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Kapila Kane
Ha`aha`a
USA
1051 Posts |
 Posted - 05/22/2004 : 03:32:39 AM
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Is Anybody or Everybody exploring and playing any non-Island stuff with a slack touch?...
The Beatles "Blackbird" is pretty cool in taro...and it's in the same key.
But there's choke plenty songs. Why there's over a Googles Google of songs written, and I only know 14!
Anybody having fun working as Inspector Clousseau would say, "Under ze couvers".
Musically speaking, please!
Some of our Colorado area originals sound pretty good in taropatch and other tunings.
Also, who's using ii, iii, vi or ii-V7 moves in creating or arranging tunes in taro or other keys? Or at least a few minors. It's ok...Ozzie uses 'em.
Anything else, from Grateful Dead, to Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, John Denver, Michael Murphy, CSN (&Y?), or Green Day?!
Like to know what's goin' on out there.
AND, How many of us are singing with our playing?
I finally got into it!
Geez, 25 years of college down the drain! And 8 of High School. Actually, 25 years of "I'm not a singer" ...(shoots).
Be careful what you tell yourself.
What's your favorite "covers" or ways to get the soul moving through the fingers?
Check, check, is this thing on?
!
Gordo
P.S. Someday, I wanna pick a really BIG topic!
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cpatch
Ahonui
USA
2187 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2004 : 04:44:47 AM
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quote:
P.S. Someday, I wanna pick a really BIG topic!
I'm tempted to make a joke about my nose but I won't.
John Keawe and Doug McMaster have both recorded slack key versions of Puff the Magic Dragon and John has also recorded an absolutely gorgeous slack key arrangement of Bread's If. Dennis Kamakahi does wonders with Around the World in 80 Days and Yuki Alani Yamauchi has a nice version of Hey Jude if you can find it (it's on his Slack Key Party CD).
There are more slack key covers of Christmas songs than anything else. (Don't miss Patrick Landeza's killer version of The Chipmunk Song!) |
Craig
My goal is to be able to play as well as people think I can. |
Edited by - cpatch on 05/22/2004 04:56:29 AM |
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wdf
Ha`aha`a
USA
1153 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2004 : 11:55:34 AM
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One of our ohana, Bill Benzel, does a wonderful version of Vincent but not necessarily in slack key style. Doug also does a nice version of Amazing Grace (but gets mad if you sing along ). I do some Christmas tunes in taropatch. I also do one of Doug's tunes, Ki Ho'alu Hanalei. It's a nice bouncy tune in taropatch but not a traditonal slack tune. He won't let me record it though  . |
Dusty |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2004 : 12:12:15 PM
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The ki ho`alu kupuna covered their share of pop and folk. Uncle Ray ("East side, west side, all around the town" or something like that). Ledward does "Mocking Bird Hill" in drop C tuned up to F, probably a Tacoma Papoose - chicken skin for me. Leonard Kwan covered "Grandfather's Clock" and "Yellow Bird." His "Clock" totally rocks and inspired me to do an arrangement.
Fran
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E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi
Slack Key Guitar in California - www.kaleponi.com
Slack Key on YouTube
Homebrewed Music Blog |
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2004 : 3:23:29 PM
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I love Hawaiian Music, but I always wonder why more people don't use the tools we have at our (slack key) disposal and apply them to other songs they like. George K., Ozzie K, and Steve S. have been very supportive and helpful to me in doing this.
I do a lot of "non-Island" material from a slack key styling perspective -- wide Latin repetoire inculding rancheria, ballads, especially boleros, rhumbas, some samba, bossa -- the alternating bass works very well here, just need to use a different pattern. I play 2x a month at a Salvadorean restaurant --
I also do a fair number of American Standards -- I've worked up a few of Eva Cassidy's stylings successfully. Over the Rainbow works really well. There's so much great stuff out there. Why not try to medley it with Hawaiian stuff -- think of the great job Owana did on Hi'ilawe, just to name one.
My latest project is working up a CD of Polish/Pol-Am folk music done in slack key stylings. I grew up in a Pol-Am neighborhood, and that stuff really has lots of emotional connection for me. Material is coming out quite good -- I hope to get a limited run out by end of summer, talking with two Polish groups to furnish it to them as a fundraiser.
