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Auntie Maria
Ha`aha`a
USA
1918 Posts |
 Posted - 05/22/2007 : 06:44:02 AM
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Okay Lynn -- I was on the phone with Judy yesterday, and we both agree that it's time for you and Lynnie to buy a place in Kailua and be a full-time island resident! 
Sorry we'll miss you this weekend. Have a safe trip home...malamapono a hui hou. |
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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kihoalukid
Lokahi
USA
289 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2007 : 07:24:22 AM
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| Wow, thats almost like being there! (well you could have included video haha), thanks Fran. |
Lee |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2007 : 09:41:03 AM
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Hey, thanks so much for chiming in, friends. Sometimes I wonder if I'm hogging all the bytes with my long rambles.
Wanda, I really appreciate your comments. As a latecomer haole guy who will probably not live long enough to learn enough to contribute to Hawaiian music, I've made it my mission to spread the word and help others discover this treasure. When I post on the Patch or play my tunes in mainland coffee shops or update my website I'm thinking that I might spark an interest and create a new fan. Also, the artists I've met have been so friendly and warm and sharing, it would be unthinkably rude not to honor them any way I can. Oh, yeah, and they're really really good, too!!!
Auntie, the pressure is definitely building on the real estate side of things. I know we'll connect again someday soon, we haven't even left and we're already planning our return.
Kid, glad you enjoyed the travelogue. I'm sure you can dig that it's even more fun to experience than read about (well, duh).
Fran |
E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi
Slack Key Guitar in California - www.kaleponi.com
Slack Key on YouTube
Homebrewed Music Blog |
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javeiro
Lokahi
USA
459 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2007 : 11:17:07 AM
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Hey, Fran, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the reports of your musical travels on Oahu and hope to visit some of those places when we go back in September. We're planning on staying a little longer than usual this time so we'll have more time to relax and see some of these people perform. I guess it'll be nice when you finally move there and don't have to leave!
Mahalo once again for sharing. |
Aloha,
John A. |
Edited by - javeiro on 05/22/2007 11:17:18 AM |
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wdf
Ha`aha`a
USA
1153 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2007 : 12:16:57 PM
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| Hey, Fran - mahalo for the great travelogue. I really enjoy it. Maybe we'll get a chance to meet at the guitar festival in Santa Rosa in August. |
Dusty |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2007 : 12:18:36 PM
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Fran - you are so right about the artists being so warm and friendly and sharing...but the good thing is that it is not just the artists, it is also the majority of folks we have met, from cab drivers and tour bus drivers, to the random folks in the park, and on and on. While there me met a lady who tripped over a tree root in Kapi`olani Park. Paul helped her get up and after we made sure she was OK, she sat for quite a while on the picnic bench with us and talked story. She told us about her brother and his friends like Gabby or Sonny Chillingworth staying up all night long playing music...what swell stories she told -- just sharing aloha with a couple of strangers. We were sitting on a picnic table one day down toward the aquarium and Paul was playing his dulcimer. A gentleman drove by on his motorized cart with a guitar. He stopped and talked story with us...wanted to know about the dulcimer and how it was tuned. Told us he had a stroke, ergo the motorized cart, and he was learning to play guitar all over agaiin. He played very slow and sang very softly and said something to the effect of he didn't know if he could play or sing any good any more, but it was good enough, and it gave him therapy for learning to use his hands all over again. He and Paul played the Hapa song about Pikake and we also sang Hawai`i Aloha. Chicken skin fo' real! Martin Pahinui was the sweetest guy you would ever want to meet. Also George Kuo, who called Paul "Palaka Kid" because he had a blue palaka shirt on, and Bobby Ingano who told Paul that he has relatives in Dayton Ohio and loves Ohio sweet corn. Paul and Jerry Santos talked story about whether it was pono for Paul to sing Manuela Boy (he decided it is not because he doesn't come from the situation that would make those lyrics true and realistic). We talked about a lady in the audience who gave him and Chai nothing but a hard time about the music, and how thankful he was for folks to understood and enjoyed the music. I sure loved it when he played "Come to me Gently" at my request. The various musicians and hula dancers were all so friendly and loved to share their music with us. The tour guide who took us to and from the Paradise Cove luau played a bunch of mellow, romantic music on the bus when we were coming back to Waikiki, including some Barry White. I told him he was a slick dude, playing all that ho`onipo music, and he was really tickled by the fact that we knew what he was up to (for all the honeymooners on the bus -- making the lovey-dovey mood, if you will). I made a pretty darn swell (if I do say so myself) scrapbook for Bla & Kathleen Pahinui...various heritage pictures that Kathleen had sent too me and a few ones I found on the internet. We didn't get to meet up with Bla because he was pretty sick with a very bad cold, but Kathleen said he cried when he saw it. Without him even knowing we were giving him the scrapbook, he made a homemade CD for us with a couple of songs that will be on his new album that he is going to start working on in the studio in June. These two songs were done using his home recording studio, and they sound mighty fine. How swell is that for him to share his precious music that has not yet even been professionally recorded. We have learned that if someone invites you to visit, or asks you to join them or call them, the actually really do mean it instead of the phoney "oh, we'll have to get together sometime" things you hear in this neck of the woods. I felt bad that we had promised to bring Bla & Kathleen some Ohio maple syrup from a little Amish town not too far from us, but the TSA screening folks at the airport confiscated it because we forgot that you couldn't take over 3 oz. of liquids/gels in your carryon. Kathleen said the scrapbook was as fine as a gift as you could give. I sent her pictures that we took while on our Hele fo' da mele trip, some of Martin dem, and she e-mailed them to Martin and Ruthie, who were very pleased with them.
