Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 10, 1 October 2012 — IN SEARCH of a Song [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

IN SEARCH of a Song

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Aman dressed in blaek haunts the halls of the Hawai'i State Arehives. He searches the stacks at the Hawai'i Public Library. His eyes scan the pages of early Hawaiian language publications, looking for names. Like Sherlock Holmes, he reads death records, searching for

clues. The reward? Nearly a thousand pages of personal stories, facts, names and dates that illuminate the history of Hawaiian music. The man is John Berger, known to many as Hawai'i's foremost entertainment reporter. Some remember back in the day when he was a moming show radio disc jockey. To Dr. George

Kanahele, he was known as a trusted friend who agreed to a partnership to create the second edition of the 1 979 classic Ka Mele Hawai 'i A Me Ka Po 'e Mele, Hawaiian Music and Musicians. The first edition was 100 percent Kanahele's work. The revised and expanded edition was planned to be 90 percent Berger's research, writing and editing - with 10

I percent introductions, guid- [ anee on what would be added, and review for accuracy by 3 Kanahele. As Berger tells it in the J preface to the just released ' second edition, before he

and Kanaheie started the real work, "he asked me two

hnal critical questions - was I aware I would be doing at least 90 percent of the work and would I give my word that I would see the book through to completion no matter

I what/ Berger agreed, thinking Kanahele was checking to

be sure his co-author wouldn't get tired of the project after the inihal novelty wore off. Berger never imagined that he would need to carry the torch alone, for 12 years, to make good on his promise. Kanahele passed on, in the fall of 2000, within months of their agreement. Tlie New Yorker magazine describedhimas "the spiritual father of the Hawaiian Renaissance." Fearing the demise of Hawaiian music, Kanahele set about creating and spearheading the charge to create a "Hawaiian sense of plaee" in WaikM and Hawai'i, and to revive appreciation for Hawaiian music and musicians. Berger was respectful, letting some time pass. Then, when he did contact the Kanahele family, they welcomed his commitment to honor his promise. The moment of truth eame when Kanahele's boxes of research and photos, from 20-plus years earlier, could not be located. The reality set in. All the research would need to be done again, starting from the information in the first edition of the book. "Joanna Kanahele Kealoha, Dr. Kanahele's daughter, was a resourceful and tenacious researcher - it was due to her persistence that some of the most difficult 'pukas' were filled," says Berger, using the Hawaiian word for "hole." Berger's full-time job at the Honolulu Star-BuUetin (now Honolulu Star-Advertiser ) allowed research only after-hours. For an entertainment writer, covering music, theater and events, after-hours often means well after midnight. Through the demise and rebirth of the daily paper, he kept on. "There were times," Berger says, "when no matter how many hours I spent writing, I was overwhelmed with so mueh

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Slack key guitarist Raymond Kane. - Pholo: Paul I Schraub; Courtesy: Dancing Cat Records

Genoa Keawe, a legend in Hawaiian falsetto sing- ^ ing, joined her church choir at age 1 2. - Courtesy: Genoa Keawe

Kanahele

Beraer

more to do." The first edition carries less than a page of acknowledgments. The new edition has three jam-packed pages. "You know that saying about it takes a village? Well, 200 is a pretty good-sized village," Berger says with a laugh, adding that more than 200 people helped him keep his promise to complete the tome. Berger credits three keepers of information, Aaron Mahi, Patrick Hennessey and Puakea Nogelmeier for looking deep into their knowledge banks for details, dates and little-known facts. Regarding ehallenges, he says that Nogelmeier taught him how to search the early 1900s newspaper pages, written in Hawaiian. "When I found a name that linked to my historic notes, he would translate the page." Twice the size of the first edition, this book allowed far more coverage of the Hawaiian musicians who went away to play in Germany, Holland and France. The book covers eontemporary Hawaiian music and more obscure performers like Irene West, born in Texas in 1882, who toured across the U.S. and England with her group, The Royal Hawaiians. Berger hopes that the book will spur on the search for dates and details to be used in volume three. "As an example, we know that in 1883 the young boy David Nape

was sprung from a Honolulu detention home by bandmaster i

Henri Berger to go on the Royal Hawaiian Band's ! North Ameriean tour. Nape wrote many songs, includinu Pua Mohala

recorded many years

later by Gabby Pahinui. The question is, who raised him, where and how did he learn, where did he live and where did he die?" Years of writing were fraught with concerns over publishing. Berger says when the Hawai'i Book and Music Festival mastermind, Roger Jellinek, eame on board as a book agent, things started to happen. First they thought of self-publishing, but a thousand-page book seemed far too complicated. Then Bennett Hymer, head of Mutual Publishing, committed to be the publisher. The stunning, 64-page picture section is music history in duo-tone. Running from steel guitar master Alan Akaka to slack-key guitarist Yamauchi Yuuki, the section was created by Mutual's head designer, Jane Hopkins. The images will be presented in a continuous loop video

at Berger's muhiple Hawai'i Theatre book signings. Fans and friends, Burton White, director of the theater, and singer Cathy Foy Mahi, wanted to honor the author. White says, "To buy an autographed eopy, just look for John's name in lights on our marquee!" Small praise, everyone agrees, for a man who dedieated 12 years to keep a promise. ■ Lynn Cook is a loeal freelance journalist sharing the arts anel culture of Hawai'i with a global auāienee.

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The Royal Hawaiian Band wilh bandmaster Henri Berger, center, in the decade before the 1 893 overthrow. - Courtesy: Bishop Museum ^

"No Hawaiian singer was more popular in the first decade of the 21 st century, and none rose to loeal superstardom faster," John Berger writes of Keali'i Reichel. - Courtesy Punahele Productions