Slack Key Celebration of the `Ilima

Welcome to Kaleponi Records, my musical home on the web. My name is Fran Guidry, and I play kika ki hoʻalu or Hawaiian slack key guitar.

Kaleponi is the Hawaiian word for California, where I live. Ki hoʻalu, or slack key, has a direct link to California history. The guitar was carried to the Big Island of Hawaiʻi by vaqueros from California. You can read more about the history of slack key guitar on the Dancing Cat Records web site.

Slack key guitar is named for the retuning that characterizes the style. Most of these new tunings feature loosened, or slackened, strings which give a deep rich sound.

My personal slack key history goes back to 1999 and my first visit to Hawaiʻi. When we turned on the TV in our Waikiki hotel room I was captivated by the playing of Keola Beamer. I knew in an instant that I had to learn to play this beautiful music. Over the years I've learned from great players and teachers like Ozzie Kotani, Keola himself, Patrick Landeza, Kevin Brown, Cyril Pahinui, Kawika Kahiapo, Raymond Kane, Dennis Kamakahi, and Ledward Kaapana.

Sunday, June 8th, 2014

One of my favorite places in Kailua is Na Pohaku o Hauwahine, an area rich in myth and history, a state park preserve, and a vegetation restoration project area. I’ve visited often, even shot a video there some years ago. This time I went to celebrate the `ilima, flower of `Oahu, with a song about the blossom and the children of the island, Na Pua Lei `Ilima.

This song is usually credited to Kaui Zuttermeister, but at the Huapala song collection the original mele is said to have been composed by Abbey Palea.

Pat La`a and I made several attempts to record and video this song but either technical difficulties or performance problems caused me to discard our attempts. When we finally got all the details right I was glad we made the effort to do the song and the place justice.

Kimo Tully has spent countless hours to enhance the experience of Na Pohaku, it was a pleasure to hear his comments on the place and to see the progress he and his volunteers have made.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 8th, 2014 at 7:53 pm and is filed under Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.