For Upcoming 2019 Arts & Culture Calendar email  giac05@icloud.com to get listing in advance

Mahalo to all who enjoy and support Art and Culture on Kaua’i
Donate at http://www.gardenislandarts.org

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Makaha Sons Top Off the 2019 EKK Season

A week after the final night of EKK 2019 and I’m getting comments of “music withdrawal” from among the many who meet every Monday night to enjoy the best of Hawaiian music at the Kaua’i Beach Resort Jasmine Ballroom.

The annual mahalo breakfast gathering following the last night of EKK is a chance for the loyal team of EKK volunteers to share their most memorable moments of the season. What they share is a microcosm of what the many audience members experience. The responses run the entire gamut of performances – from the impact of the live performance of the amazing Amy Hanaiali’i Gilliom whose magical voice stuns everyone lucky enough to be present, to the sweet sounds of Jeff Au Hoy’s steel guitars that help everyone to experience nostalgic flashbacks to the earlier days of Hawaiian music, to the charismatic performance of John Mahi whether he is singing to three hotel guests in the lobby or the 400-plus packed into the ballroom, to the breath-of-fresh-air-performance by Kaua’i rising star violinist Kimberly Hope — but many were in agreement that the finale night with the magical sounds of the Makaha Sons was a hands down great way to end a remarkable season. A stellar performance by a stellar group is what met the near overflow crowd at KBR as the Makaha Sons presented their music at the final evening at EKK 2019. Their drawing power is still as strong as ever and everybody who is anybody was there.

From the minute they stepped on stage until the last echos of their guitars rang out, theMakaha Sons sound was reaching every person in the Jasmine Ballroom. What was it? Was it the power and strength of their collective voices? Was it the selection of crowd-pleaser songs? Was it their diligent sound guy Hanalei working from the back of the room to see that every song was delivered with the same power and harmony? Was it the excited audience happy to be sitting or standing in the packed ballroom? I don’t know, but whatever “juju magic” those gentlemen used, it was definitely and unmistakably there. Their music is full, rich, powerful and uniquely their own . . . a sound that reaches out and grabs all the existing ether in the room and delivers their songs right to your na’auaowhere the full impact of the music make your spirits soar. The added bonus of hula after hula bringing so much color and excitement to the stage left the audience breathless.

In 1976, 33 years ago, a small band emerged out of the Nanakuli/Waianae neighborhoods; they were called the Makaha Sons of Niihau. “I was 21 years old in 1976,” says Jerome. Their stories were brief and mostly chronicled the evolution of the group from the early days of Bruddah IZ and Skippy Kamakawiwo’ole of the original Makaha Sons of Niihau to the long tenure of the band with Moon Kaukahi and the Brothers Koko – Jerome and John. Today, Jerome join forces with the fantastic talent of Kimo Artis, who was one of Palani Vaughan’s “King’s Own” and veteran entertainer Mark Yim whose parents, Lehua and Kama Yim, were early EKK loyals when they lived on Kaua’i. An interesting note is that Kama Yim and Bill Kaiwa were hanai sons to George Waterhouse of Kipu Kai behind Mount Ha’upu, a unique gathering place that attracted early musical icons. Much of their musical heritage stems from this familial relationship with Uncle George.

Jerome Koko did right by the Garden Island Arts Council to ask for the final night performance because they wrapped up a fantastic year of “new, old and forever music” in one of the most unforgettable performances seen on the EKK stage. They just have it and they flaunted it big time.

The flip side of the coin is a most treasured comment by Kimo Artis later in the show in which he shared that one of their favorite concerts each year is the Valentines Day Concert in Hilo . . . but . . . now they have experienced the FABULOUS EKK audience, “You guys are amazing!”

Lady Ipo Kahaunaele-Ferreira served as emcee for the evening and kept the show moving at a fast pace from the big EKK welcome, to playing the giveaway Kamoa ‘Ukulele, to singing the Doxology, to introducing the artists. I was also surprised when an unexpected bouquet of long-stem red roses from the EKK team were presented to me. “Whee- haw!” Ipo also did a bang-up job as the ‘ukulele circle teacher, giving the ‘ukulele players a complete package of learning a song from the chant version to singing the mele to playing the ‘ukulele and wrapping it all up in their own mini-concert, all in 45 minutes.

The show began and the Makaha Sons burst into song; their harmony hit you like a ton of bricks. The audience response was resounding applause as they sang two songs in theirMakaha Sons repertoire and three of Uncle Dennis Kamakahi’s most popular songs —Pua Hone, Wahine ‘Ilikea and Koke’e. Stunning hula dancers Elena Gillespie and Po’ai Galindo were the embodiment of Wahine ‘Ilikea, and eight keiki hula dancers from Leilani Rivera Low’s halau brought so much excitement to the stage swishing their green ti leaf skirts toKoke’e. Jerome acknowledged Uncle Dennis as a composer who was way ahead of our time; his musical legacy lives on with all the musicians who follow.

With soaring voices they sounded like a chorus of violins singing Ku’u Pua Tuberose. Mark Yim talked about Hank’s Place, a popular place in Kaimuki that his grandparent frequented, back in 1978. They harmonized on Hali’ilua, one of the Makaha Sons songs from these very early days. They followed this with their favorite Olomana song composed and recorded by Jerry Santos in 1974. Mark Yim was the vocal lead on Ku’u Home O Kahalu’u, a song that made a significant impact on the music of Hawai’i at that time and continues to be a favorite to this day.

They then called on Kumu Hula Leilani Rivera Low and Halau Hula ‘O Leilani with whom they have been performing for 22 years in Reno; they will be going in a couple of weeks to the Atlantis Casino to be part of her annual Reno concert. Leilani sang Nani Kaua’i in her extraordinary voice while ten of her hula dancers, dressed in simple but stunning lavender hula dresses, graced the stage with their dancing.

Lady Ipo announced a surprise for Grandpa Jerome Koko. Sabra Kauka, who teaches Hawaiian studies at Island School, introduced five of her Halau Na Pua O Ka Mailedancers. They danced the hula to Ka Loku, a falsetto number sung by Kimo. One of the dancers was none other than Jesslyn Koko, Jerome’s granddaughter who lives on Kaua’i. He was very touched by this surprise.

Jerome sang a beautiful song made popular by Peter Moon and the Cazimero Brother asSunday Manoa; crowd-pleaser Vern Kauanui filled the stage with his very graceful hula. They followed this with a medley of fast Hawaiian songs and one of Frank Kawaikapu’okalani Hewett’s hula songs.

Following the intermission, the ‘ukulele donated by Kamoa ‘Ukulele was won by Larry Fitz of Michigan. Six lucky persons also won CD’s by some of our outstanding musical groups.

Starting the second set, Jerome sent out special thank you to Aunty Carol and ‘Ohana, especially to Masami and Jill Kouchi who provided special Kaua’i hospitality by bringing them beautifully packed bento lunches upon their arrival and prepared them a special Hawaiian dinner to take with them on the airplane as they had to leave right after the concert.

Mark Yim talked about their love for all kinds of out-of-the-box music and did a quick check of music that the audience loved. They were in sync. Special among them is the “plethora” of music left by Glen Campbell when he died in 2017. They sang a medley of country and western songs including Gentle On My Mind by Glen Campbell. They sure knew what buttons to press to please the audience.

Besides their singing, they demonstrated so much humor in their stage banter. With their collective years of performing, their showmanship is at the top. They decided to have the audience participate in the next song with the whole ballroom divided in three. Stage right followed Kimo singing one long note, stage left followed Mark singing a higher note; the center audience followed Jerome with the lowest note. All this was in preparation for the singing of White Sandy Beach, one of the most significant songs in the Makaha Sonsrepertoire. None of the groups quite got their notes right, but everyone was game and happy to join in. Leilani dressed in her white holoku came up to dance the hula to White Sandy Beach. It was mesmerizing.

This was followed by the very special song Ke Alaula by Bill Kaiwa and Moon Kaukahi about the cycle of life and the importance of living life to the fullest; the soaring music is definitely one of the most recognizable songs of the Makaha Sons. Leilani’s dancers filled up the stage with their graceful choreography; Leilani joined the halau as she emerged front and center among her dancers.

Kamalani, composed by Larry Rivera with his daughter Leilani as the namesake of the song, was recorded by the Makaha Sons. It’s a beautiful soaring melody which brought hula dancers Vern Kauanui and Lady Ipo up to the stage. It’s hard for hula dancers to pass up the opportunity to dance to the singing of the Makaha Sons.

As if the music was not enough yet another huge and breathtaking surprise was Leilani’s dancers decked out Tahitian style in their coconut shell bra, waving headpieces, feather waistbands over ti-leaf hula skirts and the Tahitian mating calls dancing to Ua Mehameha. It was so colorful, so feisty, so exciting . . . so entertaining. The youngest hula dancer solo’ed a superfast Tahitian shake ‘n bake hip action and the crowd showed their appreciation with huge applause. Wow! We could have been at Reno because we got no less than a Polynesian revue. They went right into a hula medley that brought kumu hula Leilani, dressed in electric blue holoku, dancing out to join her dancers . . . it was like being at one of Leilani’s hula reviews. Ending with Waterfall was brilliant. Fabulous! It was a show to stop all shows and a great way to say goodbye to EKK 2019.

Mahalo to all those who sent emails, letters, text messages, scribbled notes telling us how much you appreciated EKK. We love that you love it!

*****

Info at www.gardenislandarts.org — “Celebrating 42 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

Funding for E Kanikapila Kakou 2019 Hawaiian Music Program is made possible by Hawai’i Tourism through the Community Enrichment Program, with support from the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, the Garden Island Arts Council supporters and the 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 Hawai’i State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For Upcoming 2019 Arts & Culture Calendar email  giac05@icloud.com to get listing in advance

Mahalo to all who enjoy and support Art and Culture on Kaua’i
Donate at http://www.gardenislandarts.org

Register on AmazonSmile.Org & select Garden island Arts Council to receive .05% of your eligible purchases

WHO’S COMING UP ON MARCH 18?

