EKK: "When you have it, flaunt it!"
We can offer only one EKK concert this year, but what a concert it was!
From the opening pule by the statuesque Sabra Kauka to the final heart-rousing "Hawai'i Aloha" sung by all, it was Hawaiian music and dance at its finest.
Award winning composer Madeleine Brandli shared some of her most meaningful Hawaiian music compositions while playing the keyboard and her favorite Anahola Koa baritone ukulele. She also sang a song written for her daughter Christina and a newly completed composition written for one of her mentors, the late Nona Beamer.
Nathan Aweau, right off the plane from a 2-day gig in Tokyo and still on Japan time, shared his exquisite Hawaiian music stylings along with his phenomenal hula dancer Kelehua Kawai. He also shared some of his bass guitar stylings which seem to have brought out a lot of musicians.
The second half was opened by Walt Keale, one of the EKK favorites, sharing a few of his songs. The audience was shouting for more from both of them, but the audience was invited to come to EKK on Monday night to hear more of their music.
Napua Greig, accompanied by Sean Naleimaile, Chino Montero and Joshua Kahula wow'ed the audience with her compositions delivered in her amazing voice, her candid stories and her sensuous hula danced to Keale's "Ua Nani Ni'ihau." Each of her musicians showed their own musical virtuousity and they could have gone on all night and the audience would not have left.
EKK Monday Night:
If you travel with a friend of companion, you have someone with whom to share and recollect the wonderful things that happen on a trip. However, when you travel alone, you can go anywhere and do anything you want without having to always defer to the other person and work out compromises on what you want to do or see each day. Such was the case with the EKK Monday when both Nathan Aweau and Walt Keale each shared their own SOLO gigs.
The charismatic Walt Keale opened the ukulele hour with the whole audience learning the inspiration, words, pronunciation and meanings of his song, "Hela Makani." Keale loves to interact with his audience with a lot of give and take because of the connection that develops between himself, the artist, and his audience. He then turned over the second half of the ukulele hour to Nathan Aweau who had to catch a late flight out. As Keale aptly put it, "Here is Nathan, the king of guitar and six-string bass."
Hi Carol,
First off, I'm so sorry about the mix up of tonight...I hope my performance made up for it.
Secondly, THANK YOU sooooo much for inviting...this was one of my favorite gigs that I've ever did.
I am so impressed with you and your involvement with community...we need more people like you in this world...my hat's off to you.
Mahalo a nui,
Nathan
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
This is the email message that Nathan blackberried from his HAL flight out of Kauai. I retrieved it from my computer as I got home from a most exhilarating evening at EKK where two brilliant musicians shared rare personal insights into their musical space. Not only did Nathan Aweau put on a performance that won over many new fans, he more than re-confirmed his hard-earned throne as three-time Na Hoku Hanohano Male Vocalist of the Year.
Perhaps, early on, I sensed some reluctance on his part to do a long gig at EKK so I told him that half hour would be fine, but once he began interacting with the wonderfully receptive EKK audience, the half hour grew into an hour and a half until he had to run off to catch his flight. What a special hour and a half that was as he shared a rare insight into Nathan's muscial world as he took us on an encapsulated journey through his musical upbringing. Although he and his siblings were introduced to the piano at age three-and-a-half when he was just learning to read, his affinity for the guitar surfaced early. His military father with a Masters in music put his through the paces with hours and weeks and months of drill, learning first to use his thumb to pluck out the bass rhythm and week after week introducing each new technique which Nathan had to practice "until the dogs started to howled or your wife leaves you". He showed us the addition of chords, upbeat, syncopation, in-between notes, other music, and finally the melody. "Everything is patience," he states. But this must have all paid off for his ability to make that guitar create sounds and rhythms that are physical extensions of the music in his head is phenomenal.
From his early mentoring by his Dad who could play it all, he studied music at the University of Hawai'i but mostly "legit" music which is based in jazz and classical. He resisted Hawaiian music for the longest time, but in Hawai'i one cannot make it singing only jazz and classical, so about ten years ago he started writing Hawaiian music -- something that was very difficult because he had to allow himself to be vulnerable and "let go". He also discovered that he could sing. He sang "Kamakani Kaili Aloha" (Love Borne on the Wings of the Wind) but in a jazz style. That discovery is a blessing for us all.
He played guitar for Don Ho for about 16 years until Don nudged him out of his nest with the famous last words, "Nate, you bettah t'ink 'bout yo'r career 'cuz I not goin' live fo'evah". The opportune meeting with Barry Flanagan, the white half of HAPA, led to his sky rocketing career as one of Hawai'i's most sought after performer who now flies to Japan about six times a year, the most recent being a two day gig in Tokyo right before the EKK concert. He may have flown out on Wednesday night, returned on Sunday morning and flew to Kauai directly in time for his sound check, put on a brilliant performance still on Japan clock, and instead of catching up on lost sleep the next morning, put in a game of golf before coming to EKK Monday. What fuel does he run on?
