Go to www.gardenislandarts.org/news 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 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 Monday March 13?

Monday, March 13, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
EKK 2017 – “Music is Our Kuleana”
Puni Kaho’onei Patrick & Friends – Chucky Boy Chock, Hi’ipoi Kanahele, Mike Keale, Russell Wellington, Bambi Emayo and his Band
“Mele Inoa for Special People in My Life”
6:00 – 6:45 ‘Ukulele Circle & Hula Circle
Kaua’i Beach Resort Jasmine Ballroom
Contact: giac05@icloud.com

Here is the link to EKK on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ekanikapilakakou.kauaistyle/
EKK Week #7 – It Was the Backyard Party to End All Backyard Parties…with Choke Musicians Everywhere

In this business, sometimes the best laid plans do not always pan out. So when the vision is ambitious but details still a bit wabi-sabi at the onset – such as not really knowing how many artists are coming; who is going to show up or not show up, when the actual event is set in motion and more — it begins to take on a life of its own, there is a kind of electric spontaneity that defines the way the evening turns out. Who is there and how each person relates to the moment seems to be a key factor.

Such was the case when Ka Hale ‘Auamo members Sean Naleimaile, Kihei Nahale-a and Kamakoa Lindsey-Asing presented their “Project Kuleana” to the EKK audience. This is a project in which the participating artists statewide take responsibility, or Kuleana through Na Mele Hawai’i by recording sequential lines of a song that are then spliced together. Truly a haku mele, where each recordings, filmed on the home turf of the artist, shows inspirational surroundings of his or her music, and its skillfully braided together into a whole. Of course, having the likes of music producer/engineer David Tucciarone on the production team makes a huge impact on its success. You can see the videos on youtube.com.

Our roster of stars began the evening by showing the video Kaulana N? Puafollowed by a talk story on the background of the project and several of the musicians sang, led by Kauai?s own Carlos Andrade. He taught a song about family and being grateful for all that we have, and he shared some quotes, such as: “Getting old is not for sissies” and “Getting old is a privilege.” Dennis Kamakahi, one of Hawaii’s most prolific songwriters, shared that Mary Kawena Pukui told him that artists need to compose songs about their life and their time just as people from the past wrote songs about their own lives. This is the musical legacy that each generation can pass on to those who follow.

Appreciative applause from the audience acknowledged each Kaua?i artist as one by one, they appeared and sang in the video. They included Darryl Gonsalves, Kawika Sproat, Chucky Boy Chock, Edward Punua, Lady Ipo, Carlos Andrade and Palani Vaughan, members of whose family — Kilipaki and Mehana Vaughan, live on Kaua?i and were present to speak on his behalf. Kihei pointed out that while all the artists come from different parts of Hawai?i, collectively, they aim to get the native Hawaiian community to see from the Hawaiian perspective the inevitable changes in climate, food, the environment and its impact on life. Producers got to the task — selecting artists, scheduling them to a particular day/date/time/location on their home islands, setting up equipment and more. The result was impressive. Since the filming, several of the artists on the film have, regrettably, passed on.

Leading off the concert portion of the evening, Sean on bass, Kihei on ?ukulele, Kamakoa on guitar and Edward on steel guitar played the most appropriateLihu?e by Annie Koulukou. Kihei shared musical influences he experienced starting at a young age — listening to the Sons of Hawai?i, singing in church and his father who introduced him to music. Every morning his dad set out Cream of Wheat for breakfast and put on the Sons of Hawai?i recordings. Even today, when Kihei hears any of the music of the Sons, he gets ono for Cream of Wheat. Their second song I Ka Po Ame Ke Ao (Night and Day) by Lena Salis and Vicky Silva had a lively beat so you could see heads bobbing all over the place.

They then called up Kainani Kahaunaele, poet, performer, recording artist, native of Anahola Hawaiian Homesteads, a 1992 graduate of Kapa?a High School and currently living and teaching Hawaiian language at UH Hilo on Hawai?i Island. She was very happy to be on Kaua?i singing with her friends and her ?ohana. You could tell by looking around that many of the resident population showed up just for the treat of hearing Kainani sing. She called out the names of her family who had come to hear her perform and acknowledged Pancho Graham who had accompanied Kainani on his upright bass at her very first EKK gig back at Island School. She was very young then, right out of high school, and did her whole program in pidgin English. In 2004, her first CD, titled Na?u ?Oe garnered her the coveted Female Vocalist of the Year and Most Promising Artist at the Na Hoku Hanohano awards in Honolulu. As always, Kainani is beautiful, gracious and has a voice that is memorable.

The students from Chanel Flores’s music program at Kanuikapono Hawaiian Charter School in Anahola stood up to welcome Kainani with an oli. The students were blown away to learn that this oli was composed by Kainani who was also one of the charter members of their school.

Kainani recalls growing up in Anahola when KCCN radio was the only station allowed in her home. She used to listen to Sons of Hawai’i, Palani Vaughan, Peter Moon and Larry Kimura. Today she teaches with Larry in the Hawaiian language program at Ka Haka ‘Ula ‘O Ke’elikolani Hawaiian Language College at UH Hilo, so she wanted to sing Sweet Memories written by Larry Kimura. His story was that he was sitting next to the hot toaster in Waianae when the cool breeze from Waianae came through the window. The beautiful steel sounds by Edward suggested the soft cool breeze in the song. Adding to the impact of the song was a hula by Pua Gomes, kumu hula at Kanuikapono School.

Kainani’s second song was Nawiliwili, a beautiful song about the place where her family once lived. Vern Kauanui, dressed in his festive yellow and green aloha shirt and decked out in maile/mokihana lei, needs little enticement to share his hula. Loving the audience participation, Kainani invited other dancers to come up as she sang Aloha Kaua’i. Elena Gillespie, Madeleine Guyett, Lady Ipo, Mehana Vaughan, Anna Velasco, Vern Kauanui, Pua Gomes, Donna Stewart . . . hula dancers thrilled the audience, each with her own choreography of the language of the heart.

Lady Ipo shared how special it was for her and her daughter to be featured in the video Kaulana Na Pua while sitting and singing on the porch of Grandma’s picturesque old-style plantation house. Scenes like this are fast disappearing, so it’s great that a piece of it was captured in this video. Lady Ipo shared her version of Blue Hawaiian Moonlight and you could see her influence on the singing style of her daughter Kainani. One of Lady Ipo’s cousins came up to dance the hula — her family is one in which music and hula is so integrated into their way of life.

Another surprise and treat that was unexpected but so appreciated was when Ipo called upon Kainani’s first hula teacher to step up to the stage as she sang the fast-paced O Kalena Kai. It was none other than the always-exciting Willie Pulawa, back from Seattle for a home visit. You could hear squeals of excitement from the audience and a lot of hana hou shouts for Willie and his kolohe style hula with Phyllis Amorin. We need to see more of this hula treasure.

Lady Ipo, ever conscious about supporting Hawaiian music artists in their efforts to perpetuate the culture in music, suggested that tonight at EKK the audience show their support for Project Kuleana’s “Go Fund Me” set up for the purpose of continuing to make more videos of this nature. She offered her daughter, Kainani, to sing Phoebe Snow’s 1974 single hit Poetry Man as the incentive for the donations to the basket.The song was perfect for Kainani; her rendition was like warm syrup pouring over pancakes … a feeling of warmth and excitement at the same time. The outpouring of donations was instantaneous and constant. The three gentlemen of Project Kuleana kept sighing exclamations of surprise as many from the audience ran up to the stage to throw their donations into the large basket … all the while Kainani’s very sultry voice poured it all out. The audience was beside themselves with the unexpected treat.

Kihei Nahale-a shared an amusing commentary during the performance that was a story behind his next song. His grandfather, Albert Nahale-a, loved to watch his daughter walk to school, and made him think about the Christmas song Joy to the World. You will hear the influence of that song in the beginning of He Punahele N? ?Oe, and as the quartet began to sing this lovely mele, you could surely get the surprising connection between the Christmas song and this much-loved Hawaiian melody.

Another surprising connection between this group of musicians and some of our best-loved songs is Sean N?leimaile’s story about his Tutu, who was supposed to be in the Hollywood movie Bird of Paradise. One day, she was hungry for ?opihi, so she went to the ocean to pick ?opihi when the rough waves caught her and she ended up on the rocks and in the hospital, unable to continue in that movie. While recuperating, she composed the song Ku?ulei Awapuhi. When they started singing the song, you could hear the surprised gasps of appreciation from the audience for one of the most beautiful songs that is sung by so many artists in Hawai?i.

Keao Costa, well known for his beautiful falsetto as part of the group Na Palapalai, was one of the featured performers in tonight’s EKK. He spends as much time in Japan as he does in Hawai’i and he has to leave for Japan on Wednesday, so we were truly fortunate that he could be at EKK. He said that when he hears Kainani sing, he feels like he’s surrounded by nature. Yes! Her voice is a gift! His clear falsetto voice, too, as he sang Hola E Pai (5 O’ClockHula), gave us a taste of why he is so popular in Japan.

He shared his background as a h?nai child with two sets of parents. He talked about his grand aunt who inspired him to become a musician. Every day for lunch, his 88-year-old aunt would go out to the ocean and fish for o’ama which she would fry for lunch. She would ask Keao to go pick her a coconut so she could wash down her o’ama with fresh coconut juice. For her, he wanted to singHome Kapaka, a song about the special beauty of Sacred Falls; his amazing falsetto voice, accompanied by the sounds of the steel, was very exciting.

Tonight’s winner of the Kamoa ‘ukulele made a lot of people happy because Eric Lazar has been trying to win that ‘ukulele for years, and finally tonight with just one ticket, his name was called. Eric is one of EKK’s treasured volunteers. He races around on his wheelchair to help out in setting up the ballroom and mans the little video camera to capture all the action on stage.

The second half continued with more surprises and more audience participation as Kihei led the vocals for the hula favorite Hi’ilawe. U’i Bandmann was first up to dance the hula, followed quickly by Donna Stewart, Mehana Vaughan and Vern Kauanui.