Here is the link to EKK on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ekanikapilakakou.kauaistyle/

REFRESHING! EKK’s debut of Kaua’i’s Rising Stars

Taking a big step off the beaten path keeps the EKK program fresh and alive for the coordinators and volunteers at E Kanikapila Kakou. We did exactly that at the 8th Monday night session by inviting some new faces who had not performed before at EKK.

All from Kaua’i; all on the youngish side; all performers with their own circle of fans; all excited to be on our stage . . . and all won their new audience over with their performances.

Keikialoha Kaohelaulii from the Kanahele ‘Ohana of Niihau, was the first on piano and vocals. He had actually performed with the Triple T’s and his Niihau ‘ohana several years ago where he charmed the audience with his Hawaiian piano playing. When he was a youngster, he was forbidden to touch the piano, but talent finds a way to emerge, so today the piano is his instrument of choice. This time he chose to sing some of the songs that are part of the repertoire at the Waimea Niihau church. Every Sunday morning at 9:15, the congregation sings Father, Thy Paternal Care, a hymn from Ka Buke Himeni Haipule; this he shared with us.

The person who had the most influence on his upbringing was his great grandmother Mama Ane Kanahele, who has composed many of the songs sung by the Niihau community. Aloha Kaeo, is one of the well known songs that he sang next. He recalls a visit to Lana’i island where his entire ‘ohana sang Helu ‘Kahi (Ku’u Ho’omana); unfortunately, in this day of easy access to recording media, there is sadly no video recording of that occasion. He introduced the next artist on the program.

Kimberly Hope, who has been making waves all over Kaua’i with her violin, most recently at a concert titled Night of Original Music together with Violinist Aowl Owen backed up by a mini orchestra at the Kaua’i Christian Fellowship in Koloa. Her violin selections included an original song titled Find Yourself, the first song that she composed. It’s a song about finding out more about herself. She seems to be on the right track as she is an elegant artist, so in touch with her instrument. She plays with ease and artistry – dynamic, sensual, animated, playful – changing her mood physically with what the song dictates.

Last year she met and played with the group Ho’okena at the Ki Ho’alu Slack Key Festival on Kaua’i and later had another opportunity to play with them at Troy Lazaro’s hula ho’ike at KCC. They gifted her with a back track of the Ho’okena version of The Prayer, so her second song was an elegant rendition of this song. Huge applause really wow’ed her. She loves that music is such a universal language.

Kimberly chose another original song titled Shine because it’s simple but expresses the light that we all carry within us. It’s all about each person’s shine and she encouraged everyone to let out their shine as she played. She did, indeed shine with her violin music; it’s a quiet shine but radiant with the glow that comes from within. It was mesmerizing to watch her play the violin, her “voice” of expression.

Kimberly introduced Rydge Nuesca, who is one-third of the trio called Homesteads. Rydge introduced his accompanist, Michael Ruff who is a wizard on the keyboard. As they were setting up, you could hear Michael in his loud stage whisper, “It’s so quiet; it’s really quiet!” The audience was waiting in anticipation; Rydge and Michael did not disappoint.

Rydge came prepared with three Hawaiian songs. “You guys like Hawaiian music? That’s all I know how to play,” he said, much to the satisfaction of the EKK audience. He sent out his Mom’s favorite song to her — You’re The Best by Kaleo O Kalani. He certainly has the makings of a crooner with that smooth voice. Kamaka Hikilani by Kuana Torres Kahele is a song that speaks about brothers, grandmothers and the importance of ‘ohana. From the huge group on hand to support Rydge, you could see why ‘ohana means so much to him.

For his third song he sang Ali’ipoi which was composed by his Godmother’s Tutu.

Mauli’ola Cook did not miss her chance to dance her awesome hula to this beautiful song. This mele was the complete package. Young good-looking Rydge singing his falsetto, a beautiful hula maiden bringing the song to life and Michael Ruff’s brilliant keyboarding was certainly not lost on the audience.

Rydge introduced Kepa Kruse, a young singer making a name for himself with his unique compositions about local lifestyles and personalities. He calls it “escapism” songs that are funny, humorous comedy about life. A little girl in the audience asked him if he was going to sing the Guy Hagi song so he obliged by singing it first. Before he put it on air, Kepa ran the song by television weatherman Guy Hagi to be sure he was okay with it; Guy said he was flattered that someone wrote a song about him. He said that there are three things about Guy Hagi in the song – he keeps saying the surf’s coming when it’s not, he keeps blocking Kaua’i on the TV screen, and he’s a super awesome nice guy. It was good Kepa shared the reason for the change in tone from verse one to verse three was because of what he shared in verse two — that Guy Hagi was a Golden Glove Boxing champion not to be toyed with. Kepa recently went to Japan where he performed his song to an audience of 1,000 at the Aloha Tokyo event; he’s happy that the song is catching on in Japan.

His second song is about a favorite local pastime with a Japanese twist — Pass me a Biiru Kudasai. Because of his Japanese roots, growing up with a Japanese hanai mother, he wanted to write a Japanese drinking song. The audience loved the participation part where they could call out “kampai” whenever he sang about the beer. He was also happy that his late friend Masa-san from Masa Sushi was caught on the sound track shouting out “kampai”.

Inspiration for his newest song called Slippahs was the result of breaking three pairs of slippers in one week . . . the perfect comedy for his life. In fact, we have all been there — leaving your best slippers on the porch at a party and coming out to find your favorite slippahs gone and having to go home with the simple humble plain rubber slippahs. He was happy to say that the day the song went on air, his father was stuck in traffic when he heard the song for the first time and it made his day. Kepa admitted that his real job is as an IT nerd who works on computers and that music was his side passion. ”Wow! What a treat!” he was so grateful to be part of EKK and acknowledged all the coordinators and his family in the audience.

Kepa introduced Jeremy and Aimee Brown, who earlier taught the ‘ukulele hour. Jeremy said that every morning his I-phone alarm rings at 5:45 am with Kepa’s song Cruise opens with the words, “Where’s my phone?” Armed with guitar, ‘ukulele, cajon and great big smiles, they began with the reggae-beat song Koke’e Mist.

Fall Misty Rain which they taught earlier in the ‘ukulele circle is a song that they learned in 2001 when David Kamakahi was teaching the ‘ukulele circle at EKK back in the parish hall at Saint Michael’s church. They asked David for his blessing to share the song with the EKK ‘ukulele circle.

For their third number, they invited their Kumu Hula Aunty Puna Dawson to join them on the song — Ka Makua Mau Loa. What a beautiful harmony they shared in this song with Aimee on the first verse, Jeremy on the second verse and Puna on the third verse.

Jeremy and Aimee were asked to play a little ditty on the Kamoa ‘ukulele that was to be given away this evening. Folks were invited to try their luck at winning the beautiful ‘ukulele. They sang the ALOHA song and the audience joined in.

Due to the first set going overtime, the usual intermission time was omitted and the program went into the second half so that the artists would be able to collaborate on the songs and each artist would have a chance to perform a hana hou song.

Jeremy and Puna led the singing of Aloha Kaua’i; Po’ai Galindo and Aimee Brown danced to the popular hula. Kepa Kruse and Rydge Nuesca, both on ‘ukulele, led the ensemble onSomewhere Over the Rainbow in the style of Braddah Iz and the very popular Island Stylesong recorded by John Cruz. Joining them on stage were Michael on keyboard, Kimberly on violin, Aimee on cajon, Jeremy on guitar and Keiki on the piano. It made for powerful music.

EKK is big into audience participation so when Jeremy and Aimee Brown sang an original tune titled Coqui Was Da Sound, the audience was invited to join in as Kaua’i roosters, chirping coqui frogs and hunting dogs. What a racket! And to think that we survive all this in our daily lives. Jeremy wrote this after he had weird dreams about chasing coqui frogs.

Where did the time go? With so much talent we could have gone on for another half hour but as the pumpkin hour approached, we managed to squeeze in Kimberly Hope’s hana hou; she performed Rise Up, an original composition based on various sounds in the environment.

Once again, the evening was too short. The audience joined hands and voices to Hawai’i Aloha, ending an evening of artistry by Kaua’i’s own talented musicians. Surely, we will see these artists many more times in the months and years ahead! Two weeks to go in the 2019 season of EKK.

*****

If you have a disability and need assistance for Monday events, email Garden Island Arts Council atgiac05@icloud.com.

Info at www.gardenislandarts.org — “Celebrating 42 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

Funding for E Kanikapila Kakou 2019 Hawaiian Music Program is made possible by Hawai’i Tourism through the Community Enrichment Program, with support from the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, the Garden Island Arts Council supporters and the 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 Hawai’i State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

How to find EKK

For Upcoming 2019 Arts & Culture Calendar email  giac05@icloud.com to get listing in advance

Mahalo to all who enjoy and support Art and Culture on Kaua’i
Donate by clicking here.

Register on AmazonSmile.Org & select Garden island Arts Council to receive .05% of your eligible purchases

WHO’S COMING UP ON MARCH 11?

Here is the link to EKK on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ekanikapilakakou.kauaistyle/

Mark Yamanaka and Friends Deliver Big Time!

Mark Yamanaka is no stranger to EKK. His first EKK gig was in 1999 just out of high school as a guitarist for Kumu Hula Johnny Lum Ho back when EKK was a modest little circle of music fans in the Saint Michael’s Church Parish Hall. Time moved on and so did Mark. He returned in 2014 as Na Hoku Hanohano Male Vocalist of the year and has been back by popular demand in EKK 2018 and 2019.

This 39-year-old artist of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino ethnicity struggled for years with his desire, gift and ability to sing Hawaiian music because he was not born Hawaiian. With the encouragement of his local singing buddies from Keokaha and his mentor, Hula Master Johnny Lum Ho of Halau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua, who took him under his wing and did the most to encourage him to start on his musical career, Mark finally got serious about performing and has become a sought-after performer ever since.

