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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
 Posted - 10/01/2010 : 03:38:13 AM
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| Curiosity helps us plumb the depths of our ignorance. |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 05:58:53 AM
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| I am still waiting for the book of Koryisms. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 06:41:36 AM
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“Artist A is being promoted as a ‘master’ at his concert next week – I don’t think he’s earned that designation.”
“Look at this YouTube clip of Artist B. Do you really think that song can be called ‘slack key’? I sure don’t.”
“I’m sick of Artist C getting the Grammy Award; she’s not a representative of Hawaiian music!”
Statements like these show the difficulty most of us have in separating the creativity of a musician and their art from the marketing of their product. As listeners, audience members and consumers, we feel that we have some stake in being arbiters of taste for those we deem less-knowledgeable about the music we love; but this takes us into dangerous territory.
The only people who should spend any time worrying about how the “product” of music is marketed are those who are trying to make any kind of living with their artistic output. Do you think any of the musicians we talk about (or with, as is often the case here) spend much time thinking “gosh, instead of releasing another album of music that speaks from my soul, I better play only what TaroPatchers will define as ‘slack key,’ so I can finally win a Grammy”?
If we as individuals are finding that concerns like those expressed at the opening of this post are adversely affecting our enjoyment of the music we love, then it’s time to step back a bit and learn to separate marketing issues from creative output. Feel passionate about music – but don’t sweat the labeling/pigeonholing/boxing in that is part of the industry. Don’t let it spoil the artistic experience for you.
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markwitz
`Olu`olu
USA
841 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 07:31:04 AM
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Hate to take exception to your statement Auntie Wanda.
I have seen Jeff perform live a few times. In addition to being a consummate musician and ....dare I say..."Master" of his instrument I thought he was the most fluid and graceful slack key guitar player I have ever seen. Of course his style differs from others I have seen, but to compare him unfavorably to other great slack key players, I think, does him an injustice. As much as I love the way Dennis Kamakahi plays slack key (and I surely do) I also don't want all slack key played the same way that Uncle Dennis does, or Led or Ozzie. It would be kinda boring I think. Jeff is a Master of the slack key guitar in my book for sure.
I bought the CD direct from the Mt Apple website. If you buy the actual CD you also get an immediate digital download. I'm listening to it as I type this. It's a great album.
Jeff's Bio from The Mt Apple website.
Born on the Island of Maui, multiple Grammy Award and Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner Jeff Peterson grew up on the slopes of Haleakala where he was introduced to the rich heritage of Hawaiian music by his father, a paniolo, or Hawaiian cowboy, on the Haleakala Ranch.
As a performer, Jeff has had the honor to work with a wide range of artists and groups including Eric Clapton, James Galway, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Aaron Neville, Boz Scaggs, the Honolulu Symphony, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Amy Hanaiali’i Gilliom, The Matt Catingub Orchestra of Hawaii, jazz bassist Rufus Reid, shakuhachi master Riley Lee, the acclaimed string quartet Ethel, and with many other artists in the fields of Hawaiian, classical, and jazz music. He has four recordings with Riley Lee: “Maui Morning”, “Bamboo Slack Key”, “Haiku”, and “Haleakala”. He also released five solo guitar recording featuring his slack key artistry, “Maui On My Mind”, “Kahealani”, “Slack Key Jazz”, “The Artistry of Jeff Peterson”, and “Pure Slack Key”. Wayne Harada from the Honolulu Advertiser reacted to hearing the CDs by writing: “Add the Peterson name to the top 10 list of slack key giants”, “His manner is impeccable, his style exquisite: the CD is perfection”, “Brilliant . . . Peterson raises the bar a few notches in both slack key and jazz with this bright and exceptional release”. He is also featured as a performer and arranger on the 2008 and 2009 Grammy Nominated recordings “Aumakua” and “Friends and Family of Hawaii” by Amy Hanaiali’i.
He has traveled to Europe, Asia, Australia, and across the United Sates to perform at a variety of venues from Symphony Space in New York City to the National Folk Festival in Canberra, Australia. He recently had the honor of performing for former president Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton on the island of Kauai on two separate occasions. He performs regularly at Michel’s Restaurant in the Colony Surf Hotel in Waikiki in addition to a variety of other venues throughout Hawaii and abroad in both solo and group settings. In addition to performing, he taught the guitar at the University of Hawaii for several years running the guitar program. He achieved a milestone in Hawaiian music at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards on February 13th, 2005, when a recording on Palm Records featuring Jeff and other island artists, “Slack Key Guitar Volume 2”, won the first ever Grammy Award for best Hawaiian recording. He also won a Grammy Award in 2010 for his performance on the recording “Masters Of Slack Key Guitar, Volume 2”.
