Uncle Martin was a humble, talented guy. His version of "Pu`uanahulu" with Hapa on the "Namahana" album is my benchmark. Then listen to "Jealous Guy" from the "Pahinui Bros" album with Bla and Cyril. Traditional Hawaiian and Rock and roll, he could do it all.
We were blessed to host Martin, Aaron Mahi and George Kuo when they did a gig in San Diego in 2003 (the first one that Don Narup and I organized). We had a lot of late night talk story with good anecdotes. I heard some gems about the Pahinui Bros album and the aborted "world tour". I had been given a heads-up by Auntie Maria Hickling (who started the Mele.com site) about what the guys liked to eat. So, for Martin (in the days before he had his new teeth made), I had loaded up on sushi. He also loved to drink Sprite. We had 2 days of stories, music and laughs. My only regret was that at that time I didn't play well enough to contribute much to the jam sessions.
One of the highlight best times for me was at a concert in Vegas in 2005 when Martin and Cyril played together and Frank Hewitt danced. Can't buy memories like that.
Sad day for Hawaiian music
Posted - 05/28/2017 : 7:17:14 PM
