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Darrell Gonzales - Feb 27, 2006

EKK Monday nights are full of surprises. This past Monday’s surprise was a breath of fresh air plus some hilarious gusts blown in by high winds. Why?

Darrell Gonzales, a left-handed guitar player sought after by many very fine vocalists for his exceptional ability to enhance their performance, and (we all found out), he is just a wonderful great guy!

		Darrell Gonzales

Unable to bring his “ohana” to share the stage with him, his smart move was to invite Koko Kaneali’I to share the stage. Koko is a well known Kaua’I drummer who cut his teeth on drumming at age 14 on the Don Ho show … until the liquor commissioners saw him on the show. It’s been music, music music ever since for Koko.

Darrell added zest to his ukulele hour by teaching the instrumentalists some snazzy techniques to add to their repertoire.

He started the program with “Father’s song” in honor of his father who he lost at a very young age and sharing his Hawaiian – Filipino – Irish - Poi geneology. A surprising tidbit is that he great great grandfather was Ikua Purdy, the well known “Paniolo” who brought new awareness and respect for the Hawaiian Cowboy when he won the 1907-08 World’s Rodeo Champ Challenge.

Huge applause startled Darrell when he sang “Keiki Kiho’alu” written for his five children. He blurted out, “Ooooooooo … I feel EXPENSIVE!”

The entire evening was full of unexpected quips coming from both Darrell and Koko; if they give up music, they can fall back on comedy; they kept everyone in stitches.

Koko: “We never get to play before audiences without drinks.” (laughter)

Darrell: “And vice versa!” (more laughter)

Koko, who has a full head of shocking white hair, was having some technical noise problems with the bass and he remarked, “If you see my hair light up…”

Darrell, who has very little of his original head of hair, piped in, “… you can’t see MY hair light up!”

Koko asks if everyone knows the first Hawaiian-Japanese paniolo on Kauai, “Kimo Sabe” (The Lone Ranger) and his sidekick “Tonto,” who is Tongan, and his pure portugese horse, “Hi Ho Silva.” It’s very likely one of those tour guide stories, but Koko has such timing when he tells a story, it sounds new.

One of the funniest remarks by Koko went something like this, “My friend who moved to Kauai several years ago and bought a lot of land on the North Shore is here with us tonight and sitting in the back there … Pierce Brozman…” In one singular movement, all heads riveted to look to the back of the room, expecting to see a suave gun-slinging 007; and Koko continues with a straight face, “…Oh? He left already?”

Of course there was a lot of great music as Darrell shared his version of “Wai’alae” which is on Brother Iz’s CD. “With all due respect to the composer or artist who sang the song, if you can’t do it to the capabilities of the artist, do it to the best of your own capability, and then it’s your own expression of the song.”

He switched suddenly to a rousing Ritchey Valen’s “La Bamba” that had everyone clapping their hands and swept up with the sheer joy of singing an old favorite. “We got 80%!” shouted the pleased Darrell.

Darrell shared his theory that Reggae came from Country Western Music and started strumming a typical Country beat and gradually shifted into a reggae beat by changing the tempo and the strumming. This led to the legend of Maui the demi-god who hooked the Hawaiian islands out of the Pacific Ocean and “Hawaiian Super Man” by Brother Iz. Everyone could chime in with the chorus.

Throughout the evening Darrell kept demonstrating the concept of “Kanikapila” from the silent language of the eye movement and the nod of the head or “Okay, take it, Koko” inviting his partner to improvise on the spot with his bass. It includes the dancer to step up and dance a hula, and up steps the lovely Kirby Guyer to bring to life the words “Where we live…there are rainbows”.

Always an audience pleaser, kumu hula Verne Kauanui charms the audience with his graceful hula “Pua Lilia” by Sunday Manoa.

Kanikapila extends to those in the audience as Darrell called up his friend Rocky Pao of Kalaheo who came up with his guitar and sang “White Sandy Beach”

Darrell shares the manner in which opihi pickers with a rope tied around their waists brave the waves for 3 – 4 days to fill a gallon jar with Opihi, market price $400 per gallon. “Let’s jam … man your stations … grab your artillery!” shouts Darrell so all could sing “Opihi Man” by Kau Crater Boys.