In the 20 years since he first came to EKK he has recorded several successful solo albums and one with Kupaoa, won awards at Na Hoku Hanohano, travels extensively to Japan and performed many times on Kaua’i with his close friends Kellen and Lihau Paik ofKupaoa.

Since his 2018 stint, he has completed his new CD titled Lei Lehua; his earlier two CDs —Lei Pua Kenikeni (2010) which garnered him four awards in the 2011 Na Hoku Hanohano and Lei Maile CD (2013) which he dedicated to his grandmother Doris Guerrero who introduced him to falsetto singing. In 2014 Mark was nominated for 10 of 32 categories at the Hoku awards and tied for Male Vocalist of the Year along with Kamaka Kukona. He recorded with Kupaoa for their Christmas Album of the Year CD titled A Gift of the Heart(2015).

Tonight “and Friends” who accompanied Mark were Sean Naleimaile on bass and Bert Naihe on guitar, both excellent performers who have been to EKK before. Sean brought “Project Kuleana” artists in March 2017 and have accompanied both Napua Greig and Kekuhi Kanahele to EKK. Bert has been to EKK with Mark several times. Thankful for the many beautiful leis, Mark said he reciprocated by each of them bringing a pair of coqui frogs from Hawai’i Island.

Their music packs a punch as all three vocalists harmonize beautifully and sing with such gusto. He started the first half of the program with the song Lei Pua Kenikeni, a falsetto melody from his CD of the same name. It’s always surprising and exhilarating to hear that pure, clean falsetto voice coming out of his swarthy physique. Bert and Sean really pull their weight in every song. Of course he has to mention going to Hamura Saimin for lunch and said they ended up doing dishes because they don’t take debit cards . . . like in Hilo.

He shared a song written in 2015 and recorded on Lei Lehua, his newest album which was born on Kauai in November 2018. This new CD has 6 or 7 new original music on it among which is Grandma’s Love, written especially for his wonderful grandma when he could not find any song special enough for her memorial. After his samurai grandfather passed away, his grandma was the special person that held it all together for the family. Mark sent it out to Linda Paik of Anini.

From such a sweet sentimental moment, Bert stepped it up with a lively western-twang rendition of Rain Li’ili’i by Dennis Kamakahi. A song about the last Queen of Kaua’i, Rain Li’ili’i is not often sung, probably because it’s such a fast song, but this was right down Bert’s track. The beat was so catchy that you could see bodies swaying side to side in their seats. Bert’s got the body movements, the guitar strums, the sassy smile, and you expect a yodel out of him anytime. My volunteers standing at the back of the ballroom were full-on boogeying.

Mark introduced his father-in-law from San Jose. Ken Pereira looks younger than Mark which prompted Mark to cut off his butt-length pony tail and iconic top knot which had for many years been a part of his look. He just wanted to make sure his father-in-law looked older than him. He dedicated Dennis Kamakahi’s famous Kaua’i song, Koke’e, to Ken Pereira. With a zesty intro to the song, their robust version of the song made the audience happy; it’s hard not to get caught up in the happiness and excitement of their singing.

Slowing down the pace a bit, Sean paid tribute to his great great grandmother Emily Taylor who wrote Ku’u Lei Awapuhi when she was acting in the Hollywood film Bird of Paradise. Easily one of the most beautiful songs in the Hawaiian music repertoire, Sean calls out, “As for you, Aunty Carol!” (How special is that!)

Moving on to the balmy sounds of early Hawai’i, Mark sang a hapa-haole song composed in 2012 titled Maui Under Moonlight, which won the Single of the Year award in Na Hoku Hanohano 2014. It’s a steel-guitar kind of song.

Audience participation time. Mark likes to involve the audience and he wanted to try ahana hou from his last visit. Del Shannon’s Runaway is one of the songs that fixated him on falsetto; this was the kind of nostalgic music that his family used to sing a lot. Mark challenged the audience to join in on the chorus and they came in loud and clear with “…wa wa wa wa wondering . . .” Ladies went first because yesterday was “Girls Day”. He advised the guys to sit up straight, pick up your BVD’s and sing in falsetto. Bad move! The guys “overshot” the falsetto note. LOL! He decided the women were the clear winners in reaching the high notes and the volume.

Kaleonalani won the 2011 “Song of the Year” award at the Na Hoku’s. Shawn Ishimoto played the guitar track on the CD. One of Mark’s favorite songs to perform was written in 2004 for his baby girl when she was four years old. Kaleonalani translates to “Voice of the Heaven”. Mark rolls his eyes when he talks about his now whopping teen-age Nalani. Mark gives an audible sigh as he acknowledges his baby girl is growing up and he is no longer the one she runs to. “I’m about ready to rewrite the song!” says Mark and proceeded to strum some dark Johnny Cash sounds on his guitar.

He called on his guitarist Bert Naihe to sing a song about Queen Liliu’okalani. I expected a slow mele but he sang a very lively song complete with super-fast guitar strumming that felt like galloping horses. The song Kehaulani was not about cowboys and horses but a traditional mele about the Queen Liliu’okalani’s secret flower garden in Manoa. Huge applause.

Morning Drive is a new song that was composed by Mark with the help of his wife Leilani Pereira Yamanaka who daily has to drive 52 miles one way to Pahala on the opposite side of the island from their home where she teaches math at Ka’u High School. She wanted to shine a light on this morning commute because we don’t often see the beauty on the journey. To help her focus at the positive side of this daily hour-long trek to work, he composed Morning Drive about enjoying the beauty along the way – the smoke rising from the Halema’uma’u Crater, the slopes of Maunaloa, the nene geese flying by, the beautiful red and yellow Lehua blossoms along the volcano and the wild peacocks along the roadside. He kept singing “Volocano” on purpose because that is the way his Filipino grandfather pronounced “Volcano.”

Keeping with the upbeat tempo, Sean sang an old style Hawaiian song
I Ka Po a Me Ke Ao (Night and Day) by Lena Salis & Vicky Silva, full of kaona about flirting with the eyes. It’s funny to watch Sean sing because he keeps his different beats with different parts of his body – his head tilts from side to side, he keeps some beats with his shoulders going up and down; then he moves down to his hips swishing around the island, and then he rocks his body from side to side; there is a motion for every kind of beat. Pretty unique.

To introduce the Kamoa ‘Ukulele which was to be given away after the intermission, Mark sang a fast Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai in falsetto, the seaweed song by Auntie Edith Kanaka’ole. So easy! So easy! So easy! To be so talented.

After the intermission, Don from Port Townsend in Seattle was the lucky winner of the beautiful instrument. Not even fifteen minutes before the drawing, Don was at the Garden Island Arts Council table offering to donate one of his hand-crafted wooden bowls to sell for GIAC. Karma. What goes around comes around.

Mark opened the second half with a lively song perfect for Kaua’i. Ka Leo O Ka Moa (Voice of the Chicken) by Johnny Lum Ho celebrates the fowl population running rampant on this island. Mark pointed out that chicken dialect, like local Pidgin English, varied from one section of the island to the other. When I was playing back the video of the singing by Mark and friends, it was dusk and every day at dusk all the chickens in the valley are squabbling incessantly outside my window, maybe trying to decide who was going to roost with who on which branch of the mango tree. It’s insane noise, but tonight it was worse because they were listening to the song from my house and that amplified everything. If Kaua’i is the “chicken capital of the world”, Niumalu holds the record for the highest density chicken population. No joke!

Mark talked about his cousin’s college project which was a video postcard of Paradise, a delightful song titled This is Paradise, a perfect song for Hawai’i Tourism; all of the images are there. It sounded like a track for Hawai’i Five-O or Magnum PI without all the guns and crimes.

For a change in pace, Mark called on Lihau Hannahs Paik to come up and dance a hula to her recently composed falsetto song Manowaiopuna. She shared her thrilling experience on the helicopter to view the elusive waterfall deep in Hanapepe valley and encouraged others to see this unforgettable sight.

After Mark saw the Disney/Pixar movie “Koko” he wanted to write a kachi kachi style song for his wife because she is of Mexican descent. He sequestered himself to the Rainbow Falls so he could focus on composing the song and ended up with My Senorita, complete with kachi kachi style music and even fake trumpet sounds with his lips. He really should get a cadre of seven horns blasting that sound out when he records the song. Her grandfather, a fluent Spanish speaker, helped him with the lyrics. Ole!

One day he played hooky from work and drove to the south end of the island with his wife and spent a whole day at the Punalu’u Black Sand Beach where hundreds of little yellow sulphur butterflies hang out seasonally. The result was the song He Aloha No Punalu’u, a beautiful song on his Lei Lehua CD, well worth playing hooky for a day.

Sean sang one of my favorite Dennis Kamakahi songs, Lei Kupukupu on his Pua’ena CD about the lei makers on the uplands. We are so fortunate that many of the artists who come to EKK keep on singing his musical treasures for the world would be much less colorful without his musical legacy.

A special treat for the evening was Mattie Del Rosario’s very funny comic hula dressed in his palaka shorts and wielding his unwieldy golf clubs; he danced to Pa’ani Kolepa, a song composed in the style of Mark’s musical mentor, Johnny Lum Ho, who loves the sport of golf.

Texas Yodel by request was Mark’s final song. For his hana hou, Mark brought the evening to a close with a powerful hymn, Ke Akua Mana E/How Great Thou Art. It was truly spiritual; a number of folks ran to the CD table to see if they could get a CD with that song on it. No luck! It’s one of those songs that you need to hear in person. Still wanting the evening to go on, the audience joined in for Hawai’i Aloha. As they streamed out of the ballroom, folks were beaming from the shared experience of music, dance and aloha.

*****

If you have a disability and need assistance for Monday events, email Garden Island Arts Council atgiac05@icloud.com.

