(Read first for guilt-laden disclaimer: Yes, I know it’s been more than a few weeks since the trip this entry is about, but in between times I’ve been really busy. Really. So, here’s the first part of our ukulele-centric trip to Hawaii. The second section, which is about our time on the Big Island, will follow soon. Really. Oh, and if you just want to skip to the photo gallery for this entry—with lots more pictures than I had room for on this page—click here.)
While the rest of the world was (endlessly!) discussing voting on Election Day, Mark and I were winging our way west from Sacramento Airport to the islands of Hawaii. First stop, Oahu—home of Waikiki’s famed beach and a more-than-lively music scene populated by a wealth of talented–and friendly–performers.
After more than five hours of jet time (we fly coach, folks; if you’re a first class passenger, your experience may vary), I always disembark feeling as if I’ve spent a bit of time as a dryer sheet, bouncing around in a noisy metal drum. Yet arriving at the terminal in Honolulu Airport, I’m immediately energized by the variety of people (with the US economy as it is right now, the Asian tourists totally outnumber anyone else), the balmy breeze and the fragrances of the flowering trees planted in the gardens throughout this mainly-outdoors airport.
A quick trip downstairs for luggage, a hike (no sidewalk during an airport reconstruction so we hoofed it across a bit of a planted area and two lanes of traffic) across the street to the lei stands and then off to Avis to see what the rental car gods have blessed us with this trip—a serviceable and non-impressive Subaru-something-or-other four-door (in grey, no less).
Mark and I have only been to Oahu for one night in the past (usually we just pass through Honolulu on our way to a neighbor island), so we’d decided this Hawaii vacation would feature a bit of time on the island that most folks recognize at “the” Hawaii of the oft-imagined tropical dream vacation. We booked ourselves into a one-bedroom unit at the Wyndham Waikiki Beach Walk. We’re not timeshare members with RCI (heck, we’re not timeshare members with anyone), but rented the rooms through a third party. Good decision! While not on the beach (we’d have plenty of that on the Island of Hawaii in the next two weeks), the WWBW is close to everything as well as immaculate and roomy. Destiny checked us in (she’s so lovely and equally sweet–and she plays ukulele left-handed, I found out later). Our room, on the eighth floor, even had a view of Diamond Head, seen over the cotton candy pink spires of the Royal Hawaiian.
Although we were tired, we weren’t too weary to drop off our luggage and head to the beach to re-introduce our toes to the sand and salty sea. Coming back I noted a quartet of folks clutching inexpensive ukuleles downstairs as they participated in a “free ukulele lesson” conducted by resort personnel. Quick as a flea, I bounced up the elevator to the eighth floor, grabbed my LoPrinzi and inserted myself into the group. Even joining in a beginner class is a joy for me—and, heck, this was Waikiki so the delight was multiplied as I sat in the balmy air, strumming happily.
Sunset that night was at 5:53 pm and we’d planned to enjoy it at the Halekulani’s outdoor bar on Waikiki Beach, House without a Key (thanks to the sterling recommendation from Gerald Ross). A few ukulele friends from past festivals had been on Moloka’i the week before for Kimo Hussey’s multi-day workshop and I knew they’d be in Honolulu on that evening so we’d arranged to meet at the Halekulani for pupus, drinks, Hawaiian music and hula. Mark and I took a front-row table and soon were joined by Tim and Steve (I met both at the Windy City Uke Fest), Kay (who was the Moloka’i roommate of my friend, Kathy, from WCUF) and Cindy (whom I’d met at the Portland Uke Fest). For me, playing ukulele has meant I find friends almost wherever I travel…and they’re all nice people!
Playing that night was Greg Sardinha and his trio, Po’okela. Greg’s open smile and warm personality blended with a wonderful stage presence and awesome playing; I knew there was no exaggeration when Gerald had called him “one of the best” steel guitar players. And, he also played ukulele for a couple of numbers!
