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Kaunakakai, HI
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Sat, 2010-07-31 17:54
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This Week's Cover
Music
Stories regarding Molokai's music scene
Gimme a Beat
African dance troupe performs on Molokai.
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Molokai Public Library’s usually quiet halls echoed with drum beats and song last Wednesday as Badenyaa African Diaspora Dance Theater took the make-shift stage. They incorporated drumming, dancing and chanting in a one-hour performance that had their audience captivated.Michael Cahill (left), Emily Uribe and Rob Oda of the Oahu-based Badenyaa African Diaspora Dance Theater perform last week at the Molokai Public Library.About 40 people – including many keiki – gathered for the performance by four members from the Oahu-based group. Between songs, choreographer and lead singer Emily Uribe also gave the crowd lessons in African history, mythology and geography.
2 CommentsThe Green Scene
Q&A with Oahu’s hit reggae band.
It’s not everyday you get to nod your head, tap your feet and sway your body to the funky reggae beats of The Green live on Molokai. So it’s no wonder that when the Oahu-based band marked its presence at Paddlers Inn last Friday, they were greeted with a mass of welcoming fans.Prior to the show, we talked with Zion Thompson, lead guitarist and vocalist for The Green, and found that The Green seed was planted long before the band even came together. We also talked story with Thompson about what the band has been up to recently.Oahu’s hit reggae band The Green (pictured above), who is also promoted by HI Finest, rocked the stage at Paddlers Inn last Friday night.
Hitting the Right Note
Slack key guitarist performs on Molokai.
Over 50 people crowded the Molokai Public Library last Wednesday to hear slack key guitarist Jeff Peterson play a set of traditional and original pieces. In between songs, he talked about the history of slack key and what makes the style distinct. “You extend the range of the instrument,” he said of the technique of detuning the guitar to allow for more slack in the strings. “It’s a real full, rich sound.” Slack key began when Mexican cowboys arrived in Hawaii the 1800s to start ranching – and brought with them the steel-string guitar. “Hawaiians took it and adapted it and put some aloha spirit in it,” said Peterson, who grew up on Maui.
Holding On To Hula
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Na Kupuna O Moana’s hula halau seem to glow as they join in a celebration of hula at Ka Hula Piko last Saturday. In its 19th year, the festival was held at Mitchell Pauole Center for the first time, a switch from its traditional Papohaku Beach location. One event organizer said Ka Hula Piko had not seen decreased attendance at its former location at Papohaku Beach but that organizers wanted to bring it to a bigger cross section of Molokai and not just the west end. The late kumu hula John Kaimikaua founded the annual event in 1991. “The heartbeat of our culture is dance. It is the essence of ourselves. Every movement in the universe is in our dance,” wrote Ka`imikaua.
Strumming Their Way to Molokai
Kamehameha Guitar Club performs.
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Nine students from Kamehameha School brought cheers and laughs to a Molokai audience last Saturday as they played guitar and sang. An ample audience of about three dozen swayed and sang along to an eclectic mix of favorites like “Wahine Ilikea,” “Take Me Home Country Roads” and even a song by Frank Sinatra. Everyone joined hands in an all-encompassing circle for the program’s finale, “Hawaii Aloha.”Both a music and a service club, the students of the Kamehameha Guitar Club volunteered at Ali`i Fishpond with Merve Dudoit before their performance at Home Pumehana last Saturday. The group, which includes two Molokai students, raised money to make the trip, and local families donated food and opened their homes for the students to stay.
Katchafire Heats It Up
Q&A with New Zealand’s hottest reggae band.
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When the Molokai Dispatch got wind that the guys from Katchafire were coming to spread their musical flavor on the Friendly Isle, we couldn’t help but jump on the bandwagon. Deeply rooted from New Zealand, the band took to the stage their exceptional vocals, talented writing and sensual depth last Thursday at Paddlers Inn. Katchafire’s extreme energy was matched by the intensity of the massive crowd, who discovered that where there is smoke, there is definitely fire. Katchafire, pictured above, was named after Bob Marley and The Wailers' album "Catch a Fire."Molokai Dispatch (MD): The show on Molokai was a detour from your original tour, what brought you guys here?
Katchafire Returning to Molokai
New Zealand band and local team up.
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In years past, popular musical acts such as Fiji, Hoaikane, and Bradah Walter have performed on Molokai. But the Friendly Isle has been missing its concert fix for a while – and is attempting a comeback with the help from a local son.Paulele Alcon moved to Oahu for college, and has been helping friends in the music scene promote the hottest bands in the state ever since. While he works for Hawaiian Insurance during the day, following in his father Pancho’s footsteps, Alcon said he’s wanted to pursue his own kind of promotion – with a clothing brand.“I always knew I could do things better but never had the power to do things my way – which is the reason why I've started my own [company],” he said.
Makalei...Pehea Ka Lawai'a
CD Product of Stew Kawakami and Mike Judd
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Community Contributed CD Review by Lonomusic
Ingrid Toth, Lono headline book signing
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Molokai musician Lono strummed his guitar as passerby flowed in and out of the Art from the Heart gallery last Wednesday, waiting to meet Ingrid Toth, author of “Light within Despair.” The book and CD signing was a collective event that not only included Toth and Lono, but also featured Donald Sunshine, a longtime Molokai resident and author.“Light within Despair” is Toth’s first published novel that tells the story of a woman’s struggle to fit within a male-dominated society in 20th century Europe.Toth, along with Sunshine and Lono, drew in a buzzing crowd that saw anyone from art and literature aficionados, to curious members of the community.