Info at www.gardenislandarts.org — “Celebrating 42 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

Funding for E Kanikapila Kakou 2019 Hawaiian Music Program is made possible by Hawai’i Tourism through the Community Enrichment Program, with support from the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, the Garden Island Arts Council supporters and the 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 Hawai’i State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

How to find EKK

For Upcoming 2019 Arts & Culture Calendar email  giac05@icloud.com to get listing in advance

Mahalo to all who enjoy and support Art and Culture on Kaua’i
Donate by clicking here

Register on AmazonSmile.Org & select Garden island Arts Council to receive .05% of your eligible purchases

WHO’S COMING UP ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18?

‘O’iwi – Native Sons Did Kaua’i Proud

“You have an even better than usual line-up this year.”
“This year’s line-up is outstanding! Best Ever!”
As folks stream out of the Jasmine Ballroom with that elated smile of satisfaction, we field so much appreciative feedback from our audience.

A trio of Kaua’i musicians banded together as ‘O’iwi brought to the EKK stage an evening of robust music, local humour, and several surprise guests. Our mantra is “Expect the Unexpected” and this was easily fulfilled by John Kepa Mahi, Kawai’ola DJ Yaris, and Bronson Aiwohi.

While each of these musicians do what many musicians need to do to support their musician habit; that is, to be members of several different bands, their partnership as the group ‘O’iwi is solid and promises to deliver their special brand of music for years to come. Although their alliance is relatively new, they have just recorded their first CD which will be coming out in a couple of weeks; their aunties were busily taking orders for the soon-to-be-released album.

Brother Teak Rubi-ano gave an intro from the heart for his best friend John Mahi; Teak had met John 19 years ago when he was a shy freshman at Waimea high school. John reached out to him with an unexpected show of friendship combined with a humility about his ability to play music, saying, “Nah! I not that good,” which Teak found to be a lie. Teacher’s aide Tommy Rita coaxed John to singAkaka Falls at 7:15 in the morning which convinced Teak even more that John was not telling the truth about his ability to sing. He vowed he would do whatever he could to promote his “older brother.” “John has been taking care of me all these years.”

John shared his appreciation of the two other members of his band. Bronson is the youngest and the “Bruno Mars” of the group, and Kawai’ola is one of the most humble and talented musician who can do it all — sing, play drums and so many other instruments.

Bass player Kawai’ola DJ, son of Doric and Momi Yaris who were major players in the Kauai and Japan hula community devoting years nurturing their haumana in various cities in Japan, shared a brief background of how their group evolved. Nine years ago Doric started the “pool show” at Kaua’i Beach Resort. His son DJ continued the tradition after his father’s untimely death. When they lost the talented Fred Aki, DJ asked Bronson to take his place. DJ moved to another island so Bronson asked John Mahi to fill in the vacancy. DJ returned to Kaua’i to rejoin the “pool show” and by this time they discovered that they had a good thing going and formed the group ‘O’iwi. When you watch them preparing for the show, you can tell that these three really enjoy each other; this translates into a performance that really grabs the audience. “We don’t know where we are going from here but here we are!”

Their sound is Sooooo Hot! So Kaua’i! So full! So rich! So Hawaiian! So chicken-skin! They kicked off the show with John’s falsetto, which is incredible, singing Ka Loke. Po’ai Galindo wasted no time stepping on the stage to add her hula moves to the beautiful mele. With Kawai’ola and Bronson on the lower register, John’s falsetto rings out clear as a bell. Wow! The audience showed their appreciation with an explosion of applause.

Na Pe’a ‘O Hokule’a and Star of Gladness, two songs that were sent out to the crew on the sailing canoe, were medlied beautifully. There is something really authentic about the way these three blend their voices together; there are three musicians standing there, but it comes out like one voice.

It was no surprise that a request for Akaka Falls came from the audience because it’s a well-known song for falsetto singers. Honomu, the birthplace of his late Mom, is where the beautiful waterfall is located. His Dad took them often to visit the falls, mainly for his own stress relief. To give some background about this song, John talked about the man who used to clean up the river banks below the famous falls. “The man’s name was Akaka and one day he fell . . . and that is why the waterfall is called “Akaka Falls.” What a straight face; he almost succeeded with his joke. “Even if it’s not on our playlist, we’ll chance ‘um.” They did great!

Kawai’ola explained “tagging” as a way that each singer passes the torch to the next. “Because all three of us are lead singers, we signal each other to take the lead by tagging.” They tagged the next in line with a closed fist.

Each song was delivered with so much power and harmony as they sang the beautiful hula mele Ku’u Hoa. John Mahi recognized Bronson’s Mom and Pop in the audience, “You guys raised a very good boy.” Youngest member of the group, Bronson is also one-third of the trio known as “Homestead” gaining much popularity playing music at many events on Kaua’i.

Two surprise numbers were introduced as they sang Ulupalakua with a feisty hula by young Kalaraya followed by his little sister Hilinahi who danced her hula to Kipu Kai, a popular Kaua’i song by Mary Kawena Pukui and Maddy Lam. Whenever Mahi launches into a falsetto, you can’t help but wonder “Where in the world does this sound come from?” When the three harmonize, it’s also hard to tell which singer is singing which part because their blend is so in sync.

Bronson sang Tenehehehe/Maui Girl, one of the songs which will be on their album. Their next song was as smooth as the subject itself . . . Tennessee Whiskey . . . which John dedicated to his Uncle Jack Daniels. Earlier in the evening the three musicians taught the Hawaiian alphabet song, Kaililauokekoa, to the ‘ukulele circle. ‘Ukulele players and the entire audience had a chance to join in on the song. This gave John a chance to show off the Kamoa ‘ukulele which was going to be given away after the intermission. The beautiful ‘ukulele was won by an elated Greg of Lawai, “I’ve been trying for four years!”

As a tribute to all the musicians, songwriters, and composers, past and present, who have shared their music and talents, they sangWhite Sandy Beach by the Makaha Sons of Niihau. They followed this with a popular hula number called Papalina Lahilahi. Some songs are like magnets as 13 hula dancers popped up on stage and everywhere around the room. One of the male dancers was asked to stay on stage for the next hula, the feisty song about picking limu kohu by Auntie Edith Kanaka’ole . . . Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai. But . . . is the songs really about picking seaweed or something else? That song is loaded with kaona.

Another surprise guest on the program was Ruth Naomi Tabonair, winner of last year’s Kaua’i Mokihana Festival Composers’ Contest. Naomi shared the story behind the song. When her father Frederick Camelo passed away in 2016, Naomi wrote a song titled He Lei Awapuhi with the help of Kale Kaui. She asked John to help her with the musical arrangement. The result is a beautiful mele with a complex arrangement that melded their voices in an extraordinary three-part harmony. The falsetto is simply beautiful!

Another song that they composed and arranged for their new album is Ahulili. Someone told them, “Oh, that song is naughty!” John said, “Oh yes, that fits us perfect!” They followed this with a song John wrote last year with such romantic translations — Pua Male, My Wedding Blossom — about the exotic stephanotis flower. “I dedicate this song to my Mama.” Huge applause! Kawai’ola then called up two sisters to the stage to dance the hula to Ha’a hula. These guys are full of surprises.

A song written by Moon Kaukahi of the Makaha Sons calledKaleohana about John’s home town called Keokaha on Hawai’i Island. This was followed by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s In This Life. John expressed his appreciation for their friends, family, the staff and management of Kaua’i Beach Resort, and the whole GIAC team who work so hard to bring EKK to the community. Hana hou! Hana hou! The audience wanted more. John came back with, “No, I’m not Darren Benitez so don’t ask me,” and sent out another surprise treat that got the audience on their feet to boogie to Palo Palito/El Burro Socarron . . . zesty kachi-kachi style music. What a fun way to end the evening.

Not taking anything for granted, John took the time to give a brief history on everyone’s favorite finale song Hawai’i Aloha. Although most of the audience knew the song, for the benefit of the many new-comers who show up at EKK each week, John shared such inspirational words about the importance of the sentiment of this song; he called out the English translations to the Hawaiian words as everyone stood to sing. This worked well not only for the new folks at EKK but it gave added zest to the singing as the audience came through loud and clear with pockets of harmonizing throughout the ballroom. Always a great way to end an evening of great music and much aloha.

***

If you have a disability and need assistance for Monday events, email Garden Island Arts Council atgiac05@icloud.com.

Info at www.gardenislandarts.org — “Celebrating 42 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

Funding for E Kanikapila Kakou 2019 Hawaiian Music Program is made possible by Hawai’i Tourism through the Community Enrichment Program, with support from the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, the Garden Island Arts Council supporters and the 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 Hawai’i State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

How to find EKK

For Upcoming 2016 Arts & Culture Calendar or email giac05@icloud.com to get listing in advance

Mahalo to all who enjoy and support Art and Culture on Kaua’i
Donate by clicking here

 Register on AmazonSmile.Org & select Garden island Arts Council to receive .05% of your eligible purchases

Here is the link to EKK on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ekanikapilakakou.kauaistyle/

* * * * *

Who’s Coming Up on Monday, February 11?

Rock Stars Light Up the Music Scene on Kauai

Amy Hanaiali’i Gilliom and Jeff Peterson are rock stars in every way — musically, stage presence, storytelling — they are top notch! The interesting thing is that their style of delivery does not make you feel like you are in a crowded standing-room-only ballroom; Amy is sharing her stories as if she’s in your backyard sitting around the picnic table near the barbeque. Every so often she had to do an audience check to see if everyone was there because everyone was so quiet, hanging on to every word to be sure not to miss any stories. And . . . her stories were hilarious as she shares each incident in great detail but also with layers of meanings in the same way that Hawaiian mele have layers of kaona, or hidden meaning.

There was a WOW-ness about Monday night’s performance that words will fall short of describing, but I will try. As many times as I have listened to Amy on CD’s, there is something to be said about the real person singing right in front of you. There is no substitution for the real thing.

