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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
 Posted - 02/22/2006 : 08:45:58 AM
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Reid,
I hear what you're saying, but if you turn on the radio in Hawai'i, you rarely hear the steel guitar. Reggae, reggae, reggae. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, the Hawaiian Style Band and others built a "local" sound without the steel guitar. Steels can still be heard and some musicians, like Na Palapalai or Martin Pahinui, don't always perform with a steel player but have one on their CDs for traditional sound. That's why Bobby Ingano, Casey Olsen, Greg Sardinha, Fred Lunt, Alan Akaka and Henry Allen can cover all the session work that's needed.
Those of us who love traditional music (hula beats, instruments, 'olelo Hawai'i) are dinosaurs because we can remember when the steel WAS Hawaiian music. We buy the traditional music with steel guitars playing, but most Hawaiians don't. Even moderately traditional groups rarely have a steel player, I think because the Hawaiian audience is weary of the schmaltzy sound of the electric steel and because there aren't many players around. At the height of the steel guitar, perhaps the late 1950s, the steel was THE star of the group, prominently displayed, playing lead licks and doing many solo instrumentals. In the Sons of Hawai'i, the steel stepped to the back row and played simple fills and chimes, which I think was a rebellion against the older style. Hawaiians around the world still love the kanikapila, but no one's ever said something's missing if there isn't a steel player.
That's my longwinded opinion about the steel guitar.
Jesse Tinsley (a mediocre steel guitar student) |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 02/22/2006 : 2:49:43 PM
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| Perhaps Peter (I hope you're feeling better now) Medieros would care to enlighten us on the evolution or devolution of steel guitar in hawaiian music? |
Karl
Frozen North |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 02/22/2006 : 3:14:40 PM
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quote:
In the Sons of Hawai'i, the steel stepped to the back row and played simple fills and chimes, which I think was a rebellion against the older style.
Boy, I'm not sure I'd agree with that. "Feets" was playing in a well-established family tradition. Check out his uncle's playing on Genoa Keawe's "Party Hulas." Gabby could play a bit like him, too.
David "Feets" Rogers is generally credited with being one of the best players of all time, period. The reason he played so sparsely was the same reason Count Basie did -- he distilled it down to the essence. He didn't need any more notes to make the point.
His style remains one of the touchstones of Hawaiian steel playing -- listen to Fred Lunt, Bobby Ingano, Owana Salazar (who can also do a mean Byrd) and Jeri Valdriz among others. He still sounds totally modern compared to the earlier guys and their modern imitators.
I also think that there has been a re-awakening of steel in the Islands lately, and I expect to hear more in the future. Sure, we ain't in the "golden days" when every hotel band had a steel -- but then, when was the last time you heard a fiddle section? (Check out old pix -- lotsa fiddles, mandolins, weird guitars, even flutes, banjos and accordions!)
Funny thing is, the popularity of slack key and of the Dancing Cat solo esthetic probably has as much to do with the recent eclipse of the steel guitar as anything else. Now little keiki are saying "I'm gonna be a Slack Key Master when I grow up." Who the heck ever heard the word "master" used in this context before Dancing Cat?  Not that it's a bad thing...
The steel will come around again, no question.
Happy Slidin'
Mark
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 02/22/2006 : 7:41:32 PM
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Mark,
I agree that Feet was a master, and played in the style of his family. But it was different from the style of David Keli'i and others associated with Hawai'i Calls, where the steel guitar was a featured instrument and was often backed by chunking chords on an electric guitar. The recordings of the Sons of Hawaii was a sea change in the way steel was blended with acoustic guitar and uke on popular Hawaiian recordings. The Sons had a carefully crafted sound that put the slack key guitar out front, thanks to Gabby.
At a jam at Pua Kai's last year, the steel player (Jeff?) tells a story of sitting in Keoki Kahumoku and playing lots of melody and fills, and later Keoki told him not the play AT ALL when he's singing, except for chimes! The influence of Feet's sparse style is still being felt today.
My grandfather used to jam with Feet because they both shipped out on Matson boats. I wish I'd have gotten to hear it.
Jesse Tinsley
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Pua Kai
Ha`aha`a
USA
1007 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2006 : 05:40:48 AM
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| Aloha Jessie - Jeff's gone missing (Watson) - can't find him.... hope he shows back up here. It was fun to have him play and it added a great dimension to our music. |
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kaiaokamalie
Aloha
USA
7 Posts |
Posted - 02/26/2006 : 5:24:34 PM
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Mike,
I tried the sites in the article and found that they work. I did however, find that one of the links did not work until I used a period rather than the comma I copied from the article. I didn't find the sites outdated. So try these now:
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2006/02/14/news/local/iq_3282083.txt
http://www.steelguitar.org/
Anyway, that was a good article.
Aloha till later,
Collins Freitas
quote:
Originally posted by Mika ele
Hello Mike,
I would be very happy to contact this person as we are quite interested in Hawaiian Steel Guitars. However, the link to the article no longer works. Can you send me his name, phone number or other contact information?
Thank you very much,
Carolyn Grant
Executive Director
Museum of Making Music
-------
I sent her the information and link to Jimmy's web site.
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