He has also been traveling a lot to Hong Kong and China which he pointed out is in its infancy in the world of hula, a place that Japan was in about 20 years ago. He shared that in Japan the hula has skyrocketed with over 6,000 hula halaus and over two million hula practitioners, many of them so seriously dedicated to the dance, culture and language of Hawai'i that many of them speak better Hawaiian than he does. The dancers in Japan want to know what they are dancing about and their level of understanding of the hula culture has improved greatly over the years.
Through the months of working out details for his concert and EKK, I saw a business-like and reserved Nathan so it was quite a surprise to see him on stage, interacting with the "niele" (nosey) audience at EKK which eventually broke his guard down and won Nate over because he gave the funniest and most unexpected answers while never missing a beat with his extraordinary music.
Example is when he is introducing Leo Ki'e Ki'e, Hawaiian male falsetto singing "ha'i" which sounds like yodeling, who is a "dark strong handsome man who sings like a woman." He may have been pulling our leg but he said the Portuguese introduced "ha'i" to Hawai'i when "the Portugese man was imitating a Portuguese woman sing, and the Hawaiian woman imitated the Portuguese man imitating the Portuguese woman singing, and the Hawaiian man came along and said, 'I can do that!' and imitated the Hawaiian woman imitating the Portuguese man imitating the Portuguese woman singing." Oh, these wonderful stories we hear in Hawai'i....but then Nathan launches into one of his falsetto songs and leaves everyone with chicken skin and tears streaming down their cheeks. What a gift!
Nothing was planned so he worked directly with requests from the audience asking them what songs they wanted him to sing. Of course the two songs that they asked him to sing were among the ten songs in the world that he did not yet know, but he rewarded the requests with some of the songs that earned him his coveted "Male Vocalist of the Year" awards. He promised that one of the unsung songs would be included on his next CD because it's very beautiful.
The plum of the evening was when he brought out his six-string bass guitar which he first saw being played by an African American in a technique he never saw before. It was love at first pluck as this became his instrument of choice. As he shared with us the way that he practices, two hours every day, and develops his music on his instrument, you could tell that the bass players were out there in the audience because they volunteered names of guitar greats that Nate were talking about. My own inadequacies with the language of the guitar techniques keeps me from sharing details about the wealth of music that poured out of Nathan in that short time, but as with many things, you would have to be there to really hear and appreciate his music. The one thing that was very clear is that he loves playing music and considers it a privilege to be able to practice two hours every day.
We haven't seen enough of Nathan on Kaua'i, but he definitely wants to return to EKK again. Thank you, EKK audience!
A special treat on Monday night was a reprieve by Madeleine Brandli who sang her "Anahola Koa," her song about her baritone ukulele and its creator, luthier Mickey Sussman who was in the audience.
Keale topped off the evening with his unique stylings of songs that were familiar but discovered anew as he gave his own interpretation of the songs such as "Nanakuli Blues" based on Liko Martin's "Waimanalo Blues" and Jerry Santo's "Kealoha Ku'u Home Kahalu'u". He pointed out that it's important for an artist to add his own unique touch to the music.
He brought his own interpretations to epic tales such as the Pele chant, shared stories about the elements in Hawaiian mythology, and talked about the summers spent in Hawai'i camping out with his Keale 'Ohana. He told stories about the Sunday services when the church band consisted of the Makaha Songs of Ni'ihau with 13-year-old Izrael, 17-year-old Skippy and 16-year-old Moon Kaukahi. He described how it was watching Aunty Lydia working with her halau, cracking the bamboo like Mr. Miyaji, if anyone had a mis-step. He is indeed a story-teller at heart.
Keale loves audience interaction and he had everyone singing Iz's favorite song, "Itsy Bitsy Spider," complete with motions. One of the most beautiful renderings of "Ua Mau" is by Keale on his CD which he shared after the story inspiring the song of his great grandfather Moses Keale of Ni'ihau who fell off a 300 foot waterfall into six inches of water. On the long way down he promised Ke Akua a lifetime of devotion if the almighty would listen to his prayer, and having survived the fall, he went on to build the Hawaiian Churches in Waimea and on Ni'ihau.
Keale loves Kaua'i and comes at every opportunity and we love him so we give him every opportunity.
As always the pumpkin hour approaches too fast and everyone joined hands and voices to "Hawai'i Aloha" and it's goodnight until next Monday.
Monday, February 23, introduced a new young duo, Kuapao, who is spent a week with their family on the north shore of Kaua'i. Kellen Paik join forces with Lihau Hannahs for some butt-kicking music.
Monday, March 2, promises to be another musical venture with the talented composer/guitarist/vocalist Eric Lee (of Na Kama) with two musicians new to EKK -- Wilfred Pave and Rodney Bejer.
(s) Carol Kouchi Yotsuda, www.gardenislandarts.org -- “Celebrating 32 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”
E Kanikapila Kakou 2009 -- Hawaiian Music Program is funded in part by the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, and Garden Island Arts Council supporters. Space made available by Island School.
Garden Island Arts Council programs are supported in part by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts through appropriations from the Legislature of Hawai’i and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.