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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
 Posted - 02/17/2005 : 06:05:49 AM
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this weekend the waihe`e players descended on the unsuspecting hana town to play at the fundraiser for the noenoe hula halau. (i'm blessed by having two groups of players - in san diego and maui - who consider me part of their `ohana. and to think that just a few years ago i was lamenting to mark nelson about the fact that i had never played slack key with anyone... but i digress.)
duke invited the group down, and we happened to be on island that weekend, and so on friday late morning i was doing my best imitation of a local trying to drive from kahului to hana in 30 minutes. i made it to tutu's only 30 minutes late, and met kevin and dan. we then headed back to one of the beautiful houses that duke manages. the three of us sat on the porch for a few hours swapping songs and stories and enjoying the magnificent view of the hills above hana with the sun coming in and out of the clouds. later, susie showed up with our friends and neighbors gary and anthea. gary plays blues guitar, and did some impressive blues ukulele playing when he thought nobody was listening.
about 7 or so we all headed over to duke's house; i was humming "the road to duke's" the whole way. i hope i'm not forgetting anyone! i remember: randy, jerry, sheldon and carol, kevin, duke, dan, hal and laura, david and popoki, and gary and anthea. we had a great meal pulled together by duke's mom (supplemented by the rest of us - kevin and dan made one ono fern salad with dried `opae and tomatos, yum!). the skies opened up that night and so we all squeezed into duke's living room. we worked a bit on what we'd play the next day, and then just did what the waihe`e guys do best. it sounded sooo good - when we doubled the verses, we'd have one person sing the first time, and then everyone the second time. we broke up about 11:30, but i heard that the jam continued over at sheldon and hal's place until the wee hours.
the next day we descended on the grounds in hamoa for the show. it was a beautiful day. the halau had set it up nicely; all the booths were run by adult members of the halau. there were eyelash leis and other cool things for sale, as well as some great food (first time i have ever tried butter mochi - i had to run an extra 10 miles to burn that stuff off, but it is sooo good...) . duke was running the canned music off his iPod.
the show started with the keiki hula. they were great, dancing very emotively, even when one girl was breaking up laughing as she had to be careful not to huli into one of the tent poles.
we then went up and played a set for about an hour. it went very well, desipite a few problems with the sound system - too many of us. all on guitars except jerry playing steel and sheldon on bass. i think we started with makee `ailana. i got to lead a song; i chose "e ho`i e ka pili". there is nothing like being backed up by the sweet harmonies of the sons of waiehu! at one point, the keiki gave us beautiful jade flower lei (but only sheldon and kevin got the honi, auwe!)
after us there was some more great music, including local boy kai and his band (i heard that kai is a great falsetto singer, but he had a chest cold and so just sang beautifully in a normal register). another singer, a human dynamo by the name of mikey, also put on a great show. kevin and sheldon related a great story about how mikey got into a small fender bender in kahului, and the reporting officer was ka`ena brown. mikey was so excited to see his friend ka`ena - who is a great singer - that he kept pulling his ukulele out and trying to get her to sing along while she was on the radio filing a report.
we got to see some adults hula when kai was playing - umm, i remember "lei nani" and "na ka pueo", but there was a third number - all pretty imprompu. for me that was the highlight of the show; as dan said, at this point we were truly in hawai`i.
part of the festivities was to celebrate the efforts of auntie josephine, who leads the halau. she is a high energy septuagenarian who dances beautifully and has poured her heart into the school. duke told me how she was one of the first students john pi`ilani watkins took on back in his day (i was thinking of john when the keiki did the hana chant, which gave me goosebumps). josephine was given a certificate of appreciation from the county by a very distinguished person whose name i should remember, and of course was showered with aloha from all present.
the wind started whipping up right when the waihe`e group took the stage in the afternoon. we did a few more numbers and then closed up with "hawai`i aloha" just when the skies opened up.
that evening we made our way as well we could to the house where hal and sheldon were staying. it was right on hana bay, but given the rain that was coming down, it felt more like it was in hana bay. after wringing out our guitars, we had a great meal (portuguese sasuage stew by laura, chili, and other good stuff) and got down to playing some more. i sat next to sheldon, and got a wonderful lesson on chord sequences for the ukulele.
upstairs were kaulele and his wife ann, who had also showed up at the show. we went upstairs and continued playing, and got to hear kaulele do a beautiful version of "ku`u home o kahulu`u".
after swimming home and a good night's sleep, we said our alohas and went our separate ways the next day.
there were a lot of photos taken; here's a start: http://homepage.mac.com/keithmarzullo/PhotoAlbum3.html.
aloha,
keith
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Edited by - marzullo on 02/17/2005 06:28:20 AM |
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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 06:24:31 AM
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| Many of us are living vicariously through Keith. |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 06:34:13 AM
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I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous.
