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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
 Posted - 05/09/2005 : 8:48:36 PM
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Keola Beamer and Carlos Nakai performed in Spokane, Washington Monday night at the Met, a nicely restored vintage theater. It was a great show.
We're still not sure why they decided to stop in Spokane (perhaps the local promoter convinced them), but they did and it was an interesting mix.
I think the fans of Keola Beamer outnumbered those who were there to see R. Carlos Nakai, but each audience showed their appreciation for the less familiar artist. Think of it as the aloha-shirt-to-braids ratio.
Keola and Moana Beamer came out and performed for about 30-45 minutes, doing some familiar tunes like "Beauty of Mauna Kea" and "Ulili E". Keola did a couple of instrumentals in the set, too. Then Keola Beamer introduced Carlos Nakai, who came out and began playing unaccompanied Native American flute. It's a mournful sound to my ears, and he later talked about the legends surrounding the instrument and the revival of the art form mainly because of him. He had a brief case full of various flutes, rattles and whistles. He demonstrated bird sounds using a simple tube whistle and told some jokes. He made fun of people trying to become Indians buy paying too much for a flute. Although the music was interesting, it is so spare that it wasn't always easy to follow. But his set was over before you realized it. His beautiful tone and mastery of the instrument were immediately evident, especially the way he could create unique sounds and bend notes on his flute.
After intermission, Keola, Moana (on percussion)and Carlos Nakai took the stage and went through several songs that would probably be immediately labeled as "new age" because it was, for the most part, meditative. But the powerful percussion by Moana gave it more urgency than most of that genre. And the interplay of Keola's Hawaiian language singing and Carlos' chanting gave it an otherworldly quality. During most of these songs, Nakai would play fills and recurring themes on wood and (what appeared to be) glass flutes. His work at these sections tended to sound more like conventional melodies, following the scales of the chords in which Keola was playing, which were mostly minors or chord progressions with minors in them. The interplay of the impeccably amplified guitar and the flutes was beautiful, though not recognizably Hawaiian in style.
It was my first time to hear Keola Beamer in concert, and his repertoire and style don't really compare to the standard slack key style which usually centers on traditional songs and rhythms with slack key turnarounds. His version of any song, even traditional songs, is going to have a jazzier quality, be filled with a combination of strums, tapping, harmonics and slides that make his style unique. He may play a whole song just tapping the strings or strumming once every four beats. It adds up to a very meditative style. You won't hear endless slack key turnarounds because he keeps surprising you with the unexpected.
Although not strictly a slack key concert, it was a refreshing way to tell Hawaiian and Indian stories through music at the same time. It was also a chance to see two preeminent artists of our time seamless collaborate on stage.
Below are some pictures...
Jesse Tinsley
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Edited by - hapakid on 05/09/2005 9:04:13 PM |
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Puna
Lokahi
USA
227 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2005 : 06:28:28 AM
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Wow Jessie, you write great reviews! Mahalo for sharing!
Puna |
Puna |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2005 : 06:47:18 AM
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Lucky you, Jesse - I've enjoyed the music of both Keola and Carlos for years, and am looking forward to hearing their collaborations someday. =Gregg=
(P.S. - great photos, too, but you're a pro, so I would expect nothing less!) |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2005 : 2:39:17 PM
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We were lucky to have them here in our area. Keola is a very special human being who understands, with depth, the modern and ancient world he lives in, but he's also a down to earth and funny person. He plays so effortlessly and with endless creativity in technique and arrangement. I think Moana hugged or kissed everyone who stood in line for an autograph.
Keola's not my favorite slack key artist, maybe because his music reflects a lot of modern sensibilites. But he embodies what slack key is all about. I purchased "Ki Ho'alu (Loosen the key)" and you can hear and understand where he's coming from.
If you enjoy creative new age music, you would probably enjoy their collaborative album that is coming out very soon.
I told Keola that I hope to come to one of his camps someday, so he has to keep putting them on until I'm a rich empty nester. (My kids are 3 and 6)
Jesse Tinsley |
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bbenzel
Lokahi
USA
130 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2005 : 05:14:46 AM
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Hi Jesse,
Vicki and I made a long trip up to Lancaster, CA on Friday to see them. Very similar experience to yours though I thought Nakai was the better storyteller. His tales about how to play the flute to attract a girl had us splitting our sides for a couple of minutes. We had collected a few of his CDs years ago in Arizona and I never imagined him as a performer with a keen sense of humor. His music always seemed so lonely and mournful and I imagined it recorded at 10,000 feet in the middle of nowhere.
I'm glad you wrote that long review -- I was going to try to describe the interplay between them but I've never been really good at filling whitespace with words that describe music. I thought their encore where they did a contrapuntal union the two native chant styles was awesome.
Why they played Lancaster is beyond me though it's a fairly big venue and they got a large audience.
Vicki says that if the English language is going to die in California that its death will begin in Lancaster. We got there a bit early and the auditorium was still shut. The only place to sit was behind the CD sale table and people were stopping by, buying CDs -- the table was staffed by volunteers from the venue who had been given basic information about the various CDs. When asked about them we overheard one of them point to them one at a time and say, "This one is more traditional slack key music, this one is more, ummm, contemporary, and this one has songs from several of his almums, you know, it's, ummm, a copulation."
Direct from her lips to our ears!!!!
Bill |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2005 : 07:27:53 AM
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That's pretty funny, Bill.
I thought the interplay of Hawaiian language and Native American chant was very interesting. I kept feeling the vision in my mind, which accompanies the music, snap back and forth from the shores of Hawaii to the Indians of the plains. What an experience!
I agree that Nakai was very funny. What struck me about Keola, having never seen him perform, is that he has been a Hawaiian music star for over 30 years, so what he does now is built on and in reference to that experience. Keola's music is constantly changing and evolving, and perhaps his performing has followed that pattern. So while being very funny, he doesn't want to tell all the jokes and stories he told as a Waikiki headliner in the 1970s. Perhaps that explains his somewhat staid persona on stage. Nakai on the other hand isn't the stage veteran, and he has the persona of the the grim-faced stoic and that gives him great a comedic backdrop for his stories.
The concert was very cool and a treat to see two artists of their stature.
Jesse |
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