The second Grammy Award for recorded Hawaiian music went to "Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitars - Vol. 1," a CD that features 12 cuts of songs most of us know well. And it features artists that most of us know too. More than 170 new CDs were released in Hawai`i last year; 26 of them were entered in the Grammys; five were selected as finalists; and on Feb. 8, the winner was announced in California.
The award goes to the producers Daniel Ho, Wayne Wong, Paul Konwiser of Daniel Ho Creations. Ho, a Los Angeles studio musician, composer and producer, also is featured among the artists on the winning CD.
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So, that is two-for-two for slack-key guitar, as many in the local recording industry continue to express hope that NARAS will add another category for vocal Hawaiian music recordings. Two categories for Hawaiian music certainly isn't too much to ask. After all, there are more than 100 categories. What's one more?
A Honolulu magazine cover story asks the question: "Why does slack key rule?"
Part of the answer is that guitar is so popular all over the country, an instrument used in so many genre -- from flamenco, jazz, rock, blues, to pop, country, folk, Hawaiian, and so much more. The most popular instruments in American homes are the guitar and the piano, in that order.
Another consideration is that slack-key guitar, which we call ki ho`alu, has been around a long time. The guitar was here long before the steel guitar and the `ukulele -- both of which have been long thought of as musical signatures of Hawai`i - and slack-key tunings and playing techniques were developed by Hawaiians, beginning about 175 years ago and continuing today as these geniuses of the guitar improve upon their styles.
Another answer is exposure and promotion of ki ho`alu.
While steel guitar popularity in Hawaiian music was waning, and `ukulele popularity was rising and falling in a cyclic manner, slack-key guitar was on a steady popularity increase. There were still no slack-key guitarists outside the Islands and most Hawaiian music fans the world over did not even know what it was.
In 1976, when we wrote the articles and the discography of recorded slack-key guitar music for Guitar Player Magazine, there were only a few who were regarded as "masters." There was Gabby Pahinui, Atta Isaacs, Raymond Kane, Leonard Kwan, Sonny Chillingworth, and some lesser known but equally talented musicians like Fred Punahoa.
That was the first major exposure for slack key guitar outside Hawai`i nei. A tip of the hat to the editor and publisher of Guitar Player for inviting us to write those stories and the discography.
At that time, most music fans outside Hawai`i knew of steel guitar and at different times, the `ukulele had gained prominence on the Mainland and several foreign countries. But most had never heard of slack-key guitar. And many fans at home didn't give it much thought. It was just a part of Hawaiian music they loved. Most of us who were performing Hawaiian music in the 50s, 60s, 70s were in traditional combos that featured `ukulele, guitar, bass, steel guitar, but few of the guitarists played slack key.
It was easier to name a longer list of falsetto singers than to name a dozen guitarists who could play slack key.
One question asked by many who don't know the artists and the music business ask is "who is a 'master' and how does one become a 'master' in this or any musical genre?"
Several of our readers and listeners have asked us that question ... some admittedly very skeptical.
"It seems that all slack-key guitarists are now 'masters,'" wrote one Hawaiian music fan. "Are they all that good?"
There are few masters in most genre. You can name the "masters" in flamenco, which has been around for centuries and which is considerably wider spread. Names that immediately come to mind are Montoya, Sabicas, Segovia.
There were, none-the-less, many up and coming ki ho`alu artists -- Ke`ola and Kapono Beamer, Dennis Kamakahi, the sons of Gabby Pahinui, and others -- in the 1970s, and it came as no surprise that George Winston, who started recording Hawai`i's slack-key guitarists on his new Dancing Cat Records label in the 1980s, sought to record all of them.
It was also no surprise that Winston and his marketing experts dubbed all of the Dancing Cat artists as "masters" and, in addition to their own solo CDs, released one compilation CD called "Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters - Instrumental Collection." Included on that release were Cyril Pahinui, Ozzie Kotani, Moses Kahumoku, Leonard Kwan, George Kuo (with steel guitarist Barney Isaacs), Sonny Chillingworth, Keola Beamer (with George Winston), Ledward Ka`apana, and Ray Kane.
A second "Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters Collection -- volume 2" followed on the Dancing Cat label, featuring Kane, Dennis Kamakahi, Cyril Pahinui (with Bob Brozman), Chillingworth, Ka`apana (& Friends), Beamer, James "Bla" Pahinui, Ka`apana (with Brozman), Beamer (with Winston), George Kahumoku.
Other labels followed suit, and soon the number of CDs featuring slack-key guitar far outnumbered those featuring other instruments and styles. Natually, many artists mix the genre, singing falsetto (leo ki`eki`e) and adding steel guitar, `ukulele, ancient Hawaiian instruments, even "strings" and synthesizer sounds to the ki ho`alu recordings. After all, it is all Hawaiian music.
Soon, every slack-key guitar concert in the Islands and abroad was being billed and advertised as featuring "masters" of the art. Young, unknown artists lucky enough to perform with the older, more seasoned veterans were dubbed "masters" and accepted as such.
This is not to detract from their abilities on the instrument. They are all good -- very good. And you have to decide on your own, who among them are truly "masters."
Last year, the first-ever Grammy for Hawaiian music went to Charles Michael Brotman for a compilation CD called "Slack Key Guitar, Vol. 2." The CD featured 10 artists and a variety of songs from very traditional to very contemporary.
This year's winner, "Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Vol. 1" features Cyril Pahinui, Led Ka`apana, Keoki Kahumoku, Daniel Ho, Ozzie Kotani, George Kahumoku Jr., Peter deAquine and Garett Probst. It made good sense to put the term "slack key" in front of NARAS voters again, and good marketing to follow Winston's example by calling all the artists "masters" of slack key guitar. Usually, we don't think "live" recordings in front of an audience are a good idea (unless there is some special reason, such as performing in Carnegie Hall), because quality of recording is usually better in the controlled studio setting. But this CD is well done, in front of a small audience with minimal applause and no whistles, loud noises, or other ambient sounds that would distract from the artists' performances.
Last year, the slack-key guitar CD that won, aced out such well-known local artists as The Brothers Cazimero, Ho`okena, Amy Gilliom & WIlly K, and Keali`i Reichel.
This year, the winning slack-key guitar CD beat out such popular artists as Raitea Helm, Kapono Beamer, Sonny Lim (who was on last year's winner) and Ledward Ka`apana (who was on the winning CD, but whose nominated solo CD lost in the final balloting).
Most of the 17,000 voting members of NARAS have never heard of any of these artists or recordings. And there are only about 100 voting NARAS members in Hawai`i nei.
Now the focus shifts to the upcoming Music of Hawai`i Awards, the "people's choice," sponsored annually by the Music Foundation of Hawai`i, and Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, sponsored annually by the Hawai`i Acdemy of Recording Arts. There are many different categories in the local awards competitions, and the two major awards programs differ considerably. One is voted on by only a few hundred members of the local "academy," and in the other competition, internet voting is by tens of thousands of music fans from the "buying public" from all over the world.