His latest CD “Maui On My Mind” won the 2010 Hoku Award for Best Slack Key Album.
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"The music of the Hawaiians, the most fascinating in the world, is still in my ears and
haunts me sleeping and waking."
Mark Twain |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 07:56:22 AM
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"Master" reminds me of definitions of an "expert"
1. Someone from 20 miles out of town
2. Someone who has taken a 2 week short course.
3. The survivor of a disaster.
More?? |
keaka |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 08:02:45 AM
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I'll tell you all one thing for sure, the most enjoyable moment for me at George Kahumokus Maui Workshop was watching and listening to Led and Jeff jam one morning under the dining tent. It was just about the most awesome guitar playing I have ever experienced, Jeff managed to coax more out of Led than anyone else I have seen, and had no trouble at all keeping-up, fitting-in, and/or "upping the ante"!
Jeff is absolutely a Master, and has all the qualifications, including having a paniolo background which is where the musical form originated.
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 10:02:46 AM
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I told you guys I have never dissed Jeff Peterson. I admire his talent. I guess I sort of thought you have to be old and grizzled and run hard and put away wet to be a master. I thought maybe in addition to lineage of kumu and talent and technical expertise, that master had some other higher almost "bishop" or "pope" type connotation. Well, I guess to me it sort of did or I wouldn't have posed the question in the first place. And remember, I said I was buying the CD. It is on its way even as we speak. I am not an mp3 type person yet even though I have one. I still have to figure out how to use it.
And truthfully, all talent in the recording aside....
the first thing I thought of is: ah, this is overtly campaigning for a Grammy.
Now is this bad? Ah dunno. I mean, when I was working, we had performance standards that told us what we had to accomplish if we wanted to get an "outstanding" performance appraisal or "sustained superior performance" and thus qualify for a cash performance award. With me, being the money hungry person that I was (am), I figured working hard was an easy way to get extra money for things like trips to Hawai`i. And they even told me what I had to do to get it!
So maybe a marketing person figured, well "they" (meaning the Grammy folk) are telling us what we need to do to win the performance award.
Hmmmm, could that be the case?
And once again, please do not think I am dissing the quality of the music in any way. I am not. These are all musicians who I obviously have chosen to spend money on time and time again and will continue to do so as they make more stuff. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
Edited by - wcerto on 10/01/2010 12:16:11 PM |
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 10:10:49 AM
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well . . . now . . . from the "nautical perspective" . . .
Some of you may have watched the Russel Crowe movie titled "Master and Commander" which was an amalgamation of several of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series of books (terrific reads by-the-way). The title of the movie (which was also the title of the first book in the series) refers to the legal AND honorific title given to the person in charge of a vessel in Her Majesty's Navy. There is a distinction between the "Master" of a vessel and the "Commander". The Master having responsibility of the safe navigation of the vessel and the Commander having the responsibility for all the persons embarked on that vessel. In smaller ships this is a single person, so in one's first "Command" (in the Royal Navy) you may be both Master AND Commander. In the US Navy we just call'em captains. We just like to confuse the world when we have a Commander assigned as THE CAPTAIN.
So . . .
At times, I may be the MASTER of my guitar -- able to leap long passages, over troubled waters, in a single melodic bound. I am never the Commander of Chunky Monkey's guitar.
Jeff Peterson certainly safely navigates his guitars through very complex songs and is able to create a wide variety of music from slack key, to classical, to jazz, and all the combinations, thereof. He certainly may be labled it's MASTER.
Since nobody is calling them "COMMANDERS of Slack Key" (or worse yet) "CAPTAINS of Slack Key" -- I'm OK with it. 
CAPTAIN MIKE |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 10:11:02 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by wcerto
the first thing I thought of is: ah, this is overtly campaigning for a Grammy.
I've found the discussion interesting and thought provoking. From the sidelines, we have the luxury of laughing at marketing ploys and admiring/poking fun at artists' integrity in how they present their music. I guess if it were my livelihood, wouldn't I want to market and position myself to win a Grammy with every release? I think I would.
Anyhow, as music fans, we vote with our wallets (as Wanda has done in this case.) What the Grammy voters say, well, that is a topic for another thread.  |
Andy |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 10:12:42 AM
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So Wanda, maybe you can call him "Young Master" Jeff 
(kind of has that Star-Wars ring to it, speaking of Marketing Terms) 
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
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no ka oi
Aloha
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 12:02:56 PM
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| For any who don't him, Jeff is very humble and would never refer to himself as anything but a guitar player. FWIW he fits my definition of a great player. Touch, tone, emotional content and great technical proficiency. |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 12:22:29 PM
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OK, I can mentally (cerebrally??) live with Lawrence's definition!
Perhaps someone needs to copyright and license the "Slack Key Master" brand and sell stuff, too. And maybe even get posable action figures or maybe even some kind "super hero" designation for the real kupuna guys.