Bottom line after running on and on....we are so lucky to have met so many wonderful, kind, caring, friendly folks on O`ahu. After our first trip to Hawai`i some years back, that is what cemented this island in my heart. That is probably why the music touches me so deeply that I almost exclusively listen to Hawaiian music....because the music is given with true aloha. Sharing music is a wonderful way to give aloha. Who can be grumpy when your foot is tapping or you are swaying to the music. Pure aloha.
Mahalo to all who shared in making this vacation wonderful for Fran & Lynnie, for GUke, for our beloved Admin and his bride, for Paul and I, and all the other folks who were able to experience the best the island has to offer -- the warmth of the keki o ka `aina. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
Edited by - wcerto on 05/22/2007 12:20:21 PM |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2007 : 5:59:05 PM
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Last report, typed from Walnut Creek, CA. Our final night on O`ahu was spent with Kimo Hussey at the Blu Water Grill. Walt Keale had his new CD available prior to the official release coming real soon now. I haven't gotten it into a player yet but the tunes he was doing at the Grill were stellar. Kawika Kahiapo will be in San Diego by now for the Kaukahi show with Amy Gilliom.
Kimo really enjoyed the uptempo latinesque version of "Opae E" that Walt and Kawika have put together. Of course we both enjoyed all the great music these guys were laying down. Walt took a break and gave me a turn to play a few numbers with Kawika, always a pleasure and an honor. Then he persuaded Kimo to take the `ukulele for a spin and you should have seen the audience react. Mr. Hussey is an absolute high octane virtuoso as he demonstrated. He romped through a couple of uptempo Hawaiian tunes, then for his last number plucked out a sweeet, languorous "Tammie" that had Lynnie singing along in her seat.
Kawika and Walt gave us a few more magnificent tunes, then we had to take an early retirement since our plane left at 7:00 AM. We're pretty punchy right now, but still carrying those warm feelings, and planning our return.
Fran |
E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi
Slack Key Guitar in California - www.kaleponi.com
Slack Key on YouTube
Homebrewed Music Blog |
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dr. cookie
Lokahi
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2007 : 11:16:06 PM
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Mahalo, Fran, for your extended travelogue (and all of the contibutions the thread has received). Like you, my idea of "doing Hawai`i" has always been tracking down music and musicians. I'll be spending much of July on O`ahu, so I've been building my calendar for a while. . . but your reports have really served to get me even more psyched to hit the ground running . . . can't wait! Thanks for all the extra inspiration!
Don |
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rendesvous1840
Ha`aha`a
USA
1055 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2007 : 11:59:01 AM
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It's not gonna work to just end this thread. I've looked forward to it every day since we got back and found it. I think we need to make travelogues/ musicalogues a tradition. And it doesn't have to be only Hawaiian travels, we can share our the aloha wherever we find it.
Paul |
"A master banjo player isn't the person who can pick the most notes.It's the person who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello |
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2007 : 2:44:03 PM
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Fran and Lynne,
Thank you so much for the "special kanikapila" at your place. I am still in awe and very humbled. I'm over on the Big Island for a few days.
For those of you that make it to Hawai'i (the island) please make it a point to visit John and Hope Keawe at the Bamboo Restaurant in Hawi. It is well worth the drive from the Kona Coast or South Kohala resorts. There is a very special aloha when thwo people share their love for each other in a public way through their music and dance. This is an intimate "NOT MISS" part of your slack key education. They "own the place" on some Friday nights from 1830-2130. All the waitress, waiters, bartenders, even the owner wear John Keawe T-Shirts. Hope gves hula lessons to "A Huli Makou" and most of the women (and a few guys) come up for a try. PS The Pale Ale is tops. |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
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RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2007 : 02:11:34 AM
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Fran
Did you ever hear Howie Mandel talk about learning Hawaiian pronuciation and then seeing an "oo-haw-ule" truck go by? (U-haul) |
Bob |
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