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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1022 Posts |
 Posted - 12/30/2022 : 10:02:03 AM
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Title of a book that I'm just finishing. A 2019 "tome" by Kevin Fellezs describing the development and maturation of Hawaiian Slack Key across what he calls the Transpacific. This is mainly how Slack Key progressed in Hawaii, Japan and, interestingly, California. I'd not heard of this book and got it as a gift for Christmas. It's a tough read; a serious academic study with 30 pages of footnotes and references. It goes pretty deeply into the cultural and political genesis of Hawaiian music and Slack Key in particular. I pretty much skipped the parts dealing with Japan.
The parts that may be of interest here are the references to the Masters that some of us knew and to California players including Jim West and Patrick Landeza. Fran Guidry gets a couple of nods with his association with Led. I met Patrick in 2002 and without going into all of the details, he was almost uniquely responsible for me getting into Slack Key. I think some of the rest of us know Patrick.
My copy has Cyril Pahinui's picture on the cover playing his Tacoma 6 string. I've actually played that guitar at my home one time when Cyril was staying with me on a San Diego tour.
I was wondering if anyone else had read this. Lots of good history. A lot of which I didn't know. It's paperback and available on Amazon for $36 ($18 Kindle)
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2022 : 08:19:35 AM
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I finally finished the book. I highly recommend this to all the TP folks that are still here. I don't know how this book eluded my radar for 4 years.
Chapter 6, centering mostly on the Hawaiian Grammys, the resulting controversy, and the role of non-Hawaiian players, is the most interesting and relevant to me as a Slack Key guitarist. Fran gets another gracious kudo and our own Andy Wang is mentioned. Most of all this book seems to explain what drew me to Hawaiian music and, more importantly, to Slack Key. I didn't play a lick until I was 56 and couldn't explain why I started. Blame it all on Patrick Landeza, Cyril Pahinui, Dennis Kamakahi, Ozzi Kotani, and John Keawe. |
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Earl
`Olu`olu
USA
523 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2023 : 09:54:55 AM
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I need to search out this book and add it to the library. For convenience, here is a link:
https://www.amazon.com/Listen-but-Dont-Ask-Question/dp/1478006714
If you search on that title, other sources come up too, like Duke University Press.
https://www.dukeupress.edu/listen-but-dont-ask-question
I'll never forget my first Aloha Camp and the Monday morning advanced slack key class with Keola Beamer. It seemed like we spent most of the first class talking story with very little time actually playing. Several of us grew concerned afterward because you only get four days of regular classes with any given kumu, and one was now gone. (Wednesdays were "open day" where you can drop in on other classes to sample, which ultimately resulted in me taking up ukulele big time). It was later that we learned about the culture of "look-see" in slack key. Look, listen, and absorb -- don't ask too many questions. Or as I used to say to aviation cadets, "God gave you two ears and one mouth; use them in that ratio". |
Edited by - Earl on 02/05/2023 09:56:33 AM |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2023 : 06:32:59 AM
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| "Watch with your eyes and listen with your ears" was how I was taught. Practice was demanded. All humans are autodidactic - self teachers- in that we have to teach ourselves to do what we observe others doing. Like Slipry1 likes to say, "the more you do it the better you get." |
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Listen But Don't Ask Question
