Hawaiian music has a unique charm, deeply rooted in the idyllic feel of the old-time islands. This page is mainly devoted to the classic Hawaiian steel guitar recordings of the 1920-1950s, which mixed dynamic technique with Tin Pan Alley-inspired showmanship. The Hawaiian steel guitar sound spread into country music during the Great Depression era, and eventually became a dominant motif in the hick music scene. The original Hawaiian style is a bit different, taking curious dips and loop-de-loops that sounds as delightful today as did back in the days of yore.

A few modern artists are also reviewed here, and I hope to expand this page to include more contemporary slack-key guitarists. Artists or labels are welcome to contact me about being included on the site.

King Bennie Nawahi "Hawaiian String Virtuoso: Classic Acoustic Steel Guitar Recordings Of The 1920's" (Shanachie/Yazoo)
An outstanding collection of rare old 78s featuring this jazz-oriented hotshot picker from Honolulu. As a young man, Nawahi hit the mainland vaudeville circuit, and became one of the most celebrated Hawaiian instrumentalists of the 1920s, initially billed as the "king of the ukulele" (hence the lifelong nickname). Here he is heard in a variety of settings, performing with his own band on famous numbers such as "Tickling The Strings" and "My Girl Of The South Sea Isles," and with various jazzy stringband combos. This album was put together from the collections of several members (and associates) of the Cheap Suit Serenaders, so it's no surprise to hear Nawahi's version of "Singin' In The Bathtub," which the Serenaders covered in the early 1970s. There are plenty of other great novelty tunes, some traditional Hawaiian songs, and even some country material with Nawahi plinking out sweet accompaniment. This album is especially nice for how well it presents Nawahi's personal style, assembling his material as a cohesive whole rather than as a few dazzling gems on a Hawaiian compilation, as it's usually heard. Great stuff, highly recommended!

The New Hawaiian Band "The New Hawaiian Band" (Mele, 1972/Hana Ola, 1992)
Country/pop steel guitar whiz Jerry Byrd moved to the islands in the early 'Seventies, and one of his first projects was this mellow yet soulful set, recorded with Herb Ohta, Atta and Barney Isaacs and other old-school session players. This rides a fine line between classy instrumental music and gooey muzak, but the island music faithful will want to check it out. The reissue on Hana Ola Records includes a few bonus songs taken from a late '70s Nohelani Cypriano EP that featured Byrd playing alongside Peter Moon and some other younger players on some contemporary-flavored material -- one track even dips into disco rhythms, so take that as you will.

The New Hawaiian Band "Hawaii's Greatest Hits, v.1" (MCA, 1991)

The New Hawaiian Band "Hawaii's Greatest Hits, v.2" (MCA, 1990)

Bla Pahinui "Windward Heart: Live Solo" (Dancing Cat, 2000)
Gabby Pahinui's second-oldest son, James "Bla" Pahinui has much more of an overtly folk- or rock-influenced style than his brothers, often singing in English, and goofing around with both the music and his vocals. His guitar style is also a bit blunter and more forceful... This live set, recorded as part of a tribute to his father, captures him at his best, with plenty of intricate guitar work, and a beaming, playful stage presence. This may be the best introduction to his work... certainly a very strong representation of his style.

Bla Pahinui "Guava Soul" (Mountain Apple, 2001)
One of the members in good standing of the extended Pahinui clan with a lighthearted set of island-style folk-pop, with the slack key and ukulele woven into an otherwise poppish mix. It must be said that Bla does not have a great voice; he seems to enjoy himself greatly on here, though, and offers some nice portraits of Hawaiian life (especially on songs like "Manuela Boy," an album highlight...) If you have enough good will to put up with the broken, craggy, un-mellifluous nature of his singing, you might get into this; I'm not that charitable, though, and thought this was a little hard on the ears. Notable moments include steel guitar legend Jerry Byrd guesting (quite nicely!) on one track.

Cyril Pahinui "6 And 12 String Steel Guitar" (Dancing Cat, 1994)
Lovely solo explorations by a son of Hawaiian slack-key legend Gabby Pahinui... This is delicate, innovative modern acoustic music. Absolutely gorgeous and highly recommended. A classic.

Cyril Pahinui "Night Moon" (Dancing Cat, 1998)
Another solid, lovely album by this faultless slack-key crooner. Recommended!

Gabby Pahinui "Rabbit Island Music Festival" (Panini, 1973)
Celebrated as one of the great modernizers of Hawaiian music, slide master Gabby Pahinui stretched the "traditional" sound of the Hawaiian slack key style out into a more relaxed, expansive sound, luxuriant and laid-back, as well as the perfect showcase for his dazzling guitar work. The title of this album is kind of an in-joke; Rabbit Island is a protected wildlife sanctuary, so the "festival" heard on this disc is actually a set of 'ewa'ewa terns, recorded on the rocky island (the human music was actually recorded in the Sounds Of Hawaii studios, in Honolulu...) This is a lovely album, sort of a bridge between the older island styles that Pahinui grew up on and and the modern sound that he pioneered. Joining him here are the extended Pahinui clan (many of whom have gone onto lengthy careers of their own), and guitarist Sonny Chillingsworth, who is also still a powerful force in island music. Really sweet stuff; definitely worth picking up!