Is it okay to be envious? Really appreciate you posting your experience in such detail. I had fun just reading it! |
Andy |
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MahinaM
Lokahi
USA
389 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 06:43:41 AM
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All I can say is wow! I'm with you, Andy. Envious? You bet! It was great reading this Keith. What an incredible experience it must've been.
M |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 07:25:51 AM
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Hey Keith,
You gonna keep telling stories like that and you'll have to buy us all plane tickets first.
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 08:10:21 AM
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Mahalo nui loa, Keith. Great description of a beautiful place, a beautiful time, and beautiful people playing, singing, and dancing to beautiful music. It brings back such clear, and pleasant, memories of Hana when we were there with Kawika and Popoki and Duke 2 years ago. And Kawika and Sarah playing slack key under a bright moon - with no other lighting. Magic place. And Duke is a great host, too.
You will carry those memories with you for a lifetime.
me ke aloha,
Reid |
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Sarah
`Olu`olu
571 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 08:21:44 AM
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Aloha e Keith,
Mahalo a nui loa for writing up your experience and sharing it with the rest of us here. Sounds like a blissful time! I'm so glad we had the good fortune ourselves to go to Hana one time thanks to Popoki and Kawika and Duke, so I can imagine in my mind's eye something of where you Waihe'e folks had such a fine time!
Aloha,
Sarah |
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duke
Lokahi
USA
163 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 08:23:41 AM
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Mahalo nui loa to the Waihe'e Kanikapila Ohana for helping make our halau fundraiser a success. What good fun we had! Thanks for the great write-up and the pix too, Keith.
Me ke aloha
Duke |
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duke
Lokahi
USA
163 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 08:25:17 AM
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P.S. Reid, Sarah, looks like four time zones are nothing here! Our posts are minutes apart. Almost as if you were here!
Duke |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 09:22:50 AM
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Duke, Ku`u Kanaka, would that were actually true. Alas, only virtually, but that is lots better than before the Net.
I have you in my mind's eye, in your ofice, with its view among na pua and listening to the soft surf break of the bay. I guess I can live with that, until it can become real for Sarah and me once again.
Stay well and happy,
...Reid |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 09:28:32 AM
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Oh yes, forgot -
Kevin played his new old archtop. How was it?
...Reid |
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 10:00:35 AM
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quote:
Kevin played his new old archtop. How was it?
sweet! nice old-time sound; it made me think of the gabby/atta album. very different from a modern guitar. pretty loud, somewhat narrow frequency range, very evocative sound,
so, kevin took it into the shop (bounty music?) and was told by his friend that it would cost a lot to refinish it. so, he went to a retail store (long's, probably) and got a three-step wood refinishing kit and did it himself. it came out beautiful. the wood looks a bit like koa, but kevin thinks that the way the color changed, it must be mahogany.
aloha,
keith
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slkho
`Olu`olu
740 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 10:07:05 AM
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Wow!!! when are you going to adopt me Keith?
-slkho |
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Bwop
Lokahi
USA
244 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 1:34:13 PM
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| eyelash lei?? I know I got one ear pahu, but wot dat kine ting??? |
Bwop |
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islandboo
Lokahi
USA
237 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 2:09:55 PM
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Oh, Keith! Thank you SO much for sharing! It is so cold and windy here, and Hawai`i seems so very far away, but reading your account I can just close my eyes and imagine it all. I had been having a very terrible day - winter has just been hanging on for so long, and I can't even remember what it was like not to have cold fingertips, and I was feeling very blue and even a bit weepy, and your post was the perfect pick-me-up. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Love to you and Susie both!
Debbie |
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duke
Lokahi
USA
163 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2005 : 2:14:45 PM
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Well, since we're nearly out of bird feathers for lei hulu, we had to resort to something! Just kidding. Eyelash lei are a crocheted lei made with a special yarn that ends up looking like lots of "eyelashes" coming out of the lei.
Some are quite elaborate and beautiful and often resemble lehua blossoms.
duke |
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