My start in Hawaiian music

Between 1984 and 1992 I was based in Honolulu, where I earned a BA and MA in Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii, concentrating on Japanese language and modernization and also the music of Chinese Peking Opera.

Looking back, it seems amazing that I didn't fall hard for Hawaiian music while I was there. But I was pretty busy studying Chinese opera fiddle with a master player from Shanghai, and rehearsing and performing at the U.H., as well as playing in the Javanese gamelan and studying Japanese koto. (OK, OK, I also played viola in the Chamber Orchestra and violin in the Symphony Orchestra!)

I remember being moved, my first Christmas in Honolulu, by hearing two fellow students sing Honolulu City Lights at a party --- and I had never heard the Beamer Brothers' record! I was certainly exposed to some good Hawaiian music right on campus, as I recall seeing Dennis Pavao, Led Ka'apana, The Peter Moon Band (I think with Cyril Pahinui), and the Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau featuring both Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and his brother Skippy. Got serious 'chicken skin' hearing them sing White Sandy Beach that day, I believe in '88.

As soon as I had left the Islands in '92, I knew I'd made a mistake, and I really grieved for a long time. By 2000, I'd been back in California almost as long as I'd been in the Islands to begin with, but still hadn't gotten over my longing for the smell of plumeria and ginger blossoms, the feel of tropical heat cooled by tradewinds, and the sight of azure skies over turquoise seas. My slack-key records including those of my hero, Dennis Kamakahi, gave me some comfort, but I didn't see myself taking up guitar at this late date. I was attracted to the ukulele: sweeter, smaller, cheerful-sounding and easy to play with the thumb or fingers, with no need of a pick. I finally bought one and taught myself in short order to play it, strumming the chords of my favorite songs along with records by Gabby Pahinui, Ray Kane, Aunty Genoa Keawe, The Sunday Manoa and of course Eddie Kamae and the Sons of Hawai'i, featuring young Dennis Kamakahi.

It was summer 2001 now, and at a UH Alumni Association event in San Francisco, I met Saichi Kawahara and his Kapalakiko Hawaiian Band. To my amazement, he was interested in my expressed desire to sing and play Hawaiian music, which I figured my fledgling abilities at the ukulele would make possible. But his real hook was the fact that I was an accomplished player and improviser on the viola and violin, as well as the Japanese and Chinese 'fiddles.' Soon after, I was invited to apprentice with the Kapalakiko Hawaiian Band, and pretty soon after that I was performing in the front line with the group every Friday and Saturday night.


Over the next 18 months, I performed at least 150 gigs with the KHB, including 10 as bass guitarist, learning and singing hundreds of classic old and not-so-old songs from the traditional Hawaiian repertoire, and accompanying terrific artists such as the Lim Family featuring Sonny "Kohala" Lim (see photo below), Willie K, Bill Tapia, and Patrick Landeza. It was always exciting to accompany and provide music for several hula companies and artists, especially Patrick Makuakane and his Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu.


It was a thrill singing unison and harmony vocals on all the numbers, and even some lead vocals, and using my viola or 'fiddle' as though it were a steel guitar, playing the sweet characteristic fills or 'oli' between each verse repetition, and also taking a lot of the improvised solos or 'pa'ani.' Once a booking agent complained to Saichi about presenting a Hawaiian band with the 'inappropriate' front line instrument of viola, only to be sternly reprimanded by our leader, with a lesson about the historical precedent of the violin in Hawaiian music, which was set by the legendary Sam Li'a and others.

I will never forget that my first performance with the band was on September 9, 2001, and my first rehearsal after my debut with them was as always on the Tuesday following: 9/11/01. Passing San Francisco International Airport on that rare evening, en route to band headquarters near Candlestick Park, itself a place holding lots of memories for me, one couldn't help getting an eery feeling indeed, as entry to the airport terminals was blocked by extensive law enforcement and governmental presence.

My last performance, at the start of March 2003, came right on the eve of the Iraq War. Along the way there were lots of memories, like being right in front of the TV by the bar in the old Hukilau (Japantown SF)--- and in the middle of singing Ulupalakua --- as Barry Bonds hit his 71st homerun. It turned out I had not only predicted when I arrived that night that he would hit it, but even nailed the time!

Anyway, I'd like to say mahalo a nui loa to Uncle Saichi for all he taught me, and for the chance to sing and play my 'slack key viola' with the KHB. I really got alot from some of the others in the band, too, such as Vern Fernandez, Vince Fernandez, and Lola Tortolero. And I'll always be grateful to kumu hula Patrick Makuakane, who let me attend his oli (chant) classes.

Most recently it was my pleasure to introduce hundreds of English students in the greater Beijing, China area to the ukulele, and to Hawaiian music and culture. I taught most of my classes to sing such classics as I'll Remember You, by the late lamented Kuiokalani Lee, Honolulu City Lights by Keola Beamer, and Dennis Kamakahi's Maui Mountain Home. Oh, and White Sandy Beach, of course!

But the ukulele is great for singing any kind of song, and I was compelled to learn the songs that every student in China knows: Yesterday Once More (The Carpenters) and Hotel California!

--eg