Avalanche of Fans

After the EKK program, sharing a nightcap in Shutters Lounge, we fell in love with Eddie all over again when he softly, almost whispering, sang to us the song he wrote for Myrna at 4:00 in the morning on the 5th day of Myrna's trip away to England...that is when his "missing her" kicked in and he poured out his loneliness into poetic lyrics that made us swoon. He sang it ever so softly, so delicately...it was such a romantic show of affection of a man to his woman that we had the privilege to witness!

Photo essay from Monday night by David Allio click here

The overused adage “If you build it, they will come” holds true for EKK. In my last wrap for the opening night of EKK with the Kahumoku’s, I wrote that a big plus for transplanting to the Kauai Beach Resort was that I no longer had to scurry around for coolers for folks to sit on. I guess I lied. At the second EKK Monday, I asked everyone to go to their cars to get out their coolers because we were short 200 chairs. The staff first set up 300 chairs and increased it to 400 seats and everyone else stood or sat on the floor. We’ve only just begun…have we already outgrown our new digs?

I asked children and flexible folks to come up front and sit on the floor. It was amazing to see how many folks considered themselves flexible; a wave of bodies swept to the front and filled the floor space right up to the stage….including big John Lydgate, over six feet tall, who sat on the floor and stuck his legs out and under the steps.

When Sabra Kauka walked in at 7:00, she asked, “What? Sitting room only?” Indeed, the floor was lined with people sitting all along the back wall. By 6:15 pm every seat was taken and wave after wave of folks kept streaming through the doors even past 7:00 pm. Apologies to those who were turned away while trying to park; we could have fit you in…we practice the art of flexibility.

What this all boils down to is that we experienced an avalanche of music fans for one of Hawaii’s favorite sons – Eddie Kamae of the Sons of Hawaii, a true cultural icon who has mentored countless musicians over his lifetime, including both father and son Kamakahi, about whom Eddie says, “I am so proud of Dennis Kamakahi and his son David who are carrying on the tradition of music.” Indeed, their musical selections and their stories show that they sharing their gift of music to an ever-increasing number of Hawaiian music fans everywhere they play.

Dennis and David are EKK favorites who have participated every year since 1999 at EKK or concerts; they always deliver the best entertainment and share songs that speak to the hearts of people everywhere. When Dennis was part of the early Sons of Hawaii, he wrote a song wherever the group went to perform; many of his 600-plus compositions have been part of the Sons of Hawai’i repertoire. Hula dancers love his songs because the imagery in his lyrics and the melody and tempo lend themselves to descriptive hula choreography that are the original “motion pictures.” Irresistible were the songs to Mehana Blaich-Vaughan, Sabra Kauka and Vern Kauanui who shared their hula expressions on stage.

Eddie is at his storytelling best when he can sit one-to-one with an attentive listener so we allowed a lot of time for his fans to sit with him and chat. Jodi Ascuena said she was so moved by his story about the time the legendary hula dancer Iolani Luahine, Mary Kawena Pukui and Eddie were driven to Kau, home of his teacher Ms. Pukui. The wind was fierce and rain deluged their journey. When they reached South Point, Iolani jumped out of the car and began shouting a chant to the wind and torrential rain….and the rain stopped. He had never experienced such a phenomenon before. Iolani Luahine, along with Mary Kawena Pukui and Aunty Edith Kanakaole are the three subjects in his DVD, “Keepers of the Flame”. Besides his work as producer of DVD’s capturing the stories of the significant individuals who shaped the cultural history of Hawaii, Eddie's most recent project is to create CD’s to teach the children, a mandate bestowed upon him by his first teacher Ms Pukui. She always encouraged him to “write for the children”. Eddie acknowledged his teachers who encouraged him throughout his career.

“Kela Mea Whiffa” by Eddie and Pilani Paki captures the essence of the sweet smelly scents of burning sugar cane and kiawe when driving through the sugar cane plantation of Olowalu…an experience that remains in songs only since the closing down of all the sugar cane plantations in Hawai’i. Between the songs and the videos, Eddie leaves a legacy that has nurtured and will continue to nurture the lives of many. He has also touched the lives of countless musicians as mentor, confidante, inspiration and cultural icon.

Eddie shared a song and story that put to rest a long time rumor that Larry Kimura wrote “E Ku’u Morning Dew” about his horse. Eddie said that Larry came to dinner one night. Eddie excused himself halfway through the dinner because he felt a song coming on. He went into another room and wrote the song that was welling up inside him. When he came out he gave it to Larry and told him to put some words to it. Soon after Larry gave Eddie the first verse to the song, an uncle added the second verse….and thus evolved one of the most beautiful songs that many love to sing. After the concert, Eddie tells me, “I keep asking Myrna what she cooked for dinner that night that made me write such a song.”

