Anthony Natividad will be bringing 100 nose flutes with him so anyone who wishes to get hands on....er.... nose on.... experience learning how to lay a nose flute should show up at 6:00 pm. Anyone who owns their own flute is encouraged to bring their own instrument to class.

Natividad suggests that folks bring small notebook, tape recorder, videocam, camera, phonecam, or any other recording device to help you to capture for personal reference the sound, the positioning of the flute, positioning of hands, and other details to help you remember how to play the flute.

Malani Bilyeu - songs of yesteryear; music of today

Week Three at E Kanikapila Kakou (EKK) was certainly a departure from the usual fare of traditional Hawaiian music with a good sprinkling of hula; it was a night of memorable music of the past with a very contemporary sound.

I often heard Malani Bilyeu singing traditional Hawaiian music, his lovely voice floating through the night air above the giant swimming pool at the Marriott Resort. At his EKK gig he chose instead to reflect on his Kalapana years when he sang with his three partners the songs that were associated with many of the outdoor music festivals of the seventies and eighties.

Reflecting and sharing short snippets of his early music career, he was very much influenced by Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and the Beatles. While at Farrington high school there were no programs in Hawaiiana; he joined the army after high school and when he was discharged he found a strong movement in that direction from Gabby’s far reaching influence on Hawaiian music.

He recalls that he was plucked out of a pizza parlor and teamed up with three other musicians he did not know and together they came to be known as Kalapana -- Mackey Feary, David John Pratt, and Kirk Thompson. Mackey Feary, his roommate for most of the group’s tours of 43 states on the mainland, was then a young talented fifteen-year-old singer who composed half of the songs sung by the group. Malani also wrote many of the songs for the group. Two years ago their first album was #10 on the 50 greatest albums ever recorded.

Today Malani still appears with a new Kalapana with about seven of them performing as a group. He is also busy recording new music and traveling to perform. He plays at Tahiti Nui in Hanalei three times a week.

His songs come from somewhere deep within, often written in response to the experiences that most affected him at the time. He likes to write about things that people do every day but his singing of the songs are deeply emotional, musically complicated and definitely unique as he croons, pants, whistles, laughs, and spats his way through the songs. His spat jazz gutteral rendition of “Little Grass Shack in Honaunau”, aside from the familiar words, could be heard on MTV show or in a Las Vegas show...

He got a ‘dear john’ letter while serving in Viet Nam. Instead of blowing himself up, he wrote the song “Dorothy” which he sang with such poignancy.

“...Slow Down...you’re only on an island” is his lyrical response to the way people speed to get from Kapa’a to Lihu’e.

“Molokai Sweet Home” written when he heard of the disappearance of George Helm who was paddling his surfboard from Molokai to Kaho’olawe is likely Malani’s signature song...hauntingly beautiful melody that fit so perfectly the lyrics....

“Islands” which he wrote for his first solo album was inspired by Kaua’i -- the closest thing to the Garden of Eden. “Islands” and “Molokai Sweet Home” were the two songs he taught us.

A lovely melody with beautifully crafted words were written for his wife, mother of his seven children, certainly came from a deeply emotional place; his delivery of the song was exceptional.

He sang his Mom’s favorite songs that he grew up with. I did not catch the titles of some of the songs he sang but the lyrics said it all:

“...When you surf Pakala...you surf Hawaiian soul...waves of poetry in motion...”

“..You’ll never know how much I love you...You’ll never know if you don’t know now...”

“Night Bird...fly on...” his favorite Macky Feary song.

He was soon on a musical roll, the end of each song became the beginning of the next song. The songs were timeless and the audience sang along with “Crazy”, “Call me Mr Blue”, “Beautiful Kaua’i”, “On Moonlight Bay”, “Little Darling”, “Hawaiian Wedding Song”, “Ku’uipo”, “Mona Lisa”, “Puff the Magic Dragon” (which he learned from his great grandpa), “Blue Hawaiian Moonlight”, “Red Sails in the Sunset”, “Beyond the Sea”, “Waikiki by Moonlight”...and finally ending with “Amazing Grace.”

Upcoming in February: Monday, February 11, Anthony and Jamie Natividad of Maui will be presenting a rare evening of Hawaiian nose flute music. Also present will be Ethel, a string quartet on tour. Monday, February 18, Mihana Souza and 100 year old ukulele virtuoso Bill Tapia, will be the presenters. February 25 will be another special evening of Hawaiian chants and kala’au with Kumu Hula Keala Ching and Rolinda Bean of BI, along with a whole cadre of his students from BI and Japan.

Upcoming in March: March 3 - Napua Greig of Maui together with Sean Naleimaile and Kamakoa Lindsey-Asing of BI; March 10 - Kauai’s wonderful old-timers “The Kama’ainas”; March 17 - “The Taro Patch Band”’; March 24 - Ozzie Kotani and Danny Carvalho; March 31 - Paul Togioka, Dolly Kanekuni and Brent Eynon.

April 7 - Aaron Sala, known as The New Traditionalists, will be our last Monday EKK presenter.

Carol Kouchi Yotsuda, www.gardenislandarts.org -- “Celebrating 31 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

E Kanikapila Kakou 2008 -- EKK Silver Anniversary -- 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.