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alika207
Ha`aha`a
USA
1260 Posts |
 Posted - 08/06/2012 : 3:12:50 PM
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Aloha everybody,
'Alika here! Sorry I come and go these days, I've been soooo busy!
But, I thought I would share this review I wrote a while back. On my most recent trip to Hawai'i (as in the specific island) in January of this year, I went to a so-called Polynesian hula show and wrote my reaction to it on Facebook later that evening. I thought I'd share it with you because I'm interested to hear what you think. I hope you don't hate me for writing it, but it reads as follows:
Have you ever heard a group who claims to be a Celtic music group but actually plays rock music with the addition of a bagpipe? Or one who claims to be a Klezmer band, only to hear them play their own original music with Klezmer influence and not one traditional Klezmer tune? If you haven’t, please be thankful for that. Also, please be thankful if you didn’t get to see and hear the group of musicians and hula dancers I saw earlier today for similar reasons. I don’t mind if musicians want to fuse different styles into their own genre, but this didn’t really do it for me, even after giving it a chance for about 10 or 15 minutes.
I don’t know this group’s name, but my ‘ohana told me that there was a Polynesian hula show going on in Maunalani today, so I was like, “Shoots!” I love these kinds of shows, especially when I’m at a lu’au, because despite my blindness, I love listening to hula kahiko and ‘auana performed using instruments such as ‘ukulele and ‘ipu, as well as Tahitian and Maori dancers cheering as they dance and being accompanied by fast drum beats. When we got to the show tonight, however, I was so shocked about what I was hearing that I leaned over and asked my mom if she thought we went to the wrong show. While I did hear one Hawaiian chant accompanied by an ‘ipu heke, one hapa haole song in which the audience was called up to follow these little keiki as they danced hula, and an occasional Maori chant, the band primarily used instruments such as a drum set found in a rock band, an electric guitar, and a keyboard to accompany their singing, which was mostly in English and sounded more like soft rock and sometimes jazz. Apparently the hula dancers were indeed graceful with their movements, but if anyone in Kona wants a taste of authentic Hawaiian and Polynesian music and dance, don’t attend this one. Nice, but not what I was hoping for.
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He kehau ho'oma'ema'e ke aloha.
'Alika / Polinahe |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 4:12:47 PM
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| I can understand your frustration, Alika. It took me a while to understand that music is not static. Slipry1 told me that when a type of music is placed in "mothballs" or "frozen in amber", it ceases to be music and is just museum stuff (albeit valuable museum stuff). If you have listened in the past to any of the Isaacs Family tunes, you can hear a definite Jazz influence. Jazz and Big Band were the cutting edge when some of those Family's tunes were made. Sol Ho'opi'i listened to early Jazz and Blues (remember "Hula Blues"?). Hawaiian Music covers a large span of time and influences (Puerto Rican "Cachicachi", Portuguese tunes like Sonny Chillingworth used to sing), Big Band, Jazz, etc. Noeau told me about the importance of the Royal Hawaiian Band playing Marches and other related music. Peter Medeiros told me (as well as Aunty Manu Lono up here in Seattle and also the Dave Guard interview with Gabby Pahinui) that accordion (diatonic buttonbox) was used for a while until they got beyond repair (the box needs a good technician once in a while). "Style is based on limitation."- John Hartford. Scales, chord progressions, modes, rhythms, instrumentation all enter into it. Get plenny peepo in Hawai'i, get plenny history, get plenny ideas, get plenny styles. Listen to what you like, but don't discount others' taste. If music isn't alive, it's dead. |
Edited by - thumbstruck on 08/06/2012 4:33:37 PM |
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alika207
Ha`aha`a
USA
1260 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 5:12:09 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by thumbstruck
Listen to what you like, but don't discount others' taste. If music isn't alive, it's dead.
True dat! |
He kehau ho'oma'ema'e ke aloha.
'Alika / Polinahe |
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sirduke58
`Olu`olu
USA
993 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2012 : 8:11:46 PM
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I hear you Alika. It's been a pet peeve of mines for ages. In Hawaii musicians steadfastly abide by things like the outdated Hawaiian music protocol of dressing alike. Albeit corny, cheesy, cliche & superficial but to do differently would be a cardinal sin. Like it's sacred or something, yet these same people think nothing of altering the concept of traditional Hawaiian music at every turn possible.........Traditional Hawaiian music does not need to be "Reinvented" it needs to be "Rediscovered". I once heard that Eddie Kamae has over 1000 mele that no one has ever recorded. I'd rather go there than start playing ki ho'alu on an electric guitar with distortion on it........Not trying to open a can of worms. Just stating that I can relate to Alika's sentiment. |
Hoof Hearted?...Was it you Stu Pedaso? |
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alika207
Ha`aha`a
USA
1260 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 01:26:22 AM
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| Wow, I'd love to record some of those mele myself if I can learn them! |
He kehau ho'oma'ema'e ke aloha.
'Alika / Polinahe |
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Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 04:03:24 AM
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Center. Periphery. History. Adoption. Influence. Cultural drift.
But there are also matters of careful naming and labeling, which are often compromised by market(ing) considerations.
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 06:52:47 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Russell Letson
But there are also matters of careful naming and labeling, which are often compromised by market(ing) considerations.
Russell, you nailed it with that comment. So much of what we all call "traditional" or a specific genre of music will never be clearly defined in a fashion upon which we can all agree, and much of the time, said "labels" are only required for marketing, promotion and sales purposes - beyond that, they don't have any fixed meaning.
