Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 8, 1 August 2002 — Summer slack-key festival marks 20 years with two CDs [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Summer slack-key festival marks 20 years with two CDs

Bv Manu Boyd When the SpanishVIexican vaqueros i (cowbo;ys) fet brougbt their guitars to Hawai'i in 1836, could they have imagined that

their musical introduction would « be impacting Hawaiians 166 year 1 later? Hawaiian "paniolo" (referring ' to cowboys, literally "Espanol") took to the guitar instantly, and developed their ownbrand of playing with a variety of non-European tunings. The

genre eame to be known as k'i hō'alu, whieh literally translates as "loosened key" or "slack-key." On Aug. 18, ki hō'alu will for the 20th year take the spotlight under the direction of VIilton Lau and Ka-Hōkū Productions. The annual Ki Hō'alu Festival has its roots

in 1982 in Waimānalo to whieh thousands of music lovers were drawn. The original site was selected as it was the home town to Gabby Pahinui, himself 1 synonymous with ki hō'alu, > and largely responsible for the

renaissance of Hawaiian culture in the late 1960s. Since then, the festival has been held not only at different sites on O'ahu, but the neighbor islands as well. 'L Loeal artists have also \ toured the continent and ;■ 'i suchcountri.es as Japan,

the UK and Germany undar the Ki Hō'alu Festival barmer. N o doubt at any of these events, names

of such late greats as Pahinui, Sonny Chillingworth, Leonard Kwan and Atta Isaacs will be reverently uttered. But the groundswell of interest in the genre has produced dozens of talented musicians, many of whom will converge at the Kapi'olani Park Bandstand for what promises to be - in its 20th year - the best festival yet. VIakana, Dennis Kamakahi, Oeean Kaowili, David Kahiapo, VIaunalua, Bla Pahinui, Cyril Pahinui and Bariy Flanagan are among parformers on the line-up. In celebration of this banner year, two CDs have been produced by festival head VIilton Lau: "Ki' Hō alu nō ka Oi," featuring a dozen-and-a-half artists; and " On the Edge" by New Wave NatVes who are comprised of outstanding guitarists who are perhaps less visible: Kimo West, Konald kauli'a, Jeff Peterson, and the the late Gabe Kapahua who Lau lovingly dedicated the project to. See Ki HŌ'ALU on page 14

H0P0P0 — —

KI HŌ'ALU from page 8 K'i Hō'alu is spirit music. Food for the soul that extends from ihe artist3 through ihe instrument and voice3 and to those fortunate to exparience it. Though many of ihe old standards like "//i'i/awe," "

I4/ai o ke AnianP and " Pa uoa Liko ka Lehua " are heard time and again, they represent a cultural persistence that falls on eager ears ensuring quality of art for ihe next 20 years and beyond. ■