This is another essay written by George in the seventies on growing Taro.  Keep in mind that when he wrote this he lived on the Big Island, today he lives on Maui.

“During the 1920′s to the 1950′s according to my Uncle Willie
Kahumoku, kalo was grown by our family mostly for home use. In Honaunau my uncle Charlie Mokuohai and Aunty Anna farmed
about forty acres of taro for commercial poi use and owned Royal Poi. Anyone with extra taro would sell to Royal Hawaiian
Poi. The varieties we grew in Kealia, where I now reside, forpoi were mainly lehua maoli, lehua ula ula, poni, palali’i,
nauea, o’opu kai and several varieties of piko taro such as piko lehua and piko keokea. The table-eating varieties we grew
were mostly mana ulu, mana keokea and mana ‘ele’ele. Mana
‘opelu, kumu and lauloa varieties and one called “pake taro”(but not the bunlong variety) we grew for pig feed and ‘opelu
(mackerel fish) chum, as these had less favorable
characteristics. They were too itchy to eat, made poi “hu”,
(rise and overflow), or were huge and/or with lots of keikis.

We fished and planted by the moon. We found that the three
nights before the full moon called Po ‘Akua, Po Hoku and Po Mahealani were best for planting taro. We sometimes planted taro on Hilo or new moon. Other moon phases were used to plant
ulu (breadfruit), ko (sugar cane), maila (bananas) and uala
(sweet potatoe). Like my ancestors, I still use the 0’0 or
digging stick for planting, exept my 10’0 was made of spring
steel instead of wood. Taro was planted by softening the earth
with the ’0^{10 and planted maka lua (two eyes or two huli) in} a hole twenty four inches wide in rows four feet apart. It was lonely and would grow better side by side with a friend.
Before planting the land was prepared by clearing, slashing and burning. The huli was Holo makaukau (made ready before
hand). All taro was planted at a slanted 45° angle in a Ku or Hina fashion. The ku style of planting slanted the huli 90° perpendicular toward the sun’s path across the sky. The
hina style of planting taro placed the huli 90° away from the
sun’s path across the sky. “Ku” was used for making big corms
with little or no keikisi “Hina” was used for building up huli
and making lots if keikis.

During the early 1900′s mango, hau and kukui trees were
planted near the stone walled edges of the fields. Along with
ama’u ferns the young leaves of these trees were used to pori

or mulch from six to twelve inches deep around the newly planted
taro once that taro had taken and was standing up (about six

to eight weeks after planting). It was the job of the youngsters
ages twelve to seventeen to climb the trees and break off the
young branches. Even today if you go into the South Kona
uplands, one can find huge groves of mango, hau and kukui planted
on the edges of the taro and the leaves were also used for
fertilizer and mulching. Before the taro began to cover and
canopy the entire ground, around three months old, it was weeded one last time and left alone until harvest. No one was allowed
to play or make noise near the kalo patch as it was a sacred
place.

The taro grew to six, seven and even eight feet tall. When
the leaves would start to shrink and drop the corms would begin
to form. When the leaves were three to four feet in height or between six to twelve months old, depending on the variety,
the taro was harvested. If not harvested in time certain
varieties like lehua would begin to loli-loli or rot. You were
considered a good taro farmer if four to five maka lua (or holes)
harvested filled a one hundred ten pound coffee bag. The taro
was then taken home where it was steamed in the imu or on an open fire in a fifty-five gallon drum. The taro was then pounded
into pari ‘ai with a stone poi pounder by two folks sitting
across from each other straddling one long poi board. It was fun to hear the kupunas’ poi pounders “talk” to each other while
pounding poi.

Pari ‘ai was really stiff pounding taro with little or no
water added. The pari ‘ai was placed in thirty gallon kela mania (earthen crocks) for storage. Poi was then made by putting
into smaller bowls of about two gallons each and fermented
according to individual taste. My great-grandmother liked her
poi three to four weeks old, white and bubbly, as does my older
brother who grew up with our great-grandparents.