Amy posed the question, “What would the world be like without hula? Hula is such an integral part of Hawai’i; it’s the heart-beat of Hawai’i.” As a thank you to the Merrie Monarch who not only sanctioned hula but encouraged the forbidden art form as a way to celebrate the Hawaiian culture, Amy sang Aloha No Kalakaua in a voice so pure and exquisite that I found myself holding my breath. Composed a long time ago, the song needs a new verse because Pele’s recent eruption wiped out the beauty of Kanile’a which is in the song. She told her daughter that she is so lucky to witness the Hawaiian Goddess revealing herself right in front of her.

A stunning beauty, her long black hair framing her exquisite face, she’s dressed simply but stylishly in black and her hand motions mirror her words, but it’s her voice that transfixes all in the audience. Like a chameleon she can shift gears and move from awesome to sassy in a wink. Her tita voice clues us in to the next song. “One of my joys is to break down the song so that you can better appreciate what the composer is really saying. Many songs have five to six different layers of kaona or meaning.” She wanted to share with the audience the way to dig deep into the Hawaiian mele to understand the other layers of meaning that the composer was actually sharing in the song.

Holoholo Ka’a is about riding around in a car, but actually, it’s a lot more than that because the old couple is having a “whee-haw” time in the back of the car. As they drive across the pali and continue to have a good time in the back of the car, they see swelling humongous clouds on the other side of the pali that suddenly pop and rain gushes down, creating the beautiful mist of procreation in a moment of joy.  “Do you all get it?” was her sly and rascal query to the audience, and from all the smiling nodding faces, you knew that everyone in the audience got the kaona and no-longer-hidden meaning. Procreation is huge in Hawaiian culture. Every Hawaiian song ends with the ha’ina verse. Within this context, the first ha’ina is the first cigarette as she gestures blowing her smoke away and tossing her hair. If it was really good, you need the second ha’ina, which is the second cigarette.

“If anybody knows this hula, get your ‘okole up to the stage,” invited Amy. Feisty kupuna Arlene Kon could not resist the hula opportunity to show the audience exactly what Amy was singing about; and she should know . . . she has outlived her three husbands. She hopped on stage and danced with so much kaona in her kolohe hula while Amy snapped her fingers and belted out the verses with so much “tita-ness” in her voice. “Whee-haw! There’s years of kaona in that Aunty.”  And there you have it – a quick and hilarious lesson in the layers of hidden meaning in a Hawaiian mele.

Setting the stage for the next song, Amy talked about Hokule’a, Hawai’i’s mother double-hull canoe which just completed a three-year voyage around the world. Every island has its own double-hull canoe. Kaua’i has Namahoe, Hawai’i island has Hikianalia and Makali’i, an all-female manned canoe, and Maui has Mo’okiha O Pi’ilani. Amy’s oldest brother built the Mo’okiha and is a master navigator on the Hokule’a. Having traveled extensively along the entire Polynesian chain from Rapanui to Pitcairns, Tahiti and many other islands, “hunting and gathering” along the way. Laughingly, she shared a tongue-in-cheek scenario that perhaps one day someone will knock on my mother’s door and say, “Hi, Tutu!”  Amy is just plain fun and a master in her story-telling.

When her brother Timmy and his crew journeyed to Japan, sailing from Hawai’i to Okinawa, they stopped in to visit Amy at Osanbashi Hall at the port in Yokohama. It’s an amazing venue where concert audiences number 400,000. Amy was standing with the Governor when suddenly the sirens went off and the entire Hokule’a crew was arrested. Apparently, they unknowingly entered Yokohama Harbor via domestic waters rather than via international waters. It was a protocol of which they were not aware. Where there is water, they will sail there. Their style of sailing was based on following the horizon, stars, tides and tiny birds that guide the ships, namely, the Manu O Ku. This song is a tongue twister sung in a Hawaiian rap style with a fun call-and-recall chorus for the audience. The audience shout out Ku’e . . .  Ku’e Ku’e … Ku’e … Ku’e Ku’e. Simple enough to learn on the spot, the huge audience sounded great and had a lot of fun.

Amy was raised by her tutu, a Royal Hawaiian Hula Dancer back in the hey-day of the “pink hotel” in Waikiki. In 1937, she traveled to the mainland with Ray Kinney to open up the Hawaiian Room at the Lexington Hotel in New York City; it was sold out for sixty years with shows seven nights a week. She spent time sitting side-by-side with the likes of Marlon Brando and Katherine Hepburn. Walter Winchell, a newspaper and radio gossip commentator was very much on the scene and wrote about everything going on there; he called all the hula dancers “Lani” because he could not pronounce their names.

Tutu was married five times. She had to because, in those days, you can’t just shack up. Her third husband was the father of Amy, Eric and her oldest brother Timmy. He played first trumpet with Tommy Dorsey. Amy once ventured to ask her, “Why did you marry them all?”  Came the quick reply, “Shut your mouth; don’t you question me! I loved every single one of them!” She was happy that she out-lived them all and lived to the ripe old age of 90. A hula dancer all her life, tutu danced right up to her last breath, her hands came down and she quietly passed on. Every so often Amy would have to stop for an audience-check and say, “You’re so quiet! Makes me nervous. Are you there?” The audience was simply transfixed by her stories. What makes it so special is that she is so real in her story-telling; she tells them as if she’s sharing them up close with a small circle of friends.

Napua, which means beautiful flower, was composed for the special woman she calledtutu. When she starts to sing, her voice simply transports you out in space where you are cradled in the beauty of her voice. Jeff Peterson, master guitarist, adds to the magic of the moment with his delicate pa’ani. What an extraordinary duo with Amy sharing her heartfelt stories and Jeff’s music sending us on this musical journey through space.

When tutu retired to Molokai at age 80, she was hospitalized. Amy visited her and discovered that the attending nurse had a black eye. “What’s happening?” she asked. Tutuconfessed that they kept telling her to take pills…pills…pills…pills… “So I knocked her out!” Tutu was sent home to Hale Pumehana in Kaunakakai the next day but cautioned about her swollen ankles from too much salt in her diet. When Amy checked out tutu’spantry, she found a stash of 200 cans of corned beef; 200 cans of corned beef hash, 100 cans of spam, and four bags of rice. “Grandma? Are we in a war? You’re eating all war-time food!” Tutu replied, “What are you talking about? It’s all ono — sardines with onion and tomatoes so ono.” Amy promptly moved tutu to Kihei where she could be closely monitored.  

Tutu’s house was like a Hollywood set with fake palm trees, fake rocks and everything fake. Amy’s recollection of tutu’s closet was hilarious. Her closet was packed with memorabilia and everything she brought back from her days on the Hollywood set. All her things were stored in boxes but for nine-year-old Amy, walking into the forbidden closet was like an adventure into the movie Narnia. While digging through the beautiful rhinestone-covered Hollywood costumes and hats, Amy came across a curious item in a large ziploc bag. It was two animals joined at the nose. “Molokai people are hunters but we don’t hang our animals in the closet.” She curiously took the animals out of the bag and draped them over her shoulders and stroked the wonderfully soft fur . . . maybe mink or fox. Her tutu came in suddenly and startled Amy who pulled off the fur and flicked it suddenly, which made all the fur fall out and all that was left was the carcass of the two animals. It turned out to be Billie Holiday’s gift to tutu. Amy apologized profusely, “I’m soooo sorry! What were they? Who is Billie Holiday?” In honor of Billie Holiday, she sang a Billie Holiday song. “I wish there was a piano here for me to sit on with long white gloves and long cigarette holder.”

Amy was transformed once again as she belted out God Bless the Child, and Jeff was so rad on the guitar that Amy had to commend him with “Show Off!”  Yes, Jeff is so amazing on the guitar that he can’t help but show off every time he strums that instrument. I was not sure in advance exactly how Amy and Jeff were going to structure their EKK gig, but we could not have asked for anything more special as the two artists were so much in synch, it looks as if they have been playing together for decades. The packed house was captivated by the artistry of Amy and Jeff together.

As one of the star ki ho’alu guitarists not only in Hawai’i but worldwide, Jeff has been working on a new CD about the ki ho’alu style of playing called Ka Nani O Ki Ho’alu – The Beauty of Slack Key. It is a tribute to the many older ki ho’alu musicians who have left their imprint on the development of this genre since it first got its start in the 1830’s on Hawai’i Island. In the early days no one would teach you how to play ki ho’alu; this was Jeff’s experience on the ranch.  One had to just watch and learn. On his website,http://www.jeffpetersonguitar.com/, he is transcribing many of the old ki ho’alu songs of the musicians who are now gone because we need to document the old music before it gets lost. In his research, Jeff has spent a great deal of time getting information from those connected most closely with ki ho’alu. He spent time with Melodia Kane, wife of Ray Kane, who shared a tidbit of information:  Uncle Ray’s payment for a guitar lesson was a five-pound can of Hormel’s ham. (real salty stuff!) Jeff played Pu’uanahulu in the style of Gabby Pahinui. Huge applause!!

Certain songs are connected with specific artists perhaps because the way they sing it is so unique and special that it eventually becomes a signature song for that artist. Such a song is Haleiwa Hula, a song written in 1937 by tutu. Unable to resist the opportunity to dance the hula with Amy singing it, Mako Shirato from Chiba, Japan, hopped on stage and captured the hearts of the audience with her sassy hula movements. Many hula dancers from Japan are haumana of kumu hula from Hawai’i; Mako’s kumu hula is Leilani Rivera Low of Kapa’a.

Jeff was asked to demonstrate the Kamoa ‘ukulele that would be given away after the intermission and boy! can he make that ‘ukulele sing! Amazing! He played a jazzy version of Blue Moon complete with all that fancy picking. Amy can’t refuse jazz and again did her chameleon move to switch from one style to another and rendered a very sultry Blue Moon. In her very early musical career she focused on her jazz repertoire before she gained the spotlight as one of the top divas in Hawaiian music. Bob McKelvey of New Hampshire was the lucky winner of the Kamoa ‘ukulele.