Added in to the top-notch Hawaiian music and the cerise ribbon of a tropical sunset was the delightful dancing of Kanoe Miller, a former “Miss Hawaii” whose lovely auana hula dancing interpretation has earned her the distinction of dancing six nights out of seven at the Halekulani for the past 22 years! When Kanoe dances it’s as if she’s sharing the story, the song and her vision of Hawaii with you personally. Heck, you hardly even notice the bar tab for the $12 drinks… If you can’t afford the drinks (or, for that matter, the airfare to Honolulu), the next best thing is Kanoe’s DVD.
Kamaka Ukulele
The next morning found Mark and I at Kamaka Ukulele for the 10:30 tour led by Uncle Fred Kamaka. A handful of us (from San Diego to Australia) crowded into Kamaka’s front office which looks like it houses all the “business” functions of the company in addition to what has become a museum on Oahu, albeit one singularly devoted to the ukulele.
At 87 years, Fred Kamaka is lively, full of talk-story and possessing of a strong voice which carries well over the sound of the various machines in the manufacturing building—no matter how loud the sander or cutter or whatever was, Uncle Fred’s voice boomed over the noise to tell us exactly what was happening in that particular step of ukulele creation. His sparkling eyes kept tabs on each of us tour group members, making sure we stayed out of the way of sharp objects and chunks of koa wood that would trip an unsuspecting visitor.
While his tour was informative (for more factory photos, click here), the Kamaka visit got even better when Bryan Tolentino gestured us over to Casey Kamaka’s workbench to see the custom projects that Casey is applying his expertise and craft to. Bryan, who was headed out to Japan the next day for a short tour with Weldon Kekauoha, had arranged with us to meet at Kamaka Ukulele at the tour’s end. As the others in the tour group headed out, Bryan and Casey shared a variety of astounding custom work.
While “factory made” Kamakas have set the Hawaiian ukulele standard for generations, the custom projects evolving under Casey’s hands are far and beyond the normal high standards. We saw a new instrument for Taimane Gardner (‘couldn’t miss it with her name on the fretboard) and then Bryan out an instrument I’d only heard tell of—one of the much-sought-after Jake Shimabukuro special editions. And I got to hold it! Yep, they really do exist—and they’re lovely. That’s me and Casey, in the picture at left, with one of the Jake signature models.
Only 100 of these custom instruments are being made by Kamaka (Casey’s in charge of the production) and while several have been delivered to their more-than-happy new owners, there are still many more in the works. Casey, who also flies inter-island as a pilot with Hawaiian Air, is diligently tackling finishing the Jake project, wedged in between his other custom work. While he never stopped smiling at our pleasure with the great instruments he’s producing, I could tell Casey is a serious guy when it comes to turning out exceptional ukulele (Bryan’s comment: “He’s a perfectionist—-and that’s why they take so long. But the end result is worth it.”).
After more pictures, Mark and I headed out the doors of Kamaka and Bryan took time to pose for a few photos with me outside. Bryan is my absolutely favorite ukulele player to listen to; realizing that I wouldn’t be able to hear him play in Hawaii on his own turf (or sand, as it were), was probably the only sad part about this trip. But, he was kind enough to call Jody Kamisato before he left to set up a private lesson for me at Jody’s ukulele studio, Ukulele Hale. So I was off to the hills of Honolulu to learn…
Jody Kamisato and Ukulele Hale
Before I could do any learning, however, I got lost. Grrr…I love circling streets in an unknown community looking for seemingly non-existent address numbers—oh wait, I don’t like that at all…By the time I found myself in the cool and quiet studio of Ukulele Hale, I was more than a bit agitated, quite warmish and feeling guilty at being late to my appointment. No fear—Jody quietly listened, brought me an ice-cold bottle of water and talked story until I was able to settle down and we started playing. I have Jody’s teaching DVD and it’s a priceless resource for Hawaiian-style playing; but of course having him teach me in person was even better than pushing the “pause/play” button repeatedly.
