I have an LP of Hawaiian music sung in German called "Trauman Von Der Sudsee" which I think translates to Dreams of the South Sea. I bought it without knowing what I had. I thought it would be amusing to hear Hawaiian tunes sung in German.
Half the songs are done by "Das Moana-Quartett" with Rudy Wairata as the Soloist. It's without a doubt some of the best steel guitar ever. In fact the music from the link above is on that album.
Rudy Wairata was born on Christmas Day 1932 in Indonesia. He was self taught by listening to recordings by Sol Ho'opi'i and Andy Iona. He won a music scholarship to study in Europe and decided to go to Holland where he spent a large part of his career. He is considered to have been one of the best Steel Guitarists in Europe.
I got this infomation from George Kanahele's book, "Hawaiian Music and Musicians". Rudy gets two pages of coverage in that book. Quite a lot for a single artist.
"The music of the Hawaiians, the most fascinating in the world, is still in my ears and haunts me sleeping and waking." Mark Twain
Thanks for that link wcerto. I recognized the music right away, but didn't know who the steel player was, even though I knew about Rudy for a long time. Aloha JPB
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Posted - 01/31/2008 : 03:20:20 AM