Today we still grow taro much like our kupunas did, except
we use commercial fertilizer, pig manure and macadamia nut and
coffee husks for mulch along with the mango, ti and banana
leaves.

Thank you for this opportunity to share. “

To this day you still can't take five steps in George's garden without finding some taro.

This is an essay of George’s I found while scanning his songs from his old song book to his iPad for him.  He wrote it in 1978, enjoy.

A Hawaiian Perspective on Taro Growing by George Kahumoku Jr.

“Taro has been documented in Chinese history 100 B.C. and
Egyptian history 1000 B.C. According to Hawaiian oral history
as passed on by Kupuna Aunty Edith Kanaka’ole and shared with
those like myself, the Hawaiian genesis of mankind began when
Wakea the god of the sky, vibrated with Papa, the earth goddess.
The result of this first union was a keiki ‘alu alu or
flabby-fetus born-dead. This fetus was buried near the south
end of the house where sprung forth the Kalo or taro plant,
called Haloa-naka or long-stalk-trembling. Those of us who
have been around taro, with a light wind blowing, may have
noticed this long stalk trembling behavior first observed by
the Gods.

A second union between Wake a and Papa produced man.

Henceforth, according to Hawaiian oral tradition, the Kalo or
taro plant is the eldest brother of man. Like the old time
Japanese samurai, who believed that the spiritual energy or
“mana” was passed on best by the first-born of the first-born
of the subsequent generations, the Hawaiians believed that the
taro or kalo was spiritually superior to man who was second
born. This belief was so strong that only men (not women,
because of their monthly cycles) were allowed to work in the
taro patch and do the food preparation, including poi pounding.
Post missionary contact and new belief systems gave women more
freedom in relationship to food growing and the preparaticn
and eating of taro.

Today many of the links between taro and man have survived
via the Hawaiian language. The word for family, ohana, comes
directly from the word “oha”, or young shoots of the taro, and “na”, the Hawaiian word denoting plurality, or many young shoots.
The huli or “keiki” refer to the children in the family.

“·The
taro that is mature and ready to harvest is called makua, the
Hawaiian word’for parent. The taro that has long been harvested
and eaten is called Kupuna, the Hawaiian word for grandparent.

One of my favorite reasons for planting taro (besides
eating) is for the spiritual link to my ancestral older brother,
the Kalo. It reminds me of where I came from and where I’m
going. Taro also needs the inter-relationship with man in order
to survive and do well. This show of affection.”

This week at the Slack Key Show our featured artist was Keoki Kahumoku George’s son and my hanai brother.  The show drew in a full house just like last week.

Another Packed House

It’s always good to see my brother Keoki again and sometimes the show is the only time that happens since he lives over on the Big Island.  The show opened  with George and this time I had finished uploading his songbook onto his iPad so his selection of songs is even bigger than last time.  Among other songs,t he performed “E Nei”, an old original of his I found in his “lost files”. 

After George was finished, Keoki went up on stage with his ukulele & guitar.  My brother entertained the crowd with some great traditional songs and an entertaining hapa haole medley including Princess Pupule and Tiny Bubbles, here is a sample of Keoki.

Me and My Hanai Brother Keoki

After the intermission and our weekly free CDs and book drawing, Da Ukulele Boys played some contemporary songs then called up George and Keoki  and played a great jam session including “Mr Sancho Lee” dedicated to Garrett’s brother Jason who was in the audience.  It is one of my favorite songs.  Here is a sample of it.  The crowd gave them a standing ovation and CD sales were so brisk that I had to work at the counter instead of writing this blog like I usually do.  Yet another great show.

The Standing Ovation

I was going through Uncle George’s old song book so that I could scan his songs into his ipad for him when I found this lost gem.  It’s a poem he wrote over twenty years ago.

“This haiku poem I wrote best describes my
feeling for Taro:

Taro six feet tall
Quivering in the moonlight
Brings peace to my Soul!

