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©2000 by Ely Music/Pub |
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Coco Wire - Spring '99(Reprinted from the HSGA Quarterly)
How about this one, from a Honolulu Advertiser column: a Chinese wahine, who came over from Beijing to attend Hawai`i Pacific University has translated "Hawaiian Wedding Song" into Chinese! Her grandfather brought probably the very first `ukulele back home to China from a business trip to Hawai`i in the late 1800's. The `ukulele was destroyed during the cultural revolution as being "a symbol of cultural and artistic decadence", but her grandmother's stories about the grandfather she never met fostered a desire to come to Hawai`i. At school here, she listens to a lot of Hawaiian music on the radio, and got the idea to make it available to the Chinese people. Why? "It sends a message to my heart and I'm Chinese -- besides, Hawaiian music is popular in Japan, why not China?" A singer, she gave a concert in Saipan to a packed house of Chinese locals and tourists. She says she wants to be a bridge to connect Chinese people to Hawai`i through music. Go for it, Mimy Chen! Here's how some Hawaiian classics sound in Chinese: "Aloha Oe" = "Zhen Zhong Zai Jing"; "Tiny Bubbles" = "Pao Me Xi You"; "Honolulu City Lights" = "Honolulu Chen Shi Deng Guang"; "Beyond the Reef" = "Shan Lou Jiao Wai". As we write this column in February, "Member's Corner" is snowbound, as far as we can tell. We're putting the few goodies sent to us, here, instead. ALL in the Family: We have THREE Cheney family steel players in HSGA! Joseph, 16, just joined. Joseph, Benjamin and dad Steve all play for the "Ali`i Lu`au" at Polynesian Cultural Center. HSGA now has FOUR Durand family men who play; Roy Durand plays steel, Jean and Richard and Rodney (new additions) play `ukulele, guitar, bass. Now wouldn't that be a stage full at convention! Roy and Jean brought their wives, Sylvia and Rosa to Honolulu convention in 1997. This year, the ENTIRE "Durand Band" is coming to Honolulu in May! Vic Rittenband writes that he and Nancy have been "having some musical success, lately. A number of our songs are now being played on the Internet in Europe. Kanoe Miller ("House Without a Key"'s fine hula dancer with "The Islanders" and the "Hiram Olsen Trio") is dancing to my song, "Lei Kukui" on a regular basis, with Gary Aiko on vocal." Vic says Nancy's new CD "More 'Ukulele Tree" is selling well. It includes 22 of their songs, and features some of Hawai`i's top artists: Nina Keali`iwahamana, Gary Aiko, Myra English, Jerry Byrd, among them. "Our musical jingle for Harry B Soria, Jr.'s KCCN-1420 AM weekly Wednesday show, "Territorial Airwaves", is now their theme song. "Harry devoted a good part of a recent Sunday broadcast to Nancy's new song, "The Rainbow Shower Tree", which she is releasing as part of a fund-raiser CD for The Outdoor Circle." (Sidenote here: You can thank The Outdoor Circle for NO billboards in Hawai`i Look around, next time you're in our Islands.) Also, Vic says "Aaron Mahi, Bandmaster of The Royal Hawaiian Band, has had band charts made so that band vocalist Gene Rowland can feature my song "That's How Much I Love You" ("Postcards from Hawai`i" album.) JT Gallagher writes: "We (JT and Makalina) saw HSGA member Henry Bogdan play steel in a group called the "Hawaiian Moonlighers". They play Tin Pan Alley style, and Hawaiian swing with two female `ukulele players who sing." There's also an acoustic bass "and Henry on the National steel. He's a good steel player." (Henry lives in New York City.) Advance notice to pedal steel players: PSGA will hold its 26th Annual Steel Guitar Celebration November 13,14 at the "Club Hotel by Doubletree", Norwalk, CT. For information write to Bob Maickel, PSGA, Box 20248, Floral Park, NY 11002; phone: 516-616-9214. E-mail address is Linkon - Canada Steel Guitar Show is April 16, 17 at The Airliner Inn in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Wayne also notes that his first Gospel tape will be available this March. Hope this announcement gets to you in time; it was too late for the Winter issue. Best contact Wayne or Joan Link for information and reservations right away. Phone 204-895-0115/Fax: 204-895-9602. For all of you asking "where's Ken Emerson?" he's at the Hanalei Bay Resort on Kaua`i playing with Michaelle Edwards as always, in the "Happy Talk Lounge; Fridays and Saturdays from 6:30- 9:30 p.m. Malcolm Rockwell just gave us the count of his Hawaiian record collection: 6000 78 rpms, 400 45's; 500 33rpm albums. "200 CD's and more cassettes than are good for me," Malcolm says. He says when his discography is published, "anything that comes to me will eventually be placed where the other Hawaiian researchers can get hands-on information." (Anybody out there want to contribute toward a big, temperature-controlled storage warehouse for ALL the records and other Hawaiian music collectibles offered to Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame and Museum? We sure get a lot of requests for it.) FLASH: If you don't have them, two of Alan's steel recordings (THE BEST) are now available from Harry's Music. "Islands Call" has been re-released under the title "Twilight in Hawai`i". Even though the marvelous picture of Jerry Byrd, Alan and the late "Barney" Isaacs is no longer used, nor their names mentioned on the cover, it IS the same wonderful, all-steel recording. How it's been packaged is the decision of its Japanese owner, U'ilani Records. You can also now get "The Golden Treasures of Hawai`i" at Harry's Music, 3457 Wailalae Av., Honolulu, HI 96816, Attn of: Alan Yoshioka. CDs are $14.50; cassettes, $9.95. Add postage to both. 
HSGA * HAWAIIAN
STEEL GUITAR ASSOCIATION Homepage URL: www.hsga.org (hsga@lava.net) Last updated: 07/23/02 by Gerald Ross (gbross@umich.edu) |