Eddie, the quiet one on the steel guitar, surprised everyone by playing and singing Holo Holo Ka’a complete with the sound of the car racing away. This guy gets impressive sounds out of his steel guitar. As part of his mother’s hal?u for many years, he and the rest of his family members all had to sing, hula, play the drums or perform in some manner. While he had the microphone, he turned to me and acknowledged my role in his life as his high school art teacher “who always had her door open for art” and that he has as many stories about me as I have about him. “Uh . . .Oh!”

He was a thirsty sponge for learning anything and all he could, and really excelled in art, so much so that when he was at UH, he got a job as a bag boy at a market in Kapahulu and was immediately promoted to making weekly sale signs instead of bagging groceries because of the skills he had acquired in art class. Art at UH kept him in school as he continued learning as much as he could in art and even got a job at Momi Cazimero’s Graphic House.

When his Dad asked him what he was going to major in, his reply was ART, thinking of all the great free time he would have to create. His Dad gave him a reality check, “You can’t eat your art!” So he balanced his art education with accounting and today is busy as a certified CPA but still finding time to be one of the outstanding steel guitar players in Hawai?i. While he was at UH, his mother, Kumu Hula Ku?ulei Punua, kept me abreast of everything that Edward was involved in. She told me that she got Barney Isaacs to teach Ed how to play the steel guitar. Of course, because of his thirst for knowledge, he excels in it.

He wanted to acknowledge his good friend Polei Palmeira, the wife of the late Wally Palmeira, who gave Ed the steel guitar that Wally had been given by a famous steel guitarist on the mainland. Small world. Ed asked Polei to come up for one small song. That song turned out to be a major surprise, as her soprano voice soared in the famous ?Akaka Falls. Another surprise is that Edward is married to Sean N?leimaile’s cousin, Vanessa, a lovely hula dancer. It’s a joke among Hawaiians that if you show up at any gathering, you will find someone you’re related to.

In the spirit of unity and solidarity, Sean called all the participating musicians and families to come up to the stage to sing Kaulana Na Pua with the entire audience joining in. Those who did not know the words used their hands to clap the beats of the ipu heke. It was really a moving scene, and you could actually feel the sense of pride for the accomplishments of the trio who dared to dream and then acted on their dreams to create a growing body of work that featured and captured in song the musical talents and heart-felt sentiments of a people.

The evening ended with Hawai’i Aloha sung a capella by the whole audience. You could tell by the buzz that was in the room that the audience had again experienced a very special evening, full of surprises and great entertainment.

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

Carol Kouchi Yotsuda, www.gardenislandarts.org — “Celebrating 40 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

E Kanikapila Kakou 2017 Hawaiian Music Program is funded in part by the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, and the Garden Island Arts Council supporters with support from 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:

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“Celebrating 40 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

Go to www.gardenislandarts.org/news 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 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 Monday March 6?

Monday, March 6, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
EKK 2017 – “Music is Our Kuleana”
Kainani Kahaunaele, Keao Costa, Sean Naleimaile, Kihei Nahalae,
Kamakoa Lindsey-Asing and Edward Punua
“Kuleana through Na Mele Hawai’i”
6:00 – 6:45 Video and Talk Story with Kaua’I Artists – Carlos Andrade, Lady Ipo,
Darryl Gonsalves, Chucky Chock, Kawika Sproat and Edward Punua
Kaua’i Beach Resort Jasmine Ballroom
Contact: giac05@icloud.com

Here is the link to EKK on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ekanikapilakakou.kauaistyle/

EKK Week #6 – The New Generation of Stars

“I could kick myself for missing EKK this week!” I got feedback like this as the word got out what a fabulous EKK night was presented by three outstanding young musicians – Herb Ohta Jr., David Kamakahi and Jon Yamasato. But don’t let their youth belie their accomplishments. These three have been long time friends musically and personally and enjoy musical geneology that is rare and impressive for most musicians. Because they had not played together for awhile, it was an evening of jamming where they just asked, “What key is it in?” and from the get-go, it was a show of few words and just a lot of fabulous music. John Cruz’s We Do It Island Style had their fingers flying like jumping fleas, the namesake of the humble ‘ukulele.

About the Artists
I recall that Herb once told us that his Dad, the famous ukulele legend Ohta-san, had him practice by lying on the floor so he could not look at his fingers and could feel and hear what he was doing. All that early training paid off as today he is one of the most accomplished ‘ukulele players and ‘ukulele instructors in Hawai’i and multiple Na Hoku Hanohano awardee.

David, who for years quietly absorbed all the musical input from legends like Ledward Kaapana, Eddie Kamae and his dad Dennis Kamakahi, suddenly surprised everyone, including his dad, that he could play the ‘ukulele when he was in high school. Not only could he play; he makes that little instrument sing! Herb says, “David is the cleanest ‘ukulele player I have ever seen.”

Jon Yamasato, on guitar, was mentored by Dennis Kamakahi through the SFCA Ethnic Heritage program so he learned from the best in songwriting, slack key and vocals. He shared an insight into what it was like to work with Dennis. Shortly after Jon had composed a song, Dennis told him, “Let’s play your song at the slack key festival.” Jon was floored because he had just written it and did not yet learn it enough to play it, but “That’s what Dennis was like.”

Herb and David played music together at the Hilton Hawaiian Village years ago, recalling with much laughter about the many bird nests in the trees above which had them playing with their eyes on the trees and asking the hotel for protection only to be told that the tree leaves gave them a lot of shade. Together, they thrilled the audience with an evening of collective virtuosity that is rare to experience. Herb summed it up, “It’s pretty neat that we are playing Dennis’s songs and David is here playing with us.”

A Tribute to their Mentors
Not surprisingly, many of the songs they performed reflected their connection with their musical mentors. Leading off with a song that speaks of the geneology of the chiefs of Maui by Dennis Kamakahi set the pace and quality of the music for the evening. Earlier in the ‘ukulele circle, Herb and David had taught a Kamakahi song titled Kahokulani about a young man going on a boat trip and leaving his beautiful girlfriend behind, saying farewell and promising to come back home to her. Herb had taught the ‘ukulele players a picking style as an alternative to just strumming; the group liked this. Upon request, David shared one of Dennis’s songs, Na Makani Eha, about the winds that blew through each of the four valleys in Molokai. His dad shared the hidden meaning or kauna behind the winds … about the pirate in his family and about the four different women in each valley.

Jon, the lead vocalist, having spent a few days in Molokai, sang the familiar Dennis Kamakahi hula mele, Wahine ‘Ilikea, about the mysterious mountain in Molokai that inspired this song. David talked about the musicians of the Hawaiian renaissance that he misses; among them is his mentor Eddie Kamae who influenced him a lot to play music. David would watch the Sons of Hawai’itapes over and over just to see how he played the ‘ukulele. As a tribute, he sang one of Eddie’s best known and best loved songs E Ku’u Morning Dew. You could see the sensitivity with which the other two joined in with backup because David was picking out a very delicate arrangement for the melody of this song. When David called on Herb to do a pa’ani, it was a seriously delicate pa’ani played in Herb’s signature style. He is a master at the sensitive sounds that the ‘ukulele can make. Another Molokai song by Dennis which is not as well known but definitely a winner is E Pupu Kani’oe about the singing snails in the trees that sound like children crying. These singing snails are found in Halawa valley where they once lived.

Nostalgia seemed to be one of the sentiments of the night.
Early in their musical careers, Herb and Jon had recorded two CD’s, Take Oneand Take Two. In the first CD they had taken a song made famous by Melveen Leed and given it their own twist on the song. Paniolo Country on ‘ukulele was a lively version and much appreciated by the audience. Changing the pace a bit, Jon sang Green Rose Hula, a hula favorite by the late Johnny Almeida which Jon recorded 20 years ago. It was a fun song with a great deal of finger action. You could see the difference in the style of playing by each musician, but the way they all blended together was pretty amazing. On the Take One CD, Jon and Herb included Jerry Santos’s E Ku’u Home O Kahalu’u. Jon took the lead vocals on this and the accompaniment was terrific; you could really see how these three enjoy playing music together.

In the 1990’s one of the first recording projects on Take One CD by Herb and Jon ended up with a song that Herb had co-wrote in ten minutes. It was calledG Minor. “If you like it…clap! If you don’t like it, PLEASE clap!” requested Herb. Resounding applause. It was so lively and their playing was awesome …. another jumping flea surprise.

Herb recalls an Arizona road trip with his manager where all he heard was music of the 70’s and 80’s, probably because his manager was older. It had something to do with the music of Christopher Cross, whose concert Jon confessed was highly disappointing to him. When Herb returned to Hawai’i, he went to play at the Leahi elderly care home on O’ahu. One of the patients asked him, “Can you play something new?” at which point he played his newly composed, yet unnamed Arizona song, and dedicated the song to the elders there. He named it Leahi Morning because the seniors liked it so much.

Before the intermission, Herb played his version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow to show how great the donated Kamoa ‘ukulele sounds; it brought him major applause.

For Jon, this trip to Kauai, the first time in ten years, was a chance to unwind from his usual hectic city pace. He said he sits at his desk and dreams of Kaua’i. To commemorate this long-awaited trip, he sang the light-hearted Hele on to Kauai. He nodded to Herb to take the pa’ani; what an incredible and effortless picking style he has.

Jon wanted to share a song that he wrote for his wife titled Emily. After he sang the wonderful lyrics about everything she is to him, he turned to Herb and asked him, “What is my wife’s name?” Herb looked at him with his dead-pan expression and replied, “Stacy.” Again, Herb gave him the look which actually says a lot more than words. “Does your wife know about this?” Jon explained that he can never play music in the house because it’s loud and disturbs everyone watching TV, so he has to sit in his car outside to be able to have his alone time to compose songs, “so this is what happens when I go and write a song in my car.” The name Emily seemed at the time more appropriate in the song …. even if he was writing it for his wife Stacy.