George Kahumoku
1978″

As You Can See Uncle George Still Lives by this Poem

Here is another blog post by Ray Tsuchiyama Uncle George’s friend. 

Ray Tsuchiyama

“Recently, my spouse C. and I visited the Edward Bailey House Museum in Wailuku for a Maui Historical Society fund-raising event.  It was a Christmas seasonal affair, so many people were searching for gifts among tables filled with pottery, books, leis, jewelry

  Slack-key musician George Kahumoku Jr. was playing and singing, and we took seats under Wailuku’s ever-changing strong sunlight, sudden swift clouds, soothing cool winds from green Iao Valley.  He spoke about his life and all the colorful incidents that led to his musical career (including a stint working for Honolulu car salesman Lippy Espinda – I recall his television commercials where the old-timer promoted used cars next to a ventriloquist’s dummy).

  C. and I stayed for a hula halau and enjoyed the keikidancing very much.  Later during a windy and rainy afternoon we ate croissant sandwiches at the Maui Bakery along Wailuku’s Vineyard Street, and C. bought some cookies and we were pleasantly surprised how buttery and light the cookies tasted.

  A few days later I met George carrying his 12-string guitar (along with his ubiquitous box of organic bananas) in a parking lot, and he told me the good news: he had been nominated for his fifth Grammy award. His face and voice expressed much surprise, as he said that although Hawaii’s musicians are no longer eligible for a Hawaii Grammy Award, they can compete in the new, umbrella “Regional Roots” category.  George’s album “Wao Akua: The Forest of the Gods*,” was nominated along with other albums highlighting polka, zydeco, and Cajun (yes, all with American musical roots).

  In a newspaper interview George asserted that he found inspiration for his album “Wao Akua: The Forest of the Gods” while teaching an ethnobotany class on Maui (on the other hand, it’s rare to find a botanist teaching guitar, but that’s George).  George explained: “The idea was to present music that if you went into the forest you would like to listen to.  .  .”

In other words, Hawaiian trees, shrubs, flowers gave him insights to develop musical compositions that he integrated into an album.  George derived inspiration from Nature – that’s a simple analysis, yet he has a multi-disciplinary approach, combining technical abilities with spirituality and personal recollections, emotions in the 24 melodies — several George originals, two compositions by Prince William Pitt Leleiohoku Kalaho’olewa (Kaua i ka Huahua’i and Moanike’ala) and one by Queen Lili’uokalani (Pauahi ‘O Kalani), plus 11 “traditional” Hawaiian songs whose authorship is either disputed or unknown.

  In George’s words: “(The album) includes some family classics as well as newly composed melodies inspired from my recent trek through a Hawaiian forest. Just as there are different layers in the forest: the ground cover, ferns and bushes, understory, and canopy; these songs, too, are representative of the various layers of my musical life. Whenever I play an instrumental “background music” gig, I often drift into a zone of reflection that flows into a spiritual realm where I hope the listener can follow. This CD is meant to delight and to instill a sense of peace, harmony, and lokahi (unity) for the sounds and the silence found within the Wao Akua, the Forest of the Gods.”

Much congratulations to you, George, a fellow Fern Elementary keiki, and best of luck in Los Angeles next spring.

  * Four songs from the album are featured in the George Clooney movie “The Descendants,” and another was used in an episode of “Hawaii Five-0.”  Spouse C. is still waiting patiently for the movie to come to Maui.  Note: The “Regional Roots” winner will be announced at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards Show, held in the Los Angeles Convention Center on February 12 2012.”

As I stated in the last post this is going to be a good year for the Slack Key show and already we are off to a strong start.  Ledward Kaapana was our guest artist last night and the show completely sold out. There were so many people that we had to set up extra chairs in the back just  accommodate everyone.  There was even a line outside the venue stretching around the block the way there is every time there’s a new Star Wars film released.  Out videographer Dave  had to change the place he films the Slack Key Show because his camera was too far away.

