Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 5, 1 ʻApelila 2008 — Kauaʻi jam session celebrates 25 years [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kauaʻi jam session celebrates 25 years

By Liza Simon ŪHA Public Affairs Specialist Aniee shady backyard may be the best plaee to learn Hawaiian music - especially if you have a talented tutu in a teaching mood. But anyone on Kaua'i without access to the aforementioned ean always count on E Kanikapila Kākou. Eaeh EKK session at Island School in Puhi features one Hawaiian music master who gives instruction in a favorite composition. The take-home lesson for everyone is usually that the more you know about sweet Hawaiian music, the more you want to learn. "EKK changes every year and the master musicians always bring in something fresh and new," says series organizer Carol Yotsuda, who is a veteran art teacher on Kaua'i, well-known for her tireless

support of art and music education. Case in point: this year Yotsuda organized EKK around the theme of "new and emerging artists." Session leaders ranged from nose flute expert Anthony Natividad to the 86-year-old Ambrose Smith, who has been strumming his guitar quite proficiently for decades with Kaua'i's own Kama'āinas. But does Smith fit the theme of "new and emerging"? He does, explains Yotsuda, because he just finished recording his first-ever CD. The EKK season, whieh begins every Ianuary, culminates with an April finale concert, featuring an all-star hneup at the perfonning arts center of Kaua'i Conununity College. This year's concert also marks a ehanee for the series to celebrate a quarter century. EKK was bom from a moment of inspiration at a Kaua'i gathering of

friends in 1983, where Yotsuda just happened to let it slip that - even though she was from here - she really didn't know any Hawaiian songs. She wanted to leam, but the question was: Where to go? Others agreed that Yotsuda probably wasn't alone in her dilenuna. And so one year and a small grant later, they helped her to organize the first E Kanikapila Kākou - 'ōlelo Hawai'i for "strike up the music." In the beginning, it was "a tme hidden gem," remembers Yotsuda. Two decades later, it's not so hid-

den: Banner attendance - including a mix of tourists and locals sometimes numbers into the stand-ing-room-only hundreds. And what's not to love about getting free tutoring from some of the biggest names in Hawaiian music? "They not only teach the lyrics and the chords, they also get across the good things that are wrapped up in the music," says Yotsuda. For example, picture Hawai'i's kupuna composer hmgard 'Āluh cracking people up by revealing that Boyfrom Laupāhoehoe eame to her while she

was vacuuming, or contemporary songstress Robi Kahakalau sharing not only chords but her knowledge of kalo. These are some of the many memories shared by perennial EKK fans, Yotsuda recalls, including one loeal music teacher who has even archived EKK sheet music, preserving an impressive repertoire. I

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NĀ HANANA • EVENTS

The 25th anniversary season of E Kanikapila Kakou closes withaconcertfeaturing Dennis and David Kamakahi. They've received mulhple awards — Dennis is a 200 7 Grammy® Award winner and 2006 Hawaii State Foundation of Culture and Arts lndividual Artist Fellowship recipient and that's just the tip of the iceberg. - Photo: Courtesy of Anne E. 0'Malley