George Kahumoku and the Masters of Hawaiian Music
Saturday, September 4 8:00 p.m.
$35 / $40
Four Grammy-winning artists come together for one amazing evening. Featuring George Kahumoku, Jr. and Dennis Kamakahi, both on slack key guitar and vocals; Uncle Richard Ho’opi’i on ukulele and vocals; and Bobby Ingano on slide steel guitar. More about the musicians . . .
George Kahumoku, Jr.
There’s a reason he’s been called Hawaii’s Renaissance man: George Kahumoku Jr. is a multiple Grammy Award & Hoku Award winning master slack key guitarist, songwriter, world-traveling performer, high school and college teacher, artist and sculptor, storyteller and writer, farmer and entrepreneur.
In February of 2006, George and fellow slack key artists and producers were thrilled to receive the 48th Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Album for their compilation recording, Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Vol. 1: Live in Concert from Maui. But George’s Grammy fame doesn’t stop there: The sequels to this recording, Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar: Live from Maui which includes additional artists (Dennis Kamakahi, Martin Pahinui, and Richard Ho’opi’i) won the 49th Grammy and then in 2008, Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar won the 50th Grammy Award. In 2009, The Spirit of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar was an honored Grammy nominee and the newest compilation. Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Vol.2 has just been released. All of these recordings are compilations from George’s weekly Wednesday night show, the prestigious Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Concert Series at the Napili Kai Beach Resort on Maui (www.slackkey.com). George is the musical host and features a different solo artist each week. This is the first long-running concert hall setting in Hawaii created to feature the great slack key performers of today.
George is currently living on Maui with his wife, Nancy, and teaching Drawing & Painting, Ceramics, and Guitar & Ukulele at the historic Lahainaluna High School. He has recently begun teaching Guitar at Maui Community College. George spends his free time maintaining his three-acre farm growing fruit and vegetables, dry-land taro (for his famous home-made poi) and tending his goats, chickens, ducks, and miniature horses. True to his Hawaiian heritage, wherever he goes, George brings bundles of fresh produce to share with friends and students.
Dennis Kamakahi
Dennis David Kahekilimamaoikalanikeha Kamakahi, multiple Grammy winner (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences), multiple Na Hoku Hanohano winner (Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts), 2009 Inductee into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame, Hawaiian slack key guitarist, recording artist, and music composer. A prolific composer of the Native Hawaiian music genre.
Dennis's first recording with Na Leo O Nu'uanu was an album entitled 'Ia 'Oe E Ka La Volume 1 on the Nakahili Productions label with Palani Vaughan. It was the first of a series of albums based on the life of King David Kalakaua. The second recording of the group in 1974 would become historic in the Hawaiian music genre, the album was recorded live at a music festival in Waimea, Hawaii called The Waimea Music Festival. It was the Hawaiian Woodstock of the 1970s and featured many of Hawaii's popular entertainers of that time including Gabby Pahinui, Fred Punahoa, The Sunday Manoa, and Genoa Keawe.
It was his tenure with (Eddie Kamae) the (Sons of Hawaii) (1974 - 1995) that would lead him to become one of Hawaii's most prolific songwriter in the Hawaiian language, composing 500 songs. Many of his songs became Hawaiian classics, including Pua Hone, Wahine 'Ilikea, E Hihiwai, Koke'e, Golden Stallion, Selamoku, Hualalai, Kou Aloha Mau A Mau, Na Makani 'Eha, Na Ali'i Pu'olani. In 1974, Dennis recorded with the Sons of Hawai'i for the National Geographic Society's Music of the World series. It would be the beginning of seven albums under the Hawaii Sons label and the recording of many of his music compositions. In 1978 he became a member of the American Society of Composer, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and created Naukilo Publishing Company, a music publishing firm.
On August 29, 2005, The Walt Disney Studio released (Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch) DVD featuring Dennis and David Kamakahi on the film soundtrack along with the (Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch) CD - Island Favorites - featuring Dennis and David Kamakahi singing and playing the full length theme song "ALWAYS" of (Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch).
At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, CA on February 11, 2007, Dennis received his first (Grammy Award) for Best Hawaiian Album on a slack key guitar compilation CD entitled Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, part of the recorded live concerts at Kapalua, Maui at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Dennis received his second (Grammy Award) (Hawaiian Music Category) in 2008 at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, CA for the slack key guitar compilation CD entitled Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, part of the second recorded live concert series at the Napilikai Resort Hotel in Kapalua, Maui. He also joined (MTNA) (Music Teachers National Association) that year to continue the teaching and advancement of music composition to students.
Dennis was nominated for his third (Grammy Award) in 2009 with the slack key compilation CD entitled The Spirit of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, a third recorded live series at the Napilikai Resort Hotel in Kapalua, Maui. The CD did not win a Grammy Award. However, he did receive his first gold Grammy Nominee medal as a record producer.