The Full House

                As always Uncle George opened the show and showed off his new diversified repertoire of songs.  I have been downloading songs for him and putting them on his new iPad, so it is much easier for him to carry a more music around with him. He played songs he knew but had not performed recently, like Kui Lee’s “Ain’t No Big Thing” and “Anapau” by David Kamana.  Here is a sample of George playing.

                Then George called up the Grandmaster of Slack Key Guitar, Ledward Kaapana.  His performance was excellent, as always, which is why he draws such a big crowd everywhere he goes.  Here is a sample of Led on our YouTube channel.

Me with Ledward Kaapana

                After intermission Da Ukulele Boys did our popular weekly Free CD Drawing, performed some contemporary songs,(see a sample here), then invited George and Led back for the grand finale. The crowd gave them a rousing standing ovation and CD sales were brisk.  What a great show! 

The crowd giving a standing ovation

Me with Uncle Richard Ho Opi i

Reverend Dennis Kamakahi famed composer and Slack Key master has recently released a duet CD with Stephen Inglis who is also a Slack Key player as well as a vocalist.  They will be joining us on the 25^th at our weekly show as well as playing with George again on Thursday the 26^th at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center. 

Reverend Dennis and Stephen Inglis

George Kahumoku is now on band camp here (link), many of his songs and older albums are now available for down load free of charge.  Wao Akua George’s latest album, which has been nominated for a Grammy as well as his other albums are also available for down load on Band Camp at the low price of $9.99.  We are of course still offering Wao Akua and Daniel Ho’s album E Kahe Malie for $24 plus free shipping for those who prefer solid copies of their albums. 

Registration for our annual Slack Key workshop in June 17 – 24^th has officially begun and can be accessed on our web site.  So far this year the instructors will be George & Keoki Kahumoku, Herb Ohta Jr, Kevin Brown, Dennis & David Kamakahi, Richard Ho‘opi‘i, Anthony Natividad (flute), and Jason Jerome.  Other instructors may be added to the roster at a later date and delicious food is included in the cost of the tuition.  Don’t miss this chance to learn Slack Key from the best masters of the art all gathered in one place.  I was lucky enough the be on staff for this event last year and although I did not play any music myself I can say for sure that this event is unique and although $1000 for a week of instruction might seem steep at first when you take into account the fact that George’s cooking for a week is included in the price you see that it’s actually a steal and one of the best deals on the island.  I for one can’t wait to feast on his plate lunches again.

George is now also director of the Institute of Hawaiian Music at the University of Hawaii, Maui College, teaching Slack Key Guitar, Chorus, and other classes.  He is now working on creating a Hawaiian language, culture, and music program for students.  Currently they are having some funding issues however so he is working hard to raise money for the students.

In other news our YouTube channel show casing our weekly show at the Napili Kai Beach Resort has now reached 175,000 views.  The channel can be seen here (link.)  Slack Key coffee by popular demand is now available in 1 and 2 pound quantities on our site here (link).  Don’t miss your chance to try this amazing organic coffee at a new money saving price.  I for one don’t drink anything else these days (unless I’m desperate of course.)   

Slack Key Coffee. Great stuff I drink it every morning.

This is an older article about the Grammys written two years ago about George by Brad Burnham.  You can read the original on maui magazine’s site here.  Or you can read my repost below.  The Title of the post is “The Grammys and George Kahumoku Jr.”  I chose to repost this article here because it is really good, but also quite difficult to find on the Maui magazine’s site.  I too will get to go to the Grammys with George soon the same way Brad did years ago and am looking forward to it.  Well here is Brad’s article:

“The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences restructured the Grammy Awards earlier this month, merging existing categories across all genres including pop, rock, R&B and country. Most of the changes make sense. One change, however, did bring out the ire in some of Hawaii’s music fans; the award for Best Hawaiian Music Album was combined with Best Native American Music Album and Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album. The new category will be called the Best Regional Roots Music Album.

