Hawaiian Music Hits the Mainland

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Mainland success is also in the offing for the slack-key guitarists on George Winston's Dancing Cat label, an offshoot of Windham Hill devoted solely to the lush fingerpicking style pioneered by Hawaiian cowboys in the 1800s. Dancing Cat's Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters compilation has topped 100,000 in sales and remains a first-rate sampler of contemporary slack-key playing. With an intricate cascade of notes ringing out from a steel guitar, the style appeals to a wide range of listeners.

But that's just the beginning. “Jawaiian” music, a reggae offshoot, is ubiquitous on Hawaiian radio but not particularly Hawaiian. Native rappers—Sudden Rush and others—push civil rights issues and the cause of sovereignty in rudimentary Hawaiian lyrics. And, most interestingly, new traditionalists are working to revive not only Hawaiian folk music, but also native language and culture.

Many people saw Kamakawiwo'ole, until his death in 1997, as the spiritual figurehead of this school. Although he dabbled in pop music, he always remained grounded in the musical traditions of the island. His songs, sung in a coconut-butter lilt, celebrated the islands and their people while making a plea for their future.

No one could take Iz's place, but the traditional revival is in good hands with the likes of Kekuhi Kanahele. Her two albums, Hahani Mai (Punahele Productions) and Kekuhi (Mountain Apple), showcase an intense, earthy diva who breathes personality and fire and humor into songs she writes in Hawaiian with her husband, Kaipo Frias. Traditional ukulele, steel guitar, chant, and drum sounds form her musical backdrop, but she twists these familiar elements into wholly new forms.

“Kekuhi does not polish her voice or recording,” wrote Donaghy on NahenaheNet. “She projects a mana, a power that is drawn from the depths of her lineage.”

Hawaiian music has a vast expressive range—from bone-rattling chants to cooing ballads, from ukulele sing-alongs to harmonious slack-key stylings. And the vowel-laden native tongue is one of the most melodious languages on earth, turning even speech into music. By keeping their culture alive, artists like Kanahele and Hapa are ensuring that Hawaiian culture doesn't go the way of Waikiki.

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