Backyard Jam in Kaleponi

Welcome to Kaleponi Records, my musical home on the web. My name is Fran Guidry, and I play kika ki hoʻalu or Hawaiian slack key guitar.

Kaleponi is the Hawaiian word for California, where I live. Ki hoʻalu, or slack key, has a direct link to California history. The guitar was carried to the Big Island of Hawaiʻi by vaqueros from California. You can read more about the history of slack key guitar on the Dancing Cat Records web site.

Slack key guitar is named for the retuning that characterizes the style. Most of these new tunings feature loosened, or slackened, strings which give a deep rich sound.

My personal slack key history goes back to 1999 and my first visit to Hawaiʻi. When we turned on the TV in our Waikiki hotel room I was captivated by the playing of Keola Beamer. I knew in an instant that I had to learn to play this beautiful music. Over the years I've learned from great players and teachers like Ozzie Kotani, Keola himself, Patrick Landeza, Kevin Brown, Cyril Pahinui, Kawika Kahiapo, Raymond Kane, Dennis Kamakahi, and Ledward Kaapana.

Sunday, June 24th, 2012

The tour is over but the fun continues. Mike Kaawa has returned to Hawai`i and his busy schedule, but Ledward and his wife Sharon are taking a little vacation in Kaleponi, visiting the stores and the sights, trying restaurants and spending time with friends. We jam in the living room and up in the studio, but the best jam time seems to be on the deck, with the planes flying over, the kids hollering at the swim club behind us, and the birds calling from the trees all around. Here are a couple of video clips we captured during the quieter moments of a backyard jam.

With the lovely breeze keeping us cool, the most important audio feature was a good windsock. I have a nice Rycote mini windjammer for the Sony PCM-D50, so that’s the only thing I could use to capture audio. And with Ledward doing some vocal tunes I had to position the recorder right in the middle of the shot. Hearing Ledward sing Pauoa Liko Ka Lehua made it all worthwhile, though.

One of my favorite of Ledward’s tunes is an instrumental version of Aloha Ia No O Maui, an old song that tells of the beauty of various features of the Valley Isle. Ledward tells me that one of his uncles created this arrangement and played it every party.

I hope to capture a little more of Ledward’s artistry before he heads home to Kane`ohe, but I’ll treasure these two songs in the meantime.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 24th, 2012 at 7:55 pm and is filed under Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.