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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
 Posted - 03/31/2014 : 09:42:37 AM
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This last Saturday evening, Uncle Bernie Simeona passed away. He was a well respected member of the Hawaiian community in the Puget Sound area and a great musician. Bernie was one of the funniest guys I know. Slipry1, Retro, Momi, Falsetto2002, Noeau, and others had the honor to know him and play some music with him. He will be sorely missed.
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 03/31/2014 : 10:16:23 AM
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Uncle Danny Kaopuiki always called Uncle Bernie "The Great One." That was right on the mark. He was always smiling, incredibly talented, unwaveringly supportive.
I met him first when I started out as a hula dancer, then became an `ukulele player/singer, and then a bass player. Having watched me progress from a starting point of nothing to some place on the continuum that is ever-so-slightly higher than zero, he ALWAYS encouraged me to sit in with him (or take his bass so he could have a break), taught me more songs than I can count, and laughed with me as I inevitably mangled the chord-progression for "Golden Sands Of Waikiki."
We've lost three players of Hawaiian music from this area in just a few short months (Uncle Bernie, Bill Luke & Rod Lopez Sr.). We will no longer enjoy the honor and joy of their teaching and sharing. Cherish those still around us, and may we all be so fortunate to be remembered, loved and missed by so many when our inevitable final day comes. |
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Momi
Lokahi
402 Posts |
Posted - 03/31/2014 : 7:19:58 PM
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Uncle Danny Kaopuiki called Uncle Bernie "the Great One," and this was not hyperbole. Uncle Bernie was a talented musician who had an encyclopedic knowledge of Hawaiian music. His music book was filled with lyric sheets (no chords) since he could transpose at will and knew the chord progressions by heart anyway. But even greater than his skill as a musician was his skill as a human being. He was always laughing and joking and making people happy. For more, see Uncle Danny's article on Uncle Bernie in the late and lamented Northwest Hawaii Times. http://www.northwesthawaiitimes.com/KP/kpsept08.htm
I will always think of Uncle Bernie when I hear "Lepe Ula`ula," "`Ohai Ali`i Kaluhea," and "Golden Sands of Waikiki"--those were *his* songs. I am grateful to have known Uncle Bernie, to have played music with him, and to have been influenced and taught by his example. |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2014 : 07:17:16 AM
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| When I played steel with him, he would always do "Noho Paipai", a favorite of both of us. I'll miss him. He was one of a kind. |
keaka |
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Sad news about Bernie Simeona