The award for Best Hawaiian Album was only added by the academy in 2005. For the few years it existed, some of Hawaii’s most beloved performers traveled to the Mainland to participate in the annual Grammy Awards ceremony.

Rhythm & Views would like to take you behind-the-scenes at the Grammys during one of those trips with Maui’s slack-key master George Kahumoku Jr. and guest blogger Brad Burnham.

Burnham has spent 20 years in the media, attending several high-profile events with massive amounts of press, security and production including the NFL Super Bowl, complete with locker-room interviews, private parties for the NFL alumni and a private concert with Hootie and the Blowfish. He also attended Universal Studios‘ Jurassic Park Ride opening in Hollywood with Steven Spielberg and has appeared on the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

He told R&V that he has seen some very high-profile events and he thinks the Grammys top them all. We’d like to welcome Burnham as he shares 24 hours at the Grammys with Uncle George.”

George Kahumoku and Brad Burnham

Glamorous Grammys (Hawaiian Style)

by Brad Burnham

“Ever wonder what actually happens when an artist wins a Grammy, accepts the award and then disappears off the stage? Well my friends, I experienced this whirl-wind with a handful of Hawaiians who picked up their fourth award in five years. And I must set the stage, no pun intended, by stating that I have been very fortunate to have observed some very extraordinary presentations and productions … and I think the Grammys take the cake, or in this case, the pineapple.

I will do my best to paint the canvas of this 24 hour extravaganza so you will have an enlightened perspective as to just how great and just how grand this show really is.

Uncle George Kahumoku Jr. is a legend on Maui. He is a multi-talented slack key guitarist and is the life and breath of a true Hawaiian. We became friends about three years ago after I first saw him perform at his weekly concert series (Masters of Slack Key). This show blew me away in its quaint simple setting and is a must-see for anyone visiting Maui.

Since then, we have stayed in contact and I was lucky enough to take my family to visit him and his wife on his farm in Wailuku. A couple weeks before the Grammys (2009), George, knowing that I would assist him with photography as well as written re-caps, called and invited me. I could not say yes and mahalo fast enough.

I flew from Phoenix to LA and taxied to his location in Manhattan Beach. We shot the Manhattan Beach breeze for about two hours, and it was very much like our visit on his farm — fun, friendly and relaxed, not at all full of the hype that you would think would accompany the few hours before an event of this magnitude.

Our host Paul Konwiser, wife and son dressed and we drove to the Staples Center. The police presence was massive; I would consider it to be on the level of a Presidential visit. Multiple check points, mirrors being rolled under the cars, tire spikes, packs of police (30 of them in groups being prepped for the day) all nearly sporting swat-like weaponry. A very impressive display by the LAPD to say the least. And keep in mind, that this was all being done to the people that were “supposed to be there” and had VIP tickets on the dash of their cars. Quite a deal and a little unnerving, as at one point, we wondered if we might even have trouble getting in.

Once in the parking garage, Paul and his wife graced George and their son with beautiful flower and ti-leaf leis. That’s it. We were ready to go in.

They all quickly entered the LA Convention Center, while I, having just flown in, needed to run to my nearby Westin Bonaventure to change and freshen up. A curious moment because when we split up, we could not help but wonder if we find each other again.

Not to worry. After a quick stop at my hotel and a taxi back down to the event, I was easily inside. Something that I was not aware of is that there is a pre-show telecast, where nearly all of the awards are given out in a smaller version of what is seen on television. George had told me to hurry as their category was to be called early on, #24 to be exact.

I got there and immediately saw the legendary Neil Young. So at that point, I quickly realized that I was in the right place. I made my way up to the camera tri-pod platform, which was dead center about 10 rows off the stage. After about 12 categories — I was a bit late — Best Hawaiian Album was being shown on the big screen.

