Walking Hand in Hand: Hapa and "Ku'u lei, Ku'u ipo"

Unfortunately, I have a full day at work and a full evening at Globalquerque, so this post is short and sweet.  A few years ago, my wife bought tickets to see a band called Hapa - she told me they were from Hawaii so I resigned myself to seeing what I figured was stereotypical Hawaiian music.  I had never really been interested in Hawaiian music but I figured I'd give it a go.

And to my surprise, I liked it.  I enjoyed Hapa, and part of it was their formula of mixing up the Hawaiian music with other genres.  So, the show that I dreaded didn't materialize. Instead, it was a varied show, with new takes on traditional Hawaiian music and some rock and roll, jazz and blues.  We bought a couple of their albums, and I've listened to them since.  And since, in a roundabout way they brought me around to listening to more Hawaiian music, recognizing my stereotypes and especially, in my introduction to musicians who play slack key guitar, realizing the incredible musicianship that goes into Hawaiian music.  This world music journey has done a lot to expand my experience and open my mind - and I can think of no better example than my former and current attitudes about Hawaiian music.  If we're not walking hand in hand, then I am at least touching fingers with Hawaiian music.

The name Hapa means "half," and indeed one of the members, Barry Flanagan, is a white guy from New Jersey who is currently paired up with native Hawaiian Ron Kuala'au. Flanagan has been with Hapa for 30 years, though his partnership has changed. Hapa started as a partnership between Flanagan and Keli'i Ho'omalu Kaneali'i, then with Flanagan and Nathan Aweau who eventually left for a solo career. Flanagan then partnered with Hawaiian chanter Charles Ka'upu, and Hapa's goal was described by Ka'upu as helping revive the Polynesian language and to totally change the way the world perceives Hawaiian music.  Unfortunately, Ka'upu died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2011 in his early 50s. However, in its new incarnation Hapa continues to draw from jazz, folk, blues, bluegrass, Latin, flamenco, rock, Irish music and slam poetry as well as traditional Hawaiian music. Hapa's debut CD in 1995 became the biggest selling album ever by a Hawaiian group, and they have since released eight albums. Ku'u Lei, Ku'u Ipo is from their debut release, Hapa.