Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 4, 1 April 2012 — Maui steel-guitar virtuoso to share stage with the 'best players' around [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Maui steel-guitar virtuoso to share stage with the 'best players' around

By Kekoa Enomoto AHilo-born septuagenarian will host a three-day steel guitar eelebration on the Valley Isle. The fourth annual Henry Kaleialoha Allen Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival will showcase the only Hawaiian-invented stringed instrument by presenting concerts, jam sessions and workshops April 20 to 22 at Kā'anapali

Beach Hotel. "The best players that I know, they're on my stage for another year of steel-guitar playing," said Henry Allen, 78. "It's the only plaee where you ean eome for workshops led by masters who all have different ways of teaching," he said by phone from his Nāpili, Maui, home. Organizers said the festival theme is "Memories of Hawai'i: Century of Matson Boat Days and Aloha Tower." Allen cited a

singular memory, that of his musical launeh at age 1 1 in Mānoa Valley, O'ahu. "I started one group with the boys next door, Peter and Billy Gonsalves. The group went out and played. We found a manager and got paid," recalled Allen, who has authored How to Play the Hawaiian Steel Guitar (Mutual Publishing, 2008, $22.95) and 'Ukulele: Pila Li'i Li'i (Authorhouse, 2006, $25). "We were named the Manoans, from Mānoa. In my steel-guitar book, I have a picture of the boys," he said. The festival will feature a llurry of steelguitar luminaries, including Alan Akaka, Gorden Freitas, Greg Sardinha, Duke Kaleolani Ching of California and Kiyoshi "Lion" Kobayashi of Japan. Allen recounted his first experience traveling and playing with a luminary of stage and screen. "A group from San Francisco eame over (to Hawai'i). They needed a guitar player who could read music, play and sing," recounted Allen, who at the time just had graduated from McKinley High School. "The group from San Francisco had a show with a well-known actor with Flower Drum Song - Jimmy Shigeta. He was a good-looking guy, with haole wāhine dancers. They were going down to Guam and Japan, so I joined the show for nine months. ... I was 19." Six decades later - Allen said he turns 79 on Kamehameha Day, June 11 - one may hear mellilluous steel sounds at his website henryallen.com. His honors include being a past recipient of a Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts Folk and Traditional Arts Grant, and being named recently to the Maui Commission on Culture and the Arts. His more than half dozen albums include Blue Hawai 'i, Magic of Steel Guitar, Lei of Stars and the 2009 release East ofthe Sun, West of the Moon. Meanwhile, Allen will weleome Upcountry Maui songbird - and OHA Trustee - Hulu Lindsey to perform. "I'm glad Hulu, a cousin of mine from the Big Island, will be there Sunday," he said, referring to a champagne brunch that will culminate the festival. ■ Kekoa Enomoto is a retired copy editor and staff writer with The Maui News and former Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

HENRY KALEIALOHA ALLEN HAWAIIAN STEEL GUITAR FESTIVAL Where: Kā'anapali Beach Hotel, Maui When: April 20-22 Cost: Free I nf 0: Sherron Allen, (808) 669-6189, henrykallen@aol.com Friday, April 20 • Noon in lobby: Live music • 2 p.m. at courtyard tent: various workshops on Hawaiian steel guitar, 'ukulele, ti-leaf-skirt weaving and more. Videos of the late "Legends of the Steel" Fred and Ernest Tavares, Henry Allen, steel guitarand Matson cruise-ship history • 5:30 to 9 p.m. steel-guitar music and hula dancers • 9:15 p.m. Bring your guitars or 'ukulele to a jam session at nearby Hyatt Regency Maui's Swan Court (shuttle available) Saturday, Apnl 21 • 9 a.m. in lobby: Talk story with Henry Allen and guest artists, discussion of Hawai'i Boat Days • 10 a.m. in Kanahele Showroom: 0ngoing PowerPoint and video presentations on steel guitar, cruise-ship history and the late Fred and Ernest Tavares; steel-guitar display, demonstrations; Henry Allen discusses steel guitar, fields questions • 11 a.m. at courtyard tent: Neil Scott of the Universityof Hawai'i leads steel guitarmaking workshop; 'ukulele and hula lessons in the courtyard • 1 to 3 p.m. Kanikapila with guest artists, dancers • 5:30 p.m. Recognitions by Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa • 6 p.m. Kalama lntermediate School 60-member 'ukulele band led by Benny Uyetake • 6:30 p.m. Sound of the Steel Legacy Concert features dance and vignettes from Aloha Tower boat days, emceed bystate Sen. Brickwood Galuteria and Kimo Kahoano. • 9:15 p.m. Jam session open to all at Hyatt Regency Maui Sunday, April 22 • 10 a.m. at courtyard tent: Neil Scott and guests continue crafting, painting • 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. onstage: Hawai'i boat days interpreted in music, dance

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A master at work, Henry Kaleialoha Allen plays a Hawaiian steel guitar. His eponymous music festival invites people to bring their guitars and 'ukulele and join a nightly jam session. - Courtesy: Hawaiian Music lnstitute