As to chords: It really bothers me when people talk about "slack key or not slack key chords." Chords are just groupings of notes played together, and the "names and formulas" are just shorthand. It's like someone who only eats steak and potatoes, and goes to KFC for "variety." Miss a whole lot of wonderful tastes. Try different stuff -- see if you like it or not. Play different musical combinations and trust your own taste - if it sounds good to you, keep it in your bag of techniques for when its appropriate. If you don't like it, don't use it --- but remember, tastes may change over time, so something you don't like now may be quite interesting a few years from now, and vice-versa.
OK, down off the soap box.
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2004 : 6:17:39 PM
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Is Anybody or Everybody exploring and playing any non-Island stuff with a slack touch?...
Not to put too fine a point on it, but that's what my last CD is all about. There's a review somewhere on this site, or check out my website: http://www.Mark-o.com
Slack key is a wonderful way to play the guitar -- and it's kind of silly not to play what you know. I didn't grow up playing Hawaiian music, I grew up playing music.... from all over the place. So I play everything from Irish tunes to Ellington to an old Californio song on the CD... using slack key stylings and tunings.
Is it slack key? Sorry, I really don't know... or care, frankly. What's more, I make every effort not to pass myself off as a "slack key player" when I'm booking gigs. It would be unfair -- and uncool -- to pretend otherwise. I play slack key... and a whole lot of other stuff.
Listen to any young Hawaiian band and you'll hear 50's doo wop, cheezy country hearts songs, Reggae... and lovely old Hawaiian songs, sung in harmonies to melt your heart.
And yeah, most of the slack key hotdogs had some "outside" stuff in their bag. Heck, go back far enuf and ALL slack key is non-Island stuff. It's fusion, folks!
Cheers,
Mark |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2004 : 11:39:54 AM
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Back when my fingers still allowed me to play (7 months :-(, I heard some French troubador lute music (about 15th-16th century) on the radio. I said, "I can do that!" So, I picked up my guitar in Taro Patch and played along with the radio - in unison, and then made up my own versions using the stuff I learned playing Slack Key. The music was really quite simple and consisted of,usually, scale climbs and a few common interval jumps and a few uncommon ones, too. The major difference was the rythm.
...Reid |
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cpatch
Ahonui
USA
2187 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2004 : 12:00:54 PM
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| Gordo, was your original question specific to slack key arrangements of contemporary/pop music or slack key arrangements of any non-island music? |
Craig
My goal is to be able to play as well as people think I can. |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2004 : 4:03:36 PM
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I just saw the Next Generation concert last night with Keoki Kahumoku playing many different styles with his old Martin in taropatch tuning. It included jazz, latin and rock (a funny song he wrote about his hunting dogs). He was able to find every chord he needed in TP tuning. He might be my new favorite slack key player! He is as boisterous when singing as his father is quiet and nahenahe. He was singing "Papalina Lahilahi" with a local hula halau, but got was so animated I though he was going to fall off his chair!
Jesse Tinsley
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2004 : 6:41:03 PM
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Mark
Excellent album
Hope it sells well |
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cpatch
Ahonui
USA
2187 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2004 : 8:12:15 PM
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In case you didn't see my other post, Mark's CD is available for download from Apple's iTunes Music Store ($9.99 for the CD).
As a matter of interest, what do you call a collection of songs that exists solely in digital format? And why do we still call a collection of songs that exists only on CD an album? (A term which goes back to the days when each song came on its own 78 and the collection literally came as an album of 78s...as was pointed out in another discussion.) |
Craig
My goal is to be able to play as well as people think I can. |
Edited by - cpatch on 05/23/2004 8:22:10 PM |
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Kapila Kane
Ha`aha`a
USA
1051 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2004 : 02:20:27 AM
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Well, I'll probably call any recording project an album till I'm 104...
Even after our grandkids say, "gramps, what's a cd?"
Anyway I still buy cd's...
and when I make my next project, I plan on a few 8-track tapes for our friends in Nebraska.
Anyway, cpatch and all--this is a broad topic, and covers All Across our musical Universe...hey there's one to try!
Now, who's singing too...
And writing...
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2004 : 9:16:31 PM
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Why is it called an album?
The student government officials at a small private grad school (situated on a beautifully landscaped grounds which included its own lake and forest) once went to the priest who was in charge of the place and asked him if they could get a pop machine for the student lodge, with the student gov't maintaiing it and donating the proceeds to the library. The olds guy looked across his desk and responded, quite seriously, "Why do you need a coke machine when you have all these trees?" End of discussion. (That really actually happened -- and the old guy was definitely NOT a Zen master.) |
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Kapila Kane
Ha`aha`a
USA
1051 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2004 : 02:19:01 AM
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wow, well,
Being in nature and quiet tends to make you more zen-like--no matter what belief system...