When Elvis Presley was in Hawai’i playing at a concert for the Pearl Harbor Memorial, one of the songs in the movie Blue Hawaii that made an impression on the guys was the romantic ballad Can’t Help Falling in Love with You. Their version definitely afforded the ‘ukulele players a great chance to show off what the little instrument can do. It sounded very different from the romantic crooning of Elvis.

For a definite change of pace, the three played Sir Duke, a Stevie Wonder song that really put the trio in the groove and had the audience loving it. Along the same lines they threw in another song, the title of which I did not catch … but they were all in the same key. Wonderful!

Of course if you are on Kaua’i and you are featuring the songs of Dennis Kamakahi, Koke’e is definitely a must. The warmth of the song, the positive memories of the many EKK concerts that Dennis shared on Kaua’i fueled the singing as audience members joined in; it’s a song that nearly everyone knows.

By the time everyone joined in on Hawai’i Aloha, the mood of the audience was one of great inspiration and appreciation for the new generation of Hawaii’s talents. They are making their own history in the music world, sparked by the years of caring mentorship and fueled by their own dedication to the craft and god-given talent, these young musicians are the ones that will be leading and sharing and nurturing the next generation of musicians.

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

Carol Kouchi Yotsuda, www.gardenislandarts.org — “Celebrating 40 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

E Kanikapila Kakou 2017 Hawaiian Music Program is funded in part by the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, and the Garden Island Arts Council supporters with support from 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:

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EKK Week #5 — Malie Gets Everybody into the Act

For Upcoming 2016 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 Monday February 27?

Monday, February27, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
EKK 2017 – “Music is Our Kuleana”
Herb Ohta Jr. , David Kamakahi, Jon Yamasato
“The Stars Will Be Shining on Us!”
6:00 – 6:45 ‘Ukulele Circle
Kaua’i Beach Resort Jasmine Ballroom
Contact: giac05@icloud.com

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

It’s hard to miss EKK! Each week before I send out my weekly “wrap” I try to run it by Jodi Ascuena so she can catch any errors in my Hawaiian diacritical marks and song titles. So I took my draft to the studio and read this to her. When I finished, her face turned as orange as her henna-colored hair, she took off her glasses, and a flood of real tears poured down her cheeks, and she wailed, “I am so torn! I can’t believe that I am going to miss the rest of the EKK season!” She finally booked her repeatedly postponed trip to Aotearoa, mainly because each year she could not think of missing EKK. She hasn’t even left the island and already she’s missing her home, especially EKK. Ooops!

EKK Week #5 – Malie Gets Everybody into the Act!

I was writing about the Kahulanui evening on Monday morning, February 20, and wondering if the hula program coming up that night was going to be as exciting as the previous week. What a question! Malie Foundation always TOP themselves and come up with something new every time. Not only was it exciting, it was entertainment from the heart; it was inclusive and brought out hula dancers from Kekaha to Haena and every town in between; it was authentic hula fun with great music from a ten-piece musical ensemble with a tiple player who lives across the “Last Stop Store” in Wainiha, David Helder, to a fantastic Hawaiian piano player from Kekaha, Kunane “Uncle Kunz” Aipolani, and everyone in between. Beverly Kauanui was the leader of the group on ‘ukulele and vocals, Haunani Kaui and Pat Kauanui on guitar, Kekoa Blanchet on steel guitar, Anuhea Ka’auwai Herrod on upright bass, Uncle Nathan, Maka Herrod and Lady Ipo on ‘ukulele, vocals and emcee duties. What fantastic music!

Of course, because it was community hula night, the emphasis was on showcasing the hula Kaua’i island style, so it was Hula! Hula! Hula! From beginning to end. From 6:00 to 6:45, there were three hula circles side-by-side with over a hundred dancers learning a new hula from Beverly Kauanui teaching Hanalei in the Moonlight, Maka Herrod teaching My Puakenikeni, and Troy Hinano Lazaro teaching Ipo Lei Momi.

Lady Ipo and Maka Herrod shared the emcee duties and asked the audience to join in on the hymn Ho`onani Ka Makua Mau to open the program; with a full house, the singing was great. You look around at EKK and you see a sea of faces with big grins of joy and happiness; that is what you experience at EKK! Locals know that it’s always fun at community hula night so many turned out full force so the hotel staff kept bringing out stacks of chairs for the standing crowd.

The Hula Circles with over 100 dancers
First on the program were the dancers in the three hula circles, all of which learned their hula in less than an hour. Leading off was Troy Hinano Lazaro who called up the 45 dancers in his circle; they performed a lively and sensuous hula called Ipo Lei Momi composed by Keali’i Reichel, a song about the beautiful “black pearl” … not the one that you wear as a jewelry. (my body temperature escalated when I read the lyrics!) It was a 45-minute miracle as they pulled off the fun and energetic hula like real pro dancers, definitely not for the faint-hearted. He reassured the dancers, “There is no right way, no wrong way; just have fun!” Hinano followed the group dance with a hula solo toI Ali’i No ‘Oe  to honor his kumu.

Auntie Beverly Kehaulani Kauanui, with the help of her hula hui members, taught a hula about all the romantic things that go on in Kawaikapu’okalani Hewett’s Hanalei in the Moonlight. Several of the thirty dancers had just had their first hula lesson but they looked and felt gorgeous; hula songs composed by Hewett has that effect on the dancers. Beverly asked her dancers to do the honors for her hana hou number Kamawaelualani to honor Doric and his wife Momi.

Maka Herrod taught My Puakenikeni composed by Uncle Nathan for his friend Keoki Gosselin. The dancers started the hula by first singing the song so we could appreciate the beauty of the lyrics and then all thirty of the students danced the hula while singing the song. What a touching and professional presentation by beginners, advanced and everything in between. Maka’s hana hou number, Ku’u Hoaloha, was danced by ten of Maka’s halau plus Uncle Vern Kauanui (glad to see you back on stage, Uncle Vern!)

Hinano Lazaro – Ka Pa Hula O Hinano

The long awaited thing has finally happened: Hinano Lazaro is the “new kid on the kumu hula block”; he officially took on the mantle of kumu hula after many years of dancing with the late Kumu hula Doric Kaleonui Yaris. Word is that at his first meeting at the Koloa Neighborhood Center in December, he was inundated with prospective hula students hoping to learn under his guidance. From the first time I saw this young man dance at Uncle Nathan’s 50th birthday party, where I dubbed him “liquid silver” because that best describes how he danced, I had no doubt that one day he would be a kumu hula, and that day has come with the wonderful EKK audience enjoying his first public performance. And what a magnificent show of excellence they put on. Hinano’s chanting and solo hula numbers were all total chicken skin experiences.

Beverly Kauanui – H?lau Hula O Kehaulani
Auntie Beverly Kauanui who led the band also showed up with her proudly labeled “bleached-out Hawaiian” hula dancers. They are no strangers to performing because Beverly performs actively, not only in her north shore territory, but for backyard parties and events all over the island. Their swaying hips and graceful hands tell the hula stories as well as their brown-skinned sisters. Not only does she have a following of loyal dancers, she shows up with her dedicated band members. On top of that she has a northshore ‘ukulele group who performed at EKK a couple of years ago.

Maka Herrod – Na Hui O Kamakaokalani
Maka Herrod, the energetic and charismatic leader who pulled togethertonight’s community hula gathering, like his Uncle Nathan, is a human magnet who attracts the creative and fun-loving people who want to be part of the action because he’s the action man who manages to create a chain reaction of excitement wherever he goes. “Boom Shaka Laka Maka” is a dynamite leader who, together with Lady Ipo, are so much in demand as emcees who also perform. You look around and see the hands-on board members of the Malie Foundation who are ever present at all their functions. Maka and Nathan shared with the audience the development and close-knit symbiotic relationship between GIAC and Malie Foundation out of which the popular Kaua’i Mokihana Festival events were brought to fruition.

Lady Ipo Kahaunaele Ferreira
Our master emcee Lady Ipo honored the memory of her Auntie Dora Swain who passed away last summer; Dora’s fabulous voice has enriched Kaua’i events for decades. Lady Ipo shared that Dora went every day to clear the debris at Anahola Beach until the day she passed away. Today her daughter and son go every Friday to continue her tradition of keeping Anahola Beach clean and invited others to join them. She called on Auntie Dora’s daughter, Anna Velasco, to the stage to dance the hula to Ku’u Ipo I Ka Pu’e One. What a special tribute and gorgeous hula to honor a wonderful kupuna. The band played this song beautifully. Lady Ipo also did a shout-out to Anna’s brother, Captain Lani, of Catamaran Kahanu, which is their ohana catamaran company.Nathan Liberato Kahikolu Kahapea Kalama–Na Kupuna O Kalamaolaimaluhialani

Uncle Nathan, who for the past two years of EKK forfeited his lovingly nurtured beard to raise money for the Punana Leo scholarship fund and last year to help GIAC insure that we could start EKK 2017. So here we are! “I would be remiss if I did not do this,” he said and led the audience in singing “Happy 40-Year-Old Birthday to Garden Island Arts Council”! Tonight he decided to go Kumu hula “emeritus” and proudly showed off his kupuna Halau dancers – Nani Rogers, Winnie Smith, Barbara Say, Arlene Kon and Auntie Bev Muraoka — while singing and playing the ‘ukulele for his original compositions, Kaua?i I Ka M?lie and Nani Wai?ale?ale.

He shared the story behind the first song which he wrote back in 1992 when Hurricane Iniki totaled his home in Wailua. He took a vacation to East LA in November to get away from the devastation. While sitting in his friend’s kitchen, he witnessed a shooting on the street, a mother chasing one of her kids with a broom, and a gang fight between the Armenians and the Mexicans. He felt so homesick he wanted to leave that night to return to Kaua’i. Out of this experience came his composition Kaua?i I Ka M?lie. (Kaua’i in the Calm) Yes, we native Kauaians all know that feeling whenever we leave this beloved island.
In 2012 my friends from Ecuador attended several of the Kaua’i Mokihana Festival events; the thing that blew them away the most were the white-haired hula dancers moving gracefully and sensuously to music. We see it all the time and take it for granted that kupuna dance the hula as long as they can, and if they can’t stand they can still do the noho hula, but it was mind-altering for the family from Ecuador to witness that.