Oh my gosh…this is it! I get goose bumps just writing this. What a moment! And within what seemed like seconds, the nominees were announced…and bam…the winner is? “MASTERS OF HAWAIIAN SLACK KEY GUITAR VOL.2,” Jeff Peterson, George Kahumoku Jr, Wayne Wong, Paul Konwiser and Daniel Ho! OMG…my friends just won the Grammy! I could barely breathe and was not sure what to do, except to start shooting pix with my iPhone.

As the newly crowned champs left the stage, I figured, just like on TV, that they would exit stage right, set their trophy on a pedestal, return to their seats and watch the rest of the categories. Boy was I wrong. What happened next was like transcending into a glitzy glam-packed fairytale.

We all — the winners, their wives and myself — assembled on the stage-right side of the room and were told to wait there by an escort. I had no idea what was going on, but George and the crew did, as they have walked down this beach before.

Another escort appeared and made a quick count of the members in our party. We had an escort at the front of the group and also one at the back, so nobody could join our group. We headed out of the LA Convention Center en route to who knows where, down an escalator and into one of the metal detectors. (By the end of the event, I must have gone through, been wanded etc. at least five or six times.) It seemed a bit over-kill, but extremely safe.

As we went through to go into the Staples Center, we had to show our tickets for the main event. Some how George had dropped his along the way. I did not have any trouble believing it with all the excitement; but it did not appear that we were going to get to continue on. I think George’s boyish smile got him out of that jam, because the senior supervisor let us go through quite quickly.

More escalators, turns, more hallways; I could not even come close to retracing my steps and now it appeared we were about to enter a media circuit. Over the course of the next 60-90 minutes, we made about seven or eight stops at various locations. All the while, George, Paul and Daniel seemed to be on the phone doing interviews of their own, I assumed with Hawaiian press.

Upstairs in the Staples Center, we were whisked past the suites. Many were marked (as dressing rooms) with the names of the performers for the main event. As we walked by these rooms titled Jay-Z, Slash etc., again it was quite clear that we were in the epicenter of the Grammys.

It seemed like nearly every 100 yards or so, there was a stopping point. The winners (Jeff, George, Wayne, Paul and Daniel) would go up a couple of stairs on to a platform with a podium and mic and field questions from the press. The first one seem to be local (LA) press. As we continued, it seemed as though yet another stop was international press. There were three to four other stops in different locations, with video cameras and different settings and backdrops.

George and the guys stopped briefly at each one for a quick Q-n-A, and then off to the next. As we walked from stop to stop, it seemed that everyone along the way was offering congratulations. At first, I did not know what to say; I was simply an invited guest. But it happened so often that at one point, I just started saying “thank you.” Yet another iconic moment, everything was executed so well, all of the nominees and winners, friends and family, staff, etc., all could not have been more full of friendliness.

The interviews started to wind down a bit, so I started to think that this has got to be about it. Wrong again. Now it was time for pictures. The picture area was very cool. Our group was immediately stopped and asked to stand around a computer screen where a small lens snapped their photo and immediately put them on Facebook. I thought that was an interesting, unique touch. Sort of a “star-tracker” for those at home to watch as the winners were being announced.

The photo area was terrific, but full of rules, as in: “Don’t touch the Grammys!” Uncle George (aka Uncle Grammy or Grammy Kahumoku) was having fun with the trophies and was attempting to pass them around a bit to Jeff’s wife and myself. Several times he and the group were told that “only the winners” could touch the prize. I did not know this was such a taboo thing to do, but we quickly realized that the Grammys themselves carry a pride, history and heritage, and with that comes a very distinct set of dos and don’ts.

When George realized that I could not hold one, he graciously pulled me on to the camera set and asked the shooter to capture a picture of he and I, with him holding the Grammy. That my friends is a moment I will never forget. I can barely describe how beautiful that moment was; here I am, just a guy, just a friend of George, not a Grammy winner. For crying out loud, yesterday I was in Scottsdale, AZ, selling Audis and now today, I am in the heart of the Grammy celebration with a winner and his trophy, on the camera set, getting possibly the most memorable keepsake I could ever possibly hope to get.