Gabby Pahinui "The Gabby Pahinui Band" (Panini, 1974)
Gabby Pahinui "The Gabby Pahinui Hawaiian Band, v. 1" (Panini, 1976/reissued on Edsel)
Gabby Pahinui "Best Of The Gabby Pahinui Band: 1972-1977" (Panini, 1993)
Slide guitarist Ry Cooder was widely praised in the 1970s for helping make Hawaiian slack-key guitar music popular among the counterculture/roots music in-crowd. His work with Gabby Pahinui and the Pahinui family ranks as some of the best records in the genre, as well as some of the best stuff he ever recorded... not too surprising, since Pahinui was perhaps the single greatest Hawaiian slack-key guitarist ever. As always, Cooder left his own special stamp on the music, a graceful, well-sculpted sense of melody that can instantly be spotted in the mix. Graceful, beautiful, relaxed music which irresistibly, invariably conjures an image of an oceanic sunset every time I listen -- any of these albums are highly recommended.

Martin Pahinui "Night Moon" (Dancing Cat, 2003)
Gabby's youngest son, Martin, is a wonderful vocalist and slack key player, steeped in the best song traditions of the island. He's backed here by superpicker George Kuo and others, perfectly framing his sweet, understated vocals. This is fine, old-fashioned material, not as modernized as some of his recordings with the Peter Moon Band or as dynamic as his work with Hui Aloha, but perfect and compelling in its own beautiful way. (By the way, for anyone interested in deciphering Hawaiian pronouciation, the children's song, "C-A-T, Popoki Spells Cat," written by Gabby's old cohort Andy Cummings, might be quite helpful.) Highly recommended.

Al Perry And The Swinging Surfriders "Favorite Hawaiian Chants and Hulas" (Decca)
A nice, simplified set of Hawaiian tunes, featuring radio host Al Perry and a decent-sounding band, doing folksong-ish renditions of traditional chants (on Side One) and poppier "hulas" (on Side Two) that include pop tunes like Sol K. Bright's "Hawaiian Cowboy" and "Polynesian Love Song." None of Perry's work seems to be in print these days, which is a pity since it's actually kinda fun, in a Burl Ives-y kinda way. No date is given on the album cover, but I'd guess around 1956 or '57.

Jake Shimabukuro "Dragon" (Hitchhike/Sony-Japan, 2005)
Twentysomething whizkid Jake Shimabukuro is to Hawaiian music and the 'ukulele what Bela Fleck is to bluegrass and the banjo. A fearless modernizer and virtuoso picker, Shimabukuro dips liberally into lite-jazz and muzak styles, so much so that his 'uke work is sometimes obscured by the flowery pop arrangements... But when he keeps it simple, as on the acoustic-based "Me & Shirley T," his fretwork is nothing short of stunning. This album also includes the rock-flavored "With You Always," a song used in a tourism campaign aimed at Japanese travelers, where Shimabukuro swaps licks with an electric guitarist. This isn't my kind of Hawaiian island music, but after seeing the success that IZ had with similarly florid material, I wouldn't be surprised to see Shimabukuro emerge as a major Hawaiian star.

Roy Smeck "Plays Hawaiian Guitar, Banjo, Ukelele & Guitar: 1926-1949" (Shanachie/Yazoo, 1992)
Hotshot trick guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Roy Smeck tore up the Vaudeville circuit in the 1920s and early '30s, playing a dazzling mix of jazz, blues and Hawaiian-style music on guitar, banjo, mandolin and uke. He also became a world-famous author of countless music instruction books... This CD samples some of his best Hawaiian-style recordings of the 1930s, ranging from straight Hawaiian music to ragtime-y material and jazzy flights similar to Django Reinhardt's early stuff. Cool record, though you have to be really into instrumental material to sit through the whole disc. Nice sound quality, too!

Sons Of Hawaii "The Folk Music Of Hawaii" (Panini, 1971)
A classic and pivotal album which helped shift interest back towards older acoustic styles... This was also the first album on the venerable Panini label, featuring a 40-something Gabby Pahinui on guitar, along with several other top-flight musicians. Both Pahinui and ukulele whiz Eddie Kamae were longtime pros on the Hawaiian pop circuit, having played in nightclub and variety acts as far back as the 1930s. Here, they teamed up with some younger players to play a relaxed set of backwoods tunes, getting as far away from the "Blue Hawaii" chestnuts as possible, and deep into the folk tunes sung on shady porches across the islands. Kamae's delivery is a bit Burl Ives-y, but that's not really such a bad thing... This isn't as gorgeous or as melodic as Pahinui's later material, but there's a quaint air of familiarity and affection to these perfomances, particularly on cute, musicbox-y tunes such as "Christmas In Hawaii" and "Ka Lae O Ka'ena" (about the girl whose mom owned the candy store...) that makes this hard to resist.