More Music and Dance:
The second half of the evening began with a surprise and a bang as one name was drawn from the Kamoa ‘ukulele bottle; no one was more surprised than the lucky winner, David Helder from Wainiha who had been playing his five-string tiple as one of the members of the musical team.

Adding to the surprise was the oli & kahiko by Kumu Hula Hinano and selected members of his halau, Ka P? Hula O Hinano. Hinano’s powerful oli was riveting as the dancers entered from the back, dressed in their kahiko costumes in warm oranges, gold, red, pink and yellow. Their dynamic choreography in the kahiko hula to Hole Waimea was exciting as they swished their yellow-green ti-leaf skirts and rattled their uli’uli with the bright red and yellow feathers. The audience screamed approval as the dancers duck-walked on bended knees across the stage. Three male dancers in the front and two ladies in the back with Hinano seated on the floor, beating the ipu heke and pahu drum and chanting the oli. Four more female dancers joined the group for the second number ‘O Kalalau. Because his halau is newly formed, Hinano sewed all their costumes especially for this performance. Can you believe that? Oh, it all went by too fast!

A musical interlude included Haunani Kaui and Auntie Bev Kauanui singing the Hanalei Medley – Hanohano Hanalei & Ka Ua Loku. On a somber note, Auntie Bev shared a song written by a Kalaupapa resident who had never seen a sunset with his own eyes but managed to compose the medley because he could feel the sunset. Her ladies danced to `Aina O Moloka`i/Sunset of Kalaupapa Medley.

When Maka sang Hanalei Moon and Lady Ipo invited any and all hula dancers to join her on the stage, over seventy dancers stood up around the room and in the aisle and danced to this iconic Kaua’i hula number. Can you believe? I was privileged to see Natalie Ai Kamau’u and her husband I’o Kamau’u give an incredible and unforgettable concert at the Waimea Historic Theatre on Wednesday, February 22. They flew in from Japan, did the performance, and flew back to Japan the following day. Among her many touching stories about the songs she composed and sang, she pointed out that the song she remembers most as confirming her role as a singer rather than a hula dancer was when she first sang Hanalei Moon. When you hear her soaring voice bring that song to life, you knew she was really paying attention to herself; the rest is history as she repeatedly claims “Female Vocalist of the Year” awards at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.

Another crowd pleaser was the audience participation hula led by Lady Ipo and Bev — ?Uwehe, Ami and Slide. It can’t be a crime to have that much fun as Maka stepped on the stage and led the dancers all around the room in this sassy finger-snapping, hand-waving, ‘ami-loaded, floor-gliding hula. If it were, we’d all be in jail, which is just across the highway from KBR! This hula epitomizes the whole evening because everyone was having too much fun! Even security!

Continuing the audience participation, Lady Ipo invited the weekly lei givers to the stage to dance a group hula to Aloha Kaua?i. This is one of the favorite hula that is danced nearly every week and it’s never enough. Each dancer on the stage danced a different choreography of this hula but it was all good; so many interpretations of this hula.

Kumu Hinano, dressed in aloha shirt and decked with leis, and eight of his dancers, ladies wearing long silky mauve hula dresses, black shell leis and giant orchids in their hair and gentlemen looking dapper in aloha shirts, performed an auana hula to the song Lei Nani. Needless to say, his auana dancing is as beautifully choreographed as his kahiko hula. If this is a taste of what Hinano will be sharing, we can look forward with much anticipation to future sharing by his halau. So exciting!

Papalina Lahilahi, definitely one of the favorite audience participation hula worldwide, again enticed over 100 dancers to surround the entire room. Aunty Bev Muraoka’s unmistakable and powerful voice rang out with just that right flavor of sassiness, throwing in her rascal comments about the lyrics, definitely her signature style of singing. It was the community hula night to end all community hula nights! Top that, Malie Foundation!

Each week the performing artist show awe on their faces when the audience stand up to sing Hawai’i Aloha because there are few places and gatherings in Hawai’i where nearly everyone knows the song. For the newbies words are provided so they can sing along. This week was no exception. Uncle Nathan, Aunties Bev K and Bev M led the huge crowd. Many local voices tinkled the icicles hanging from the light fixtures because the singing was loud, harmonized, and joyful. More than anything, it’s the emotional impact of the song that brings tears to the eyes of many who experience this for the first time. Many an EKK attendee has pointed out to me over the years the thing they remember most about EKK is the final song of the evening.

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If you have a disability and need assistance please email Carol Yotsuda at Carol Kouchi Yotsuda, www.gardenislandarts.org — “Celebrating 40 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

E Kanikapila Kakou 2017 Hawaiian Music Program is funded in part by the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, and the Garden Island Arts Council supporters with support from 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 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 Monday February 20?

Monday, February 20, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
EKK 2017 – “Music is Our Kuleana”
Malie Foundation – “Community Hula Night”
6:00 – 6:45 Three Hula Circles
Kaua’i Beach Resort Jasmine Ballroom

Contact:  giac05@icloud.com

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

EKK Week #4 — Kahulanui Swing Band Rocks the House

Last Monday night was quite a shift in Hawaiian music for the EKK enthusiasts that filled the Kaua’i Beach Resort Jasmine Ballroom. From the get-go, Dave and Dona Cunningham, volunteers extraordinaire, had the corner of the ballroom hopping with a pre-performance swing dance lesson. What a revelation to me to see so many folks just loving to dance. It was a joy to watch! Ballroom was my passion as a teenager so I felt a bit envious to see so many happy bodies cutting up the rug. All of this in preparation for the big sound swing music from the Kahulanui Big Island Swing Band; they certainly did not disappoint. It was also great to see a number of island musicians in the audience.

It was exciting just to watch the members of the band, looking dapper in their matching black hats, black suits with bright purple and yellow aloha shirts, sprint lightly up to the stage and find their stations behind their Kahulanui cardboard podiums. It was a packed stage and they filled it with music and action from the start to the very end.

Kahulanui took us back to the 20’s and 40’s with the big sounds of the Swing Bands, music that many of us love and remember so well because we grew up with them even in our school proms and stage performances. Kaua’i being their favorite island, Lolena Naipo, leader of the Kahulanui Band, launched intoNani Waimea/Nani Wai’ale’ale, singing the lyrics in falsetto and throwing in his low chants in a deep bass gutteral voice. It was all there! He started with a chant-like monotone so it felt very Hawaiian but visually the band members had the syncopated motions to accentuate the beats and they captured the big sound of the swing band. He showcased his musicians throughout the performance, giving them many chances to shine with their respective pa’ani; it was so exciting to watch them belt out their solos and the group uniformly snapping their instruments from left to right to punctuate the music.

Naipo took old songs from his home town in Waimanalo and changed them in the Kahulanui style. He talked about his recollection of Ray Kinney and Lonny McIntire in the old days, about New York big band sounds, and the early era of Hawaiian music. People told him he could not do it, but he found a core of other young musicians who believed in his vision and joined him to form this Hawaiian style big sound band. With a big smile on his face, swaying left and right with each strum, Lolena kept up the pace and the whole group followed.

Pat Eskildsen Jr., on the bass, is the right-hand man of the group and works hard to make sure that all arrangements for their gigs are tended to in a timely fashion. He was a joy to work with.

Jesse Snyder, on the tenor saxophone and clarinet, heads the horn section and was one of the first to believe in Lena’s vision and has worked with the group from the beginning.

Bill Noble, the senior member of the band, cuts loose on the alto sax and the flute and often steals the show with his dynamic solo playing.

Tim Nohea Taylor, originally from Philadelphia, on drums is another one of the nucleus group of Kahulanui. Besides giving us lively energetic burst of drum beats from the back line, he gave us a great deal of insight into the workings of the band. “How do you guys rehearse when half of you are from Kona side and the other half from the Hilo side?” “We really don’t rehearse that much because we are all professional musicians and we are able to get together and play without too much rehearsal.” Lena takes the lead and we all follow. That is pretty amazing.

Duke Tatom on ‘ukulele; handsome young man has the Kinimaka good looks because he is related to them; his grandmother is originally from Kaua’i and he has enough aunties and uncles on Kaua’i to fill a bus – the Kinimaka Family. It was amazing to watch him get his ‘ukulele keep right up there with the rest of the instruments. Dwight Tokumoto, on the steel guitar looks familiar, because he came with Lito Arkangel last year. The steel guitar sound is really essential in recreating the sounds of early Hawaiian music, and Dwight was certainly up to the challenge.

Josh Timmons, on trumpet, is one of the youngest members of the group but can he get that trumpet to sing! After his solo in Waikiki Chickadee, several requests came from the audience for more solo by Josh. It was such a rousing number when all those horn guys stand up and play… the audience was just busting out of their shirts and cutting up the rug in the back of the room. As many folks as were dancing during the first hour, the dance floor was filled with the really professional-style dancers who glided gracefully around and around the spacious floor. Many were just happy to be bobbing around in their seats and keeping the beat by slapping their thighs. No matter what they did, the audience was right there with the great sounds coming from the stage.

The trombone player, 21-year-old Vincenzo D’Angelo, was unfortunately unable to make it to Kaua’i at the last minute.

In the Late 60’s and 70’s, contemporary music was big but Lena was a child from Waimanalo where he lived a few houses from Gabby. While the others kids were out playing, Lena hid in the bushes and watched Gabby Pahinui, Atta Isaacs and Sonny Chillingworth playing music together. All this early exposure to that style of playing has influenced much of the music he brings to Kahulanui. He grew up listening to Gabby singing Hi’ilawe so he started singing this famous song from Waipio Valley moving from falsetto to a deep raspy guttural voice that scraped the river rocks at the bottom of the river. “Gabby was also an avid steel guitar player,” he recalled and he called on Dwight to add the sweet sounds of steel to this song; then the unexpected high tones of the flute by Bill Noble made one think of the sounds of the gossipy birds in the Waipio valley. Nohea the drummer adds to the Hawaiian beat with the ipu heke instead of the regular drums. This version of Hi’ilawe was really quite surreal because he was transporting us all right there into the valley.

