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jlsulle
Lokahi
USA
284 Posts |
 Posted - 06/25/2002 : 3:50:18 PM
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Aloha All,
I returned last night from George Kahumoku's Maui workshop after exerienceing one of the most enjoyable and enlightening weekends of my short musical life. Before I say something about the workshop let me shout out a big Mahalo to Hawaiian Airlines for making the beginning and ending of my trip close to perfect. One of the most hospitable flights I have had. Arriving at the airport very early I was able to meet the flight crew as they arrived and when they saw my guitar case in hand they made every effort to acdcomodate storage on the plane with me. I flew on a Boeing B767-300 which has only one overhead compartment which will hold a full size guitar in the hard case. I was in the last group to board the plane and was surprized to be greeted at the door and advised that the compartment (row 32-port side) was being held for me. Is that service? Returning on Monday I somehow managed to get the same flight crew with the same service. I am sorry to be so long about this but I was very impressed. All flight crews may not react to guitars in the same manner but give this Airline consideration on your next flight.
As for the workshop,well,what kind of words can I use to express the joy of spending four days virtually living with the likes of George and Keoki Kahumoku,Ozzie Kotani,Cyril Pahanui,John Trino and Carlos Andrade. These people are not only great musicians and teachers,they are wonderful people. For the entire weekend I felt surrounded by the aloha spirit. As a beginner,this was my first experience with a full length music camp. Training was intense but delivered with patience and a real caring that every student get the most possible out of the classes. There was so much available that sensory overload set in with very little time to practice between various classes. I might have been able to practice a little were it not for Cyril sitting with us "backyard" style one on one or in small groups to talk story and demonstrate his amazing skills. Everyone at the camp was willing to spend time one on one to show anything you wished to see or just to talk story.
The highlight for me was the nitely Kanikapila from after dinner(six ish) to around ten every evening. I did not get up the nerve to play in front of lots of people this year but promise I will do so next year (I already have my reservation) It was truely fun and entertaining to hear all the great student playing as well as the (big boys). There were certainly many chicken skin moments to be had.
This post is getting way too lengthly but let me say one more thing for now. There was a young boy at the camp who is a student of Ozzie's. He is eleven years old and his name is Danny Carvalo (I hope the last name is correct). This boy is the most amazing player I have ever heard at such a young age. Watch for his mame, he will be big some day soon. There is much more that could be said about this experience and I would love to share and try to answer any specific questions. Warmest Aloha, Jerry(Sulle)
Ps;I nearly forgot. Our performance at the slack key festival on Sunday was just way too cool. There were enough good players to drown out my beginer mistakes but I really felt a part of it and it was a proud moment.
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Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2002 : 9:21:35 PM
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Good to hear you enjoyed the workshop so much. My experience has been that, as much fun as they are at the moment, bits and pieces will continue to pay off for months afterward--you'll be playing, and some part of a lesson will suddenly make sense in a way it didn't at the time. Sort of like a time-release decongestant.
I met Danny Carvalho and his parents last year when Ozzie let me tag along on one of his lessons (I had my journalist hat on at the time), and he is indeed one of the most gifted young musicians I've ever encountered. One measure of his musicality is that he can joke with the material. When he played along with Oz, he'd add deliberate discords or take the melody down an octave or add an ornament. He's so good that he's going in my book, in the chapter on the newest generation of players. (With luck, he'll still be young when it comes out.)
Myself, I'm preparing for a week with George at the Augusta Heritage Center in West Virginia--had to restring my guitar to accomodate the main tuning, taro patch slacked down to F. My Guild is now strung as heavy as my orchestral archtops. Don't it rumble, though.
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2002 : 02:46:51 AM
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Jerry, it sounds like you had a tremendous good time. How many people attended?
Oh, yeah, are you thinking of stopping by on July 13 for the get together? I don't know if there'll be any other ki ho`alu players, but there should be quite a few guitar enthusiasts who'd love to see some of your collection.
Fran
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jlsulle
Lokahi
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - 06/27/2002 : 10:41:40 AM
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Hi Fran,
I would love to be at the party in July but I will be at the national BMW motorcycle rally in Ontario Canada (one of my other passions). I thank you for the invitation.
There were about forty people at the camp and as far as I can tell they all enjoyed it as much as I did.
It sounds like you have had a great trip also.
Aloha,Jerry
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
Posted - 06/27/2002 : 1:22:07 PM
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So will you be bringing the Rainsong (or some other guitar) on the Beemer? Do you have a sidehack by any wild chance?
Fran
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jlsulle
Lokahi
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - 06/27/2002 : 1:45:13 PM
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Fran,
No sidehack and I will miss the guitars while I am gone. My hobbies are starting to conflict with one another. I will have to get busy practicing when I get back with the aloha camp coming up in Aug.