Sons Of Hawaii "Best Of The Sons Of Hawaii, v. 1" (Hawaiian Sons, 1997)
Eddie Kamae kept the band together, and here's a nice selection of their recorded work... This is dominated by Kamae's ukulele work and sounds a bit on the folkie side -- as opposed to the lusher, more melodic slack key sound -- but it has its gentleness and charms.

The Sunday Manoa "Guava Jam" (1969)
The Brothers Cazimero joined Peter Moon after Cyril and Bla Pahinui split the band; it was this trio that took the group's name to the forefront of the early '70s revival scene...

The Sunday Manoa "Cracked Seed" (1972)

The Sunday Manoa "3" (Panini, 1973)
The title is a little misleading: this is the third album with this particular lineup (Peter Moon, Robert and Roland Cazimero), but there were earlier records made with the Moon-Pahinui lineups as well. Although this starts off on a strongly Hawaiian acoustic footing, it gets more folkie and syrupy as the album goes along... The influence of the Cazimero Brothers is initially balanced by Peter Moon's bouncy musical instincts, but as the album moves along, their goopy inclinations start to take over, and the string-drenched vocal numbers on the end of the album is sheer torture... Plenty of other stuff, though, balances it out. A mixed bag, but mostly on the traditional side, and certainly worth checking out.

Ukulele Club Of Paris "Manuia!" (Universal-France, 2002)
Well, here's a wonderfully diverse, playful ensemble that commingles odd, cute, ukulelesized versions of old standards such as Hoagy Carmichael's "Hong Kong Blues" and the venerable "Teddy Bear's Picnic" with cool originals and perky covers of old Hawaiian standards. The album opens with a delightful cover on Benny Nawahi's "Girl Of The South Sea Isles," complete with the lyrics translated into French; wisps of Latin and Brazilian music come in as well... Admittedly, you have to be into uke music to begin with, and even so this is probably best taken in moderate doses... But these guys are top-flight... If you like listening to artists such as the Cheap Suit Serenaders and Bob Brozman, or the groups they inspired (Squirrel Nut Zippers, Asylum Street Spankers, etc....) and likeminded modern uke groups such as Petty Booka, then this disc might be right up you alley... Worth checking out!

Waikiki Steel Works (Frank Novicki & Ben Bonham) "The Waikiki Steel Works" (Self-Released, 2001)
Two SF Bay Area locals with a sweet-tooth for good, old-fashioned Hawaiian fancy pickin'... Playing on a variety of vintage guitars and ukes, the duo tears through an all-acoustic mix of classics and originals that raggedly recapture the old style. Their perky picking may remind folks of Bob Brozman's early work... definitely worth checking out!

Sam Ku West "Hawaiian Hula Blues -- Acoustic Steel Guitar Masterpieces: 1928/29" (Grass Skirt, 2006)
Steel guitarist Sam Kuanoni grew up in Honolulu, but early in life he jumped on a boat and set out to make his fortune abroad, playing musichalls and vaudeville venues across Asia, Europe and on the United States mainland... This fine disc includes all of his officially released records, old 78s cut for Victor, Vocalion and some smaller labels during a brief period in the late 1920s. Kuanoni died young, apparently from exhaustion from a gruelling tour schedule, but he was one of the most highly regarded steel players of his time, and these two dozen-plus records are an impressive legacy. Several tracks may be familiar to Hawaiian music fans, through various compilation albums, but hearing all his records together in one place is a very different experience. Although he was a very adept player, Sam Ku's style was much softer and more reflective than that of other classic Hawaiian steel players of the era -- he was less of a "trick" player and more of a stylist, prefiguring in many ways the more contemplative feel of postwar-WWII slack key playing. At any rate, this collection, along with its well-researched liner notes, fills in a huge void in the Hawaiian guitar repertoire, serious collectors and fans will definitely want to pick it up. Great sound quality, too. (For more information, check out the Grass Skirt website... )

Speedy West "West Of Hawaii" (Capitol, 1958)
It's hardly surprising that Speedy West, one of the great session steel players of the 1950s, would have gone to Hawaii to cut an album of pure, Hawaiian-style steel tunes, nor is it surprising that the record was really, really good. What is weird is that this record is out of print, and has been for decades. Oh sure, all the tracks have been reissued as part of Bear Family's 4-CD Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant box set, but ya can't pick this stuff up just on it's own, which is really a shame, 'cause it's a treat. West plays it straight and simple, with locals Sam Koki and the Seven Sea Serenaders and falsetto vocalist Sylvia Zara to back him up. It's a fine record, well worth searching out, with some really sweet steel playing, and plenty of well-chosen, well-played Hawaiian oldies.

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