Right next to Gabby playing Makee Islana was another old timer from his home town in Waimanalo. Duke ripped a solo with his ‘ukulele but it had a rapid fire banjo sound instead of the sound of the ‘ukulele. Dwight chimed in with the sensuous sounds of early Hawaiian tropical paradise. Honolulu Skylark from Hawai’i island encouraged him to play ” the counting song” which again featured the steel sound. The whole Issacs family played music. Lena loved the way that Alden Kaleholani Isaac’s sang and he launched into an exciting song in the style of Alden. “…caught in the spell of your arms …. don’t stop it now! …. don’t stop it now!”

Lena talked about local parties where everyone drank cases of Primo beer; at every party someone was bound to start playing Sweet Someone. He earlier told Jesse Snyder this is the crappiest song of all, but when they played it at a party with Jesse’s sax solo, he had to change his mind because he liked it after all. “When I heard it this way, I loved it!” “I never knew what my grandpa did.” He found out late in life that he grandfather had been the assistant band leader with Royal Hawaiian Band; he was also part of the Army band and he had his own 16-piece band. “If my grandpa heard this, he would freak out!” Everybody told him not to do this type of music but he did it and here is the result. It’s different; it’s original; no one else does it quite the same way.

He recalls listening to this voice, the voice of his grandpa Robert Kahulanui, sitting with his ‘ukulele and singing Noho Pai Pai or “The Rocking Chair Song”. He sang it with his grandpa’s voice. Young Josh Timmons played a fantastic trumpet solo; this was a song for the horn section, but frankly, I had never heard Noho Pai Pai played quite that way and with that kind of lively beat. Makes you wonder what goes on with that rocking chair. The gang of volunteers at the back of the room were jumping around like Mexican jumping beans and so were all the musicians.

Just before the intermission, the wonderful Lady Ipo came up to the stage and demonstrated the Kamoa ‘ukulele singing Susie Anna E in her sultry voice. After the intermission, the winner was announced and a very happy Gale Glass from Washington state was the lucky winner.

The second half was just as spicy as the first half with the three-man horn section bouncing up and down with short solos that were just plain thrilling.

2016 was a challenging year for artist John Cruz. “In the Pacific Ocean, family is everything,” Lena led off, acknowledging the Cruz family who suffered big losses with the death of Ernie Cruz Sr., followed by the untimely death of Ernie Cruz Jr. After that John Cruz lost his little brother Guy Cruz. He launched into a song that we always hear as a light and happy look at family life in Hawai’i. I never hear such a nostalgic version of We do it Island Style with the rippling sound of ocean waves and an almost wailing quality describing all the familiar scenes in grandma’s home; changing it from a happy-go-lucky playful musical description of family life in Hawai’i to a sensitive reminder of the often over-crowded family gatherings where everyone is busy interacting with each other from the mountains on the windward to the oceans on the leeward side. It was quite a rare and beautiful rendition of the well-known Cruz song.

Lena talked about his wife, a hula dancer, and this song just came to him —Papa Lina Lahi Lahi— a huge smile on his face, gravel voice scraping along the bottom, rocking his head back and forth, calling out solos from Dwight on steel, letting out shouts, signaling to the horn section; he was always getting scolding from the kupunas, “What is he doing with that song?” “Main thing I am enjoying myself!” and he grinned from ear to ear while hula dancers popped up stage left, stage right and in the aisle.

From one hula number to another he started to play a song that sounded likeYakahiki Hula; not sure there really is a hula song by that name, but he sang it so it must be a real song. He then launched into a lively Hawaiian mele where all the guys and the audience were shouting out verbal punctuations about hula. Boy! that guy Bill Noble really puts on a great solo pa’ani and the band never lose the beat!

“We were starting to lose the young folks because the young crowd was turning to reggae music but we need to do this kind of music,” said Lena and launched into a very sophisticated rendition of a song by Teresa Bright. Noble’s flute and Tatom’s ‘ukulele often carried the melody in a most unexpected way…about surfing in the ocean.

“Have you ever heard of the group Hawaiians Unlimited?” asked Lena. “We were they; we just changed our name to Kahulanui and get scolded all the time for doing that but it’s okay.” They then played one of the songs on their original CD in which the flute player piped in with his high bird-like melodies. No wonder he steals the show all the time; Bill Noble is one really talented musician.

Lena’s style of calling for pa’ani from his band members is really subtle. He points vaguely in some direction or turns his head to one side and various instruments join in with their solos. Pat Eskildsen acknowledged their dynamic leader, “Lead singer! Mr. Lena Naipo!” He then swapped instruments with Pat and accompanied Pat’s guitar solo on the bass and then stood up to give a solo for a grand finale with the big band sound. “We love Hawai’i island so so much where we live the life of the gypsy musician. We live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean – ‘On the island…in the middle of the sea’; god is good all the time.” Two hours of playing and all the musicians are still bouncing around on the stage. All this was really contagious because the back row of the hall was bouncing everywhere as well.
Of course the EKK audience just had to sing Hawaii Aloha to feel that the evening had come to a full and complete close. What a fun evening! Just did not realize how much folks love to dance.

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If you have a disability and need assistance please email Carol Yotsuda at Carol Kouchi Yotsuda, www.gardenislandarts.org — “Celebrating 40 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

E Kanikapila Kakou 2017 Hawaiian Music Program is funded in part by the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, and the Garden Island Arts Council supporters with support from 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:

***

***

“Celebrating 40 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

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 at https://www.gardenislandarts.org

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

Who’s coming up on Monday February 13?

Monday, February 13, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
EKK 2017 – “Music is Our Kuleana”
Kahulanui, The Fabulous Big Island Swing Band under the leadership of Lolena Naipo is a major treat for the Kaua’i EKK Audience
6:00 – 6:45 Swing Dance Lesson
Kaua’i Beach Resort Jasmine Ballroom
Contact: giac05@icloud.com
Here is the link to EKK on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notes/e-kanikapila-kakou-kauai/carols-wrap-ekk-2017-week-3-february-6-kalani-pea-and-band/1254193771301468

EKK Week #3 — Drama Surrounds Kalani Pe’a

A Burst of Windy Weather

The best laid plans of Mice and Men… etc. etc. etc. …are gone with the wind in the face of Mother Nature’s antics, or so it was with the EKK night reserved for Kalani Pe’a. Being the very professional musician that he is, he wanted the sound check at 4:00 pm, half hour after arrival on island, so the tech crew arrived at the hotel at 2:00 to set up the lights and sound system in plenty of time before Kalani and his Band arrived.

Unbeknownst to anyone but Kalani’s manager and the EKK coordinator, the 3:25 arrival flight from Maui was delayed three times, supposedly arriving at 4:50, still in time for a 5:00 sound check, but for three musicians with tons of instruments and baggage to disembark is anything but a fast process. Finally, everyone piled into the EKK van which was luckily empty and dashed to KBR for a quick sound check from 5:30 to 6:00 pm.

A long line of audience members were patiently waiting in the foyer for the program; luckily, they are not the complaining type. What caused all the drama? The freaky huge winds caused many flights out of Maui to be cancelled because no planes could land in Honolulu; luckily their direct flight to Kauai came through… very, very late, but still on the same day. Some folks involved in tonight’s EKK program managed to get the last flight out of Honolulu; all other flights cancelled. What a nail-biting way to start the program.

Fortunately, the Father and Son team from Kamoa ‘Ukulele, Joe and Sam Bonanno, were scheduled to teach the ‘ukulele circle on this night. They taught Hawai’i Aloha which made a lot of players happy. Besides so generously donating the Kamoa ‘Ukulele to be given away each night at EKK, this gracious family showed up to take part in the program. How special is that?

‘Olelo Hawai’i Introduction Sets the Tone

Jodi Ascuena, our Hawaiian-speaking resident Brit with the bright henna-colored hair was so excited about Kalani Pe’a coming to EKK that she volunteered to introduce the star; what a bang-up job she did! Hawaiian-speaking Kalani Pe’a, standing behind Jodi, was reacting with great delight over her expressively delivered narrative. The text follows in Hawaiian and in English:

?O Kalani Pe?a. Pepeluai 2017. Jodi Ka?ehulani Ascuena

Ua ho?olohe au i kekahi k?k? kama?ilio ma ka leki??o KKCR i ka P??alima nei ma waena ?o ?Anak? Maria a me Kalani Pe?a. ? pau, ua hele au i ka hale waihona puke o K?loa a ua heluhelu wau i ka ?akikala ma ka n?pepa ?o ?Ka Wai Ola? e pili ana i???Kalani Pe?a.
Ma hope o ko?u ho?i ?ana mai i ka hale, ua ho?omaka au e hana i ka ha?awina ho?iho?i no ka?u papa ??lelo Hawai?i. Pono m?kou e heluhelu i ka mo?olelo ?o ?No Keoe? a ua makemake loa wau i n? kaha ki?i o loko, no laila, ua huli au i ka mea n?na i hana i ia mau kaha ki?i ?? AU?! ?O Kalani Pe?a kona inoa!
I nehinei, ua pa?i ?ia kekahi ?akikala ma ka n?pepa ?o ?Garden Island? e pili ana i??.Kalani Pe?a!!!
Lohe ?ia k?na mau mele ma n? wahi ? pau a ?ike ?ia kona maka i loko o n? makakina a me n? n?pepa n? ho?i. I ka l??ap?p? ana ?o ia e holo ai i Kaleponi no ka h??ike ?o ka ?Grammy?s? a ma laila ana e kau ai ka hano h?weo? E Kalani, kaulana n??oe ma MUA o kou komo ?ana aku i loko o ka Grammy?s!
He pukani k?paianaha ?o ia a keu n? ho?i kona leo a ka nahenahe. E pa?ipa?i lima k?kou. ?O Kalani Pe?a k?ia!

