DIES IN PARIS

Sam Ku West of Honolulu, noted player of the guitar and harp, who is dead at Paris, France.

SAM KU WEST, HAWAII HARPIST, DIES IN FRANCE

Honolulu Boy, Famed For Guitar and Harp Music, Succumbs To Long Illness

(Associated Press by Wireless)

PARIS, Sept. 9.—Sam Ku West, a Honolulu harp and guitar player, died Sunday in the American hospital here after a long illness. He was 23 years old.

He will be buried in Honolulu.

Sam Ku West last visited in Honolulu in 1928, and was heard a number of times.

Before starting on a tour of the Far East and Europe under the management of Irene West, he gave a successful concert at a local theater, playing both harp and steel guitar.

He is said to have been the first Hawaiian to master the harp. He studied with leading instructors on the mainland.

Reviews published abroad indicated that his music, particularly that of the islands, was being received with much enthusiasm, particularly in Paris.

He made his European debut at the Gaumont Palace, Paris, September 20, 1929, as a steel guitar virtuoso.

(Star-Bulletin, 9/9/1930, p. 1)

Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Volume XXXVIII, Number 12040, Page 1. September 9, 1930.