Category Archives: Music

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James B. Pakele reports from San Francisco, 1894.

Behold California, a Land of Cold.¹

J. U. Kawainui,

Aloha oe,

Here I am in California in good health. This is a very cold land, but there is always something new, there is no night here; the nights are like days.

These past few days, I have almost travelled all around the town; I went to visit the sugar refinery of the Millionaire², the place where they build warships, the place where money is minted, and the place where the soldiers drill (the Pressido [Presidio]).

I was at the Cliff House this past Thursday, it is a place that many visitors travel to, I saw the animals of the sea, but that place was very cold. After that, I went to the New City Hall and I spent almost a day visiting the various offices; it is a large structure perhaps eight times the size of Iolani Palace.

There are many poor people here with no place to sleep, and there are also many rich people.

PERTAINING TO THE GREAT EXHIBITION.

I went into the different exhibition halls of the Fair, so astonishing to see; there were all kinds of beautiful things.

I was in Alameda County, a large building, and within it, there was every variety of fruit.

Arizona Indian Building is the exhibition hall of the Indians [Ilikini]. There I saw their way of dancing; their dress is fine, but their dancing isn’t great.

I went into the building of hand crafts and saw the making of the clothes that we wear and so forth, and the exhibition hall of all kinds of animals. This week, one of the handlers was killed, mauled by a lion; the reason for this was the the lights went out when the handler was sweeping inside, at which point it jumped and tore at him. I saw the blood and the suit which is placed out as a display in the pen; today there was a service over his dead body. All the people in the fair attended the funeral, the Hawaiian youths sang in Hawaiian, “In Jesus’ Hands” ["Ma ko Iesu mau lima."] .

The most highly attended thing is the display of Kilauea in Hawaii; the haole men and women are very taken by Hawaiian things, but above all is the hula kui; all the time is filled with hula kui.

There are two bands constantly playing in the Park, but they aren’t good like the Hawaiian boys; I am always being asked by many people if I will be attending the college that John Wilson³ is attending; I have a letter urging me to go there (Stanford University).

James B. Pakele.

San Francisco, February 17, 1894.

¹”Ike ia Kaleponi he Aina Anu” hearkens back to the mele “E Nihi ka Hele”.

²Spreckels Sugar Company of Claus Spreckels, known here as the Ona Miliona [Millionaire].

³See more on John Henry Wilson in Men of Hawaii.

[For related articles and information, see the previous posts, and the posts soon to come as well! Oh... and coincidentally, i noticed i recently posted James B. Pakele's death announcement from 1913. He died at Queen's Hospital on January 30.]

(Kuokoa, 3/3/1894, p. 1)

Ike ia Kaleponi he Aina Anu.

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke XXXIII, Helu 9, Aoao 1. Maraki 3, 1894.

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Ninipo Hoonipo Song in Australia, 1927.

AMUSEMENTS

THE HAWAIIAN TROUBADOURS. The soft lapping of Pacific breakers lazily breaking on Waikiki beach, moon light, soft breezes whispering through the palm trees, Hawaian maidens crooning a soft “Aloha,” a song of love, in which all the witchery of the tropical night comes stealing across the waters, are conveyed by Kaai’s Hawaian Troubadours, who again charmed a large audience last night at the National Theatre. Particularly effective was their singing of “Imi Au Oe,”¹ “Na Ke Aloha,” and “Ninipo,” In which the Troubadours greeted the dawn; “Ukulele Lady,” “Collegiate,” “Hawaian Blues.” of every known and unknown variety; as well as other items of past and present popularity. Not to be forgotten was Tuavivi, Greig’s “Persuasion” Hula, in which she revealed all the languid grace and symmetry of the dusky beauties of the south. The ensemble of the closing revue was another outstanding item of tropical colour and harmony. The season will terminate to-morrow night.

[Earlier, i posted Liliuokalani's "Ninipo Hoonipo Song", and strangely enough, i ran across this reference to it being sung all the way in Australia in 1928!]

¹”Imi Au Ia Oe”

(Examiner, 4/22/1927, p. 6)

AMUSEMENTS.

The Examiner, Volume LXXXV, Number 95, Page 6. April 22, 1927.

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“Kaai’s Hawaiians” on TROVE, 1928.

