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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
 Posted - 01/29/2005 : 05:23:40 AM
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Article with images found at http://music.eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2005-01-26/music/music.html
Pat vs. the Volcano
Meet perhaps the finest Hawaiian musician ever to emerge from Berkeley.
Brian Kluepfel
East Bay Express
Published: Wednesday, January 26, 2005
The public meeting room of the San Leandro Public Library doesn't immediately spring to mind when you think of Hawaiian music. Nor does the back of a Berkeley print shop -- not a swaying palm tree in sight. But Berkeley native Patrick Kahakauwila Kamaholelani Landeza is taking Hawaiian music, and slack-key guitar in particular, to places it's never been before. As the mainland's first apostle of what natives call ki ho'alu, he insists, "I was just in the right place at the right time."
First, a brief tutorial: Ki ho'alu literally means "slacking the keys," or loosening a guitar's tuning pegs until you get an open tuning and can play a full chord with no fingers on the fretboard. For instance, in open G, you play a G chord simply by hitting all six strings. Easy.
Slack-key tuning first developed in 19th-century Hawaii., where different families created specific tunings -- Keola Beamer favors F wahine (an F major 7 chord), while Cyril Pahinui plays in a C tuning just slightly different from his father Gabby's -- that persist to this day. The resulting music is often based on just a couple of chords, fingerpicked melodies, and alternating-string thumb bass notes. Lyrics are often in Hawaiian, with some other languages mixed in.
Like the blues, slack-key music can be sublime when performed by a master, but pedestrian when played by those less gifted. Landeza is quickly approaching the former category, though he has a few cultural barriers to vault first.
Landeza was born in Berkeley to a Hawaiian-Irish mother and Filipino father. His early life was filled with island tunes from groups such as Eddie Kamae and the Sons of Hawaii; he jokes that his mother -- the splendidly named Frances Kawaipulou Kuakini O'Sullivan -- would play the records "over and over ... and over again." But those tunes, and backyard barbecue slack sessions with uncles in Castro Valley, turned the preteen Patrick onto the music, and an inspiring 1986 Kaiser Auditorium show featuring Kamae and others ratcheted up that interest further.
It was hard to find teachers on "the big island of Berkeley," as Landeza calls his city of birth. But in 1990, his mom brought him a flier for a concert, just down Addison Street from the family home: Slack-key monster Raymond Kane was gigging at the Freight & Salvage the next night.
Landeza went to the show and, scared sh*tless, introduced himself to Kane (and then quickly introduced Kane to his mom). But his shy persistence paid off, and the guitarist showed him a tune backstage, soon followed by lessons back at the Kane home in Oahu. Landeza logged quite a few air miles while still a high school student, taking every break possible to study with Kane, Sonny Chillingworth, and George Kuo. He also found a local instructor in Bay Area band leader Saichi Kawahara.
As a reed in the slack-key forest, Patrick was walking among giants.
"To me as a Hawaiian, it's always pleased me to see Patrick approach the art in the traditional manner, by seeking out his kupuna [elders]," says Paul Kealoha Blake of the East Bay Media Center, who started filming Landeza's early performances at LaVal's Northside Pizzeria on Euclid Avenue, and has seen him mature into the artist he is today: a headliner at the Great American Music Hall.
Indeed, 32-year-old Landeza is kicking maximum musical ass. Having left behind a career as a vice principal in the public schools of West Oakland, he has played slack-key festivals and toured the United States with some of the living legends of the genre. He also is promoting tours featuring himself, David Kamakahi, Herb Ohta Jr., and Keoki Kahumoku as "Hawaiian Music's Next Generation."
It's all a bit much, and not quite a lucrative concern just yet. His wife Jennifer holds down a corporate job, the couple's second child is on the way, and Patrick's recent two-week Christmas tour barely broke even.
