil!” in the Spring of 2020. And he released his eighth comedy album, “Live in Denver,” in 2020 as well. His podcast, TIMESUCK, is regularly featured in the top of the Apple podcasts comedy charts and was downloaded almost thirty-five million times last year alone. His second podcast, SCARED TO DEATH, is quickly becoming popular as well, staying in the top ten of both the Apple and Spotify fiction podcast charts and getting over ten million downloads in 2022.
Los Lobos: 50th Anniversary
Sunday, January 28 & Monday, January 29
Tickets: Premium Seating $75, Loge Seating & Bar Area $55
Showtimes: 8:00 p.m.
It’s a matter of time. 50 years to be exact. And in that time five-time GRAMMY® winners, Los Lobos, have created an unprecedented body of work, a legacy of greatness. The numbers are staggering, 100+ gigs a year for five decades running, crossing millions of miles to rock millions of fans. As proud Chicanos, their songs have always glistened with the distillation from their Mexican and Latin American roots — nourished by Norteña and rancheras, buoyed by bolero and cumbias, soaring on the rhythms of son huasteco and son jarocho. Los Lobos have helped spread the rich diversity of cultures across every continent, throughout the global community.
Coming up in February at Blue Note Hawaii:
PraiseJesus Artis February 1
John Cruz February 2-3
The Abyssinians February 4
Jake Shimabukuro & Mac McAnnally February 5-6
Julian Marley & the Uprising February 7-8
Marlon Wayans February 9-10
Candlelight: Romeo & Juliet February 13
Josh Tatofi February 14-17
Keep it Aloha Podcast February 18
Local Comedy Showcase February 20
Carnivale with the Honolulu Brass Quintet February 22
Hiromi’s Sonicwonder February 23-25
Mike Lewis Big Band February 26
Candlelight: The Best of Hans Zimmer February 28
Jonathan Butler February 29
About Blue Note Hawaii
Located in the heart of Waikīkī, Blue Note Hawaii features a year-round lineup of world-class entertainment, from local favorites to international sensations. The intimate, 326-seat club showcases leaders in jazz, blues, reggae, rock, Hawaiian, R&B, pop, comedy and more. Performances are enhanced by a locally inspired dinner menu, featuring shareable small plates, hearty entrees, house-made desserts and a thoughtful beverage program. View the performance lineup at bluenotehawaii.com and follow @bluenotehawaii on Facebook and Instagram.
What Breast Cancer, Inc. Doesn’t Want You To Know About Bras
Why is there still a breast cancer epidemic despite billions in research funding?
In the pre-pandemic days, when we were able to focus on other diseases besides COVID, there were annual gala events to raise awareness, and funds, for breast cancer research. Literally billions of dollars went to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which made a lucrative art out of fundraising off of breast cancer, as well as to the venerable American Cancer Society, all with the promise of finding a cure.
Corporate virtue signaling in those days meant showing you were “pink” for breast cancer awareness month. Everything went pink, including football games. You couldn’t leave the grocery store without being hit up for a donation to some breast cancer charity, usually the ACS or the Komen Foundation. They made breast cancer fun, and profitable, for everyone, except for the women who went on to develop breast cancer.
Now, after decades of this highly-funded war on breast cancer, the incidence and death rates from this terrible disease are — get ready for it — about the same.
What went wrong?
Why did billions of dollars and decades of research fail to make a significant dent in the breast cancer epidemic?
Obviously, money can’t buy everything. It can’t, for example, make these researchers question their approach, which is still failing to explain the cause of over 70% of breast cancer cases.
Why can’t they change? The goal of the medical and research community is to make money for shareholders. Clearly, their current approach is a great business model.
Indeed, breast cancer is now a multi-billion dollar business, offering genetic screening, tamoxifen, and preventative breast removal (prophylactic mastectomy) to prevent breast cancer before it occurs; mammography, ultra-sound, and thermography for diagnosing the tumor as early as possible; radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy for treatment of the cancer; and mastectomy bras, lymphedema support groups, and breast implants afterwards.
These people have the audacity to call themselves “experts”. Of what? Of their failed research and treatment approach?
Time for a change
Their problem is the way modern medicine is framing breast cancer theories. They are using a biochemical model of breast cancer, hoping to come up with a drug to block some yet undiscovered biochemical process that causes cancer. They consider the body to be a biological machine, and believe the same mechanisms apply to other animals, too, making rats and mice the most studied organism for human breast cancer.
It never occurred to these breast researchers to consider what human women do to their breasts that rats and mice do not. Women wear bras. And bras are designed to be tight.
It should not be news to anyone, even the genius scientists studying the mammary glands of mice, that tight clothing can interfere with circulation. There are lots of studies showing the negative impacts of tight bras, including a reduction in immune function, the congestion of the breasts with lymph fluid, and overall reduction in blood and lymph circulation, compression injuries to nerves resulting in headaches and backaches, and even changes in body temperature, menstrual cycle duration, digestion and melatonin secretion, and breast cancer.
Dressed to Kill
My wife and I performed the world’s first study directly examining the bra-cancer link, called the 1991-93 US Bra and Breast Cancer Study, published in the 1995 book, Dressed to Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras, updated for a Second Edition in 2018.
Our study consisted of about 4,700 women, nearly half of whom had breast cancer, and asked about their past bra usage habits. Our results were stunning, and suggested that bra-free women have about the same risk of breast cancer as men, while the tighter and longer a bra is worn the higher the incidence rises, to over 100 times higher for a 24/7 bra-user compared to a bra-free woman.
The theory behind the bra link to cancer is that bras are tight and impair the circulation of blood and lymph in the breasts. This results in fluid accumulation and breast pain and cysts, as well as the progressive toxification of the breasts. This can ultimately lead to cancer. See the article, How Bras Cause Lymph Stasis and Breast Cancer.
