He Mana`o Aloha `Ia

Check out a selection of photos from this year's Festivals of Aloha.
Community Contributed
By Randy Manley
The moon was aglow and the cool breezes were blowing as hundreds of people gathered at the Kaunakakai Ball Field for the first ever Molokai Summer Praise Concert last Friday evening. The free concert featuring various musical groups from around the island was sponsored by eight Molokai churches as a way of sharing the ministry of music with the island community.
While the adults listened to the tunes, the keiki had the opportunity to participate in various games and activities that were designed to keep them entertained and occupied throughout the night.
As the musical smorgasbord was being served from the stage those looking for physical food needed only to follow their noses to the large food tent where musabee, chili and rice, and fresh malasadas were available free of charge.
Adding a special touch to the event was Dawn O’Brien master of ceremonies for the evening. O’Brien, the morning DJ for Christian radio station 95.5 The Fish, entertained the crowd with her quick wit and stories of growing up in the islands as she helped transition between performances.
If you missed the opportunity to attend be assured that the organizers of this event plan to make this an annual affair.
Molokai’s only radio station will no longer air local news updates. The station’s owner, Honolulu-based Ohana Broadcast Company (OBC), made the decision two weeks ago.
KMKK 102.3, which plays traditional and contemporary Hawaiian music, had aired local news briefs three times a day since it began four years ago, though technical problems had kept the news from airing for the last month.
“I’m disappointed that they wouldn’t feel that Molokai needs local radio news,” said former news director David Lichtenstein, who was let go when the decision was made.
Lichtenstein said he suspects OBC is shifting its focus to target listeners on Oahu -- at the expense of those on Molokai. KMKK broadcasts from a tower in Maunaloa and its signal reaches windward Oahu.
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.
Community Contributed
It was meant to be: a master of mele and kiho`alu and the songbird of Molokai. Keola’s voice is at the right place for the leo of Hawaii nei. In his hands, he has held love, guitars, family, friends, ancestors and now, cradled gently, the songbird of Molokai, Raiatea.
With their roots of Hawaiian music well established, they bring us this fine piece of music mastery, of love, kindness and hurt-less music. The path is clear: This is the way Hawaii should be represented to all. The heavenly light shines on both. The waters are flowing again. May we all have a drink? A taste of musical love.
We could not stop putting out the kahea about this work. The mana is here, folks, the mana is here. Generations to come will have this music to enjoy when they are away from Hawaii, family and friends. Peace is available here -- you and this music will endure.
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.
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.”
“Hawaiians took it and adapted it and put some aloha spirit in it,” said Peterson, who grew up on Maui.
He described the evolving style of slack key, which today incorporates elements from other genres like classical, jazz and even swing.
Peterson’s new album “Maui On My Mind” is nominated for three Na Hoku Awards, including Slack Key Album of the Year, and Peterson himself is nominated for Favorite Entertainer of the Year.
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.
According to a mo`olelo from the eighth century, a wahine named La`ila`i is said to have given birth to hula at Ka`ana on the hill Pu`u Nana on Molokai’s west end.
This year’s Ka Hula Piko featured both local and guest halau performances, ono grinds and a wide selection of local artists selling their crafts. The theme of the festival was “Molokai Pule O`o,” an ancient epithet spoken in praise and fear of the powerful prayer of Molokai’s kahuna (priests). Ka Hula Piko 2010 was dedicated to Aunty Louise Malulani Bush, who passed away on Feb. 10.
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.