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Ambrosius
Lokahi
132 Posts |
 Posted - 02/25/2012 : 1:10:14 PM
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And in return, I am happy to learn of the existence of the Norwegian performer known as "Kine" - thank you for that exchange of musical information!
Nice pic though, don't you think?
Well now, - I didn't know. Thought it might be fun to post my first google match  I've heard the word used with 'kine' bass. Thanks for the info. |
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Ambrosius
Lokahi
132 Posts |
Posted - 02/25/2012 : 1:16:33 PM
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| I guess what I meant with the entire thread was how was the slack key guitar before Kaapana, Kane, Kotani and the lot? How was it say ... 1920? |
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Ambrosius
Lokahi
132 Posts |
Posted - 02/25/2012 : 1:36:36 PM
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...and when I play any kine music, any kine people jus' get sick!
Got you now Both brain and fingers slow. It's the frost you know. |
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Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 02/25/2012 : 4:11:43 PM
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Originally posted by Ambrosius
I guess what I meant with the entire thread was how was the slack key guitar before Kaapana, Kane, Kotani and the lot? How was it say ... 1920?
Short answer: we don't know for sure, since the recorded, um, record starts with Gabby's (already modern-sounding) sides in the mid-1940s. At least, until someone unearths lost 78s or the pre-1946 radio transcription disks that Peter Medieros says might exist.
Longer answer: But Auntie Alice Namakelua was a staunch preserver of the style she learned in her Big Island girlhood at the turn of the 20th century (from her brother, she said, who learned from cowboys), and she left both recorded examples and a small army of students (including Keola and George Kuo) to whom she passed the elements of her style.
And after Gabby's early records there came a spate of recordings, the surviving/discovered examples of which (fifteen tracks) can be found on the Hana Ola anthology CD assembled by George Winston, History of Slack Key Guitar. And some players who were working into the Cultural Renaissance and Dancing Cat eras preserved elements of older styles--Auntie Alice included Ray Kane among the modernizers, but Uncle Ray saw his playing as old-style. (Though the influence of Gabby is all over his work.) Certainly "Punahele," with its wahine-tuning figures, is an old-style composition.
So we can perhaps tentatively reconstruct elements of pre-Gabby slack key by starting with Auntie Alice's playing and filling in the gaps by interpolation and by comparing-and-contrasting the feel of Gabby's early records with those of some of the tracks on the History CD. There are also clues in the introductory sections of Peter Medieros' Hawaiian Slack Key: A Lifetime of Study, where he explains some of the musical basics of traditional slack key.
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Edited by - Russell Letson on 02/25/2012 4:12:26 PM |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 02/26/2012 : 07:39:21 AM
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| Taropatch tuning is "documented" by the 1880s because that was the tuning Joseph Kekuku 1st used for steel. Many tuned to "A" taropatch (also tuning the ukulele up a whole step) for a brighter sound for recording. |
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Ambrosius
Lokahi
132 Posts |
Posted - 02/26/2012 : 11:03:28 AM
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Well Russel, both your short and long version are very informative. I've spent most of the Sunday searching based on your post, and I (think I) see the line from Alice Namakelua http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=indIwSadW-w to Ray Kane and Leonard Kwan. I understand Kane was born in 1925 and Kwan in 1931.
I've found this CD http://www.cordinternational.com/history-slack-key.htm and I have the one available on a stream service I think I've red somewhere referred to as the 'black and white' record. It is by Kwan and Kane from around 1960. It's rolling as I type.
One thing, - How are the queen Liliʻuokalani's music regarded today?
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Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 02/26/2012 : 11:28:41 AM
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It looks like the Hana Ola History collection is available only as a download, which is fine as far as sound quality goes (those 78s don't need high-res files), but I didn't see anything about the CD liner notes, which are really first rate. Fortunately, a version is available on the Dancing Cat site:
http://www.dancingcat.com/recordings/HistoryCord.php
Queen Lili`uokalani remains very highly respected as a composer and lyricist, and you'll hear her songs on quite a few slack key recordings.
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Ambrosius
Lokahi
132 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2012 : 01:50:54 AM
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Queen Lili`uokalani remains very highly respected as a composer and lyricist, and you'll hear her songs on quite a few slack key recordings.
Glad to hear that. For me, based on my cultural background, I have always a 'familiar yet strange' impression of her pieces I find attractive. |
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PearlCityBoy
Lokahi
USA
432 Posts |
Posted - 02/29/2012 : 06:54:26 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Ambrosius
quote:
Queen Lili`uokalani remains very highly respected as a composer and lyricist, and you'll hear her songs on quite a few slack key recordings.
Glad to hear that. For me, based on my cultural background, I have always a 'familiar yet strange' impression of her pieces I find attractive.
Ambrosius, if you're interested in Queen Lili'uokalani's music and slack key, then Ozzie Kotani's "To Honor a Queen" is a "must have" CD: http://www.mele.com/music/artist/ozzie+kotani/to+honor+a+queen%3A+the+music+of+lili%60uokalani/ . It took Ozzie several years to complete this project, and I think it is an important piece of work with which many are not familiar. The liner notes are also very interesting to read.
Aloha,
Doug |
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Ambrosius
Lokahi
132 Posts |
Posted - 02/29/2012 : 10:22:47 PM
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Thanks Doug
I'm a big fan of Ozzie and I'm sure it's well worth. |
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Hawaiian Folk Music
