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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
 Posted - 08/19/2007 : 11:35:56 AM
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At last I can announce the good news: After several years of trying, we are pleased and honored that steel guitar (and slack key!) virtuoso Owana Salazar will be teaching at the February Aloha Camp.
For those who don't know, Owana is one of Hawaii's finest steel players. A student of Jerry Byrd, she has a fluid, jazzy style that helped her most recent CD win the 2005 Hoku for Best Jazz Album. Don't miss this outstanding opportunity to study with one of the greats. I know I'll be counting the days between now and February!
http://www.owanasalazar.com/
I've posted more info about the camp and intructors on the "Live Lessons, etc." thread. http://www.taropatch.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5181
Or go to our website to learn more: http://www.alohamusiccamp.com/
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hwnmusiclives
`Olu`olu
USA
580 Posts |
Posted - 08/20/2007 : 06:09:15 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Mark
For those who don't know, Owana is one of Hawaii's finest steel players. A student of Jerry Byrd, she has a fluid, jazzy style that helped her most recent CD win the 2005 Hoku for Best Jazz Album.
Has anyone really heard Owana play steel guitar at any length? Owana only played steel on one cut on "Hula Jazz." The rest of the jazzy steel guitar stylings were by Greg Sardinha, Alan Akaka, and Casey Olsen.
I even have some live recordings of Owana at steel guitar conventions in which she played mostly slack key but only switched to the steel for "Sand" (the same song she played steel on for her CD).
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Join me for the history of Hawaiian music and its musicians at Ho`olohe Hou at www.hoolohehou.org. |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 08/20/2007 : 08:24:59 AM
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ummm, Bill.. are you insinuating that Owana Slazar cannot play the steel? Because if you are a) you are totally wrong and b) you are out of line. Your limited exposure to this artist is evident; and I find your suggestion that she is somewhat dishonest to be insulting to her and to the Aloha Music Camp.
Keola Beamer, the artistic director of the Aloha Music Camps, would never hire anyone to teach at the camp without deep personal knowledge of her ability.
Sorry to be so harsh, but I'd really appreciate it if you would either remove your post or ammend it.
I'd also suggest checking out some of Owana's other recordings, or possibly taking the time to hear her play in person some time.
Mark Nelson
Aloha Music Camp Administrative Director
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hwnmusiclives
`Olu`olu
USA
580 Posts |
Posted - 08/20/2007 : 08:48:48 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Mark
ummm, Bill.. are you insinuating that Owana Slazar cannot play the steel? Because if you are a) you are totally wrong and b) you are out of line. Your limited exposure to this artist is evident; and I find your suggestion that she is somewhat dishonest to be insulting to her and to the Aloha Music Camp.
Keola Beamer, the artistic director of the Aloha Music Camps, would never hire anyone to teach at the camp without deep personal knowledge of her ability.
Sorry to be so harsh, but I'd really appreciate it if you would either remove your post or ammend it.
I'd also suggest checking out some of Owana's other recordings, or possibly taking the time to hear her play in person some time.
Mark Nelson
Aloha Music Camp Administrative Director
Mark, I did not mean to imply that she could not play - not in any way. (It's amazing what can be read into a forum post.) I have every one of Owana's recordings back to the early 1980s (remember the one with Kaipo DeGuair?) and I am a huge fan - particularly of her voice (which melts me) and of her slack key (which inspires me). In fact, I consider her so important to the art of slack key that I have the cover of her "Wahine Slack and Steel" CD on my wall! But on each of these recordings she performs typically only one song on the steel guitar. So I really don't know how to judge her steel guitar expertise on so little exposure.
Please reread my post and understand that I was not commenting on whether or not Owana could play the steel guitar, but rather I was commenting on your quote that "she has a fluid, jazzy style that helped her most recent CD win the 2005 Hoku for Best Jazz Album" when, in fact, she only performed steel on one of those cuts. So I don't know if Owana's style is "jazzy" or not, and that was the question I posed.
I apologize for offending you or the many fans of Owana.
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Join me for the history of Hawaiian music and its musicians at Ho`olohe Hou at www.hoolohehou.org. |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 08/20/2007 : 10:38:11 AM
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No worries, Bill. Chock it up to a bad morning... Looks like I took your post the wrong way. Sad to say it is a fact of life on the 'net. Maybe a tad more context next time???
However, I'd still say, after listening to her play steel on the albums you mentioned, that she does indeed have a fluid, jazzy style. Sure, she only played one steel cut on the Hoku award winning CD -- but you can't say her steel playing hurt the album, can you? 
I'd say the best way to answer the question you poised would be to come to the February camp and see for yourself.
Sheepishly,
Mark |
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hwnmusiclives
`Olu`olu
USA
580 Posts |
Posted - 08/20/2007 : 11:34:51 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Mark
No worries, Bill. Chock it up to a bad morning... Looks like I took your post the wrong way. Sad to say it is a fact of life on the 'net. Maybe a tad more context next time???
However, I'd still say, after listening to her play steel on the albums you mentioned, that she does indeed have a fluid, jazzy style. Sure, she only played one steel cut on the Hoku award winning CD -- but you can't say her steel playing hurt the album, can you?
I'd say the best way to answer the question you poised would be to come to the February camp and see for yourself.
Sheepishly,
Mark
Now you're talking! I made a few new friends recently who came to the camp this summer - Tommy and Jason - and they desperately want me to come next year. Guess that means they are coming, too!
And I apologize - truly - for not putting more context around my statements. As a slack key guitarist, I think that Owana is an innovator and I have spent many a long hour learning her songs note-for-note. If you're speaking to her, tell her that I love "Pupukea" most.
Oh, and no way did she hurt the "Hula Jazz" CD. I think it is amazing! Perfect summer night music.
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Join me for the history of Hawaiian music and its musicians at Ho`olohe Hou at www.hoolohehou.org. |
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markwitz
`Olu`olu
USA
841 Posts |
Posted - 08/20/2007 : 2:28:22 PM
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I saw Owana at a fund raising concert for KAPU radio station in Watsonville, Ca last summer. She played a number of songs on steel. Her artistry with the steel was very obvious. On her "Wahine Slack and Steel" cd (which is a favorite of mine) she plays steel on all 10 of the cuts that have steel. She seems pretty "steelie" to me. Seriously, she was great and took special pride in her steel guitar.
From the website http://www.slackkey.com/about_owana.htm
"In 1990, Jerry Byrd, renowned as Hawaiian steel guitar “master of touch and tone” accepted Owana as his student for formal study. After eleven lessons, Owana received a full scholarship from the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association. HSGA is a world organization whose mission and only requirement for membership is the love and promotion of Hawaiian music. In 1992, Owana became the only female student ever graduated by Jerry Byrd."
By the way Bill, congrats on your first airing of "Ho'olohe Hou" on www.50thstateradio.com this past Sunday. I hear thru the grapevine that it was very well recieved. |
"The music of the Hawaiians, the most fascinating in the world, is still in my ears and
haunts me sleeping and waking."
Mark Twain |
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