Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 8, 1 August 2022 — Eddie Kamae Songbook: A Musical Journey [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Eddie Kamae Songbook: A Musical Journey

By Myrna Kamae In an obituary published by theNew York Times in 2017, writer Nate Chinen called Eddie Kamae "one of the most important musicians ofthe second half ofthe 20th century." Kamae's career spanned five decades and was marked by innovation and preservation. Now, five years after his passing, a songbook featuring a collection of34 songs that were tneaningful to hisjourney as musician,filmmaker and Hawaiian son is available and free online at eddiekamaesongbook.org. My husband, Eddie Kamae, devoted his life to music. As a young man he played songs on an 'ukulele his brother found abandoned on a bus. By the 1940s, he was recognized as an 'ukulele virtuoso who developed a jazz picking style that forever changed the status of the 'ukulele. Later, the Sons of Hawai'i, the legendary band he formed with Gabby Pahinui in the 1950s, played a pioneering role in the Hawaiian cultural renaissance. By the 1970s, Eddie was known for his instrumental genius and a vigorous singing style that carried the spirit of an ancient vocal tradition of old Hawai'i into the 21st century. Through Sons of Hawai'i, we produced many albums of traditional Hawaiian music. Eddie wanted to know the source of Hawaiian music, saying that "all cultures evolve and change, but it is important to identify the heart and soul of a culture - that part is irreplaceable." He found answers in songs by composers who not only wrote in Hawaiian, they thought in Hawaiian. He began searching and was guided to Bishop Museum to the original copies of Queen Lili'uokalani's work. Some of these songs, too, are in the songbook. His teacher Mary Kawena Pukui told him, "Eddie, the answer is not only in the museums and archives; it is out there in the valleys and the countryside." So he went to the countryside to listen and learn and, along the way, collected many of the songs in this songbook.

He also began writing his own songs, including E Kuu Morning Dew with Larry Kimura. I joined him onee in a while. The songs we wrote together include Ke Ala A Ka Jeep with Mary Kawena Pukui, Maka Ua, E Ho'omau, and Nānā Mai. During the 1980s, while continuing to perform, arrange and lead the Sons of Hawai'i band, he began a second career in documentary filmmaking. From 1988 to 2010, through the Hawaiian Legacy Foundation, we made 10 award-winning documentaries that were celebrated nationally and are still available on the foundation website, in schools and shown on PBS Hawai'i. Eddie's personal journey is measured by the many teachers he met along the way. From Mary Kawena Pukui and Pilahi Paki to 'Iolani Luahine, Sam Li'a Kalainaina and "Papa" Henry Auwae. Dancers and singers,

storytellers, healers and elders guided him in his long quest to find the sources of a rich tradition. Eddie kept strumming and humming until he could do no more. Despite his death in 2017, the Hawaiian Legacy Foundation that we started decades ago is continuing his work. At the top of our list was producing The Eddie Kamae Songbook. Years in the making, the entire multimedia songbook is online and free at www.eddiekamaesongbook.org. The seed for this project was planted when U.H. West O'ahu Chancellor Maenette K.P. Ah Nee-Benham found out that I was reviewing some of Eddie's songs to share with musicians. Maenette suggested a songbook and a curriculum to go with it. The majority of the work was

done by Hui Hana, the core project team comprised of archivist and Program Director Kapena Shim, Language and Curriculum Specialist Lilinoe Andrews and me. We divided the work and then huddled together every week for two years to ensure, as Maenette promised Eddie days before his death, that his work would be available to students in Hawai'i's classrooms It is a collection of 34 songs that were meaningful to Eddie's journey as musician, filmmaker, and Hawaiian son. Eaeh presented as a puolo (bundle) with lyrics/ translation, song story, educational questions, music sheets, video/audio clips, a bibliography, and print resources from the Kamae archive. It is an interdisciplinary curriculum and valuable foundation for the music, stories, and aloha to live on. I hope it will evolve into a significant resource for current and future musicians of

Hawai'i and the world, in schools and homes, and serve as a guide for the casual music fan. The Eddie Kamae Songbook is part of an ongoing endeavor to continue our work so that his music, spirit and aloha will live on. Honolulu Magazine's Don Wallaee called it "significant, resourceful and deep." Billy V. of Hawai'i News Now said it "speaks to the legacy of a wonderful man who is still educating and entertaining us all." ■ "Continue, Eddie, continue! Continue on until it is finished." - Mary Kawena Pukui Hawaiian Legacy Foundation's partners in the songbook include U.H. West O'ahu, 'Ulu'ulu: The Henry Ku'ualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive and Alaka'ina Foundation.

The Eddie Kemae Songbook is 0 digitol compilotion of 34 songs thot were especiolly meoningful to Komoe's musicol ond life journey. - Phoio: Poone Morrison

Aunty Myrno Komoe, widow of the legendory Eddie Komoe, with Moenette Ah Nee-Benhom. Ah Nee-Ben-hom, who is the choncellor ot UH West O'ohu, wos the person who suggested thot Aunty Myrno put together the songbook. - Phoio: Carol M. Fox