When Slacking is Sweet: Ray Kāne and "Kilakila 'O Halekalā"

Ray Kāne, a legendary Hawaiian slack key guitarist, performs our random tune for today, an instrumental called Kilakila 'O Halekalā. Kāne's middle name, Kaleoalohapoina'oleohelemanu, loosely translates as "the voice of love that comes and goes like a bird and will never be forgotten." His deceptively simple guitar style, coupled with unique ways of brushing, plucking, hammering on and pulling off the strings resulted in his "nahenahe" or sweet sounding music that he always felt should be played or sung from the heart. He was one of the first slack key masters to play public concerts and tour widely, and made his first recordings in 1961. In 1987, Kāne was honored as a national living treasure by the National Endowment of the Arts. Ray Kāne died in 2008, but his music lives on. Kilakila 'O Halekalā is from his 1998 CD Wa'ahila.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.