?O Kalani Pe?a. February 2017. Jodi Ka?ehulani Ascuena

I listened to an interview on KKCR radio on Friday between Auntie Maria and Kalani Pe?a. After that, I went to K?loa Library and read an article in the newspaper ?Ka Wai Ola? about ?… Kalani Pe?a.
After I went home, I started doing homework for my Hawaiian language class. We have to read the story ?No Keoe? and I liked the drawings very much, so I looked up the person who?d done those drawings?. WHOA! It was Kalani Pe?a!
Yesterday an article was printed in the ?Garden Island? newspaper about?.Kalani Pe?a!!!
His songs are heard everywhere and his face is in magazines and newspapers. Tomorrow is the day he?ll travel to California for the ?Grammy?s? where he has been placed in a position of glittering honor. Hey, Kalani, you?re famous even BEFORE you get to the Grammy?s!
He?s an amazing singer and oh, how beautiful his voice and his easy going style. Let?s give him a warm welcome. Here?s Kalani Pe?a.

Kalani was stoked: “What a beautiful introduction! I have to copyright that!”

So even before he set foot on this island, Kalani Pe’a has been making the news in more than one arena. We were so fortunate to have been able to schedule him, not knowing at the time of booking that he would have to be whisked away to LA early the next morning to participate at the Grammy Awards.

***Flash News from Auntie Maria received on Sunday, February 12: Kalani Pe’a just this morning WON!!! The Grammy for the Best Regional Roots Album category for his E Walea album over three Cajun and one Native American nominated albums; First Hawaiian to win since the Hawaiian Category was discontinued in the Grammy categories…Huge Congratulations!***

Kalani Pe’a Music Bigger than Life

He began the program in the traditional Hawaiian style with an Oli. His voice is high, his face is ever expressive, his words are beautifully articulated and he modulates verse after verse and adds to the story with his expressive hand motions. The rest of the program could be called a Kalani Pe’a style program all the way to the final Hawaii Aloha where he called his musician friends – Kamealoha Forrest, Waipuna Flores, Kellen and Lihau Paik of Kupaoa, his manager Allan B. Cool, Jodi Ascuena and myself to join him on stage, ever inclusive, ever exuberant, swinging and swaying and belting out the final song with so much aloha.

Words seem inadequate to describe Kalani’s singing. It’s one of those experiences where one needs to be present to enjoy. It’s not only the powerful voice which soars at times, ripples out soft sweet melodies, croons and scats and teases and emits guttural sounds, but it’s also his unbridled exuberant personality which breaks out into a melodic monologue or an imitation of an unforgettable performance by some iconic singer from the past. He caresses the microphone with one hand and dances the hula with his other hand, he dances about, interacts with his bass player, and shares stories about the songs in Hawaiian or in English because he feels the stories are an important part of sharing the Hawaiian music.

His mother is credited with much of his success. From his description she sounds like the ultimate stage mom determined to help her son overcome his childhood speech impediment by having him sing, sing, sing!!! According to Kalani, the pre-school “speech therapist” route did little to help him overcome his severe stammering and stuttering, but music theory and training, even singing karaoke, helped him to be able to master the words so he started to sing at an early age. His mom once lost him while shopping and found him serenading the mannequins at the JC Penney Store. “What the hell are you doing?” He was just training himself to sing and to win at the “Brown Bags to Stardom” at age 18. With his mother’s nurturing, he discovered early on that music was his life. His most recent accomplishment was his debut album, E Walea, which was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Regional Roots Album category.

Coming from a family of musicians – a grandfather who was an opera singer, aunties and grandmother who sang, played the piano, harmonica and slack key guitar – is it any wonder that he stands today on the EKK stage, poised to take off to the Grammy Awards in the morning where he will be sharing with a much larger audience this whole Kalani Pe’a package, raised by a caring Mom to become all that he was meant to be. In the sweetest falsetto voice, he shared the song Ku’u Poli’ahu, a song he wrote for his mother sixteen years ago, for all the moms who care about raising their children. Kalani compares his mom to the Snow Goddess of Mauna Kea. He absolutely adores his exquisite mom, who even after four children and four grandchildren, looks like his sister. He was elated that his mom would join him on O’ahu to be at the Grammy Awards for his debut.

Not sure if he really dug all his small-kid-time appearances but he went along with his mom when she took him to Woolworth’s to sing Disney’s A Whole New World dressed in an Aladdin outfit with instructions to dramatically draw his toy sword at the climactic part of the song and jump on his own private kalakoa Aladdin rug which she bought at Longs for $5.99. “Why?” he asked her, but he did it anyway and won a $25 gift certificate from Fun Factory. I think he rolled his eyes when he shared this story.

He shared several Hawaiian songs. He Lei Aloha No Hilo, composed by Devon Kamealoha Forrest of Hanalei about the naupaka flowers that grow along the shorelines. Like people they need light and water to flourish and grow or they end up as a Pua Ting (poor thing). I never heard Noho Paipai, The Rocking Chair Song, sung quite the way he did, but his Dad’s jazz and gospel influence could be heard in his rendition. The message was to cherish your loved ones. The song He Wehi Aloha, which his sings as a duet with Nani Lim Yap on his album, is about the misty rains and lush beauty of Maunawili. He called up Kamealoha to do the hula.

Maluaka is a song about the farmers of Keahou, Kona, where they harvest dryland kalo as their main staple. “I’ll be a farmer in this song,” he said, describing the planting of the kalo with their special tools as the birds tweet overhead. He describes the kolonahi wind which blow briskly through the bamboo forest under the mahealani moon. The song has such a catchy beat so all the volunteers standing at the back were moving and grooving to the beat.
See GIAC President Eve Solomon in this short video clip: https://www.facebook.com/ekanikapilakakou.kauaistyle/

E Na Kini, composed by Ernest Kala of Kalaupapa, is the national anthem of Molokai “where families are together forever”. He sang it interactively with the audience, asking them to sing “lawe a lilo” when he sang “i ka lawa” and “pono a mau” when he sang “I ka pono”. Simple, but it took a few tries before the audience got it. He appears to be a very patient teacher.

Heatwave’s Always and Forever in the style of Luther Vandross was something he wanted to include in his album and his performance even if his opera teacher, a short Italian singer who trained under Pavarotti, scolded him, “You are singing flat, Mr. Pe’a!”

As we do each week before intermission, CD’s donated by various artists, were given away to many happy winners who took the time to fill in their attendance survey sheet. They included Pam Schaal of Colorado, Bill and Sarah Miller of Kentucky, Carol Sue and Ted Acres of California, Liz and Larry Kliman and Mary Oman of Canada, Devon Forrest of Hanalei and John Pia of Anahola. After the intermission, the lucky winner of the Kamoa ‘Ukulele was Lloyd Anderson of Gilbert, Arizona, who shared with me that earlier that day he had gone to Kamoa ‘Ukulele shop in Koloa and met Joe Bonanno.

Kalani shared that he is often called “weird” by his students because he loves purple so much. In honor of coming to Kaua’i, he wore a purple tie and purple cap with his striking brown Sig Zane aloha shirt. Dressed appropriately for Kaua’i, he was joined in song by his musicians, Mark Vaught and Henry Koa, for Auntie Edith Kanaka’ole’s hula favorite from Hilo, Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai. He invited any hula dancer to come up; Holly Namaka Lindsay from Minnesota bravely did the fast-paced hula, definitely one of her favorite dances. Another Hilo favorite is ‘Akaka Falls; it appears to be one of Kalani’s favorite songs as well as he used his operatic training to soar dramatically through the song.

As part of his immersion program with the students at Kamehameha Schools on Maui, he brings his students to stay at Waipa in Hanalei. He loves the way the streams define the characteristics of each place and how the moae winds blow. The song Hanalei is a collaboration with Kamealoha Forrest. He wanted to infuse the song, a legato or latin waltz melody, with a dramatic ending. He demonstrated how he wanted it to sound and told his sound engineer that he wanted dramatic because that is who he is. Dave Tucciarone, his fabulous sound engineer, pondered with his chin in his hand, turned to Kalani and said, “This is your album.”

I don’t know how he did it but he sang You Are So Beautiful with piano accompaniment. Where did that come from? He followed with a medley of Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together and Smokey Robinson’s Ooh Baby Baby and stressed to the audience how important it was to enjoy each other’s company and to seek beauty in everything around us.

For his last song, he sang acapella a hymn-like Nani A Maika’i in honor of his grandmother who passed away in 1977 at the age of 84. It brought everyone to their feet with hana hou! hana hou! He honored the request with Just My Imagination where a little bit of gospel creeped in. Gospel, jazz, soul, opera, Hawaiian, himeni, oli, scatting, doo-wop … he rolls it all together into his own Kalani Pe’a signature style singing.

Besides his singing career, which seems to be taking off very swiftly, Kalani has a day job in the Hawaiian Culture Based Education Department at the Kamehameha Schools Maui where he creates Hawaiian-based science-based curriculum for grades 6 to 12. His drawings in the Hawaiian language anthology, Moku Ka Pawa, shows a very proficient artist, reflective of his highly personal take on life. He is also working on his masters degree at this time. More power to him!

Kalani called his friends to the stage to join him in his Kalani Pe’a style Hawai’i Aloha. All joined hands for the favorite closing song which always gives everyone a positive lift as they bid each other a hui hou until the next Monday. Kalani definitely rubbed off on everyone as the powerful singing by the whole audience was tinkling all the icicle décor hanging from the light fixtures above.

*

If you have a disability and need assistance please email Carol Yotsuda at

Carol Kouchi Yotsuda, www.gardenislandarts.org — “Celebrating 40 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

E Kanikapila Kakou 2017 Hawaiian Music Program is funded in part by the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, and the Garden Island Arts Council supporters with support from 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:

“Celebrating 40 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

Comic Strippers from Canada bring laughter and just plain good fun to Kaua’i audience!

