In Memory Of:

Just wanted to acknowledge and pay tribute to two great musicians and friends of ours who passed away last year...George Duke and Ricky Lawson. Both of these amazing people left us way too soon!

George, who left us this past August, was a genius musician/keyboard player, music producer, and mentor to a lot of keyboard players, like yours truly, through the many records and cds he recorded and produced. We were lucky enough to have George produce a couple of songs on some of our past Hiroshima cds…he was a special friend of the band. He could play anything and everything, and do it always with the right “Feel”. And inspite of all the amazing accomplishments (too many to list here) that George accumalated through the years , he was an incredibly down to earth guy…he was “real”!!

Ricky Lawson, who left us just this past December, was just an awesome drummer. He was a founding member of the contemporary jazz band, The Yellow Jackets and also recorded or performed with many of the top artists of the last 35 years or so…Al Jarreau, Phil Collins, Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Roy Ayers, Brother’s Johnson, George Duke, and many more. I had a chance to get to play with Ricky a couple of times through the years and he, like George Duke, was a very unpretentious person, always with a positive attitude and just a great guy. Heaven has gained 2 very incredible musicians who will be enormously missed, but never forgotten…RIP George and Ricky.

Peace, Kimo