What I especially enjoyed in Jody is his heartfelt commitment to sharing with so many people how to learn to play the ukulele. I’ve always felt that way about teaching folks the ukulele: that learning to play this very special instrument can open up so many possibilities for people. Seeing Jody and his staff make that come to life through his ukulele studio cemented in me an incredible admiration for this humble guy.
And, on the way back to the condo after my lesson with Jody, I stopped in for a bag of warm malasadas from Leonards. What? You haven’t ever tried a malasada? Forget the standard description of “just a Portuguese donut.” Ha—a well-made malasada is so much more than that. It’s three bites of light, puffy dough that caresses your taste buds; it’s not overly sweet, but each one, I’m sure, packs hundreds of calories, so I only had two…plus one more that evening. Not that I wouldn’t have had more if the bag wasn’t already empty…
Ukuleles at Waikiki-area shops
Hundreds of tourists clogged Kalakaua Avenue’s sidewalks in the heart of Waikiki, but I was more drawn to ukulele shops than the abundant upscale clothing stores and jewelry emporiums. I first visited Bob’s Ukulele (at the Royal Hawaiian Center—there’s another one at the Waikiki Beach Marriott). Lots of ukulele brands here, including G String, Kelii, Kamaka, Koaloha, Lahaina and Lanikai. On two visits, I found two different gentlemen there selling; ‘not sure which one was Bob, but all were friendly and more than willing to let me play any instrument in the shop. So I did! I’m looking for a pretty special island-made tenor and, while there were lots of ukuleles at Bob’s, I didn’t discover my special one.
Walking toward Diamond Head several blocks, I reached the Pacific Beach Hotel, the location for Ukulele Puapua. I’ve purchased learning materials from this shop online and it was fun to see the store with its dozens and dozens of ukuleles. This shop seems to market in Waikiki primarily to the Japanese tourist population and there were a lot of high-end and custom instruments available lining the walls. Again, I tried all that interested me, but didn’t find that one special tenor… But, gosh, there aren’t many ukulele stores located a few steps from a tropical beach.
Heading Ewa down Kalakaua Avenue, I ended up back at the new upscale retail area, the Waikiki Beach Walk. Here I went up the elevator to Mana Hawaii: Spirit of Hawaii Nei. This store features art and crafts produced in Hawaii—including hula implements, novels, history books, woodwork and ukuleles! They were offering a free ukulele lesson that day and I watched as the instructor guided the students through their first chords. She offered a different approach than I’d seen: she taught C as the “big brother” with C7 as the “little brother” and the F as the other member of the family. Each chord has its own family, she instructed, and it’s important to learn to play all the chords in that family together…Hmmm…
Guess who I met at the Honolulu Airport?
Friday morning meant packing our suitcases, turning in the rental car (we only drove it 36 miles!) and heading to the Island of Hawaii (aka “The Big Island”). Going through security in the Honolulu Airport, I heard a distinctive voice behind me as we headed to the “take your shoes off” stage. I looked back—was it really Willie K? It looked like him and certainly sounded like his voice on the “Amy and Willie Live” CD I listen to while working out (it’s a fun one to lift weights to). The TSA folks seemed to know him and referred to him as “Uncle Willie,” so I knew my hunch was right.
That began my dilemma. Should I just quietly ignore him—or should I do the stupid, “I’m a fan” thing and strike up a conversation? Okay, I’ll admit I knew what I should do, but, golly, he seems so friendly on his CD and I had traveled four hours roundtrip once to see him play in Sacramento, so I justified my behavior and approached him with a big smile (after he’d slid back into his rubbah slippahs out of security) and a few admittedly lame compliments on his playing (I was too muddle-headed to think of anything clever). He was carrying an ukulele case and I pointed to the one I carried as well. We talked ukulele very briefly (he said he’s currently working on using the ukulele to approach classical music) and after an exchange of business cards he agreed to pose for a photo—even going so far as to pull out his ukulele and pose us in front of a “Hawaiian Air” sign so there was no doubt where we were. He strummed a few chords, smiled and Mark snapped the picture. Then he was on his way. Wow—what a fun ending to our short stay in Waikiki!
Now it’s on to the Big Island…