Sometimes an artist will pull aside that imperceptible veil that separates the artist from the audience. When that happens the audience turns into appreciators as they begin to grasp what goes on in the mind and heart of the artist to be able to speak the language of music so eloquently...and this is what happened at Monday's EKK.

The great thing about Makana is that he really "gets" what EKK is all about and he shared some very special songs with the participants. "I really wanted to share something genuine with you tonight," he said and indeed it was special. Picking the melody on the ukulele, something that I had never seen Makana do before, he accompanied himself on two extraordinarily beautiful new songs written with just the kind of melody that shows off the purity of his voice. The first song with the working title, "Shells", is about what is happening in Hawai'i now.

"Ku'ulei O Ka Po" (My Lei of the Night), written just the day before, represented something very personal to Makana. Ever the philosopher, he explained the lyrics, it's apparent meaning and its hidden meaning and shared his very personal thoughts on what it means have a love of the Hawaiian culture with its many layers of meanings and how important it is to look for the common denominator rather than look for the differences. What a gift for all present to hear a song just coming into existence....

Makana Shares Gift of Music & Steve Pushes the Envelope

Stephen Inglis, guitar Wonder Boy of Palolo led off the instrumental hour for those with ukuleles and guitars. It was definitely not an Ukulele 101 session as he was challenging all the instrument-toting participants to play some very tricky stuff on their ukuleles and guitars. Needless to say, they were loving it.

Granted there are many beginners in the group, but there are also some very fine performing musicians who have been coming for years, so they really appreciated that Steve was pushing the envelope with them. Steve later shared that he perked up when he thought he heard a violin, and when he looked up at the circle, he was surprised and pleased to see someone playing along on a violin...that was, of course, Bill Dick.

Born and raised in Honolulu, Stephen Inglis moved to the Bay area for three years where he was very active in the rock/blues music circles and labeled "Young Jerry" because he rips like Jerry Garcia. Meeting and becoming fast friends with Makana, they influenced each other in music with Makana exploring rock and Stephen embracing kiho'alu. Homesick, Steve moved back to Hawaii, dove into the Hawaiian music scene under the kiho'alu mentorship of Ozzie Kotani, and has grown phenomenally in that genre. Last September, he opened for Makana at a concert and this Monday they shared the stage at E Kanikapila Kakou.

Together they demonstrated the difference between genuine kiho'alu and standard guitar and traced the influence of Hawaiian kiho'alu music and it's impact on modern American music. From the early invention of the steel guitar by Joseph Kukupu, to the early blues singers, to the hula stomp, Delta Blues, the Hawaiian swing, the hula blues, to the early sixties when the kiho'alu was becoming a dyeing art form, to its present resurgence in the world of music, notably the Grammy's.

Steve sang several of his original compositions; one of them was "Mahina O Wai'alae" (Full Moon on a Summer's Night), the cover song for his CD written for his wife. Makana shared that it's important to keep the music living by writing new Hawaiian music and Stephen is doing a lot of that. We got a glimpse of Stephen's guitar virtuosity when he played " '52 Vincent Black Lightning" by Richard Thompson. Dang! He can really rip! The beat was so catchy and upbeat that everyone had to join in clapping.

Since his first unannounced but welcome surprise appearance at EKK in 2003, Makana has presented at EKK for a number of years and also presented several concerts through the Garden Island Arts Council. No two concerts or presentations are ever alike and this Monday was very special. New songs that he just composed were shared while playing on an ukulele borrowed from Frank Frazier. In addition he sang many of the favorite songs that have become his signature songs.

"Ahe Lau Makani" about Queen Kapiolani's visit to Queen Victoria in England is a beautiful song, and Makana's witty and humorous translations about each song had everyone in stitches. Since I first saw him perform as a teenager, Makana has come a long way in his performance personality, but always genuine and refreshing.

Makana shared the story about a traditional Portuguese lament brought by immigrants from the Azores. Uncle Sonny Chillingworth, when he was a youth, learned the song phonetically from the immigrants using a bottle of whiskey (Hawaiian money) as barter. When the song was sung for the Portuguese Heritage Council in Kalihi, they said it was Portuguese gobbledygook. The song has since been translated line by line into real meaningful lyrics; the resulting song is the poignant version that Makana now sings entitled "Fado".

"Napo'o Ka La" (Setting of the Sun) represents Makana's kiho'alu journey where his life was touched and shaped by numerous mentors, among which are Sonny Chillingworth, Cyril Pahinui, Bobby Morderow, Raymond Kane and many more.

Always wanting to inject some fun moments into his presentations, he wanted to make the point that the kiho'alu masters really helped their singing along with some good liquid refreshments. He tanked a green bottle (green for St Patrick's Day) on the spot and proceeded to sing "Hi'ilawe" ... "We have to do it the right way, " he said.

Of course, no Makana performance is complete without his favorite song "Ku'ulei Awapuhi" by Emily Taylor. Many artists sing that song, but when Makana sings it, it becomes a memorable song...almost as if the song were written for him to come along one day and sing it. Unfortunately, the pumpkin hour arrived too soon; Makana and Steve could not accommodate the stand ovation and screams for "hana hou".

"Hawai'i Aloha" wraps the whole evening up, leaving the audience feeling warm and fuzzy and very happy that they had enough smarts to check out what EKK Monday is all about. Word of mouth is EKK's biggest seller because everyone who attends EKK wants their friends to experience it. We have only three more Mondays plus one concert to go for this season.

Upcoming in March and April:

March 24 - Ozzie Kotani and Danny Carvalho; March 31 - Paul Togioka, Dolly Kanekuni and Brent Eynon.

April 7 - Aaron Sala, known as The New Traditionalist, will be our last Monday EKK presenter. April 13 - EKK ends with a Finale Concert at KCC PAC featuring Aaron Mahi, Dennis and David Kamakahi, Natalie A’i Kamau’u with Iolani Kamau’u and Chad A’i, and the Ladies of Kapu Kinimaka’s Na Hula O Kaohikukapulani.

(s) 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.