More alarmingly, Landeza says he gets the "stink eye" from jealous musicians of the older slack-key generation who don't quite accept the mainland boy's style or pedigree. Mele.com, a popular Web site listing worldwide Hawaiian musical events, refuses to even list his name when mentioning concerts he has promoted, using the words "local talent" instead, as Landeza has apparently committed the dire offense of being born in Kaliponi (California).
He bristles at the brush-off. "You don't have to carry my CDs, but if you don't list me on a bill because I'm not from Hawaii, then I consider that racism," Landeza says. "I'm a Hawaiian artist, and I consider that a slap in the face."
Mele.com Webmaster Aunty Maria simply points to the site's policy. "The concert calendar features 'Your favorite Hawaii-based musicians ... only tours and onetime performances by recording musicians who live in Hawaii,'" she explains. "He doesn't live in Hawaii ... does he?"
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In any case, this "local talent" is not about to be held back. "As a promoter, he's a visionary," tourmate Ohta says. "He really understands the mainland market."
For starters, Landeza took his latest musical venture, the two-day intensive Hawaiian Music Institute, to Southern California and Seattle this month; by mid-year he hopes for similar weekends in the Midwest and on the East Coast, dosing the country with guitar and ukulele lessons, not to mention a taste of his mean cooking skills.
The ex-seminary-student-turned-slack-key-apostle ain't turnin' back, brah. And now he is amassing disciples, holding court at ColorTone, a Berkeley print shop. (His sometime bassist Bobby Santos runs the place, and gives the Hawaiian Music Institute a break.)
"Patrick told us it's all about playing from the heart and doing your best to learn the tradition," says Maureen Karpan of San Jose, who journeys to ColorTone each week with husband Lance Choy to study ki ho'alu. Karpan has experienced a similar insider/outsider conflict as a lover and player of Cajun music (in bands like Courtableu and Creole Belles) but living in California. "It's not true that you can't play [regional] music if you're not from there," she insists. In Cajun, as in slack-key, she agrees you have to do your homework to gain respect, but is confident Landeza has done that.
Andy Wang, a New Jersey-based guitarist who runs Taropatch.net, an online community for more eight hundred fans and players in more than a dozen countries, also gives Landeza his props. "Frankly, this question [of lineage] does not even apply to Patrick," he says. "While he was not born in Hawaii, he is part Hawaiian [blood line] and has studied with Hawaiian slack-key masters. Patrick has the earned the respect of musicians like Dennis Kamakahi, Cyril Pahinui, and Ledward Kaapana. I think that says it all."
"Because I'm from Berkeley never made me any less Hawaiian," Landeza insists. He notes that his lineage on his mom's side predates King Kamehameha I (the 18th- and 19th-century ruler who united the islands into a single kingdom) and is indeed a "chiefly line." Regarding any need to justify himself, he quotes his great-grandmother: "The names need not be explained. People who do not know the meaning of my name have no need to know, and those who do know will need no explanation."
Landeza's fans feel the same way, as evidenced by his "Hawaiian Christmas" concert at the San Leandro Public Library last month, which covered instrumental versions of "White Christmas," self-penned tunes like "Hula Girl Christmas," and a romp through the classic roadhouse-style country boogie "It's Crying Time Again." Landeza joked about putting up chicken wire for that song, and his ease and command of the stage -- not always apparent in his early career -- are obvious. As always, whenever she is in the audience, his mother Frances danced a hula, accompanied by Patrick on guitar.
It's not only his predecessors he honors -- one of Landeza's students, 58-year-old reformed rock 'n' roller Fran Guidry, opened recent shows in both San Leandro and Berkeley. Landeza says he eventually aims for his students to surpass even what he does.
For now, though, he is recording his third self-produced album, featuring local artists like dobro queen Sally Van Meter in addition to Hawaiian mentors like Dennis Kamakahi. Like his past efforts, 1998's Pu'unae and 2001's Christmas to Me, this new disc will nod to slack-key's past, present, and future. Pu'unae, in fact, is a Hawaiian word meaning "to share," and Landeza aims to spread this new music farther and wider.