Jeff opened the second half sharing information about the upcoming Mokihana Club concert featuring Keola and Moanalani Beamer with Jeff Peterson. Each year the Beamers continue their tradition of the Aloha Music Camp, now held on Kaua’i, started many years ago when Nona Beamer was the leader of the pack. Jeff fondly recalls the early days of Borders Books and Music when anyone could stop by and listen to any one of 40 million songs on tapes. When he heard the Brothers Cazimero were doing the intimate Border’s gig, he had to go and was amazed to find Leonard Kwan there and was able to pick up a Dancing Cat recording of ki ho’alu music. A good friend of his grandfather, Leonard Kwan has many tunings. Jeff wrote Song for Keola in the “Leonard’s C” tuning. Jeff considers Keola to be one of the greatest slack key artists, composer and beautiful person. Jeff has a unique style of gently bobbing up and down as he plays and often throws his head back with his eyes closed as if he is floating away to the place in the song.

“My mother is a staunch Lutheran from Wisconsin, and my father was Mormon. It was an interesting household. The good thing about being in Hawai’i is that there are churches everywhere.” When Amy was recording with Willie K, she was upset about a church being bull dozed so she wrote a song titled Down by the River. It has a touch of gospel, lot of humming and even the Amy growl for some religious emphasis. Jeff’s guitar picking is so full of surprises that no one can fall asleep in this church.  Amen. Amen. Amen.  Amy blessed everyone.

Amy touched on the topic of Hawaiian genealogy, called Mo’oku’auhau which is important among Hawaiians. Many of the early chants are genealogical chants that relay entire family lineages. In New Zealand they also have their own genealogical traditions calledWhakapapa, pronounced Fakapapa. Because her daughter’s father is Maori from New Zealand, she composed a genealogy song titled Mo’oku’auhau. It definitely had a very different tempo from the Hawaiian songs.

Jeff pointed out that Amy has an incredible line of wines. One of her latest sparkly wines is called Tiny Bubbles for which she received blessings from Don Ho’s trustees. In April she will be launching the PR for her new line of wines and she’s excited about driving around California in a wine tour bus with bubbles coming out of the back of the bus advertisingTiny Bubbles. They will have full recording capabilities inside the bus so that they can capture live images of wine tasting as part of the PR. The Chardonnay sales will go toward supporting autism and the Sparkly sales will support Native Arts and Culture. Amy and Jeff shared news about their mainland tours which begin end of April to places like Saratoga, Sacramento, Portland. The tour schedules can be found online.

Jeff suggested that she sing He Ali’i No ‘Oe as Amy is best known for reinvigorating the Hawaiian tradition of female falsetto singing known as ha’i in which the female voice hits the rafters with very high and prolonged notes. She also incorporates her unique guttural “growl” which is so uniquely Amy. Jeff is right in there with his lively guitar accompaniment. Amy also sang Hanaiali’i Nui La Ea for her cousin Kiani who was in the audience. Their great grandmothers are sisters.

Another one of the songs for which Amy is best known is Palehua, or Sacred Gateway to Heaven. As an intro, Amy gave the audience a quick description of the place called Palehua. If you go to Nanakuli, Makaha or Wai’anae, be sure you don’t go past Ko’olina unless you have a friend with you or an Auntie who lives in that area . . .  for your safety. She and Willie K went to the mountain top at Makakilo to record albums in the R. Alex Anderson studio. Anderson wrote Mele Kalikimaka. It was a challenging place to record because there were train tracks all around so it was too noisy from 5:00 to 6:30 pm. Jeff recalled the challenge of trying to record their Christmas album in the middle of summer, wearing Christmas hats and drinking eggnog to get into the spirit of Christmas while outside there were sky divers who were being dropped off from the planes; they had to wait until the planes went by before they could record. Our most treasured hula beauty, Madeleine Guyett, danced so gracefully to this mele.

Talking about stage fright, Jeff fondly recalled his first EKK gig held in the Island School cafeteria. His father Bard Peterson, rugged ranch boss of the Haleakala Ranch, joined Jeff on stage dressed in his cowboy boots, spurs and cowboy hat. He was the picture of confidence until a few minutes before he stepped on the stage and then he was gripped with stage fright. He said, “Now I know what an astronaut feels like on the space shuttle . . . once he’s there, he can’t back out!”  Amy shared the stage fright experience of her eldest brother Timmy, world traveler and captain of the sailing ship. He wanted to be on one of Amy’s recordings so they set him up with headphones which totally confused him, and when he had to sing his one line of the song, his voice came out as a high wavering squeaky sound. It had to be cut. Amy said she never let him live that moment down. It happens to the best of them.

Responding to audience request, Amy delightfully sang Etta James’ At Last. You could see that this was the kind of song that really turns Amy on because she just moved in that groove and swept us all away with her performance. Jeff is so hot on guitar improvisation so he really went to town on the jazz beat. WOW!

“Hana hou! Hana hou!” The audience wanted more! On a somber note, Amy talked about taking the night tour at ‘Iolani Palace where Queen Lili’uokalani was sequestered when her throne was taken away from her. Amy was so emotionally touched when she entered the Blue Room that she could not stop her tears. On her drive back to Kane’ohe, she composed this song in honor of the Queen, Hale Ali’i O Waimaka, or Palace of Tears. A beautiful melody, this tribute to the Queen is a very deep and endearing song that captures the feeling of grief and mourning. With that touching finale, all stood up to sing Hawai’i Aloha, collectively sending out vibes of appreciation for the gift of music by two of Hawai’i’s most celebrated artists.

* * * * *

If you have a disability and need assistance for Monday events, email Garden Island Arts Council at giac05@icloud.com.

Info at www.gardenislandarts.org — “Celebrating 42 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

Funding for E Kanikapila Kakou 2019 Hawaiian Music Program is made possible by Hawai’i Tourism through the Community Enrichment Program, with support from the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, the Garden Island Arts Council supporters and the 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 Hawai’i State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

How to find the Kaua’i Beach Resort:

For Upcoming 2016 Arts & Culture Calendar or email giac05@icloud.com to get listing in advance

Mahalo to all who enjoy and support Art and Culture on Kaua’i
Donate by clicking here

Register on AmazonSmile.Org & select Garden island Arts Council to receive .05% of your eligible purchases

Here is the link to EKK on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ekanikapilakakou.kauaistyle/

Who’s Coming Up on Monday, February 4?

Brother Noland Sings His Stories

EKK 2019 continues its 36th season with the unorthodox musical stylings of Brother Noland, well known for his ground-breaking explorations of Hawaiian music in a myriad of styles, many uncategorizable because he is a musician, composer, entertainer, storyteller who definitely operates outside of the box.

The last time Brother Noland graced the EKK stage was in 2012 when he performed with the “Songbird of Miloli’i”, Diana Aki, who just recently bid adieu to join the many musical legends who now play heavenly music. Many of these old-timers took Noland under their wings when he was a young musical prodigy breaking into the business over 40 years ago.

Back in 2012, this is how I described this legendary musician:
“Noland – fully animated, shocking white pony tail, huge expressive eyes, a seasoned performer who demonstrates a wide range of musical styles but definitely a recognizable way of “Nolanizing” songs with his finger-snapping Jawaiian beat and Sachmo growl.”Little has changed except that he’s “lost” his usual dark shades so you could really catch his expressions. Dressed in colorful Jams aloha shirt and sporting his space-age looking electric blue carbon fiber guitar sponsored by Composite Acoustic in Lafayette, Louisiana, he was stylin’ and ready for action.

Today Noland is the one who takes young musicians under his wing and actively mentors young people not only in music but life in general. Wherever Noland travels to play music, he has musician “units” or bands all over the country and on every island. He came prepared to have a really great evening with his Kaua’i back-up musicians. Excellent musicians like Darryl Gonzales and Garrett Santos bring to the music their own special way of playing and that gives Noland a fresh charge. That’s why he looked so happy playing music with them.

His opening number, In The Real Old Style, was perfect to set the stage for the evening ahead by a musician who embodies the Hawaiian-ness of one who grew up living in close communion with the land. He lived in Moku-o-Keawe (Hawai’i Island) with his hanai family. At age 16, he was a free spirit running along the slopes of Mauna Kea in an area called Mana, next to the Parker Ranch. Here is where music captured him. Piggy-backing his toddler niece Tara Bianca Ku’uleilani Mossman, he roamed the vast fields of the Parker Ranch watching the fog roll in and listening to the sound of the pueo. The next day he wrote the Pueo,Tara & Me for his niece. When he sings, he is actually telling a story about a moment in his life, recalling an incident that has become part of the fabric of his life. His singing has so much feeling with the softest accompaniment of his guitar in tandem with his emotion-filled voice. While in Kona he never had a girlfriend because if he did, she would most likely be his cousin. So he devoted much attention to his newfound passion . . . music.

His life took a major turn from growing up as the hanai son of the Daniels family on the green pastures of cowboy country Kamuela when Noland’s mom called him to take a test in 1964 which he passed. His life style changed drastically as he had to cut his hair, wear shirt and shoes and get his schooling up on the mountains of Kalihi in a gated community called Kamehameha Schools.

But music continued to play a big part in his life. He spent a lot of time in Waikiki doing the lu’au circuit where he happily watched hula dancers swinging their booties in front of him; this inspired the song Tropical Baby with a distinct reggae beat and captures this pleasurable slice of time in Waikiki. Recorded by Na Leo, Ohta-san, and the Cazimero Brothers, this song has provided great returns in quarterly royalty checks.

Fast-forwarding to his current life with new pleasures, he revealed a rare softer romantic side. He shared a story about visiting New York City at Christmas time with his wife, excited about taking a selfie in front of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. Hearing that “layering” is important in cold weather, he dressed in seven aloha shirts, nine Quick Silver pants and four socks because he had no jacket; people stared at him. Coming in from the cold, he was so inspired by the experience that he told his wife he composed a song for her with New York vibes. “Really?” was her comeback in disbelief. When he sang it for us, it was really quite romantic and showed off Noland’s mastery of timing which is a signature of his performance. He actually does not sing his songs; he emotes his songs with interludes of sophisticated jazz and Sachmo-like sounds. Song was simply titled It’s You.

