Continue reading »]]> Facts About Palani Vaughan

Continue reading »]]> There’s not to much that I could say about Gabby “Pops” Pahinui that can’t be said by his music.  It’s once in a generation that an artist comes around and leaves such an impression that represents time and culture.  After playing back-up for Charley ‘Tiny’ Brown – Gabby decided to do it on his own.

In 1946, Gabby made his first recording, “Hi`ilawe,” for the Bell Records label. This may be the first record of a Hawaiian song with slack-key guitar. The following year came “Hula Medley,” the first record of a slack-key guitar instrumental. During this period he made two other influential sides for Bell, the vocal “Wai O Ke Aniani” and the instrumental “Key Koalu” (a misspelling of “Kī Hō`alu,” the Hawaiian term for “slack key”), plus another version of “Hi`ilawe” for Aloha Records.

Years and years went by and “Pops” wrote his magic until his passing in 1980.  For so long memorable songs were written by Pop’s that I recognize them from my step-father singing them when I was a kid.  Gabby Pahinui has a special place in my heart that goes beyond a song; it was a era that will live for ever with the soundtrack that is GABBY “POPS” PAHINUI!

Continue reading »]]> In a very unplanned kinda way, the paths of Jake Shimabukuro and Arron Crowell crossed at a performance in Wahiawa at the Ka’ala Elementary School. As Jake is the ambassador of aloha with his genius as an ukulele master and musician, he was performing at the elementary school as Aaron got called in to assist for his friend with the sound.

I had just called Aaron to say that I had a copy of his DVD and he said to come on down to the school so I could show him and his friend Chris what the DVD looked like.  So I get to the school and see Aaron and he’s way excited.  LOL, I thought he was real excited to see his DVD but I was wrong – it was because he had just worked with Jake.

So, I show Aaron the DVD and was real stoked.  Then I suggested to Aaron to show the DVD to Jake, as a fellow player in the Ukulele movement and Aaron turned beat-read and so no way! Well, as luck would have it, Aaron s girlfriend Michelle took the DVD from my and and with pride and a pinch of no shame, walked over and showed Jake the DVD.

After Jake got the DVD, I pried Aaron from his chair to talk story with Jake about the DVD, but Aaron’s extreme humble manner made it tuff.  Finally, after some confidence boosting, Aaron went over to Jake and they started talking.  Jake was really stoked for Aaron and even commented on how cool one of the camera angles were for the strumming view (picture in back of the DVD).

Jake and Aaron talked for about 5 minutes and shared mutual stoke for each others accomplishments.  It was a real fun encounter for me to see one of the most revered local musicians from Hawaii and one of the top online Ukulele instructors talking story with one thing in common; the love of the Ukulele and spirit of Aloha it brings to the world.

I write good…….

~

Continue reading »]]> With a hauntingly beautiful and uniquely authentic blend of voices and music that touches the heart and soul. Friends coming together for the enjoyment of continued camaraderie and adventure.  A time to share in their music, goals, dreams, and laughter.  A time to share with you…

Kapala combines traditional and contemporary Hawaiian music with ethnic, jazz, urban, and soul influences, creating a trailblazing style of Island music that is uniquely infectious, memorable, and at the forefront of today’s music scene……more

Continue reading »]]> Singer-songwriter Mailani Makainai returns to the Hawaiian music scene with her first solo album on the Mountain Apple Company label. “Mailani” features her beautiful, unique voice and original songs that have endeared her to fans in Hawai‘i and around the world. Mailani, who grew up in Kailua Town on O‘ahu’s Windward Coast, is part of a musical family. She started signing at the age of two and taught herself ‘ukulele while in high school. It was at Maryknoll Schools that she met Lei Melket, with whom she later formed Keahiwai, one of the most popular female duos in Hawai‘i………more

Continue reading »]]> A self-taught guitarist and song writer, Anuhea began showcasing her talents while boarding at Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu. “We would print out guitar chords to Bob Marley and Jack Johnson songs then skip water polo practice to go back to the dorms and jam them. Once I got the basic idea of guitar I then started writing my own songs.” Anuhea enjoyed the spotlight. She was the head anchor for the daily campus-wide news, hosted a variety of TV shows for local television…..more

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Led Kaapana’s mastery of stringed instruments, particularly slack key guitar, and his extraordinary baritone and leo ki`eki`e (falsetto) voices, have made him a musical legend. He has been thrilling audiences for more than 40 years. With easy-going style and kolohe (rascal) charm, he has built a loyal corps of Led Heads  from Brussels to his birthplace on the Big Island of Hawaii. Recognition by his peers earned Led Grammy nominations in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

Like so many Hawaiians, Led grew up in a musical family. In the tiny black sand bay village of Kalapana,  there were few distractions. “We didn’t have electricity, no television, not even much radio,” says Led. “So we entertained ourselves. You could go to any house and everybody was playing music.”

