Album Notes
This film is a moving journey into the beauty and meaning of Hawaiian slack key
music. Award-winning director Eddie Kamae’s rare combination of master musician
and cinematic storyteller is the key to showing how Hawai`i’s cultural traditions
and the ki ho‘alu guitar intertwine – and opening the door to a greater love of that
music.
Candid interviews and archival images combine with the music of many virtuoso
performers, from legendary Fred Punahou and Gabby Pahinui to Raymond Kane
and today’s Ledward Kaapana, to tell the slack key story from the 1830s to the
present. It shows you how this music perpetuates family tradition as songs,
techniques and special string tunings are passed from one generation to the next.
All the main islands are visited, including seldom
seen Ni‘ihau, as Eddie Kamae explores this most
Hawaiian music and its links with the people and
places that have nourished it.
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