For for Upcoming 2016 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 https://www.gardenislandarts.org

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

http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/grammy-nominated-artist-kalani-pe-a-to-perform-on-kauai/article_e7d5ad1b-c015-5236-92a5-d50109ad0358.html

Monday, February 6, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
EKK 2017 – “Music is Our Kuleana”
Grammy Nominee for “Best Regional Roots Music Album”, Kalani Pe’a shares with you a delicious evening of Hawaiian music titled “E Walea Under the Moonlight” — Enjoy and be Exuberant Under the Moonlight — with his Band members Mark Vaught and Henry Koa, before dashing off to the continent to perform at the 2017 Grammy Awards.
Sam and Joe Bonnano of Kamoa ‘Ukulele team up to share their ‘ukulele expertise with the 6:00 – 7:00 ‘Ukulele Circle.
Kaua’i Beach Resort Jasmine Ballroom
Contact: giac05@icloud.com

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

EKK Week #2 — A Moving Experience for EKK Audience

It was a perfect EKK night, and many were moved to tears as they walked out of the recently renovated Jasmine Ballroom, experiencing the songs and hula of a gifted Kumu Hula and her ‘ohana. Under the white icicles décor hanging from the soft blue recessed light fixtures, the story of Kapu Kinimaka Alquiza’s Life of Hula and Music was shared with the appreciative EKK audience. Kapu led the entourage from the back of the Jasmine Ballroom, her dancers and musicians first chanting and then singing in unison until they took their places on the stage.

Auntie Bev Muraoka, one of Kapu’s early hula mentors, looked regal in her white muumuu topped with a dark purple kihei. She chanted from the stage as she received the performers. She and Uncle Nathan Kalama asked the audience to take a moment … a long moment … to honor and recognize the untimely passing of one of Kauai’s beloved kupuna and healer, Auntie Angeline Locey. For years Auntie Angeline’s beaming face in the first row, embodied the appreciation and joy that the entire audience felt each week. EKK was one of the biggest joys in Auntie Angeline’s life. She left us the day after the first night of EKK 2017, but she was surrounded by loving ‘ohana, music and hula in her final days at Wilcox hospital.

Although it was an impromptu ceremony, Auntie Beverly Muraoka and Loea Uncle Nathan Kalama shared the proper Hawaiian protocol with a Kanikau, or lamentation, in a manner most appropriate to honor a kupuna who spent her life healing others. Nathan began with an oli that greeted everyone present. Aunty Bev responded with her powerful delivery of the pane or reply followed by Nathan with a hand clapping oli. The chants went back and forth until Bev ended with the final response on behalf of Auntie Angeline. She called on any ‘ohana or haumana of Auntie to come up and receive a lei made by Fran Nestel. Angeline’s son, Steve Locey, moved to tears, came up to receive the lei. He represented the many who knew and loved Angeline, her loving demeanor and healing hands. We will certainly miss seeing her in her bright red muumuu, sitting with a soft smile and twinkling eyes in the front row, often presenting someone with a puakenikeni lei that she had sewn. The audience, although they may not have understood the words, were aware they had witnessed a special moment; many were moved to tears.

Auntie Bev turned the mic back to Kapu, the embodiment of “love, devotion and energy.” A statuesque beauty, dressed in a black off-shoulder holoku set off with her Niihau shell lei and full lei po’o made of croton leaves, Kapu introduced her musicians – Wes Kaui, Beverly Kauanui, soloist Robbie Lynn Contrades, Maha Leoiki, and Vanya Fagasa.

At age five, Kapu was encouraged to dance the hula by Auntie Beverly Muraoka’s sister, Auntie Lovey Apana. Kapu recalls being a little girl taking hula lessons and getting her share of “lickin’s of love” from a very strict but fun-loving Auntie Lovey. She confessed that she took a bribe of $5 (which at that time was a very big amount) from Aunty Bev to come and dance the hula, and she has been at it ever since.That five dollar bill likely delivered the biggest bang for the buck when you look at the generations of hula dancers on Kaua’i and in Japan that have matriculated for the past 57 years under the strict but loving guidance of Kumu Kapu. Kapu says, “Being connected to hula is like a marriage. Once you commit, you can’t just pull away.” Hula has taken her around the world – all over the mainland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. Her sister was her partner in hula so when Kapu decided to get married to Pete Alquiza, her sister was not a happy camper to lose her partner. Husband Pete has been Kapu’s staunchest ally through thick and thin. Uncle Joe Kahaulelio was her primary mentor and kumu.

Most of the music shared by Auntie Kapu were songs that she had composed over the years. She shared the stories about how each song came to be written from her own memorable experiences. Bringing the songs to life with their hula were her dancers – Nicky Lee, Ala Alquiza, Leoaka Thomas, Melodie Ueno, Puamohala Newall, Haru Menor, Sheanna Mata, Jassy Oligo, Jacey Oligo, Malu Kenney-Alquiza, Kawehi Kahananui, and Kiana Young. Ever the generous spirit, Kapu invited anyone who wished to know more about her songs to email her and she called out her email address to the audience.

Kapu started out, “I am not ma’a about song compositions but real life experiences inspired me to write these songs.” After taking a songwriting workshop from Kimo Alama Keaulana, she was moved by the beauty of Niihau island across the calm crystal blue ocean from the shores of Kekaha. Impressed by the labor of love of Niihauans endlessly picking up shells on the beach and stringing them into beautiful lei, Niihau I ka Malie was composed in February 2015. Her dancers translated the song with a beautiful hula. She teaches her dancers that “The hula expresses stories through hand motions and gestures. It allows one to express inner, heartfelt feelings about people, places and things.” She taught them well.

At the opposite end of the island at Ke’e Beach is Ke Ahu A Laka hula mound which Kapu and her dancers love, respect and appreciate. She did not know why she was summoned to go there at 4:00 in the morning, but her mele aloha, Haena Ika Lai, composed in December 2014, came about after this pre-dawn visit to the hula mound. Sung by soloist Robbie Lynn Contrades, it captured the reverence Kapu feels for the place.

Kapu recalls a special friend from Japan who taught himself to play the steel guitar. Although they experienced a language barrier, they were able to communicate.

For years he danced hula that came from his heart, but as the Hawaiian hula gained popularity in Japan, he became aware that his hula was not truly Hawaiian, so Kapu became his kumu for twenty years. One evening they held hands and walked along the Meganebashi or Spectacle Bridge, which look like eyeglasses. “I never told my husband about this,” she joked. From this experience came the song Matsuyama Moonlight, composed in November 2014.

Another hand-holding moment captured in the mele Hanohano Kalalau was shared with her dear friend and fellow kumu hula, the late Doric Kaleonui Yaris. Along with friends from the Marquesas, they spent the early morning hours at the summit of Koke’e as Doric recalled his wedding at Kalalau to his high school sweetheart Momilani Gampong Yaris. As they left Kalalau, Kapu and Doric held hands. “First time my husband is hearing this,” she smiled. Three of the younger dancers, Kamalu, Kawehi and Kiana, dressed in yellow and orange pastel dresses, their hair piled high with orange and yellow hibiscus, danced the hula to the beautiful singing by Robbie Lynn.

In 2005, in preparation for their performance at the Merrie Monarch, the members of Na Hula O Kaohikukapulani spent hours of hard labor cleaning the Ke Ahu A Laka hulamound in Ha’ena, one of three sacred sites that they have taken on as their kuleana to caretake. Out of this experience came the song Ha’aheo ‘O Makana I Ke Alaula. Kapu invited the members of the ‘ukulele circle, who spent the first hour learning this song from Maha Leoiki, to come up to the stage to play and sing the song. Dancers in blue and yellow printed sheath gowns and red hibiscus in their hair danced to this beautiful song.

Before the intermission, Maha Leoiki played a lively tune on the Kamoa ‘ukulele that was to be given away this evening. The ‘ukulele was won by a very happy gentleman from Medford, Oregon. Each week six CD’s are given away to the audience members who took the time to fill in a brief registration survey; Kapu added five of her own Kauai My Island Home CD’s that were added to the giveaway bag. Audience members from everywhere won CD’s – Fran and Mary Ann Romano from Conneticutt, Jan and Kay Wessel from Walla Walla Washington, Renate Westner from Germany, Peter Reis from Tokyo, Laura Hendrichs from Colorado, Angela and Dave from Michigan, Lana Brodziak from Oahu, Debby Winklea from Koloa, Dottie Perry from Hanalei and two more lucky folks.

“If your kumu says, you follow!” so when Auntie Bev stepped up to the mic and said she was calling the shots now, Kapu was asked to step center stage and dance the hula to E Huli Makou. “Hike up your skirt and do anything you like,” suggested Auntie Bev. You can’t get better than this with the singing emcee Auntie Bev’s sometimes naughty and always humorous translations, as she hints at the meaning behind the lyrics, and Kumu Kapa so gracefully bringing to life the hidden meaning in the lyrics.

Kapu gave a brief history of her personal life; number twelve child out of a family of sixteen children. For her next mele, Kalapaki Oe, she shared the story of her oldest brother, Percy Kinimaka, known as “Mr. Kalapaki,” who was the bright, strong beach boy who ruled at Kalapaki Beach through the 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s and part of the 1990’s. Formerly called the Kaua’i Surf, today it is known as the Kaua’i Marriott Resort. As a teenager, she was a beach girl working for Percy’s Beach Concessions and doing all the same things that were done by the other beach boys. All that early training as a beach girl likely paid off building her stamina for the demands on her as a kumu hula.

Kaua’i My island Home, danced by five of her dancers, expresses Kapu’s love for her island home, a place where she is making an indelible contribution as a kumu hula and leaving a huge legacy of dancers and musicians who share her love of life, love of island, love of hula and music.

For their final number, Kapu shared their harrowing experience on March 11, 2011 riding the bus from Narita Airport to Haneda Airport, a normally one-hour ride that took two hours as the devasting tsunami that ripped apart the Sendai Community was in progress. I remember Kapu describing to me how the bus was lurching from side to side and at that time they were not sure what was happening. The lyrics of Na Pua Mohala (Hana Wa Saku) by Dr. Puakea Nogelmeier and Kalikolihau Paik of Kupaoa with music by Yoko Kanno says that flowers will always bloom, after every Winter there is Spring and sadness will be followed by joy. The music, the hula, the lyrics of this song brought everyone to their feet and many were weeping at the emotions that welled up hearing such a beautiful and heartfelt rendition of this song.