As for certain naysayers, "I think after this next CD, they are gonna accept me or not," he concludes. Regardless, "the Hawaiian community is going to accept me."
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Andy |
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wdf
Ha`aha`a
USA
1153 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2005 : 6:36:40 PM
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| Thanks, Andy for the article. Thank you , Patrick for your devotion and contribution to Ki ho`alu and for your friendship and... I'm getting misty... |
Dusty |
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`Ilio Nui
`Olu`olu
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 07:05:04 AM
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Does Dusty plus Misty make Muddy.
If a person comes from the Islands of Berkeley, San Jose or even Sacramento and moves to the ISLANDS and records an album, is that concidered a "local" artist?
I second what Dusty says and thanks for the article. Patrick gave me the honor of opening for him at Henflings for the "Hawaiian Christmas" concert series. I also am blessed to be able to take workshops from him on a weekly basis. He's a great teacher and a good friend. Thanks Patrick.
Mahalo,
Dave |
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Auntie Maria
Ha`aha`a
USA
1918 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 08:40:05 AM
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Hmmm...seems like there is some confusion about the MELE.COM concert calendar listings.
First, let me tell you that I've known Patrick for over 10 years. In fact, he was chosen to be one of the opening acts for Israel Kamakawiwo`ole's final mainland concert, at my urging.
As Patrick is well aware, I created the MELE.COM calendar while I was living on the mainland -- because we all were often frustrated to find out (after the event) that musicians had come alllll the way up from Hawai`i to perform, yet there had been little or no advertising. Argh! The internet was in its infancy, and musicians had no websites offering their tour information -- thus the concert calendar page was born...promoting those Hawai`i-based musicians.
For a time, mainland-based musicians who played Hawaiian music were included -- but as word of their inclusion spread, more and more of them were sending me their gigs. I had no idea there were so many musicians playing Hawaiian music on the mainland! I soon realized that the time spent inputting this data to the calendar, had become much more than I could spare away from the other aspects of MELE.COM...so the calendar went back to its original purpose, promoting the Hawai`i-based musicians.
There is another calendar online, and they gladly post any type of island-themed event:
http://alohaworld.com/cgi-bin/suite/calendar/calendar.cgi
As for what CDs are carried at MELE.COM, they come from the various distribution companies here in the islands -- including quite a few mainland musicians. Anyone who wants the list of island music distributors, can email me anytime.
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Auntie Maria
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My "Aloha Kaua`i" radio show streams FREE online every Thu & Fri 7-9am (HST)
www.kkcr.org - Kaua`i Community Radio
"Like" Aloha Kauai on Facebook, for playlists and news/info about island music and musicians!
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 08:43:56 AM
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| Hawaiian musicians certainly need all the support they can get. It's really a shame that a narrowly parochial view determines which Hawaiian musicians get support by where they park their a-- at night. Angry comment? Yes. |
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Ianui
Lokahi
USA
298 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 09:23:38 AM
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"I soon realized that the time spent inputting this data to the calendar, had become much more than I could spare away from the other aspects of MELE.COM...so the calendar went back to its original purpose, promoting the Hawai`i-based musicians."
First, I believe anyone that owns a web site can set their own rules and policies as to its content.
But what I don't understand Aunty is why Patricks name would be delibertly omitted from a lising of mainland performances that were posted on someone elses site. Namely this one on 12/16. You listed Dennis,Herb,David,Keoki and Uncle Cyril names. Patrick, who was not only performing with the group, was very prominate in the billing of this group, plus played an instrumnental part in putting this group together and booking the shows was not.
Choosing to not sell Patricks CD's is a personal business decision and one an owner has every right to make. Again what someone does with there own business is certainly their perogative.
However, I do not understand why one of the principals performers in a group appearing in concert would be omitted when listing everyone else that was, on someone elses site. Just not enough time to list the him huh?