Often everybody was playing music at a backyard party, many of which lasted for days. “People played in shifts, taking over when somebody went to sleep,” Led recalls. “You’d fall asleep to the music, wake up….and the music was still playing. That was the best alarm clock I ever had!”

It was at these family gatherings that Led learned to play in the old style, watching, listening, then imitating. Chief among his teachers were his mother, Mama Tina Kaapana, and his uncle Fred Punahoa.  “Even today when I play, I still picture all the `ohana (family) getting together and sharing their songs and their aloha.”

Although isolated, outside influences did creep into Kalapana. Like most kids his age, Led loved to rock and roll and also listened to country, jazz, and Latin music. When he’d sneak a riff from a guitar hit of the day, like Pipeline or Walk Don’t Run, into his music his dad would tease, “Hey, that’s not slack key!” But nobody ever stopped him, they just encouraged him to “play what you feel and play with aloha.”

As teenagers, Led and his twin brother Ned and cousin Dennis Pavao formed the Hui Ohana, one of the hottest groups of the 70s and 80s and now legendary among Hawaiian musicians. The 70s saw the blossoming of the Hawaiian Renaissance, and Hui Ohana was a key part of that return to traditional Hawaiian culture and music. Young Hawaii Sings Old Hawaii, the title of their first recording, was also their statement of purpose.

The group produced 14 best-selling albums and made countless hundreds of live appearances, proudly sharing Kalapana’s musical traditions.

Led later formed another trio, I Kona, releasing 6 albums with that group, including Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner, Jus’ Press. He has also released a number of solo albums, including two Na Hoku Hanohano Instrumental Album of the Year winners, Lima Wela and Black Sand. Ki Ho`alu, Hawaiian Slack Key, Grandmaster Slack Key and Force of Nature (with Mike Kaawa) received Grammy nominations.

While recording for Dancing Cat Records, Led produced a number of solo projects, duets, and a project with Allison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, and other  bluegrass legends called Waltz of the Wind. He has worked with Dolly Parton, Chet Atkins, and many other Nashville notables. Back at home, he has shared his talents on recordings with most of Hawaii’s top talents, including Aunty Genoa Keawe, Barney Isaacs, The Ho`opi`i Brothers, Melveen Leed, the Pahinui Brothers, Amy Hanaiali`i, and countless others. In 2008, Led formed his own recording company, Jus’ Press Productions, and released his Force of Nature CD, with 12-string virtuoso Mike Kaawa. The album earned a Grammy nomination in 2009 and won Led and Mike the Favorite Entertainer Award at the 2009 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.

Led tours the US extensively and has also appeared in Belgium, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Tahiti.

When home in Hawaii, Led can be found on Sunday evenings at Kona Brewing Company in Hawaii Kai where local talent and visiting musicians from the four corners of the globe drop in to join the “back yard” party.

Continue reading »]]> Kī hōʻalu is often characterized by the use of an alternating-bass pattern, usually played by the thumb on the lower two or three strings of the guitar, while the melody is played on the three or four highest strings, using any number of fingers. Many kī hōʻalu players incorporate various embellishments such as harmonics (chimes), the hammer-on, the pull-off, slides, and damping. Slack key compositions exhibit characteristics from indigenous Hawaiian and imported musical traditions. The vamp or turnaround (a repeated figure, usually at the end of a verse) is descended from the hula tradition, and other harmonic and structural features are descended from hīmeni and from the hula kuʻi encouraged by King David Kalakaua.

Nearly all slack key requires retuning the guitar strings from the standard EADGBE, and this usually means lowering or “slacking” several strings. The result is most often a major chord, although it can also be a major-seventh chord, a sixth, or (rarely) a minor. There are examples of slack key played in standard tuning, but the overwhelming majority of recorded examples use altered tunings. The most common slack key tuning, called “taro patch,” makes a G major chord. Starting from the standard EADGBE, the high and low E strings are lowered or “slacked” to D and the fifth string from A down to G, so the notes become DGDGBD. As the chart below shows, there are also major-chord tunings based on C, F, and D.

Another important group of tunings, based on major-seventh chords, is called wahine. G wahine, for example, starts with taro patch and lowers the third string from G to F#, making DGDF#BD. Wahine tunings have their own characteristic vamps (as in, for example, Raymond Kāne’s “Punahele” or Gabby Pahinui’s 1946 “Hula Medley”) and require fretting one or two strings to form a major chord. A third significant group is Mauna Loa tunings, in which the highest pair of strings are a fifth apart: Gabby Pahinui often played in C Mauna Loa, CGEGAE.

George Winston has identified fifty slack key tunings^. Some only are commonly used for a single song, or by particular players. Mike McClellan and George Winston have developed a scheme that organize tunings by key and type. The chart below follows their categories and naming conventions.

Common slack key tunings