At first, we were ignored by governmental and private cancer organizations and women’s groups. Questioning bras was too titillating and embarrassing for even medical people to discuss without blushing. Merely suggesting a connection was considered absurd, and all the experts, including the National Cancer Institute, arrogantly insisted bras could not cause cancer.
Nevertheless, our book was a media success, but it could have been bigger were it not met with disdain and denials by the experts, like the American Cancer Society. The bra industry threatened my publisher with a lawsuit if he published, which never materialized, a story the publisher shares in the Second Edition of the book.
Bra-dom versus Freedom
Since announcing this discovery in 1995, many women who heard about it tried loosening up or eliminating their bras, and discovered for themselves how much healthier they felt without a tight brand around their breasts and chest. We document women’s experiences becoming bra-free in our ongoing International Bra-Free Study. The preliminary findings are in the report, If Breasts Could Talk.
For 20 years, the American Cancer Society led the pack of experts in denying any bra-cancer link. They discouraged further research, and claimed the link was implausible. The ACS also receives funding from the bra industry, and sells mastectomy bras. For the medical cabal opposing the link, the growing awareness of, and support for, the bra-cancer issue demanded some drastic action. So the National Cancer Institute, which mirrors the ACS position on this issue, funded research at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to disprove the bra-cancer link.
In brief, this study was only on post-menopausal women, and did not include any women under 55, so the results have limited applicability to young and middle-aged women. There were also no women who were bra-free, so there was no control group for comparison. However, you can’t determine scientifically if wearing a bra is a problem if you don’t have bra-free women for comparison.
This lone study opposing the bra-cancer link was clearly biased and designed to find no difference in bra usage and cancer incidence, and it did what it had set out to do. The lead researcher, named Ms Chen, who was a graduate student, said this in a press release by Fred Hutchinson about the study, “We weren’t really surprised. We knew that the biological plausibility of a link between bras and breast cancer was really weak.”
Given the power of the medical industry and its control over the media, this one flawed study was touted as the final word on the matter. Around the world women were told they can wear bras without fear, due to this one, flawed study.
Positive Studies Ignored
This fake negative study from the US was followed by positive studies from Brazil, Kenya, China, Iran, Singapore and elsewhere, all showing a bra-cancer link. You will never hear about these studies, though. (See below for references.) They are taboo and hidden by western medicine’s censors.
It is now 30 years since the cancer industry has been resisting, suppressing, and censoring the bra-cancer link. You would think breast disease experts would first ask about bras when considering the cause of breast disease, just as podiatrists ask about shoes when considering the cause of foot disease. How can these breast disease “experts” now admit that this issue is valid and warrants further research, including a warning to women about this simple way to prevent breast cancer, when they have been working so hard to deny it all these years?
It is medically known that tight clothing is bad for circulation, if you bring the subject up with your doctor, although they will play it down. They will say there is a lack of research showing how bad tight clothing is to blood and lymphatic circulation, and will say they don’t know what happens from a lifetime of chronic clothing constriction. They also assume that if it was a significant problem, then there would have been tons of research showing that by now.
You would think cancer organizations would look at all leads to find a preventable cause of breast cancer. It’s amazing how negative they are on this lead.
Here is what the ACS says about the bra-cancer link as of 1/1/23, under Disproven or Controversial Breast Cancer Risk Factors:
“Online and social media rumors and at least one book have suggested that bras cause breast cancer by obstructing lymph flow. There is no scientific or clinical basis for this claim, and a 2014 study of more than 1,500 women found no association between wearing a bra and breast cancer risk.”
They are referring to the 2014 Hutchinson study mentioned above. Nowhere are other studies mentioned that support the link, or the fact that the 2014 study had no bra-free control group and only looked at post-menopausal women.
Why the resistance?
Why can’t they do further research, or even encourage further research? Why are they insistent that tight bras have nothing at all to do with breast cancer development?
It’s hard to put yourself into their heads, but my feeling is that the cancer industry cannot admit this issue has merit because it invalidates all their billions of dollars of research that ignored this vital risk factor for breast cancer. It’s like ignoring smoking while researching lung cancer, which researchers and the ACS did for years, denying the link and promoting smoking for health.
The psychological dependence women have on bras has helped this medical corruption continue. The cultural pressure to wear bras created a crisis for some women who heard about the hazards of bras. They needed to choose between comfort and health, or fashion and cultural norms. Women feeling the pressure to wear bras were happy to accept the denials from the medical industry, relieving their anxiety about the issue.
Where’s the Outrage!!!
You would think that women would be up in arms against the ACS and NCI for their corrupted denial of any merit to this issue, and their censorship of the many studies which show a link. There should be outrage. The cancer industry has pandered to women for breast cancer funding, only to deliberately and systematically ignore the one factor that women have control over to prevent this disease.
Unfortunately, the biases of the ACS are considered truth by new AI programs, like ChatGPT. It is nearly impossible to get past the misinformation, denials, and biased nonsense coming from AI about the bra-cancer link. Much of the misinformation comes from the Wikipedia page about Dressed to Kill, which is biased and managed by editors to exclude any support of the bra-cancer link.
Essentially, denial of the bra-cancer link has become dogma, institutionalized by the NCI, the Komen Foundation, the ACS, and all their copycat groups invested in early detection and drug treatments. Bras just get in the way of their business model.
It may be difficult to face this truth about the corruption of medicine. We want to have trust in our researchers and public health leaders. But we can’t. Disease is a business for them. And the more money they get, the more invested they become in the disease continuing.
What can you do about this? Must women be victims of this corruption? Here are some ideas:
Your health is your responsibility. Don’t expect the medical business to see you for anything more than a pawn for profit.