Jerry
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Julie H
Ha`aha`a
USA
1206 Posts |
Posted - 06/28/2002 : 02:39:02 AM
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Aloha Jerry, yes, did we not have a fantastic time at the Mauian? First time at George's workshop for my husband Larry and I. I'm not sure what to say except WOW! What fun we had. Beautiful people, excellent food prepared by Wally and crew, gorgeous surroundings, and my, what a blast to play on stage with George and Keoki at the Slack Key Festival. I'm still high. Wasn't that Kanikapila with Cyril, Carlos, Ozzie and George just the greatest? At first, we were really intimidated at the thought of trying to play guitar with George, but that first day class especially for beginners got us over that scary hump. Phew. Next up is Keola Beamer's Aloha Music Camp in August, and that is another WOW experience. I'll look forward to seeing your smiling face. Aloha nui loa, Julie
Edited by - Julie Hendriks on 06/28/2002 02:42:08 |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2002 : 6:18:38 PM
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Aloha pumehana kakou,
Andy asked me to post something about George's Workshop some time ago but it looks like -jlsulle- beat me to it. I knew that if I wrote anything it would be fairly lengthy, so here goes...
Anyway, I have been going to George's Maui workshop for 4 years now and have enjoyed it immensely each time. I particularly enjoy the location of the Mauian Hotel for accomodations and some of the events. The choice of a low-rise, low-key, 1950's style hotel with no phones or TVs in the rooms is especially good. The pleasant breeze which wafts through the area (sometimes a little strongly) is like natural air conditioning so it never gets too hot. On top of all that, being smack-dab in the middle of one of the prettiest little beaches in all the islands (Napili), without all the big-resort hoopla is just Heaven (No Venetian Gondolas or Mono-rail Trams allowed!). This time my room was so close to the beach that (given the right wind direction) I could spit while standing on the lanai and hit the waves! (Now how do I say that in Hawaiian)
George used to have all the events at the Mauian, except for the festival concert, which is Milton Lau's event and most years has been at the MACC (Maui Arts And Culture Center). One year when the Bank of Hawaii (BANKOH) pulled out of sponsoring the festival, George talked Peter Merriman (of Merrimans's restaurant on the Big Island and the Hula Grill on Maui) into sponsoring an "Aloha on the Beach" festival, so we all played with the beach at our backs at Ka'anapali. Of course most of the usual Top Guns showed up, so it wasnt' just a concert of the workshop attendees. Anyway, it was nice to have all the other events at the Mauian except that the hand-out tabs and charts kept blowing off the music stands. The occasional rain also dampened things a little, but it was great to see Cyril Pahinui or Keola Beamer sprinting toward the beach after a workshop in whatever they werewearing and plunging into the surf. Ozzie helped convince George to have the "formal" lessons at the MACC in a classroom setting so recently we have driven to Kahului for these lessons. The connection to the MACC also helps the MACC who in turn provides the venue for the Slack-Key Festival. But I kind of miss the lessons out under a tent with the plumeria and sunshine and sound of waves in the background. At least we got some of that this year - but Cyril did not sprint for the ocean!
There is always a good mix of instructors with someone who is patient with the beginners (like Keoki), another who is thorough with everything already tabbed-out (like Ozzie Kotani), and another who can demonstrate Hot-Licks (like Cyril or Led). George also makes sure we get a good dose of cultural learnng. We have had lessons in picking taro leaf and stem and stripping the stem for cooking traditional Lau Lau. We have also gone to remote valleys where Local folk are farming Taro the old ways. We have planted Taro, we have made Lau Lau. Some of us have even gone net-fishing at 5AM for the fish to put in the Lau Lau (not me- not that early!). There also have been Hawiian language lessons focused toward the song lyrics every year. Not to exclude Poi Pounding, Lei making, Ti Leaf Weaving, etc, etc, on an occasional basis.
The one thing I have the most trouble with is actually learning the tunes that we are to play on stage in time for the performance. This time George put down the names of the tunes in writing in the hand-out packets at the start. These tunes were also used as teaching material and He and Keoki also had several practice sessions on them. I am still a very slow learner and was JUST able to get the chords straight by performance time. The first time I attended, George and the group decided on the tunes to be played about 2 hours before the Gig and we had a total of about 30 minutes of practice in two sessions before going on stage in front of thousands of people. Talk about sweaty fingers- I was dripping!! Hey, it was still fun (like jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet with a parachute is also fun).
I will continue to go back to this workshop as often as I can. The only reason I can think of for NOT going is to make room for someone else who has not had a chance to go, since the workshop does sell-out most years.
...Lawrence
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George Kahumoku Jr. Maui Workshop
