A 23-year-old Honolulu pianist is bringing Pokémon, Mario and Zelda melodies to the jazz stage tonight, headlining Blue Note Hawaiʻi at 6:30 p.m. to celebrate her debut album. Christina Sochor, a classically trained pianist who has signed with a national record label, will perform with Abe Lagrimas Jr. and Dean Taba as part of a band featuring Hawaiʻi jazz musicians.
The show marks the album release concert for “Not a Phone in Sight,” which according to KHON2 features reimagined music inspired by video games, animation, film and American pop-culture classics. Sochor arranges video game themes and contemporary favorites with jazz, R&B, neo-soul and gospel influences, per the same report. GameChops, the label behind the project, describes it as her first full-length album with the company, calling it “a progressive, live jazz album from pianist Christina Sochor and her trio” that features video game music from Super Mario, Pokémon, The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, Katamari Damacy, Cuphead and more.
Drummer Abe Lagrimas and double bassist Eric Nakamoto appear on the record itself, trading between supporting and featured roles in the arrangements, GameChops notes. A Gamespress release announcement framed the project similarly, describing it as a progressive, live jazz album that reharmonizes melodies from the same franchises.
Sold-Out Shows Led Up to the Album
Sochor isn't walking into Blue Note Hawaiʻi untested. She sold out two previous performances at Hawaiʻi Public Radio, a fact confirmed by both KHON2's reporting and Gamespress's release announcement. One of those shows got its own spotlight in September, when Hawaiʻi Public Radio featured a live set from Sochor's trio at the Atherton, where she performed alongside bassist Eric Nakamoto and drummer Micah Lewis.
That Hawaiʻi Public Radio feature described the trio performing original compositions alongside arrangements reimagined from film, anime and video game soundtracks spanning four decades — a broader creative lane than video games alone, and one that appears to have carried over into the new album's sound.
Conflicting Reports on the Album's Release Date
Aloha State Daily reported that the album, recorded on Hawaiʻi Island, launched on Oct. 6, while a Gamespress release announcement for GameChops gave Oct. 16, 2026, as the release date.
Tickets for tonight's concert start at $20, and seating for what Aloha State Daily called Sochor's “Blue Note Hawaiʻi headliner debut” is first-come, first-served. Fans looking to follow her beyond tonight's show can find her on Instagram under the handle @steminist.but.like.jazz, according to KHON2's reporting.