All joined hands for the closing song Hawai’i Aloha which always gives everyone a positive lift as they bid each other a hui hou until the next Monday.

If you have a disability and need assistance please email Carol Yotsuda at
Carol Kouchi Yotsuda, www.gardenislandarts.org — “Celebrating 40 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

E Kanikapila Kakou 2017 Hawaiian Music Program is funded in part by the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, and the Garden Island Arts Council supporters with support from 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:

“Comic Strippers” — Kauai ticket outlet tickets will be picked up by end of business on Friday, February 10. Online tickets at Brown Paper Tickets will be closed at 2:00 pm on February 11. Tickets will be available at the Box Office at 6:00 pm on Saturday, February 11.

“Celebrating 40 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS

Email giac05@icloud.com to get Upcoming 2016 Arts & Culture Calendar in advance

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

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

Monday, January 30, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
EKK 2017 – “Music is Our Kuleana”
Kapu Kinimaka-Alquiza and ‘Ohana
“A Life of Hula and Music”
Kaua’i Beach Resort Jasmine Ballroom
Contact: giac05@icloud.com

Recap on EKK Week #1 – “It All Began with the Drumming”

There is always a buzz of excitement in the air on the first day of EKK because “snow birds” and other visitors from the continent are grateful to be in Kauai’s warm weather, and their local friends are happy to greet them after a year’s absence. It’s always a festive and happy reunion for these staunch lovers of Hawaiian music and culture. Taking a different tack by drumming in the new season, the Garden Island Arts Council shared that this was their 40th year of “bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS.”

Onio Punzal welcomed everyone with the haunting call of the “pu” and acknowledged the highly vocal and energetic Kauai residents; Carol Yotsuda welcomed all the new and returning visitors, gave huge mahalo to the primary sponsors, HTA and KBR, acknowledged Auntie Maria for artist interviews on her Friday morning show on KKCR radio, and gave an overview of the extraordinary line up for the 34th season of EKK. Ooooh’s and Ahhhhh’s could be heard from the audience as the artists were announced.

Leading off the program, Sally Jo Keahi Manea introduced her grandson Mika Kane, born and raised in Maui, who studied at Kamehameha School’s Maui campus and is now a junior studying music at UH Manoa. Son of Dain Kane, a 1980 graduate of Kauai High School, Mika started playing the ukulele at age 13 and is now mentored by Dr. Byron Yasui, a well-known Hawaii jazz musician. As a child, he spent a lot of time at Camp Naue in Hanalei with grandpa Herman Kane.

He likes to play old songs so “Old Soul” is a fitting title for his first CD which came out 4 days ago and is premiering tonight at EKK. Some of his ‘ukulele numbers included Errol Garner’s Misty; a Beatles favorite Yesterday; the hapa-haole Sophisticated Hula in jazz style; This Nearly Was Mine by Rodgers and Hammerstein from movie South Pacific; Harold Arlen’s Somewhere Over the Rainbow from the movie Wizard of Oz; If I Love You, a show tune from Carousel and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody written by the singer Fredie Mercury. He picked up a lot of fans from his first gig at EKK.

Drummer Koko Kaneali’i, who has been playing drums for over fifty years since his early introduction as a kid in Kalihi watching the Marines, his first drum teachers, gave a 25-minute time travel through 6,000 years of drum history. He talked about the first clay pot drums in Africa through drums with skin stretched over a log; noisy metal drums by the Chinese, French snares, Swiss innovations and innumerable contributions by drummers in North America and Canada. It was fertile field for innovation as Indians, Cubans, the Latin countries added their claves, congas, Cajun music and Latin rhythms which eventually open the path for rock and roll. John Phillip Souza, who played every instrument in his 110-instrument band solidified the marches with their distinctive drum beats, but that was only the start as every group of people used drums for signals, celebrations, and just plain entertainment. The introduction of the first base drums with pedals opened up the playing field more and more were added to the drum sets. In Hawai’i, the modern drum sets and the Pahu drums share the same stage; to-ete was used to call folks to church by the missionaries. This brief intro to drumming brought on stage the featured drum group.

Emcee Rhoda Libre introduced Tepairu Manea , leader of the Orama Tahitian Drum group. He introduced his drummers who have been playing with him for six months.

Tahitians speak with their hips in their danging. Dancers came up to demonstrate 15 basic drum beats with their gyrating and swinging hips. As is often done when Tahitian drumming is shared, brave audience members are invited to come up and try out their hips and feet action to the rapid rhythms of the drum; one brave dancer ended up doing a major solo number … bravo!

Before the intermission, Mika Kane played a short tune on the Kamoa ukulele; after the intermission this same ukulele was won by an elated gentleman from the continent. Also given away were six CD’s to Mary Cranston, Penny Prior, Lloyd and Lee Anderson, Susan Adams from Kilauea, Ken and Lorraine from Calgary and Teresa and Francois Hevin from Arkansas.

Koko Kanealii and his nephews, Chad Keola Pa, a solo singer, and Paul Kaiminaauao, who has his own band, brought up the second half of the evening with a lively selection of backyard jam favorites such as Ulili-e, about the sandpiper or golden plover, Margarita with Chad as lead soloist, and a reggae-beat song from the westside of the island.

The dancers of Roselle Bailey’s halau had a chance to teach a hula and the singing of the songs Mo’olele and Po’ipu to the audience during the ‘ukulele hour at the beginning of the evening.

However, the evening zipped by much too fast so, unfortunately, the audience was not able to enjoy the performance of He Mele No Kane, a traditional oli choreographed by Roselle Keli’ihonipua Bailey and the sharing of the song Mo’olele prepared by the dancers of Roselle Bailey’s halau.

All joined hands for the closing song HAWAII Aloha which always gives everyone a positive lift as they bid each other a hui hou until the next Monday.

If you have a disability and need assistance please email Carol Yotsuda at
Carol Kouchi Yotsuda, www.gardenislandarts.org — “Celebrating 40 years of bringing ARTS to the people and people to the ARTS”

E Kanikapila Kakou 2017 Hawaiian Music Program is funded in part by the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, the County of Kaua’i Office of Economic Development, and the Garden Island Arts Council supporters with support from 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:

Kalani Pea is featured artist for EKK on Monday, February 6, 6:00 – 9:00 pm, Kauai Beach Resort

Kalani Pe’a – He Lei Aloha (No Hilo) – OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO Click here for link

Kalani Pe’a – He Lei Aloha (No Hilo) – OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO “He Lei Aloha (No Hilo)” is a song off of Kalani Pe’a’s Grammy® Nominated debut album titled “E Walea” released August 5th 2016. “E Walea” hit No.1 on the iTunes World Music Charts and No.12 on the Billboard World Albums Charts.

Garden Island Arts Council celebrating 40 Years of “Bringing Arts to the People and People to the Arts”

E Kanikapila Kakou 2017 THIRTY-FOURTH Season – “Music is Our Kuleana”

Monday, January 23rd through Monday, March 20th. Every Monday, 6:00 – 9:00 pm at Kauai Beach Resort Jasmine Ballroom

Plus March 27th Special EKK Concert, 7:00 – 9:00 pm at KCC Performing Arts Center.

E Kanikapila Kakou 2017 34th Season “MUSIC IS OUR KULEANA”

Monday, January 23rd, 6:00 – 9:00 pm (Week 1)
EKK 2017 — “It All Began with the Drumming”
Tepairu Manea & Orama, Mika Kane on ‘Ukulele, Wahi, Koko Kaneali’i & Wahi ‘Aina (Chad Pa & Paul Kaimina’auao)

Monday, January 30, 6:00 – 9:00 pm (Week 2)
EKK 2017 — “A Life of Hula and Music”
Kumu Hula Kapu Kinimaka Alquiza & ‘Ohana

Monday, February 6, 6:00 – 9:00 pm (Week 3)
EKK 2017 – “E Walea Under the Moonlight” (Enjoy and be Exuberant Under the Moonlight)
Kalani Pe’a and Band (Mark Vaught & Henry Aiau Koa

Monday, February 13, 6:00 – 9:00 pm (Week 4)
EKK 2017 — “Polish Up Your Dancing Shoes for Swing Time Music!”
Kahulanui Big Island Nine-Member Swing Band

Monday, February 20, 6:00 – 9:00 pm (Week 5)
EKK 2017 — “Weeeeha! It?s going to be an ‘ Uwehe, Ami & Slide Kind of Evening!”
Malie Foundation with Community Hula Night

Monday, February 27, 6:00 – 9:00 pm (Week 6)
EKK 2017 — “The Stars Will Be Shining on Us!”
Herb Ohta Jr., David Kamakahi, Jon Yamasato

Monday, March 6, 6:00 – 9:00 pm (Week 7)
EKK 2017 — “Project Kuleana: – Kuleana through Na Mele Hawaii”
Sean Naleimaile, Kamakoa Lindsey-Asing, Kihei Nahala-e, Ed Punua, Keao Costa and Kainani Kahaunaele

Monday, March 13, 6:00 – 9:00 pm (Week 8)
EKK 2017 — “Mele Inoa for Special People in My Life”
Puni Patrick and Friends (Chucky Boy Chock, Hiipoi Kanahele, Mike Keale, Russell Wellington, Bambi Emayo & His Band)

Monday, March 20, 6:00 – 9:00 pm (Week 9)
EKK 2017 – “Dynamite Team w/ Dynamite Music Tops Off Dynamite Season!”
KUPAOA (Kellen and Lihau Paik) w/ Ke ‘Ala Aumoe Dancers

Monday, March 27, 7:00 – 9:00 pm (Week 10)
E Kanikapila Kakou 2017 Concert Special — “Celebrating 40 Years of GIAC with Super Stars” Jerome Koko and Daniel Ho at Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center.
Contact and more info email giac05@icloud.com