What I think of as "traditional Hawaiian" may come close to what Duke (just to grab one name) thinks of, but we'll find areas of mild disagreement, I am certain. I have vague, wide-ranging and constantly shifting "definitions" of all kinds of music - I can't even agree with myself 100%, it seems!
"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that."
—Justice Potter Stewart, concurring opinion in Jacobellis v. Ohio 378 U.S. 184 (1964), regarding possible obscenity in The Lovers.
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sirduke58
`Olu`olu
USA
993 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 1:55:30 PM
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quote:
originally posted by Russell Letson
But there are also matters of careful naming and labeling, which are often compromised by market(ing) considerations.
Great quote to summarize the (sometimes intentional)confusion commercially & I'm totally in agreement with you & Greg.
Everyone agrees that there is an absolute "Black & White" as to what is & isn't traditional Hawaiian music. It's the "Gray Area" where we have a difference of opinions. Being of Hawaiian descent my intolerance is probably much, much narrower than most people here on Taropatch. But my blood quantum does not mean my opinion holds more credence than anyone else here...........I just feel it's my kuleana to malama what I feel is pono to the tradition.
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ypochris
Lokahi
USA
398 Posts |
Posted - 08/07/2012 : 5:42:35 PM
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As Justice Stewart said, "I know it when I see it", and as 'Alika says, the lu'au at the Mauna Lani is not it.
(Edit: I haven't been there recently, so most likely haven't seen/heard this particular incarnation, but 'Alika's description sounds very much like Mauna Lani lu'aus from the past that I have been to.) |
Edited by - ypochris on 08/08/2012 3:19:27 PM |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2012 : 8:54:57 PM
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A lot of us mainlanders love traditional Hawaiian music, then we get to Hawaii and we hear it played like jazz, disco or Vegas lounge music. And we complain. But I don't think we should be telling locals how to play. We should just seek out what we like and patronize it.
Because I didn't grow up in Hawaii, much of the 70s era of Hawaiian music is lost on me, including Sunday Manoa, Country Comfort or the Society of Seven. Why so jazzy? Why mess around with the traditional sound? Why go all Vegas and cheesy? What do the lyrics of "Waimanalo Blues" really mean? But I have learned that each group has fans that found meaning in the music, which was right for the time and place it was made. Hawaiian music really "clicks" when you're sitting in the place it's about. Meanwhile, mainlanders like me were listening to Genoa Keawe and the Sons of Hawaii on vinyl and cassettes, thinking we understood the music.
I would rather go to a jam and play the songs I like than complain that professional musicians aren't doing it right. When there are no jams, I make YouTube videos of my favorites. That tides me over until I can gather my friends for a jam session or take a trip to Hawaii.
Your mileage may vary,
Jesse |
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markwitz
`Olu`olu
USA
841 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2012 : 03:30:00 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by sirduke58
[quote]
Everyone agrees that there is an absolute "Black & White" as to what is & isn't traditional Hawaiian music.
Boy, am I glad that we are all in agreement with at least this aspect of what constitutes all the different genres within Hawaiian music. |
"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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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2012 : 07:19:50 AM
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| If everyone just played guitar, who'd play ukulele, bass, or steel? |
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alika207
Ha`aha`a
USA
1260 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2012 : 06:43:54 AM
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| Jesse, do you like Sunday Manoa's "Kawika?" It's probably my favorite version of that mele ever! |
He kehau ho'oma'ema'e ke aloha.
'Alika / Polinahe |
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RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 08/20/2012 : 11:13:07 AM
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| Very nicely written, Alika! |
Bob |
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alika207
Ha`aha`a
USA
1260 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2012 : 09:32:25 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by RWD
Very nicely written, Alika!
Thanks bra! I love Uncle Peter's uke solo.
BTW, while I'm on this subject, does anyone else think that his riff at the beginning and the end is similar to the melody line of "Let's Spend the Night Together" by the Stones? I noticed it when I first heard that Stones song. |
He kehau ho'oma'ema'e ke aloha.
'Alika / Polinahe |
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hwnmusiclives
`Olu`olu
USA
580 Posts |
Posted - 10/04/2012 : 03:30:11 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by alika207
quote:
Originally posted by RWD
Very nicely written, Alika!
Thanks bra! I love Uncle Peter's uke solo.
BTW, while I'm on this subject, does anyone else think that his riff at the beginning and the end is similar to the melody line of "Let's Spend the Night Together" by the Stones? I noticed it when I first heard that Stones song.
Yes, you nailed that. Peter wore his influences on his sleeve. In a 1990 interview with Honolulu Magazine, he indicated that not only was the intro/ending of "Kawika" a nod to "Let's Spend The Night Together," but the vocal chorus of his arrangement of Johnny Lum Ho's "Ha'aheo E Ka Manu Pikake" is based on the vocal chorus of the Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil." (This is on the "Cane Fire" CD which is a must have for every Hawaiian music collection.)
To honor my hero, Peter, when Andy and I opened for the Makaha Sons a few years ago, we performed Robert Cazimero's composition "Manu Ulaula" from the "Sunday Manoa 3" album. (That was the album that sparked the all-consuming desire in me when I was only five years old to study and perform Hawaiian music for the rest of my life.) We arranged the song with an intro from a Rolling Stones' tune and an ending from a song from the 70's pop-rock group Orleans.
If/when you return to Honolulu, seek out the groups performing with Peter Moon's son who goes by the same name and whom they call "Peter Jr." (despite that he is not a junior). You may spy him playing a 1923 Martin tiple - which I traded with him for a 1955 Fender Triple Neck Stringmaster given to him by Bobby Ingano.
~ Bill
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Edited by - hwnmusiclives on 10/04/2012 03:32:12 AM |
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