Perhaps the two most prestigious awards in his music career, both given in 2009, were the Lifetime Achievement Award from the (Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts) as a member of the Sons of Hawaii and his induction into the Hawaiian Music Hall Of Fame. Dennis continues to perform in live concerts in Hawaii and abroad and currently teaches Hawaiian slack key guitar, the History of Hawaiian songs and their meaning, and songwriting workshops in both Hawaii and the U.S. Mainland.
Uncle Richard Ho’opi’i
Uncle Richard Ho'opi'i is one of Hawai'i's most beloved singers. Best known as one half of the popular Maui duo, The Ho'opi'i Brothers, he has been practicing the traditional Hawaiian art of leo ki'eki'e (falsetto) for most of his life. He and his brother, Solomon (his life-long singing partner) were recipients of the prestigious National Endowment of the Arts Folk Heritage Fellowship, America's highest honor for traditional artists.
A 1997 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Folk Heritage Fellowship, America's highest honor for traditional artists, Uncle Richard knows that, like all Hawaiian artists, he maintains a rich cultural legacy. "When you sing Hawaiian music you're not just singing for yourself," he says. "You're representing the kupuna, who have guided and inspired you, and all the musicians that came before and will come after. That's why it's so important to do your best; not to show off, but to share what the kupuna and Ke Akua have shared with you."
In the year 2000, Uncle Sol retired from full time performing for health reasons and to devote more time to his church work. A deacon in the Kahakuloa Hawaiian church, Uncle Richard also considered retiring at this point, but his work as a Maui County culture specialist and the encouragement of family and friends convinced him that he still has more to share.
Released in 2003, his CD "Ululani" represented a new journey for Richard as a solo artist. For his first solo project, Uncle Richard wanted to record a mixture of favorite songs from his hometown of Kahakuloa on Maui, performed in the old way. The recording showcases his unique style of singing and firmly establishes Uncle Richard as a individual performer.
Bobby Ingano
For over a decade Bobby Ingano has been recognized as one of Hawaii's finest steel guitarists. He has performed and recorded with many of Hawaii's greatest recording artists including Amy Gilliom, The Ka'a'u Crater Boys, The Brothers Cazimero, Martin Pahinui, Willie K., The Ho'opii Brothers, Kekuhi Kanahele, and many others. Bobby was featured on the CD Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar winner of the 2006 Grammy award for Best Hawaiian Album. Bobby has toured the Hawaiian Islands, the mainland United States, and Japan as a headliner and sideman. He is also a regular contributor and participant at clinics, steel guitar conventions, and music festivals. Bobby has recorded two CDs as a solo artist, the latest entitled Stranger Here released in 2007 on Get-Your-Own-Band Records. His playing is melodic, understated, and indisputably Hawaiian.
2010 Wine Country Ukulele Festival Kick Off
Friday, September 10, 8:00 p.m.
$25
The Wine Country Ukulele Festival, now in its third year, is rapidly becoming the premier ukulele festival in the nation. It all begins with a performance by Canadian ukulele virtuoso James Hill and friends. James Hill is known for pushing the instrument into uncharted territory with genre-bending adaptations of everything from “Oh, Susannah,” to a light-hearted rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” Joining him on stage that evening include fellow Canadian Ralph Shaw, Queen of the Blues Del Rey, Kimo Hussey and Victoria Vox.
"Hill is a serious virtuoso upon the instrument... truly amazing." - Canadian Folk Music
San Francisco International Comedy Competition Hosted by Mark Pitta
Friday, September 17, 8:00 p.m. (Preliminary Round 1)
Friday, September 24, 8:00 p.m. (Preliminary Round 2)
$25/ $30
Host Mark Pitta made a name for himself on the Bay Area comedy scene in the 1980s and has since headlined numerous comedy shows, opened for musicians like Smokey Robinson and Celine Dion, appeared on television as an actor and host, and currently runs a weekly comedy showcase in Mill Valley.
May contain adult material and situations.
Straight No Chaser
Show: 7pm
"Sunday Happy Hour" Pre-Party: 5pm
Show plus pre-party: $65 (tickets limited)
Pacific Chamber Symphony
Thursday, September 23, 8:00 PM
$30 / $36
($10 - children / students)
Joseph Kalichstein—Piano Soloist
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Opus 19
Schubert Symphony #5 in B-flat major, D. 485
—Detroit Free Press
"Concertgoers were...dazzled by the fingerwork of pianist Joseph Kalichstein."
—Napa Valley Register.
Chanticleer: Out of This World
Saturday, September 25, 8:00 p.m.
$20 / $39 / $44
Subscription, student and senior tickets: 415-252-8539
The sun, the moon, the stars and the planets, the universe beyond them….composers have always been fascinated by their seductive power. Chanticleer’s newest explorations will be from Berkeley-based Composer-DJ Mason Bates in a world premiere about transmissions from outer space and “Cells Planets” by Erica Lloyd of Little Grey Girlfriend in a new arrangement especially for the ensemble. Fantastic early works by Monteverdi, Marenzio and Palestrina and romantic works by Schumann (“An die Sterne”) and Mahler (“Ich bin der welt…”) will join music of 20th century composers Britten, Mechem, Hopkins (“Past Life Melodies”) Gershwin and others.Page 1 of 2