It's not incongruous with most spiritual beliefs--except maybe Da World.
What was the topic?
Be sure to check out the
Spiritpatch.net
I hope I'm jokin'. |
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Bill Campbell
Akahai
USA
90 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2004 : 7:19:06 PM
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Interesting topic. Here is a short list of songs that have appeared on slack key albums, by slack key artists, but which are not actually slack key songs but, rather, covers of standards.
Songs that Slack Key Artists Have Recorded That Aren't Hawaiian
LED KA'APANA
Yesterday, Spanish Eyes, Honeysuckle Rose, Mockingbird Hill, Move It On Over, Steel Guitar Rag
JOHN KEAWE
Puff The Magic Dragon, If, Red Sails In The Sunset, Vaya Con Dios
GABBY PAHINUI & ATTA ISAACS
Vaya Con Dios
NEDWARD KAAPANA
Lover, Lady Of Spain
SONNY CHILLINGWORTH
Endlessly
DENNIS KAMAKAHI
Around The World In 80 Days
JAMES 'BLA' PAHINUI
If I Give My Heart To You, Two Silhouettes On The Shade, Goodnight My Love, Can't Help Falling In Love With You
PATRICK LANDEZA
I'll Be Home For Christmas (vocal even, jazzy), The Chipmunk Song
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
And - On my own CD, 'Kauai On My Mind' (available for purchase at CD Baby and Amazon.com, among other places) are these covers, all played in Open G, Taro Patch Tuning
Green Eyes, Wheels, and September Song (actually done in Open E, Taro Patch dropped another 2 frets).
I've performed all of them on the mainland and on Kauai, and no one has ever said anything but nice things about them.
So, yes, it has been done. |
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Bwop
Lokahi
USA
244 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2004 : 9:43:25 PM
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Aloha kakou!
"Well, I'm not sure what slack key is, but I know it when I hear it..." seems about the best response I can offer. As a band can become renown for a style, and then have the covers they do become "their own", so can any ki ho'alu master be lord of their domain. Whatever they touch turns to aloha.
When George Kahumoku plays "Under The Boardwalk", it's not a simple rendering-- but one Hawai'ian's singing about living in Santa Cruz. Let's not confuse the art with the form. Whatevah the masters touch (you forgot Dennis' "The Parting Glass") becomes part of the tradition, and all are benefitted from it.
There are traditional musical relationships-- the Mexican (Paniolo)/Hawai'ian, Portugese/Hawai'ian, Japanese/Hawai'ian, Chinese/Hawai'ian, Native American/Hawai'ian (:Yes-- just ask Dennis) that provide a rich ancestry to draw from. But there is also the brave new frontier of musical ambassadorship that challanges us to "talk" to every culture we come into contact with to begin a world dialog beyond the realm of politicians (excuse me if I'm starting to sound like Dr. Bonner of soap fame).
George hosted a "guitar summit" with Celtic and Appalacian players, Led can play with anybody, anytime (like Bob Brozman, and, well, all the masters), and it's hard to define the art of ki ho'alu by content alone. You are what you play. If you're one Hawai'ian (for example), and you play with aloha from your heart in slack tuning-- I'd say that's "slack key". At the same time that the purity of the lineage of material must be honored, I feel whatevah expression the muse finds must be given some light.
I have such an odd connection, and I slowly try to reconcile my past with my future (thirty years a Dead Head, and now a Led Head). Ki ho'alu has taken over my heart, and still I play "Cold Rain and Snow", "He Was A Friend Of Mine", "Morning Dew", "Cosmic Charlie", "Bid You Goodnight", "Uncle John's Band", "Sugar Magnolia", "Brokedown Palace", "Truckin' (Holoholo)", "Bird Song", "Sing Me Back Hiome", "He's Gone", "Stella Blue", "Box Of Rain", "Peggy-O", "Scarlet Begonias", "The Wheel", "Iko Iko", "Dear Prudence", "Standing On The Moon" and "Ripple", to name a few; a mess of Dylan songs ("Simple Twist of Fate" is weird!), some reggae and calypso (a bunch of my son's songs), oddities from Los Lobos, Ry Cooder, David Bromberg, Harry Belafonte, and some completely off the deep-end 1950's children's music. Well, it's who I am. So I play it.
Mixing and blending, I'm sharing my ancestry with what I am becoming. But someday, I will play a pure "Hi'ilawe". Then I will be there. |
Bwop |
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