Coffee Gallery with Jim "Kimo" West

Had a great time playing with Kimo last night at the Coffee Gallery in Altadena. I opened up with a few ukulele solos in the first set then rhythm uke with Kimo in the second set. Aya got up to dance a few numbers which really put a lot of smiles on the faces in the audience - I personally like it when people dance hula in "street clothes", same for flamenco. Seems more fun and natural than a costume. Kapo Ku sang a few songs too and even Diana, Kimo's wife, got up to sing Amy Hanaiali'i's Palehua.

It was definitely nice to find a lot of audience members who had been to, or know of, the Southern California Slack Key Festival as they yelled out the answers to "What's the Hawaiian word for slack key", "What's the most common slack key tuning", and "Where and what month is the annual Festival held?" to which the correct answer-giver was awarded a 2010 t-shirt.

Hope to see you back at the Coffee Gallery this coming Saturday the 15th for Kamaka Brown's pidgin English storytelling with me playing slack key and ukulele backdrop music for his stories.

Seattle Slack Key Festival

Had a blast up in Seattle at the 1st Annual Seattle Slack Key Festival organized by Cyril and Chelle Pahinui November 21-22. It was definitely nice to not have to worry about anything personally and just sit back and enjoy the sweet sounds of Hawaiian music as played by the masters of slack key!

They followed the format of the Southern California Slack Key Festival and held a dinner reception the night before the show and featured the artists jammin' together - Leabert Lindsey, Donald Kaulia and Kunia Galdeira jammed together in one of many different configurations that night. Makana and Jeff Peterson played together with Cyril on bass and that was a blast too! They had a great time and decided to work out something together for the show the next day which turned out to be a huge highlight of the Festival!
You can see photos of the event here - hope more people can make it out next time, please be sure to let your friends and family know what they missed! Photographer was a nice guy and the pictures turned out great! That's me in pic #200 and that's Aya dancing for Dennis Kamakahi at the dinner reception - the only one that got up to dance an impromptu hula to Uncle D's "Pua Hone".

Many of the artists that were there in Seattle will be returning for the 3rd Annual Southern California Slack Key Festival: Cyril and his band which will probably be Sonny Lim, Kunia, Peter Moon Jr and Greg Sardinha, Jeff Peterson, Makana. And this year will also feature Ledward Kaapana and John Cruz. More news and info to come!

Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Master Cyril Pahinui

I have been so fortunate to have Cyril Pahinui as a friend and supporter. Cyril was the first person I called to invite to participate in my first Southern California Slack Key Festival January 2008 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center in Redondo Beach - a showcase of Hawaiian ki ho'alu (slack key) guitar - and to have the honor of presenting him on stage has been nothing short of a blessing as has his friendship.

This past weekend he was in town here in Southern California for a couple performances in Culver City and Claremont and taught a workshop which was hosted by Na Mamo, the folks who put together the annual E Hula Mau hula competition in Long Beach. I've really only been playing slack key in Taropatch tuning (low to high: D-G-D-G-B-D) mostly out of laziness, I must admit. So the workshop was the first time I'd ever actually played in Cyril's tuning. He tunes his guitar to C-G-E-G-C-E, an open C tuning inherited from his father, the famous Gabby Pahinui. It is just one of the many Hawaiian slack key tunings out there but a very versatile one. Nice how you can get that alternate bass thing going not just between the root and the fifth but with the third in there as well, plus you can get octaves in 3 different string combinations which is also nice for soloing.

While Cyril had to learn everything by ear from his dad (who apparently never actually formally taught anyone anything), Cyril travels across the country sharing all he knows to anyone who wants to learn. If you ever have the opportunity to catch him at one of these workshops in your area, don't pass it up. Not only do you get a nice education in the Pahinui slack key style but you get to hear some great stories as well, sure to motivate you!

Here's a couple of nice videos of Cyril and his father. You can become a friend of Cyril on his Facebook page as well.

Jeff Peterson, Slack Key Guitarist and So Much More

It was a weekend of wonderful and inspiring performances by Jeff Peterson here in SoCal. What an incredibly diverse repertoire - he played everything from original slack key guitar - "ki ho'alu" in Hawaiian - arrangements of standard Hawaiian tunes like "Koke'e", "Hawaii Aloha" and "Kaimana Hila", slack key renditions of jazz songs like "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "Begin the Beguine" and "Blue Hawaii", original compositions like his "Kukui Nut Run", "Kahealani" and "Let's Ride" and even pop tunes like "Every Breath You Take" by the Police.

Don't hesitate to checkout out one of the most diverse guitarists you'll ever hear - Jeff can do it all! Jazz, classical, pop and, of course, slack key guitar. Everyone's anxiously waiting for his next CD to come out which should include beautiful new tunes he wrote, which he previewed for everyone over the weekend - watch this video of his new tune "Lilinoe" - some Facebook comments from fans: "Just watching you play the instrument is something to behold", "Beautiful! Jeff is truly gifted! Mahalo for sharing this!"

Be sure to catch Jeff Peterson as he performs in the house band for the upcoming Aloha Falsetto Festival this July in Redondo Beach and, of course, in the 2010 Southern California Slack Key Festival.

Let us know what you think of his music!

Hawaiian Jazz Nights with Jeff Peterson

Tickets available now for three wonderful evenings with one of Hawaii’s most gifted and respected musicians! From Hawaiian slack key guitar to classical to jazz, Jeff Peterson’s versatility makes him an artist highly sought after by Hawaii’s top recording and touring artists!