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Edited by - Ianui on 01/30/2005 10:05:43 AM |
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KenL
Aloha
USA
7 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 10:50:32 AM
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Aloha everybody. I've been reading this forum for some time and now I think I want to contribute. I'm old school in that I was raised on backyard slack known as changalang style. Back then slack key was only heard at parties, small taverns and Juke boxes. Big players were Gabby, Atta,Sonny,Raymond and Leonard. Everybody else was was tutu, uncle, auntie, etc.
Here we are now the 21st. century and we have all styles from all over the world, fantastic. The emergence of this style of music is testament to its broad appeal. And it proves that you don't have to be kanaka maoli to enjoy or perform it.
That being said, there is a snobbishness in Hawaiian music that has existed for as long as I can remember. Sometimes if an artist is not born or resides in Hawaii He/she is not looked upon as legitimate. A good example are all the mainland hula halau who are only now gaining
a measure of respect, although begrudingly.
Partick is a very accomplished player whose style is different than what I was raised in but I enjoy him a lot. It's embarrasing for me to hear that he must even mention his lineage just to ease people's concerns over his "ligitmacy". Most Hawaiians don't give give a guava.
Just listen and enjoy. Patrick's time is here and he's arrived. He has the support of this mainland Hawaiian. |
Manapua no ka oi |
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Mainkaukau
Lokahi
USA
245 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 12:32:17 PM
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Discrimination among Hawaii's entertainters has always existed. I have known fantastic entertainers/musicians who for a variety of reasons have remained out of the Hawaiian/music mainstream. The formally trained musician vs the self-taught back-yard jammer. The many generation entertainer verses the first generation entertainer. The entertainer of "Nui" Social Economic Status verses the entertainer living from paycheck to paycheck. The local musician verses the haole musician. These are some factors that exists when it comes to commercial success in the islands but the bottom line to me seems to depend upon the music institutions (nightclubs, bars, events promoters, record companys,e commerce people, etc.) who controls it and their purpose (usually to make some "kala") of existance. Business is business I guess. As a entertainer/musician, I do understand the situation and sympathize. I have not met Patrick. I do know of him and his music. In my opinion, "Da brahda can jam" and deserves all the recognition and respect for his dedication to the art of Slack Key guitar. Plus, he probibly had to practice his ass-off to become so proficient. Aloha all, have a "very coool day". |
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Judy808
Aloha
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 1:10:17 PM
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Regardless of whether some internet retailer decides to publicize his gigs or whether "jealous" older musicians are critical, Patrick would do well to focus on the POSITIVES. An article loaded with endorsements and accolades from those masters who DO appreciate his work would have been better reading and much more impressive than the 2-page whine that was published.
Jesus, Gandhi and Gabby all had detractors. They didn't waste their time seeking out venues for "exposing" their critics as mean, jealous or petty. ('Cause guess who ends up looking mean, jealous and petty.)
Life's not fair. Get over it and "Jus' Press." |
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 3:22:21 PM
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I think Patrick might want to respond to that -- but having had interviews come out very differently in publication than what I was saying to the reporter*** - suffice it to say that I'm not sure Patrick is guilty of whining -- I haven't been around him all that much, but when I was around him, he was a pretty positive guy.
Another great example, and one of how staying at the music and staying positive can enhance your life is Ozzie, no?