Besides being the consummate performer who knows how to work his audience, Noland devotes a great part of his life working with youths. His once small but now enormous basketball program for inner city kids became so large that the program had to move to the Stan Sheriff Stadium at the University of Hawai’i. He was recognized for this youth program with a “Brother Noland Day.”

One of Noland’s main passions is to teach young folks how to survive in the wilderness, which he calls the outdoor classroom. He feels it’s important to know how to survive whether in Molokai, the Waikiki Jungle or on the rail. In his survival program, he is “Tutu” or “Pops” to the students. They are surprised to learn about his other persona who sings and appears on album covers. His experiences with students in this program are captured in his books on survival – Hawaiian Survival Handbook. The copies he brought for sale were snapped up in a jiffy. I once watched Brother Noland talking about his survival program on television; his down-to-earth, no holds barred instructions to youngsters is so typical of who he is.

One of my favorite songs is Noland’s version of Keola and Kapono Beamer’s Mr. San Cho Lee which pokes fun at characteristic ethnic quirkiness of local folks in Hawai’i. It was embellished with sound effects, musical accompaniments, and recognizable ethnic body languages. As Noland pointed out, it may seem like we are making fun of each other, but in essence it is the Aloha way that friends and neighbors of different ethnicities acknowledge our differences and still get along with each other.

Calling up the two Kaua’i musicians, all three launched into an energetic Kona Kai ‘Opuagiving Darryl and Garrett a chance to show off their pa’ani. Noland was no longer performing; he was just having a great time jamming with his two buddies. He pointed out that like a surfing adventure, each time they play the song, it’s different.

The ocean has always a big part of Noland’s life. He spoke about the “Nation of Miloli’i”, one of the two remaining traditional fishing village still existing in Hawai’i. It’s a place where everyone in the community fishes together, cooks together, and plays music together. He sang Eugene Kaopiko’s many-versed song about fish, selecting the ‘opelu,‘ama’ama, ‘o’io, and shared stories about how best to prepare steamed fish and make raw‘o’io poke. He can easily go off on a tangent describing the special preparation of delicious fish dishes as if he were on a cooking show. He really should be invited to go on a cooking show.

When Noland was asked to play the Kamoa ‘ukulele that was going to be given away later, he continued with the fish song and then moved on to Hi’ilawe which he taught the ‘ukulele circle earlier in the evening. Beautiful hula dancer Po’ai Galindo went up to dance the story of the lovers who ran away to be together under the waterfalls in Waipio Valley. Darryl and Garrett went to town on the pa’ani.

After the intermission, six lucky participants who signed in won CD’s from our wonderful artists. The big win of a beautiful Kamoa ‘ukulele went to Marie-France of Montreal, Quebec.

Using the 1990’s revival of the 1950’s Stand by Me as an example, Noland pointed out the importance of teaching his children and grandchildren to understand the importance of intellectual property because that is the legacy he is leaving them with all the songs that he has composed over his forty years of music-making. One of the mainstays of his repertoire is A Great Hawaiian Man which he wrote with his brother Tony Conjugacion.

Last November Noland experienced what he considers one of his most unforgettable gigs when he was asked to play at the “Celebration of Life” for a twice-Silver Star-decorated veteran of the Korean and Vietnam war who was to be buried at Arlington Cemetery. The entire event was amazing with the marching band, 21-gun salute, two-and-a-half mile walk, jet formations, the taps, the flag-folding ceremony, the coffin draped with maile and orchids, all part of this occasion to honor a fallen soldier. When the priest said, “This man deserves to be in this hallowed ground,” it was the most chicken skin moment for him. Noland followed the official ceremony with his rendering of A Great Hawaiian Man. You could see how much the experience moved him as he claimed this to be one of the most memorable performances for him.

Many of his songs are influenced by his early lifestyle with his Hawaiian tutu who taught him to swim or sink and the fishermen who taught him to fish. A Great Hawaiian Manwas one of the soulful songs that came out of these early experiences. He shared recollections of his younger days when he was taught to swim Hawaiian style by his tutu. He took the youngsters out to the second buoy, anchored the boat and begin the swimming lesson Hawaiian style. One by one, the kids were hurled into the ocean to swim or sink. Over and over they were tossed out like footballs and surfaced with frantic cries of “I cannot swim! I cannot swim!” only to be tossed out once again. Finally, they caught on and came up gurgling with “I can swim! I can swim!” This completed the swimming lesson.

Big Ship is one of Noland’s well known “call and recall” songs that he loves to sing with the audience. The three really got carried away on this reggae-beat song with Darryl ripping away on his pa’ani, audience calling out, “ . . . Hold on . . . Hold on . . . Hold on . . !” They could have gone on all night.

Last year Noland’s young “team” of millennials convinced him to attend the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. Not knowing that he was to about to receive the “Slack Key Legacy Award”, a very high honor, he was wandering around outside the ballroom and missed receiving his award. “Typical him; always like that; no can find him!” is what he overheard. LOL.

Queen Kapi’olani’s love song Ka Ipo Lei Manu (He Mana’o He Aloha), written for King Kalakaua when he visited the mainland as Hawaii’s Ambassador of Aloha, describes the king as the i’iwi bird. Unfortunately, he died at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco and never heard the song, but as his body was brought back to Honolulu Harbor, Hawaiians lined the shores, chanting this song, to meet their king.

On a lighter note, Papalina Lahilahi (My Baby Has Rosy Cheeks), is one of the hula numbers that he rearranged Noland-style, much to the chagrin of his kumu hula Mother. She locked him in the bathroom with a dictionary and a bible. Hula dancers jumped on stage. Po’ai Galindo, Mahina Baliaris and the incredibly talented Maui’ola Cook whose version of the hula was so comedic and animated that folks will be talking about it for a long time. We are so lucky to have so many hula dancers who are moved to share their hula; our audience loves it and so do the performers.

Living on Pua Lane in Mayor Wright’s “estates” in Kalihi-Palama, sometimes called “Hell’s Half Acre,” led him to compose one of his better known songs – Pua Lane (Poor Lane) — to which he bid adieu in his song. Even as a youngster he composed his own songs but would not admit it openly as writing poetry while playing football was not considered too cool. Gaining reputation as the “rockajamma” guy, he became more open about his poetry. Today, his gift of poetry is what has stood him in good stead as Noland claims his original compositions helped him put his three kids through college. One of the top songs in his repertoire is, of course, Coconut Girl, about the high fashion girl. No Noland performance would be complete without the interactive singing of Coconut Girl with the audience. So what if he sang it over a million times. Too much fun!

As the evening comes to a close and everyone is holding hands and raising their voices to sing Hawai’i Aloha, smiles on their faces and tears streaming down their cheeks, you know you have experienced yet another great session at EKK. It’s moments like this that live on in the memories of those who are for the first time witnessing and receiving the experience of a tangible aloha … it’s the gift of EKK, and they are forever held hostage to the beauty that is Hawai’i.

* * * * *

Funding for E Kanikapila Kakou 2019 Hawaiian Music Program is made possible by Hawai’i Tourism through the Community Enrichment Program, with support from the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, the Garden Island Arts Council supporters and the 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 Hawai’i State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

How to find the Kaua’i Beach Resort:

For Upcoming 2016 Arts & Culture Calendar or emailgiac05@icloud.com to get listing in advance

Mahalo to all who enjoy and support Art and Culture on Kaua’i
Donate by clicking here

Register on AmazonSmile.Org & select Garden island Arts Council to receive .05% of your eligible purchases

Here is the link to EKK on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ekanikapilakakou.kauaistyle/

Who’s Coming Up on Monday, January 28?

From Spring Water to “Hot Springs”, WAIPUNA rocks!

Waipuna opened EKK 2019 in true Hawaiian style – full of aloha, great music and memorable stories; they truly got the theme of “Music is Our Mo’olelo.” With visitors from Switzerland, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Canada, mainland USA, EKK loyals were back in full stride greeting their Kaua’i friends after nine months of absence with leis, honi honi, hugs and smiles. EKK is one big ‘ohana.

Whether it was extemporaneous or whether it was a brilliant PR move, Kale started out by saying that their playlist for the evening was their five CD’s and that they would just pick two songs from each CD. Holding up the CD was a smart visual move as folks bee-lined to the CD table to score a copy of some “out of stock” albums; Baby Boomers like to walk out with a hard copy CD in their hands. Waipuna did not bring enough CD’s. Sold out!

Holding up their first CD titled Mana’o Pili, they started their program with Uncle Willie K’s song Malama Mau Hawai’i in which he calls on voices of kupuna for guidance to help take care of all things Hawai’i — a concept most important to Waipuna. They love to take old tunes and breathe new life into it with their contemporary arrangements. From the first song to the last, Waipuna shared the songs that tell their story best with Kale’s deep-voiced narrative, David’s flying ‘ukulele fingers speaking volumes and Matt’s spot-on storytelling. It was hard to believe that Matt was still on Japan time as he just returned earlier in the day from their Japan tour.

The second song on their first CD was Papa Sia where David had a chance to showcase his brilliant ‘ukulele pa’ani. Another song from the second CD was Kona by Lydia Kekuewa, one of the songs taught to the ‘ukulele circle earlier. Kale asked all the ‘ukulele players in the audience to join in with the singing and the playing.

2018 was a significant year for Waipuna as they celebrated their ten years as a group. Water travels from the sky and falls on the earth and forms fresh water springs underground which help to perpetuate life. Where wai means water, waiwai means wealthy. To this end, they wanted to acknowledge the wealth of experiences and relationships they have received during this past decade making music together by recording their latest album called Waipuna. Noted Hawaiian language expert, Puakea Nogelmeier, composed the song Waipuna as the title track for this album.
Waipuna means “fresh water spring” or the source of the spring water. After hearing this group perform, I will now call them “Hot Springs” because their music surrounds you in a way that is both relaxing and exhilarating.

