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Bd1
Lokahi
USA
114 Posts |
 Posted - 06/26/2006 : 2:18:51 PM
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Slack key guitar offers different strums for different chums
By Kekoa Catherine Enomoto, Staff Writer
Ki ho'alu parallels other iconic Hawaiian cultural activities of hula, surfing and ukulele playing - it fits all sizes, and it's easy and pleasurable to learn, to perform and to watch.
Guitar gazers at today's 15th annual Ki Ho'alu Festival at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center can savor soothing sounds by a galaxy of slack key stars. Attendees also can recline on a cool, shady patch 'neath a palm tree. Sniff fragrant lei mixing with barbecue aromas. Relish edibles ranging from savory plate lunches to Upcountry lavender lemonade and scones.
And, admission is free for the festivities unfolding from 2 p.m. till dusk. Come early and bring a beach mat.
Slack key guitar has become a worldwide phenomenon because the technique is flexible, the guitar is universal, and there is a multigenerational tradition aspect, a University of Hawaii ethnomusicology lecturer says.
Jay Junker with the UH ethnomusicology program says, "Slack key and ukulele both always can be played by yourself, with a friend or in a big group; in a room, on a porch or on a stage.
"It's an instrument that really lends itself well to every level of skill and every different context," he says.
Sometimes, ki ho'alu not only is flexible, but also demands flexibility of its devotees.
"I have the hardest time with Aunty Genoa Keawe and Richard Ho'opi'i, because each one modulates three or four times" during a song, says George Kahumoku Jr. of Kahakuloa, the Grammy-winning artist who hosts weekly Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar shows at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua.
For example, one or the other will sing in successive keys of F, A, C and G; then "go back to F and A again."
Molokai songbird "Raiatea (Helm), she modulates too. Modulating is a good thing to give a song color, a little bit of dynamics and color."
While quickly changing keys, Kahumoku is "trying to emphasize someone's voice or their artistry," whether falsetto or other style? to "use slack key to enhance the singer or singing," he says.
George's son, Keoki Kahumoku, reflects on the universal guitar aspect of ki ho'alu, noting that country western greats Chet Atkins and Merle Travis, jazz guitarist George Benson and the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards have played slack key style. Of Richards, Keoki says, "Some of his most famous licks come out of slack key tuning in rock style."
Keoki says he himself has strummed for far-flung audiences from Tahiti to the nation's capital to the 6,800-seat amphitheater at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia.
But "you cannot beat Hawaii. The best place for beat is downtown Hilo and my back porch," says the 1988 Maui High School graduate.
A Big Isle pig trapper by day, Kahumoku said his porch overlooks a big gulch, whose natural acoustics carry his pluckings on the breeze.
When he plays ki ho'alu there, firefighters with the Hilo Fire Department applaud on the other side of the gulch.
"I'd rather play for locals, that's what I enjoy," says the two-time Grammy winner.
Dad George and son Keoki epitomize the multigenerational tradition of ki ho'alu. UH's Junker says venues like the Maui Ki Ho'alu Festival draw entire families to come and perform.
"A whole range of ages is on the same stage, and they hang out together backstage," he says. "That's the lifeblood of any traditions, is for people of all ages to get together.
"Without that you don't have traditions. You might have great art but you don't have traditions, because you have to build from generations getting together."
Kevin Brown, 54, of Waiehu recalled learning ki ho'alu during morning and lunch recesses from his freshman to senior years at Baldwin High School.
As a 9th-grader, he had skipped math class and stumbled upon a guitar class 'neath a tree on campus. Subsequently, Hawaiian studies, U.S. history and guitar teacher Henry Meyer of Wailuku Heights taught Brown slowly, deliberately to be assured of the youth's commitment.
The lessons stuck, and Brown returned to teach ki ho'alu at Baldwin for 15 years, until 2002. "Every time I pass the courtyard, I glance at the tree," he acknowledges. "The table is not there, but the chairs are. That was where my beginning was.
"I tell my wife: 'Just think, if I didn't cut my class, I don't think I would be playing Hawaiian music or even slack key.'
"So there is a time and place for everything that happens," he sighs.
Passing on the multigenerational torch, Brown taught ki ho'alu to his son, Ikaika, at age 9. Now 24-year-old Ikaika and he form the Brown 'Ohana, plus Kevin leads the group Ola Hou.
The Brown 'Ohana and the Maui Ki Ho'alu Festival pluck the heartstrings of Mike Ka'awa, a 12-string guitar virtuoso known as "Hawaiian Boy."
"I love (the festival), I wouldn't miss it. I think I've done every one. It's great to see new talent ? come out of Maui, because we let them come out and share new mana'o (ideas).
"It's good to see old friends, that makes it extra nice too," he adds of reuniting with Valley Isle slack key colleagues like Jarret Roback, Mitch Kepa, Wilson Kanaka'ole and the Brown 'Ohana.
"They got plenty talent up there, you know," he affirms.
Aiming for pleasurable listening, Ka'awa - who will release his third solo CD next month - reveals he uses standard 440 guitar tuning versus slack key tuning "to give them a better background to accompany" other performers.
"I can just play it on my 12-string and give them the same sound as slack key," he says, "just to give them a better background sound."
Ka'awa says the variation provides depth, like "extra salad" on a plate lunch - another layer of onolicious sound.
In terms of pleasurable playing, Junker suggests slack key strumming can be a sensuous experience.
"You're laying the instrument right against your body. When you hit the bass notes it's a lot like an internal massage. It's another pleasurable aspect of the instrument.
"So the rewards manifest both musically and physically - especially with an acoustical guitar," he says.
Reveling in ki ho'alu as a global phenomenon, George Kahumoku says he receives up to 500 e-mail performance invitations daily from around the world since the Feb. 8 Grammy victory of the "Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Vol. I" compilation CD by himself, son Keoki and other artists.
Keoki saluted the late Gabby Pahinui for his role in helping establish ki ho'alu as an iconic Hawaiian cultural activity.
"One of the first guys to record was Gabby. He made the sound of slack key really catchy.
"It's different, not like any other kind of music. It takes you to a whole different place. It's melodic ? it's really Hawaiian. I don't know how to explain.
"When you listen to slack key, you think of Hawaii."
Aloha all, I saw this in " Heard in the Taropatch" and thought it was worth repeating......Mahalo,BD1
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BD1 |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2006 : 3:08:42 PM
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Wot? Kevin is only 54???!!! And Slack Key is "easy"!!???
Kevin, you out there ku`u hoaloha? So, young still? Back from Moloka`i and playing the Fest with the kids who are no longer kids. So young still? Tell me how easy it is :-)
Me ke aloha pumehana, Kevin, however young you are. Love to Joleen and Ikaika and Kaena, too.
Reid and Sarah |
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Pua Kai
Ha`aha`a
USA
1007 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2006 : 4:24:46 PM
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Thanks for posting the article. All of us who were at George's workshop were on stage as back drop for our kumus George, Keoki, and Bob Brozman; and both male and female hula dancers. By the way, Keoki's son Aaron, and George's nephew Lopaka are experts at hula and are performing regularly at the Mauian with him. Also of note at the festival is that our own Gordon Burt of Denver (6'5" white guy) was asked to perform with an all-Hawaiian group (someone else fill in names!!) and is our pick for rooky of the year.
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 06/29/2006 : 4:37:24 PM
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| we should get Rik to make a new "Spammy" for Rookie of the Year! |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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