All that said, I had to chuckle while realizing that it was George’s Hawaiian-ness coming out. The spirit of Aloha, to give what you have to another, to share your life with another, to live in the present and to fully share the moment. I had to step away from the group, as the authenticity of those chain of events watered my eyes.

Becoming speechless at this last stop put me in the “OK, I’m good. I can go home now” mode, feeling as though nothing better could happen. Little did I know, the best part — the infamous walk down the red carpet — was next.”

As many of George’s fans may know, he is a lot like Old McDonald in the sense that he has a huge farm full of animals and almost every type is or has been there at one time or another.  Well with the exception of pigs, but that’s only because the CC and R’s at the Cliffs at Kahakuloa prohibit pigs and roosters, and even then George found a way to circumvent this and had secret Cows and Pigs on someone else’s property that he didn’t tell Mom about.   Bella the baby goat is one of his new animals.

My Sister Jessica bottle feeding Bella

Annabel the Mother

Annabel is our alpha female and one of George’s best mothers and she has mothered a good number of goats.  Unfortunately recently a stray dog came through the pasture at night and injured her udder.  This means that it’s now painful for her to nurse her baby, so she wasn’t letting Bella get the milk necessary to grow into a healthy goat.  So now each of us has to take turns bottle feeding Bella so that she can grow strong.

The farm is not normally my department, but for an adorable baby goat I can make an exception!   

George with his Taro Plants. He's very proud of them.

Recently a man by the name of Ray Tsuchiyama met George Kahumoku for the first time and wrote this blog piece about him.  He heaped George with praise of course.  You can read the full version Here. 

Or you can read my reposting of it below.  Here is what Ray Tsuchiyama had to say about George in his blog post:

Ray Tsuchiyama

“Recently, I had a delightful meeting with the larger-than-life Renaissance-man George Kahumoku Jr.  I am not a follower of Hawaiian music, so I did not know that I was meeting such a distinguished musician, who lives on a farm on Maui.      Later I listened to George’s CD compilations, ranging from the traditional Hawaiian “Hymns of Hawaii” to the English-dominant lyrics in “Island Classics”, and I was overwhelmed by his virtuosity and range.  What is impressive in the two-Volume “Hawaiian Hulas” CD is George’s wondrous dexterity on the 12-string slack key guitar (simply, “slack key guitar” is a musical genre based on a finger style of playing using open tunings while combining bass, rhythm, and melody onto one instrument), resulting in the transcendence of “classic” hula tunes to universal lyrical expression.  Perhaps the “purest” musical recording is George’s “E Lili’u” CD, composed of his emotional solo instrumental playing on the slack key guitar, haunting melodies based on songs written by Queen Liliuokalani, including the beautiful and powerful “Aloha ‘Oe” and “Queen’s Prayer”  . . .   

George certainly deserved his four Grammy awards  . . . voted by legions of talented musicians.   

  Yet George is more than a musician: he is a tireless global teacher/mentor of new generations of Hawaiian musicians.   

  Throughout the world Hawaiian music is enjoyed by tens of millions of fans, and there is a universe of individuals who aspire to play Hawaiian music.  For decades George has been teaching students the ukulele and slack key guitar.  He has taught at the Berklee School of Music in Boston (the school is unique for courses on rock-and-roll, the Rolling Stones version of classical mecca Julliard in New York City), and at the World’s Fair in the northern German city of Hanover (thousands of students), and in Nashville (additional thousands), and throughout Japan.  George surprised me: he said that in Japan there are more than one million hula dancers, >100,000 ukulele players and >10,000 steel guitar players (the latter figure tops the entire population of Moloka’i at 8,000!).  In Germany, he estimates there are >250,000 hula dancers and >50,000 ukulele players.     

  The most surprising statistic was 1 million ukulele players in cold Canada.  In the Canadian province of Ontario, nearly 60% of all elementary grade school teachers teach music with no musical background – utilizing the ukulele as the teaching/learning platform.   