Coming up next week Friday through Sunday (May 15-17), Jeff Peterson will be performing his unique brand of "slack key jazz" as the featured artist in Kala Koa's Hawaiian Jazz Nights Series! Friday May 15 he will be performing at Lord of the Strings in Dana Point, Duke's Malibu in the Moana Room on Saturday night and on Sunday evening at Delzano's By The Sea in Redondo Beach.

The Lord of the Strings concert series features the best guitarists from around the world and focuses on acoustic styles. Past performers include Muriel Anderson, Andrew York, Laurence Juber and Ledward Kaapana.

The performance at Duke's will include an awesome appetizer reception with ono (delicious) food like Babyback Pork Ribs in Sweet Mango BBQ Sauce, Hawaiian Style Poke, Korean Style Marinated BBQ Sirloin Beef Satay, Thai Chicken Pizza, Moana Sushi Rolls, Primo Beer specials & More!

At Delzano's you get to enjoy great music and the price of admission here also includes award-winning cuisine prepared by Chef Rafael Solorzano with a gorgeous sunset oceanview from the Redondo Beach Boardwalk.

Jeff Peterson has performed at a variety of venues from Symphony Space in New York City to the National Folk Festival in Canberra, Australia. He appeared on Slack Key Guitar, Volume 2 which won the first ever Grammy Award for best Hawaiian recording in 2005. Jeff was a featured artist in the 2008 and 2009 annual Southern California Slack Key Festival in January 2008 which included Cyril Pahinui, Dennis Kamakahi, George Kahumoku Jr, Ozzie Kotani, Owana Salazar, Makana, Kimo West and Steven Espaniola.

The son of a Paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy), Jeff grew up on Haleakala Ranch on Maui. His fluency in a variety of guitar styles, including jazz and classical, has distinguished him as a prominent young artist with his own personal approach to slack key.

Peterson has performed with Eric Clapton, James Galway, Michael Feinstein, the Honolulu Symphony, Ledward Kaapana, Dennis Kamakahi, Hawaii Opera Theatre, jazz bassist Rufus Reid, shakuhachi master Riley Lee, and soprano Dana Hanchard. He has appeared in Europe, Asia, Australia and the US at countless venues, including the Symphony Space in New York City, and has also performed privately for Bill and Hilary Clinton.

Jeff Peterson has studied with David Russell, Carlos Barbosa Lima, Benjamin Verdery, Ozzie Kotani, Larry Koonse, and Joe Diorio, and has performed in master classes for Scott Tennant, Antigoni Goni, Ricardo Cobo, and Dusan Bogdonovic. Jeff currently lives in Honolulu with his wife, Kahealani.

How I Got Started Playing Slack Key Guitar Part 1

There were many factors that made me want to start playing slack key guitar. Of course, it was something I'd always heard growing up in Hawaii but it was just one of those things you take for granted - I remember Jon Odo playing "Ku'u Home O Kahalu'u" slack key style in the talent show in high school and found that impressive. And around 1990 (I think) I started attending the slack key festival on Oahu when it used to be held at the McCoy Pavilion at Ala Moana Park. Ah, those were the days, just hanging out, eating ono plate lunch with your friends, listening to great music.....

When I entered college and started studying classical guitar techniques, that really opened the door to learning other fingerpicking styles. Went to my professor's recital at Atherton studios and 2 things really stuck with me. She played a Sevillanas with a couple of flamenco dancers - which I loved - and then since she forgot to announce that that was supposed to be the last piece in her program, she did one more: a slack key rendition of "Hawaii Aloha". It was very impressive to me that she would include those styles amongst all the other highbrow classical pieces she performed so beautifully that night. A night that would, sadly, be her last performance before suffering wrist and hand problems.

So at one point she turned me on to playing flamenco guitar accompaniment for flamenco dancers as well as a solo instrument, which I ended up LOVING and was the real reason I moved from Hawaii to California. Then, still in college, my friend asked me if I wanted to play in this talent show thingee at his church that I'd also started attending and I said sure! So that night I did a flamenco piece that I'd been practicing and people loved it. But that night there was also a guy who played a slack key guitar piece which I really liked, though I have no idea what it was. We talked afterwards and as he said man I'd love to learn how you do that, I said the same to him.

So I was really starting to feel it. And then, me and my little flamenco group (with dancers) performed at the Make Music Festival in Honolulu one year in like, 1995 or something, and the next year they invited us to perform on opening night of the festival. That's where I saw John Keawe for the first time. I got there early to the Honolulu Academy of Arts theatre and he was the only one there so I thought he was like, custodial staff or something so I was asking him where the changing rooms and stuff were (had heard his name before but didn't know what he looked like). Not that I was rude to him or anything (I hope). But it was embarrassing when they announced his name to come up on stage to perform and I was like "Eh! Dat's da guy!". He still remembered me almost ten years later when I went up to talk to him after his performance at the Whittier College Aloha Series.

He later told me, when we were hanging out at my Southern California Slack Key Festival that was when he was first getting started on recording and I think he'd just won a Hoku award for his music. Anyway, that night, he played such a beautiful rendition of "Amazing Grace" that inspired me so much that I went home that night, tuned my guitar to open G (just guessed at it) and started trying to figure it out on my own, trying to emulate all the little slack key licks that I'd heard over the years that had, unbeknownst to me, subconsciously seeped into my brain. And now, it's one of my favorite things to play and was planning to play it at this last slack key festival until I painfully ripped off my nail on my middle finger. Probably could have still done it if it had been my ring finger, but the middle finger is too important!

More to come....