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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
 Posted - 09/30/2010 : 07:18:02 AM
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I know this is going to cause a maelstrom, but here goes:
What does or what should constitute bonafides for being designated a slack key MASTER?
I want you to know I have absolutely nothing against Jeff Peterson. He is a fine slack key player. But truthfully, in the definition of "master" that I have formed in my own mind, I don't think he qualifies as a slack key "master". Perhaps he is not even being considered a master, but on this recording: Amy Hanaiali`i & Slack Key Masters
http://www.mele.com/music/artist/cyril+pahinui/amy+hanaiali%60i+%26+slack+key+masters+%2809-28-2010%29/
Jeff Peterson is featured very prominently, whereas those who I believe do have the slack key lineage, experience, etc. to be called "master" are featured only on a few of the recordings.
Or am I wrong in believing that he is being touted as a master? I mean, I suppose it can be because he is a supporting guitarist on all of the recordings and his name just happens to show up?
Now please keep in mind I am in no way dissing this recording. In fact, I am getting ready to order it. But still.......
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 07:31:56 AM
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| Aunty, I've seen Jeff play. Ono stuff. I would consider him a "master" in that he has mastered his instrument and is very adept at a style that is readily identified with Hawai'i. |
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kihoalukid
Lokahi
USA
289 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 07:42:36 AM
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| I think Sonny had a Black Belt, and snatched the Opihi from Gabbys palm. As for me, im still waxing on/waxing off. |
Lee |
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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 07:47:39 AM
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| Can't imagine why this matters. Must be a slow news day. |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 07:55:42 AM
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I once heard someone say, "Raise your hand if you're an expert. Now, raise both hands if you're a guru. So the difference between an expert and a guru is the ability to raise both hands."
The speaker did not cover the term "Master."  |
Andy |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 08:15:58 AM
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| In my experience, if you ask someone who has been doing something masterful after 30 years of doing it if he (or she) is an expert, they'll usually say "No", because they know how much is out there to be learned. On the other hand, a lot of people who've been at something for a couple of years or so will say "yes" because they think they've seen it all. They don't call it "sophmoric" for nuthin', folks. Why do most people have to have ratings for anything or everything? As one master, imho, says "Jes' Press!" and get on with the joy that music can bring into one's life. btw, having seen Jeff Peterson several times, to me, he is an awe inspirng musician - there is no "right" or "wrong" way to play, ya know. |
keaka |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 08:22:28 AM
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| OH - as I roported a while ago, I was at a taping of a live "Masters of Slack Key" show at the Bishop Museum. Led Kaapana, George Kahanmoku, Jr., Dennis Kamakahi, Randy Lorenzo and Richard Ho'o'pi'i were sitting on the stage when the announcer said "Now, here is the king of slack key guitar, Makana!" (to reopen THAT can of worms). Thumbs and I looked at each other and said "WHAT THE....!". |
keaka |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 09:01:49 AM
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A little recent history is in order here.
The whole concept of "Masters of Slack Key Guitar" (aka "Slack Key Masters Series") is a marketing term invented to sell records (OK, CDs and, yes cassettes) by Dancing Cat Records. A subsidiary of Windham Hill Records. Who had a pretty good run with the "New Age" thing, another marketing term.
George Winston loved slack key, and he wanted to record all the great living players. He, and his marketing department, coined the phrase "Masters of Slack Key" in order to get the public's eye. They could have just as easily have called it "Virtuosi of Slack Key" or "Giants of Slack Key" or "Kings" or "Wizards" or any thing else. There are plenty of examples of similarly titled recording series out there: "Giants of Jazz," "Kings of Swing" etc etc.
Remember when "Diva" became a marketing term in the record industry, instead of a pejorative?
"Masters" stuck, because, well, it is a great marketing term. It makes you think, "Hmmmm, if someone is a Master, they must have been through a rigorous process to be so named."
It resonates with us, as we've grown up with hearing about the Master-Aprentice system (think Mickey Mouse in Fantasia), "Masterpieces," master chess players, and all that.
Dancing Cat enforced the brand via their very successful "Masters of Slack Key Guitar" CD compilations and tours. Which is where I'd bet most of the readers on this forum first heard slack key. So, naturally, others jumped on the bandwagon. Hence George K Jr's "Masters" concert series and then Grammy-winning CDs; Milton's use of the term (my favorite being "Led Kaapana: Grandmaster Slack Key." Cannot deny the truth to that, can I?), and on and on.