    In the late 1960s a visionary school instructor in Halifax, Nova Scotia named J. Chalmers Doane launched a student music program, which is now known as the Doane-Hill Method (www.ukuleleintheclassroom.com).  Hundreds of thousands of Canadian children and adults were taught music fundamentals, including “sight reading, ear training, singing and playing together” – all based on the Hawaiian ukulele.  What is extraordinary is that in far-off Halifax city, many students continued with the ukulele (even though learning another instrument or two) and “eventually there evolved a hierarchy of all-city ukulele ensembles, the best of which was the famous “A” Group, which performed across Canada and produced many recordings and television specials”.     

The “Hill” of the “Doane-Hill Method” is James Hill, a younger man whose teachers were Doane’s students – and Hill emerged as a ukulele wunderkindvirtuoso who gave concerts throughout Canada and the United States, as well as in Japan and Western Europe. Interestingly, he traveled from Canada to teach ukulele playing at a Hawaiian music school on the Big Island.   

  George pointed out that he has seen a resurgence of music interest among Hawaii’s children, and he mentioned that he has witnessed Samuel Enoka Kalama Intermediate School Makawao campus students arriving at the school cafeteria at 7 AM for ukulele lessons led by instructor Benny Uyetake.  George laughed and said “they (the children) all want to be next Jake (Shimabukuro)”.  . . This is a great ambition to emulate a youthful, innovative musician, at such an early age!   

  After my all-too-short meetings with George, I had several takeaways:    

  First, the ukulele — plus music education in general throughout Hawaii schools — has not yet reached its potential in its birthplace of Hawaii.  The mid-October Maui Ukulele Festival reflects the musical enthusiasm of many ukulele-lovers in the community, yet the cold Canadian Northland executed a sustained musical program over decades.  The metric achieved was 1 million ukulele-strumming children and adults — that’s about the population of Hawaii – out of Canada’s total population of barely 35 million.  There should be a similar musical program on a micro-level in my childhood community of Kalihi-Palama or Kihei or Lihue.  I have regretted not learning a musical instrument; my life could have been richer, fuller, and artistic.     

  Second, after watching George record separate tracks – slack-key guitar and ukulele – then meld them on a tablet computer utilizing a music software program, I was impressed by his easy embrace (and promotion) of sophisticated technology for music composition and teaching – he sees no contradiction between traditional music and tech adoption.  If students learn faster and the musical results sound better, George is a tech believer; his smiling face is next to the term “early adopter” in the Webster’s dictionary.  He is a progressive individual who is learning constantly: age is no barrier. *   

  Third, George is an endless networker (with an army of like-minded mentors), a storyteller, an internationalist – and one is seduced (even a non-musical individual like myself) to support his music, his students, his initiatives – and I could see his universal appeal, his capacity as an unselfish ambassador of Hawaiian music and culture from his small Maui farm headquarters to distant lands, to Europe, Japan.  In short, I don’t know if he is a natural entrepreneur or he learned his marketing/PR skills over the years, but he can easily teach Marketing Music 101 at the Harvard Business School.   

  Finally, after our all-too-short meeting, George invited me to his truck, and out of buckets in the back, he stuffed sweet potatoes and large green bok choi leaves in a bag and handed them to me.  He apologized to me for giant teeth marks on some sweet potatoes; his horses devised a tasting menu that unfortunately included a new crop.  This short blog piece does not do justice to his multi-talented (I did not mention his art) background, yet he would be happy if I mentioned his deep love and passion for sustainable farming, to spread the fruits of his farm to others like a Hawaiian Johnny Appleseed, an evangelist of self-grown vegetables, good food, the aina.  I cannot wait until I meet him again to bring joy and peace to my heart, to re-affirm the beauty of music and aloha.   

  * For some people in Hawaii, there exists a divide/separation between ukulele mastery and software/computer engineering.  Can a student growing up in Lahaina or Hana be a master of both? – Ah, a topic for a future blog piece.”