Shifting gears to the very romantic “Pua Hone”, Darrell acknowledges Dennis Kamakahi for the many special songs that he composed.

“What is kachi-kachi? It’s Japanese, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Filipino, Hawaiian, etc. all thrown in the blender and…” he launches into Willie K’s “Kachi kachi Makawao” which everyone could sing.

Darrell has many of his own compositions, but tonight he shared the music that everybody knew and could sing. Darrell has such a zest for music; he seems to be bursting at the seams with his amazing fingering and versatility. He and Koko definitely played their way into the hearts of all present.

Where did the time go? Nobody knew … nobody cared … we were all having such a great time. There is much to be said for laughter…and mixed with great music, it’s a winnah!

Next Monday…Jeff Peterson and his paniolo Dad from Makawao. Jeff Peterson is a remarkable musician. He teaches guitar at the University of Hawaii and was one of the artists in last year's Grammy winning Slack Key Volume 2 CD. He comes to Kaua'i annually to perform at the Kiho'alu Slack Key Guitar Festival, has recorded a number of CD's with Shakuhachi Grandmaster Riley Lee, has been a featured soloist in Abe Weinstein's Honolulu Jazz Festival, plays several nights a week at Michel's restaurant in Honolulu, has recorded wonderful CD's that are a must in your music collection...and probably a whole lot more that I don't know about.

Carol Yotsuda

A Glimpse into the genious of Jeff Peterson

After the past week(s) of torrential rains, thunderous waterfalls, unrelenting flash floods, and muggy days, Sunday afternoon in Princeville was almost surreal.

Amazingly, on a day packed with Oscar party preparations and many other cultural events, music lovers appreciative for a sunny afternoon gathered and enjoyed the opportunity to meet and chat with young Jeff Peterson, his Dad Bard and his wife Kahealani in a lovely reception hosted by a group of Northshore supporters (including Michael's famous cookies by the Austrian baker himself).

From the spacious simple elegance of the pews in the Church of the Pacific, one could look outside at the strong shadows cast by a bright sun and the leaves glistening with white highlights in the gentle trades.

Jeff Peterson with his two guitars began the concert and quickly swept his audience away on a kiho’alu journey meeting some of the musical greats who have influenced his music – Ledward Kaapana, Bill Tapia, Raymond Kane, Dennis Kamakahi, grand uncle Mel Peterson, Gabby Pahinui, Sonny Chillingworth, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Helen Desha Beamer, Queen Liliuokalani, Mozart, and more.

It was all there -- taro patch tuning, nahenahe arrangements, jazz and rhumba influences, choral and classical music, delta blues style, East Indian music, Argentian tuning, paniolo and hapa-haole songs – and yet Jeff’s interpretation of each song was so uniquely his own as he blended the most unexpected styles to create his own original arrangements.

We were privileged to hear the world premiere of the “Hawaiian Cowboy” with several variations inspired by Mozart, Spanish music, among others. It was a song that came from his early recollections of his paniolo dad coming home after a long day on the Makawao ranch and picking up his guitar.

One of my favorite songs on Jeff’s CD is one he composed for his wife Kahealani (call from heaven). He described his wedding day in Olinda as a day that cleared up following heavy rains…a day like today…but during his wedding ceremony, the skies became cloudy and a triple rainbow burst out above them. He played the beautiful song and as he came to the last verse, one could see a light rain sprinkling down in the bright sunlight outside. As he came to the end of the song, the rain became stronger and suddenly outside the window, a rainbow stretched out across the sunny sky. Hawaiian sunshine.

“There must be something about the name Kahealani,” smiled the surprised Jeff.

“This is one of the best concerts we’ve had here.”
“Thank you for bringing such a talent to Kaua’I”
“We’ll be there tomorrow night, for sure!”

Yes, Jeff Peterson and his dad Bard Peterson will be at E Kanikapila Kakou at Island School tomorrow night to share more music and some very special stories - Monday, March 6, from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Carol Yotsuda
Sunday, March 5, 2006

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