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Great Music, Great Stories, Great Fun with Keoki and Herb, Jr.

“Neither snow nor rain nor sleet nor …” flash floods will keep EKK participants from showing up at Island School for the weekly Monday night E Kanikapila Kakou Hawaiian music program presented by Garden Island Arts Council.

		Keoki Kahumoku

Especially since about a third of those present had seen Keoki Kahumoku and Herb Ohta, Jr. put on a wonderful show along with Kainani Kahaunaele at the Friday night “Kupuna” concert held at KCC Performing Art Center, they knew they were in for an enriching night of sharing, stories, singing, and music. Kukui Grove Center also hosted a CD release party for them at Kukui Grove Center Stage on Saturday.

Folks show up earlier and earlier at EKK so the first instrumental hour for those with ukuleles and guitars started before 6:00 pm. They learned to play “Five More Minutes” and “Hunting Dog Song”.

Although it was pouring heavy rains outside, folks kept showing up with dripping raincoats and umbrella; once inside, everyone feel safe and secure inside listening to the downpour. The ALOHA spirit permeated the air as beautiful flower leis by Aunty Fran greeted visitors from foreign countries and mainland USA. So many Canadians!

“Ama Ama” sung by Keoki brings Herb’s comments, “You can tell he’s hungry when he starts singing about food.” The back-and-forth bantering between the two musicians reminded me of the Smothers Brothers. Herb says “It’s no act…that’s how we always are”.

Keoki is an endless fountain of stories. One of his favorite is about his gray cowboy hat which he picked up in a ladies’s boutique in Honoka’a. Six weeks later, when he visited his Grandma in the hospital in Honolulu, she asked him if he bought it in Honoka’a. ”That’s My Hat!” she said.

Herb Ohta, Jr.

This same hat fell into the biggest pile of cow manure that Keoki found himself standing in when he was looking up thanking God for his good fortune in the Grammy awards.

The second Grammy award was just won with the “Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Vol 1” featuring Ledward Kaapana, George Kahumoku, Jr., Cyril Pahinui, Ozzie Kotani, Daniel Ho, and Keoki.

One of his best known stories even ended up in the Hana Hou airline magazine in a hard-to-believe-it’s-all-true adventure in a Waikiki hotel with his Dad when they plugged up all the toilets on seven hotel floors by flushing fish scales and guts down their toilet, stunk up the AC system by air-drying Manini netted in the hotel lagoon, and brought the fire department down to douse the barbeque that they started on the 3rd floor balcony to “polehu” the dried fish – major chaos as the firehose spray sent tofu bricks, metal racks, burning kiawe log crashing through the hotel glass door all over the almost-dried Manini. The whole hilarious story can be found in his father George Kahumoku, Jr’s book.

Herb played a solo song from his “Pure and Simple” CD recorded in 1999 – “You’re Still the One” by Shania Twain. Someone asked him how long he had been playing ukulele and when Herb replied “32 years”, the gentleman apparently dropped his jaws…it just did not compute for him because he had been told that Herb was 25 years old. Adding to the confusion is that Herb looks like he’s 17-years-old.

I knew that could not be because Herb said he was missing his daughter’s second birthday to perform on Kaua’i. Between the Friday concert and the Monday EKK, Herb took the down time for R&R from a rigorous schedule and to work on a new ukulele composition.

Keoki, on the other hand, went from food fest to food fest and was even seen by thousands “singing for his breakfast” at the annual KCC Culinary Arts Breakfast. “Can you be sure invite me back to Kauai on this same weekend,” pleads Keoki.

	Herb Ohta, Jr. & Keoki Kahumoku

Besides fishing misadventures and bizarre hunting stories, Keoki can really sing with what Anne O’Malley calls “restrained passion”. I whispered to Jody Ascuena, “He even sings the Ha’ina Ia Mai Ana Ka Pua Na line with so much emotion.” He demonstrated his instrumental skill dedicating the “Circle slack Key Song” to all slack key players.

Keoki and Herb shared many songs -- “Hi’ilawe” by Gabby Pahinui, the slow version of “I’ll Remember You” into “Days of My Youth”, “Sweet Lelehua”, “Hana” by George K and Aunty Edith Kanakaole, “Boy from Laupahoehoe” composed by Aunty Irmgard Farden Aluli, and the Sugar Cane Train song complete with sound effects.

After the intermission, requests were entertained and Herb Ohta, Jr. had a chance to share two more solo ukulele numbers. He started with a short history of his introduction to Hawaiian music when he was working on the Brown Bags competition. The music of the Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau got him hooked on Hawaiian music and continues to inspire him until today. His famous Dad Herb Ohta who figures importantly in the popularity of the ukulele has also influenced Herb Jr’s ukulele virtuosity. He played his version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” which brought a major hana-hou-hou-hou applause led by Keoki. Herb obliged graciously with his version of “Sophisticated Hula”. Major applause once again.

Of course, everyone wanted to sing the songs they learned so the ukulele/guitar players strummed away while everyone sang “Ho’okupu” about Pele and Kamapua’a, “Kealia” by Grandma Ko Ko’o Kahumoku, “Five More Minutes” by George Kahumoku Jr., and “The Hunting Dog Song” by Keoki.

All joined hands and “Hawaii Aloha” rang out over the canefields and subdued the heavy rains, so everyone could walk-not-run to their cars. Everyone was glowing from a brilliant and fun-filled evening of music.

Carol Yotsuda

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