He also talked about the time his wife Myrna went on a trip to England with her niece leaving Eddie at home. On the fifth day of her absence, he awoke at 4:00 am missing her so much that he poured out verse after verse of words of adoration and loneliness woven together in a sweet melody, a song so personal that it’s not written anywhere or recorded for others to hear. Sighhhhhhh….. Oh…to be so adored….with such lyrics of love. We should have invited Eddie to come on Valentine’s Day.

Dennis and David began the program teaching two songs for everyone to sing. David’s teaching song was an upbeat “Maui Girl” written by John Sylvester Kalama. Both songs were sung twice but David said he never plays the song the same way twice so the second version was very fast and upbeat. Dennis shared a song that he wrote in 1980 about his favorite place on Kaua’i as a gift to the people of Kaua'i, “Kaua'i O Mano”, named after the great Kaua’i chief Manokalaipo. Two years after he wrote “Koke’e” Dennis was walking along the Kalalau Trail with steep cliffs descending to the white sands of Kalalau on one side and steep cliffs on the other side dropping precariously to the famous Alakai Swamps. As he watched an invisible hand pushing the ocean mist up to the summit, he was moved to write how he felt “….if I could fly and walk on clouds…”

Unlike previous Dennis and David performances at EKK, many of the songs showcased David’s extraordinary ukulele virtuosity which has shown phenomenal growth along with his singing since his first appearance at EKK back in 1999 when he was in still in college and single, not yet a father, and teaching ukulele for the first time. Whenever we meet he tells me that he’ll never forget the first time he came to EKK. “Ya come a long way, baby!” David played songs from his new album “Shine” which has been nominated for the Hawaiian Music Awards. He played a jazzy number by one of his favorite composers, Alfred Alohikea of Kaua’i. The beautiful Mehana Blaich-Vaughan found the fast-paced “Ka Ua Loku“ irresistible and treated everyone to a hula. He played an ‘ukulele number written and arranged by ‘ukulele master Peter Moon followed by a jazzy upbeat rendition of “’A’Oia” by Johnny Almeida; both songs show off David’s ukulele prowess.

Dennis shared stories of his travels to visit the Indian reservation, the Kalama settlement in the northwest, where he shared a song he wrote about their grandfather John Kalama who had traveled as a young lad of age 16 and through his brave act of saving 16 lives from drowning was embraced by the Indians, eventually married the Chief’s daughter and left a lineage of Kalama’s behind him. At that time the youngest was 89 and the eldest was 98; they are both gone now.

While in Santa Rosa, Dennis saw the biggest harvest moon ever. After three weeks of travel, he was homesick for the two things he loved most -- his truck and his wife. Wondering how soldiers and others away from their loved ones felt, he composed a beautiful lilting number titled “Far Away” which he dedicated to anyone celebrating something special.

“Tender Youth” by John Cafferty, often performed by Dennis and David, is a song about generations finding commonality in their youth. Family voices have exceptional harmonies and coupled with Dennis’s masterful guitar stylings and David’s ‘ukulele playing, the song is a winner.

Of course the crowd would not be satisfied without the composer singing “Koke’e”; shouts of hana hou compelled them to sing the popular hula number inspired by the beauty of Koke’e. Vern Kauanui and Sabra Kauka both stepped on stage to dance the hula. Eddie joined the two for “Koke’e” and “Hawai’I Aloha”, the song that brings an evening rich with music, dance, fun and fellowship to a beautiful end.

Monday, February 1, we will feature Puakea Nogelmeier, Hawaiian language specialist at UH Manoa and author of “Hi’iakaikapoliopele” along with Hau’oli Akaka and Lolena Niau Nicholas. The instrumental hour goes from 6:00 – 7:00 and the main program goes from 7:00 – 9:00 pm. Food and drink is made available by Kauai Beach Resort so you can come straight from work.

Sandi Swift will be interviewing Puakea at 8:15 am on Monday, February 1 on KKCR Community Radio – www.kkcr.org. Previous interviews with Eddie Kamae, Dennis Kamakahi and George Kahumoku, Jr. are all posted on the KKCR website.

Contact the Kauai Beach Resort at 245-1955 for EKK Special Room Discounts.

In late March, father-son team of Dennis and David Kamakahi, along with George and Keoki Kahumoku, will be touring the mainland cities with “Generations”, so anyone up for a great show, check out their schedule on www.kahumoku.com and www.denniskamakahiproductions.com

(s) Carol Kouchi Yotsuda, www.gardenislandarts.org -- “Celebrating 33 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

E Kanikapila Kakou 2010 -- 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 with support from Kaua’I Beach Resort.
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.