Blowin' in the Wind

The inside story of the Hawaiian with the voice of an angel

The Trades are blowing this morning rustling leaves and bending palm fronds toward the southwest. The wind creates a bumpy surface over reef shallows at Anini. The air is alive with a rush of the island's natural music. The beat is uptempo.

The sounds and sway of the islands with their chirping creatures, tumbling waterfalls and buoyant aromatic flowers are inherently related to local culture, especially its music and dance. The ebb and flow.

During these crazy times, we want to feel safe and protected amidst this natural abundance but messages from the outside tell us otherwise: a reminder that we dwell on a small planet in a great universe and we're all connected. Music is a positive, universal connector.

Last night the local PBS station featured Cyril Pahinui and Peter Moon, Jr., sons of Hawaiian music icons, performing with guitar and ukulele the mele of their ancestors. The Hawaiian sovereignty movement began in the late Sixties and Cyril's father, Gabby, was its voice.

Anyone who has listened to Israel Kamakawiwo 'ole's heart-stopping rendition of "Over the Rainbow" solo with his ukulele, has doubtless felt the musical connection. In that recording, before Iz sings his first note, he says, "This one's for Gabby."

Iz was of the new generation. He interpreted popular music yet always honored the music of his people first. He was the new voice.

Iz, Gabby and his son Cyril, are no longer with us but their music lives on. You can hear it blowin' in the wind, played at festivals and funerals, on the radio, bursting from Pandora and Spotify.

Groucho Marx, the legendary comedian and put-down artist, once proclaimed that "all Hawaiian music was written in one day."

The first time I heard that I was miffed. I had been studying Hawaiian music under Kalae "Bobo" Miles in Santa Cruz. I was learning about a new language and culture, trying my best to understand. I had no clue.

Groucho's quote seemed to be just another put-down.

Today I don't think so. At least I interpret his statement differently.

Traditional Hawaiian music, always sung in the native language, may seem incredibly simple, yet the artists are forever interpreting it to the occasion. It was written yesterday and it is being written today. The same mele will be written tomorrow.

Changing modulation within a single song -- playing one verse in one key and repeating that same verse in another -- testifies to this. The next time the song may be played at a different tempo. Or sung in falsetto.

I remember students ask Kalae, "What chord is that?"

In so many words he told us that that chord doesn't have a name. It's a "passing" or "color" chord. Those chords are handed down by elders and learned by listening and paying attention. New generations learn from their kupuna at kanakapilas -- beach and backyard jams where the whole family (ohana) join in to play.

Originally, the Polynesians chanted. Europeans introduced verse, as well as the guitar and ukulele.

Traditional Hawaiian music is as organic as the passing wind and as universal as the stars in the sky.