KAAI’S HAWAIIANS.

Kaaiʻs Hawaiians, who will open at the Garden Theatre on March 3, have recently concluded a season of 120 nights in Sydney. They include the Moana Jazz Four, who were specially engaged at the Wembley Exhibition. The head of the company is Ernest Kaai, the composer of   “Aloha oe,” which is virtally the Hawaiiian national anthem. He has written and opera, which was successfully pro…

Miss Tuavivi Greig

…duced in London, and he has his own publishing house and an intsruments factory. The combination has been touring the world since 1906. There are nine men   and six women in the company, and there is every possibility that Queenie and   David Kaili, who are we know here, will join them for the Adelaide season. Tuavivi,   who is a member of the company, is a noted hula dancer.

[This comes from an Adelaide, South Australia newspaper, found on the National Library of Australia webside, TROVE. It seems unclear newspaper images is not something limited to Hawaii nei. However, at least the text on that site is correctable.]

(Advertiser, 2/23/1923, p. 11)

KAAI'S HAWAIIANS.

The Advertiser, Volume LXX, Number 21645, Page 11. February 23, 1928.

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My Sweet Sweeting, 1908.

MY SWEET SWEETING.

Kuu ohu lei anuenue e,
Koiaweawe i ka pili.
I ka pai a ka makani kiu,
Ka iniki ana iho welawela,
Hoi mai kaua e pili.

Hui—My Sweet Sweeting
Aohe he pili hemo ole i ke kau.
My Sweet—Sweeting
Hoi mai kaua e pili,
My Sweet Sweeting.
Aohe pili hemo ole i ke kau,
My Sweet Sweeting.

[Mele are just waiting to be found again in the newspapers!]

(Kuokoa, 9/18/1908, p. 5)

MY SWEET SWEETING.

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke XLIII, Helu 38, Aoao 5. Sepatemaba 18, 1908.

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Sheet music to “Sweet Sweeting” now available, 1908.

[Found under: "LOCAL NEWS"]

The song that is printed with the name Sweet Sweeting, the musical notes are available at the musical instrument store Bergstrom. That very nice mele was composed by native Hawaiian youths.

[A little shout out to Kamehameha Song Contest... There are so many priceless mele carefully stored away in the Hawaiian-Language Newspapers. It is time for us to look back; ua wela ka hao!]

(Kuokoa, 9/18/1908, p. 5)

O ka himeni e puka aku nei...

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke XLIII, Helu 38, Aoao 5. Sepatemaba 18, 1908.

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Nice follow up on Louis [Lui] Thompson Keouli.

In response to an earlier post “More Hawaiians playing music afar, 1908,” from March 1, 2012.


http://nupepa-hawaii.com/2012/03/01/more-hawaiians-playing-music-afar-1908/#comment-2266

Keith James says:

I wrote a Wikipedia article on Lu Thompson Keouli (aka as Louis Keouli Thompson), who was my great-grandfather. He graduated from Kamehameha, class of 1900. (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Keouli_Thompson
)

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Daniel Akana Ku, Jr., musician, 1927.

DAINEL [DANIEL] AKANA KU, JR.

Expert Guitar and Steel Player.

This is a picture of a Hawaiian boy skilled at the steel guitar and the guitar, and Mr. Sam Ku, Jr. is his older brother. He was born in Honolulu; his mother is Mrs. Elena Mahu, and Sam Ku, Sr. is his father, one of the guards at the insane asylum.

They have two sons; it is Sam Ku, Sr. [Jr.], his older brother, who is travelling about foreign lands as an expert at playing the steel guitar, and this skill that he has is what his younger brother is using on Kauai; he is totally knowledgeable and proficient in this.

In his infancy, he was taken as a hanai by Albert Akana and Mrs. Mary Akana Mahu, and because of the frailty of his foster parent, he returned to Kauai until the passing from this life of his adoptive parent, this past August; he remains with his mother and it is he that is taking care of her and her needs.

(Kuokoa, 10/27/1927, p. 4)

DAINEL AKANA KU, JR.

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke LXVI, Helu 41, Aoao 4. Okatoba 27, 1927.

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Hawaiian Music and Musicians, Revised and Updated, 2013.