The point is: there is no point. It is simply a phrase, it don't mean a thing (if it ain't got that swing... but I digress). Or, more realistically, anyone can use it, and almost everyone does.
I teased Keola Beamer a couple years ago that he should record a CD of slack key instrumentals called "The Real Old Master of Slack Key Style." Grammy fer sure.
SO: quote:
What does or what should constitute bonafides for being designated a slack key MASTER?
Should we care? If someone is a master of their instrument, and Jeff Peterson certainly is, and someone else wants to call him that in order to sell a few records... why worry about it?
It isn't as if he is violating some sacred tradition. He's playing the guitar. Period.
We all do retain the right to choose who and what we like in music. (As an aside; "There are only two kinds of music: the kind I like and the kind I don't like" is every bit as valid as any other distinction.) The more we learn about music and musical styles, the more we learn to discriminate.
Wanda, you are absolutely correct in your definition of "Master"--because it is your definition. It may not be mine, but that doesn't matter. Nor is mine necessarily going to be the same as Al's, or Peter's or anyone else who grew up in the tradition.
B'sides, when I worked helping tourists on the fishing boat, I never made it passed the position of apprentice baiter.
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Edited by - Mark on 09/30/2010 09:04:02 AM |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 09:20:41 AM
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| And, Terry - was a slow news day. Chores done. Halloween cards all made. Cat asleep. Mailman come & gone. Ah, such is the boring life of an old retired lady. I just happen to think of it while I was on the mele.com web site fixin' to order a handful of music. Pension checks come in on the first of the month, you know. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Larry Goldstein
Lokahi
267 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 09:51:01 AM
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quote:
B'sides, when I worked helping tourists on the fishing boat, I never made it passed the position of apprentice baiter.
Ha ha.
In the Alaska crab/halibut fishing community, of which I was once a member, "master" was anyone who survived a couple of winter seasons on deck. 
Larry |
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 10:35:12 AM
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| Yah daplayersdon't label themselves as such. In the backyard yu strive to keep up or jus watch. I did plenny watchin as a small keko. Still lurning and dat includes spelling. Not too many can keep up wit LED. I always lurn sumptinnew everytime i see him. As for peter, he was my mentor long ago and now we friends too. There is always a higher mountain as my sifu says. |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
Edited by - noeau on 09/30/2010 10:37:02 AM |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 11:45:36 AM
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| I can't even master the art of being a student. |
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Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 1:08:46 PM
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When I was researching the master-apprentice program administered by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the Folk Arts Coodinator, John Keoni Fujitani, emphasized that "master" and "apprentice" designations were were inherited from the NEA, which started the program, and that "master" really just indicated the teacher, as distinct from the student "apprentice." He wanted me to understand that in this context, "master" was not a rank or an honor, and that in fact the term was not one that arose from Hawaiian culture. He is not the only Hawaiian to say things along these lines to me, which tells me that I should be very cautious applying the label. "Masterful" is OK, as is "mastery," in descriptions of playing, but I'd probably look for nouns other than "master" (and never with a capital M) to describe an expert, thoroughly experienced senior player.
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2010 : 4:54:24 PM
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| Every time I pick up the guitar (or box, it is Oktoberfest season), I find something new. Led told me it's the same thing with him. I think that's why he can laugh so easily while playing. I have found that personal taste is personal and subject to change due to knowledge, humidity, sleep deprivation, understanding, etc. I even like some stuff I useta didn't like. Sharp cheese took a while. |
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Trev
Lokahi
United Kingdom
265 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 12:37:07 AM
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Well I'm no sort of expert, but I've heard a small amount of Mr Peterson's playing, which seems really good to me.
Looking at his Wikipedia entry, he's from Maui, where he grew up on a ranch, learned slack key from being young, has studied with Ozzie Kotani among others, and also studied classical guitar on the American Mainland and is currently professor of guitar at the University of Hawaii. This all seems pretty solid to me.
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Bau
Lokahi
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 01:37:59 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Admin
I once heard someone say, "Raise your hand if you're an expert. Now, raise both hands if you're a guru. So the difference between an expert and a guru is the ability to raise both hands."
The speaker did not cover the term "Master."
lol
"the wise man knows he knows nothing"
Perhaps the one that didn't raise their hands at all was the Master ;) |
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Slack "MASTER" designation