(***I was once interviewed for local TV regarding a case I was working on -- ended in the eviction of a 76 year old mentally ill lady. In the interview I said that in this case the County workers bent over backward to help this lady and avoid the mess -- they edited my words so much that they made it sound like I was accusing the County of being the reason the lady was evicted -- and after I got in touch with station management, they were not willing to "set the record straight." ) |
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islandboo
Lokahi
USA
237 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 3:26:46 PM
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Umm... Patrick didn't write this article, so I don't know that it is fair to say that the "2-page whine" is his, necessarily. Also, I think we all know that the world is not fair, and that there are lots of folks out there who don't think very highly of other folks, for whatsoever reasons they may have. However, one of the joys of this forum is the way that the participants tend to focus on the ideals of aloha and their appreciation of the positive aspects of Hawaiian music and culture. I think that the article looked at the challenges facing mainland-based artists, among other things, perhaps as an effort to make us appreciative of the road they take. I adore Patrick and his music (and the fact that he remembers those of us languishing in the Midwest  ). Likewise, I am very grateful to Aunty Maria for her efforts on behalf of Hawaiian music and her contributions to this website. I think that this particular article has the potential to arouse passions and be divisive, and I very much hope that the participants of this DG will remember that we are 'ohana.
Me ke aloha pumehana,
Debbie |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 4:39:42 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by islandboo
I think that the article looked at the challenges facing mainland-based artists, among other things, perhaps as an effort to make us appreciative of the road they take. I adore Patrick and his music (and the fact that he remembers those of us languishing in the Midwest ). Likewise, I am very grateful to Aunty Maria for her efforts on behalf of Hawaiian music and her contributions to this website. I think that this particular article has the potential to arouse passions and be divisive, and I very much hope that the participants of this DG will remember that we are 'ohana.
Me ke aloha pumehana,
Debbie
Amen to that. Mahalo Debbie, who has more enthusiasm and aloha than anyone I know, for reminding us all of the bottom line. Wish I had said that. |
Andy |
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Julie H
Ha`aha`a
USA
1206 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 9:54:36 PM
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I know both Auntie Maria and Patrick. I love them both. I support what each is doing. Auntie Maria long ago explained to me that her objective was to publicize Hawaiian artists and their performances, and I accepted that. I must say it is odd to find Patrick's name omitted from a listing that has several other artists, when I know for certain that they are all appearing together.
But ultimately, it is Auntie Maria's decision to put on her website what she wants and what she has time for. For the listing of our Beamer/Keawe/Yeaton show at Roaring Camp in Felton she added an extra link to the ticketseller's website. Thank you, Maria! The concert was a fantastic succes.
And I have also been misquoted by the press and been made to look like an idiot, so I never pay much attention to printed matter. 
Let us not be divided by an issue that is beyond our control.
Me ke aloha, Julie |
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hwnslacker
Lokahi
USA
295 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2005 : 10:12:11 PM
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Aloha All!
Mahalo for all your support and it was nice to hear Judy's two cents. Yes indeed Raymond, some things were taken out of context...I wish for only PEACE because we need no battles within our Taropatch or Hawaiian community for that matter.
I have now seen what this article has done threefold and would like to end this discussion as it stands..NOW
I offer nothing but Aloha to Aunty Maria for the things she has done for Hawaiian Music..
Mahalo!
Patrick Landeza |
Edited by - hwnslacker on 01/30/2005 10:14:39 PM |
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 3:18:15 PM
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This posting is not about Patrick.
I get the impression that people didn't like me to critice Auntie Maria's policy. It strikes me as somewhat problematic that a difference of opinion can't be aired in public. Families that avoid all semblance of conflict end up with what family therapists call "pseudo-communications."
AM has and continues to run a reputable business, and she has and continues to have made a significant contribution to the life of Hawaiian music. And yes it's her business and she can do with it what she pleases. And yes, she is a "nice" person - (I used to shop her store when it was "local.") But, I don't think that means I can't say that I it bothers me that she limits "Hawaiian" to living in the Islands. (And I don't expect my saying it to change anything.)I don't think I did anything wrong in voicing my criticism, but, as always, I'm open to hearing arguments otherwise. |
Edited by - RJS on 01/31/2005 3:20:37 PM |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2005 : 3:34:12 PM
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I would abide by Patrick's appeal to end this thread but I have to add that after meeting Patrick twice, I've found he exemplifies the aloha spirit as well as anyone I know. We're all the richer for his missionary work on behalf of Hawaiian music.
Jesse Tinsley
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