But please know that I WANT, yes I WANT Hawaiian musicians to succeed and make money. That is why I spend my dollars on them and why I tirelessly promote the music however I can. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
Edited by - wcerto on 10/02/2010 01:33:04 AM |
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Peter Medeiros
`Olu`olu
546 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 12:32:14 PM
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It has been a while since the last pissing contest on TP, I believe it may be time to add my two cents. The course of this discussion between old timers indicates to me that the positions and rationale have changed very little over the years and that there is just as much passion for either side as there was before. No one artist, including myself, is going to be able to please everyone. As an artist, you really only want to hear from the gruntled people as opposed to the disgruntled people. There are always going to be detractors
Although this is my viewpoint, it is also shared by several well-respected kumu hula. We do talk about Hawaiian music, slack key and hula because we have a responsibility to the culture. These are parts of the culture that are practiced everyday and at anytime of the day. They are not limited to the hours of Hawai‘i's entertainers of 5:00PM through 10:00 PM. -- when most audiences view the Hawaiian music and hula. They are also not limited to the viewpoint that only recorded Hawaiian entertainers are the sole practitioners of the arts.
Jeff is a great player and there should not be any question as to his musical, creative and technical abilities, and although you might not think so, he is going to get better. He has very few shortcomings. My observation is this, the place where he falls short is on the feel for the hula and the ki‘i pa‘i. The rhythm and the feel of hula are a part of slack key. Without this element, it is as though the heart of the music is missing. You can play all the right notes, but if the phrasing does not reflect that hula rhythm, it becomes hard for me to accept it as good piece of work. Once he becomes more familiar with hula and its rhythms, then his slack key will breathe.
Now as to the new album, there should be no mistake that this latest release entitled "Amy Hanaiali‘i and the Masters of Slack Key" is a product geared towards winning the 2011 Hawaiian Grammy Award. As we all know the Hawaiian Grammy Award winning albums have all been linked to slack key, with one exception. This album features Amy, Jeff, Cyril Pahinui, Dennis Kamakahi, Chino Montero and Sonny Lim.
In addition to knowledge we gain through our own personal experience, we rely upon the opinions and views of others to develop a viewpoint. Now being the mature and unbiased adults that we are (it's hard to say this with a straight face), we have learned that we cannot believe everything that we read, hear or see in the media as being absolutely true or factual. However, with that being said our choices are still influenced everyday through effective marketing campaigns. That is, what we eat, what we view, where we shop, who we listen too, where we vacation, etc.
For me, the best take on this topic is the one that Mark provided describing the marketing of the "Masters" product by Dancing Cat. To my knowledge in the sequence of events, his statements should not be overlooked.
Achieving brand recognition is one of the most coveted aspects of marketing. Establishing a brand name for a company does not guaranty that there will be some measure of success, but it does establish notoriety and higher visibility. For those of you in business in these difficult times you just hope to break even on the investment.
Everything concerning the marketing construct "master" and who has that "slack key master" designation is a byproduct of this marketing campaign -- including this very discussion. For the average person who is not from Hawai‘i or is not familiar with Hawaiian culture, there are a number of connotations attached to the term "slack key master" that Hawaiians and those familiar with Hawaiian culture do not recognize. With the exception of one or two clueless local news anchors, the term is so overused it has become meaningless to many of the local people.
The designation "master" suggests that the product advertised is of the highest quality and authentic regardless of whether or not this is a fact or just hearsay. It is an effective way of drawing attention to a specific product or product line and vetting competing products or artists. Nowadays, there is only woe for the traditional slack key artist who is not a designated a "Slack Key Master". Aloha ino!
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Edited by - Peter Medeiros on 10/01/2010 12:40:11 PM |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 12:57:56 PM
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Well then Peter, woe is me!
But I love to play anyway. |
Karl
Frozen North |
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Bau
Lokahi
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2010 : 4:04:57 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Peter Medeiros
No one artist, including myself, is going to be able to please everyone. As an artist, you really only want to hear from the gruntled people as opposed to the disgruntled people. There are always going to be detractors
I'm sorry but I have to disagree with this. As an artist I want to hear from disgruntled. If you are just playing by yourself to please yourself thats one thing , but as an artist and entertainer, don't you want to know when you are missing the mark, that is not reaching your audience and leaving them unsatisfied? I know I do. True you can't please everybody, but I like knowing why some are displeased. when taken with healthly perspective it can be very enlightning. Its a lot more interesting then just having a bunch of people patting you on the back telling you how wonderful you are all the time.
@ Wanda you mean like Slack key version of the 'rock star' action figures? http://www.rock-n-roll-action-figures.com/  |
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Slack "MASTER" designation
