A couple years ago, the Descendants soundtrack introduced me to the “slack key” guitar style native to Hawai‘i. A lot of my friends are unfamiliar with this beautiful, beguiling, unique musical style, so I thought I’d share a few of my favorites.
The story is that the guitar was introduced to Hawai‘i by Spanish and Portugese sailors in the 19th century. But the Hawaiians being very creative musical types started fiddling with the tunings and the finger-picking style they’d picked up from the Flamenco players, and adapting to it the styles of the hula and other influences. The result was a characteristically Hawaiian melting pot style, that can be as fun and lively as an American folk tune, or as mournful as a European ballad, all with a distinctively Hawaiian flavor.
My favorite slack key artist is Keola Beamer (whose “Kalena Kai” and “‘Imi Au Ia ‘Oe” are on the Descendants soundtrack). Beamer performs particularly beautiful and soothing music. Check out his performance of “Wai Ulu,” for example. It has an almost baroque intricacy to it, but with the delicacy of a lullaby. On the other hand, his “Ke ‘Oni Ne Ka Huila” has an upbeat, cowboy sound to it. Honestly, I love nearly everything he plays.
Ozzie Kotani’s album To Honor A Queen is a beautiful collection of slack key versions of Queen Lili‘uokalani’s songs, most famous of which is “Aloha Oe.” My favorite on this album is “Ahe Lau Makani,” but this whole album is superb.
Makana (whose “Deep in An Ancient Hawaiian Forest” is on the Descendants CD), has a more contemporary style, having incorporated rock and pop influences and all sorts of different styles into his music. But I like his plain slack key music best. His song “Fado” is especially beautiful—it’s his reconstruction of a Portuguese folk song originally recorded by Sonny Chillingworth, who didn’t know Portuguese and sang the lyrics phonetically (with gibberish results). Chillingworth’s version is called “Charmarita,” and it’s also been recorded by Jeff Peterson in a lovely instrumental version. Makana’s version of “Ahe Lau Makani” is also not to be missed.
Danny Carvalho is another slack key artist I particularly enjoy. His album Slack Key Journey: On My Way is great.
The most famous slack key guitarist is the late Gabby Pahinui. I’m not a big fan of Pahinui’s singing, but his playing is lovely. Listen, for instance, to his “Farewell Medley.”
But if you want to get an overall view, check out these collections: Slack Key Guitar and Slack Key Guitar 2, or Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters. By the way, slack key Christmas songs are also especially beautiful.
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