If you are free at 12:00 noon tomorrow, the Center for Biographical Research’s Brown Bag tomorrow is on the updated classic, “Hawaiian Music and Musicians”!

“Hawaiian Music and Musicians, Revised and Updated.”
by John Berger, Author and Editor
Thursday, March 14th
12 noon to 1:15 pm
Kuykendall 410

For more information, please contact biograph@hawaii.edu, 956-3774, or www.facebook.com/CBRHawaii

George S. Kanahele published his monumental Hawaiian Music and Musicians: An Illustrated History in 1979. Compiled with the assistance of a hundred contributors and the research of many more, it was immediately recognized as the most ambitious book ever written about Hawaiian music.

The book is arranged alphabetically, with entries on Hawaiian music from its roots in ancient chants to the flowering of the musical renaissance in Hawai’i. It describes leading personalities and groups, organizations, songs and publications, and discusses the extraordinary popularity of Hawaiian music round the world. There are biographies of musicians from every period of Hawaiian musical history—from Henry Berger, David Kālakaua, Queen Lili‘uokalani, and others of their time, to the great names of the 20th century.

In 2000 Dr. Kanahele asked veteran music critic John Berger to work with him on a second edition; Dr. Kanahele passed away a few months later. It took John Berger another dozen years to complete this Revised and Updated Hawaiian Music and Musicians: An Encyclopedic History (Mutual Publishing, 2012). The book is now more than doubled in length, with almost every entry revised and updated, and with almost 100 new entries. In this talk, John Berger will be discussing the process of revising and editing this immense musical history.

Speaker Bio:

John Berger has covered entertainment in Honolulu for 40 years. He has been writing about music, theatre and social events of all kinds for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (formerly the Honolulu Star-Bulletin) since 1988.

[From University of Hawaii's Center for Biographical Research Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/423747624386459/ ]

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More on Jane Loeau, 1867.

[Found under: "LOCAL NEWS: Hawaii."]

Instrument is sought after.—Eleio, Hawaii is putting effort into raising money to purchase a melodeon [melodiana] for its church house. If they should obtain one, then it will be Jane Loeau who will play it. An English school is also being taught by her there. It is hoped that her education effort for her dark-skinned [iliulaula] race will progress

(Kuokoa, 1/12/1867, p. 2)

Makemake e loaa ka pila.

Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Buke VI, Helu 2, Aoao 2. Ianuari 12, 1867.

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Hawaiian music and ukulele in Japan, 1933.

Returning Once Again to Hawaii Nei

A Japanese boy born here in Hawaii and who went back to Japan to enter into a College in Japan, and who is a child of Dr. Katsugoro Haida, came back to Hawaii after being away from Hawaii for 12 years.

The reason for his return to Hawaii was because of his desire to learn Hawaiian Mele and to learn how to sing them.

According to him, the Japanese of the Universities are enthralled by Hawaiian songs, and so too of the Ukulele.

That boy, Yoshitaku Haida [Yoshikatsu Haida, aka Haruhiko Haida, aka Yukihiko Haida] is his name, said that when he went to Japan, he sang some Hawaiian Songs that he had memorized while in Hawaii nei; so also with the ukulele, he was quite skillful in playing it; and it became something big with the Japanese youth going to that University [Keio University].

Because this boy saw the great interest the Japanese had for Hawaiian music, he decided to return to the land of his birth and increase his knowledge in Singing Hawaiian Music, and that was the reason for his coming back.

It is just he and his younger brother [Katsuhiko Haida] who are skilled at Hawaiian songs, to raise up Hawaii, and that is why he is learning Singing until he is proficient, at which point he will return to Japan where he will become a teacher of Hawaiian mele to the Japanese in Japan, and raise up the land of my [his] birth.

Upon arriving in Honolulu, he went to the Japanese Church on Fort Street to say a prayer for his father who has passed to the other world. He may be here in Hawaii for perhaps a year before turning back for Japan, to fulfill his desire to bring fame to his birth land.

(Hoku o Hawaii, 2/14/1933, p. 3)

Huli Hoi Hou I Hawaii Nei

Ka Hoku o Hawaii, Buke XXVI, Helu 37, Aoao 3. Feberuari 14, 1933.