In 2010, in preparation for their second album, Matt and Kale escaped to Koke’e for ahuaka’i devoted to musical research in a quiet hideaway, courtesy of the Wichman ‘ohana, with no cell coverage and internet service. They started with 40 songs and whittled it down to the 20 best songs which they arranged in Koke’e. Significant during their retreat was the loud crash that startled them in the middle of a dark and rainy night. They aborted their pitch-dark investigation in the middle of the night; it wasn’t until their early morning exploration that they discovered a huge koa tree had crashed to the ground . . . fortunately, it fell in the opposite direction of the house. The breaching whales, the thunder and lightning, the fallen tree all added to the inspiration from this trip. The irony was thatKoamalu, the name of the Wichman cabin, means “under the shade of the koa tree.” Kale led the vocals on their original O Koke’e composed by Kale in the cabin. This album titledE Ho’i Mai won them three Na Hoku Hanohano awards.

In their third CD titled Napili, Robert Cazimero captures the adventures of his hula halau’s visit to Kohala in the song Aloha E Kohala, a song with poetry that rolls off the tongue. Known as the cornucopia of Hawai’i because of its great abundance, Kohala is a place that speaks to everyone in different ways. They shared stories of Pololu Valley where the famous Sproat Family compound has been home to generations of Sproats; the family has devoted their lifetime as stewards of the valley. The musical lineage of Kindy Sproat is part of Kohala history.

Manu Boyd, a student of Robert Cazimero, and Randol Ngum, composed a song titled Na ‘Ale O Ni’ihau about the shells found on Ni’ihau beaches. With a catchy beat and powerful harmony, the deep booming voices of the trio did the song much justice.

Waipuna later picked up David Kamakahi to join the group. The title tract of their fourth album called E Mau Ke Aloha was composed by Dennis Kamakahi in 1985 as his eighth wedding anniversary gift. David shared that his father’s songs fell into three categories – songs inspired by his environment, songs inspired by people, and songs that were apologies. As a musician who had to be on the road much of the time, Dennis often couldn’t afford gifts that he wanted to give his wife, so what he did instead was to compose a song as his gift. The lyrics speak of the “days of roses and wine” and that “it’s always love that makes it all right” . . . definitely words that speak of the love he felt for his woman. Kale Hannahs pointed out that these songs are gifts that keep giving . . . in royalties.

In 2014, Waipuna had just completed playing hula music at the Merrie Monarch celebration in Hilo. When they got home to Honolulu, David called the group to the hospital where Dennis had been hospitalized with cancer. They spent the evening playing music for Dennis; later that evening, he passed away. The following day, the trio went into the studio and recorded the song One More Day which poses the question, “What would I do if I had one more day?” Kale said the real message of the song is to live your life fully and show your appreciation of others and don’t wait until you have to ask that question. This song is on their fourth album titled E Mau Ke Aloha.

Before the intermission, the musicians were asked to demonstrate the Kamoa ‘ukulele that was going to be given away. Matt launched into a sweet falsetto that delighted the audience. After intermission, the lucky winner of the ‘ukulele was Sue Labeaume from Perry, Georgia. As a plug for their upcoming tour, Kale shared that on the upcoming Presidents’ Day holiday, Waipuna will be playing music in Concord and Cupertino. Matt recapped their unforgettable adventures while on tour, such as Kale being chased by a deer in Nara, Japan. All their trip highlights can be seen on their website,www.waipunaonline.com.

The second half of their concert was packed with even more songs and stories. Another Dennis Kamakahi song titled Na Ali’i Puolani speaks about the powerful Chiefs of Maui. At that time Dennis was studying his own genealogy and discovered his connection to the Chiefs of Maui. After Dennis Kamakahi’s untimely death, Waipuna was asked to perform a tribute to Dennis at the 2015 Na Hoku Hanohano event. To share his wealth of compositions that is his musical legacy, the trio arranged a medley of his three best-known songs, but they wanted to put a special spin on the medley by performing each song as performed by a different musician in a style that was appreciated by Dennis. Wahine Ilikea about the waterfalls on Molokai was sung in Dennis’s style; Pua Hone, his marriage proposal song, was sung in the harmonious style of the Cazimero Brothers; and Koke’e was sung in Loyal Garner’s zesty style. As each song was sung, hula dancers magically emerged out of the crowd and moved like flowers swaying in the wind, each in his or her own style — Po’ai Galindo, Elena Gillespie, Mauli’ola Cook, Holly Namaka Lindsay, Yumi Teraguchi, Blaine Sasaki, Donna Stewart, Mahina Baliaris, and several others helped to celebrate the musical legacy of one of Hawaii’s most prolific composers. Audience shouted out in appreciation as dancers mesmerized them.

David recapped his earlier comment about the inspirations that resulted in his father’s compositions, i.e. Wahine Ilikea was inspired by a place in Molokai, Pua Hone was a song for his wife-to-be Robin, and Koke’e was a song of apology. How is that? Kale and Matt laughingly prodded David to share the story behind the song. As David told the story, the audience leaned forward in anticipation. As a member of Eddie Kamae’s Sons of Hawai’i,Dennis was part of the huaka’i to spend a weekend up on Koke’e with no distractions along with Feet Rogers, Joe Marshall, Moe Keale and Eddie. While Eddie drove down the hill to pick up groceries, the four Hawaiians decided to build a fire in the fireplace because the Koke’e chill was setting in. When Eddie and the cabin owner returned with their groceries, they witnessed heavy smoke pouring out of the windows. Rushing in to check the damages, the cabin owner asked them, “What are you Kanakas doing? Did you open the flue?” The four perplexed musicians looked at each other and asked, “Flue? What dat?” He raced to the fireplace and flipped a switch; like a genie out of the bottle, all the smoke in the cabin went up the chimney in one giant “swoosh.” Hence, the famous and beloved song about Koke’e was composed as an apology to the cabin owner. The cabin still stands.

Matt, in his engaging story-telling style, introduced the song Ali’ipoe about the couple that agreed to meet under the Ali’ipoe tree. Well, that particular tree grows only three feet tall so the question is, “How does one have a meeting under the Ali’ipoe tree?” It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out the simple answer is that one has to meet in a prone position. Matt’s soaring falsetto helped to conjure up everyone’s imagination while the exquisite hula dancer Mauli’ola Cook mesmerized the entire audience with her extraordinary hula story-telling of the secret assignation of two lovers under the very short Ali’ipoe tree. Since Monday, every person I met who was at this event had to mention the breathtaking beauty of Mauli’ola’s hula. What a gem of a hula dancer she is. What’s so special about Waipuna is that they consciously sing their hula songs so that dancers can dance to them.

Fulfilling song requests, they sang Nui Ke Aloha No Kaua’i which speaks about all the favorite huaka’i spots on Kaua’i that are treasured and enjoyed by everyone including Waipuna. In 2018, Waipuna expanded their tour to Europe but they performed in Japan at least once a month. While on tour they enjoy the after-concert activities which includes finding a restaurant with great food followed by a late evening at a Karaoke bar where they get to learn Japanese songs. Sharing one of their favorites, Shimanchu Nu Takara, where the Okinawan people recount their many Island Treasures in a style similar to Hawai’i. When Waipuna performed this song in concert, the entire audience shouted out their favorite I ya sa sa! I ya sa sa! so it was a really chicken skin experience for them. They included this version in their CD.

For their final hana hou number, David Kamakahi treated the audience to his version ofJus’ Press, a song that took years of concentrated attention while sitting in the front row at Led Kaapana’s every performance. When he finally had the nerve to play it in front of the master, Led Kaapana nicknamed him “Damn Keed!” David’s command of the ‘ukulele on this song is simply a show stopper.

Everyone joined hands for the final joyous singing of Hawai’i Aloha. Who could ask for anything more? We all basked together in a wonderful evening in the “Hot Springs” of Waipuna.

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If you have a disability and need assistance please email Carol Yotsuda at giac05@icloud.com

E Kanikapila Kakou 2019 Hawaiian Music Program is funded in part by the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, supported by the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, the Kaua’i Beach Resort, and the GIAC/EKK supporters.

Garden Island Arts Council programs are supported in part by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts through appropriations from the Hawai’i State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

How to find the Kaua’i Beach Resort:

Look who showed up at Kamoa Ukuleles….

“OK, you dweebs! This is Jason Momoa, aka Aquaman (in theaters right now), with Sam Bonanno, owner of Kamoa Ukuleles, and a major EKK supporter.”

Garden Island Arts Council announces the Lineup for EKK 2019!

Monday, January 21, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

WAIPUNA (Kale Hannahs, Matt Sproat, David Kamakahi)

Monday, January 28, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Brother Noland

Monday, February 4, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Amy Hanaiali’I Gilliom & Jeff Peterson

Monday, February 11, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

 ‘OIWI (John Mahi, Kawaiola Yaris, Bronson Aiwohi)

Monday, February 18, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Malie Foundation — Community Hula Night &

‘Ukulele Paradise 7-member troupe from Japan

Monday, February 25, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

MAUNA HAPE (Jeff Au Hoy, Adam Asing, Kapono Lopes)

Monday, March 4, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Mark Yamanaka and Friends

Monday, March 11, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Kaua’i Rising Stars

Monday, March 18, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

IRON MANGO (Kalei Gamiao, Lopaka Colon, Jon Yamasato, Richard Gideon)

Monday, March 25, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

MAKAHA SONS (Jerome Koko, Kimo Artis, Mark Yim)

All events held at Aqua Kauai Beach Resort Jasmine Ballroom

Info: giac05@icloud.com; www.gardenislandarts.org

“E Kanikapila Kakou 2019 supported by Hawaii Tourism Authority”