Waimānalo Kanikapila

Third Annual Gabby Pahinui Waimānalo Kanikapila

Aloha no, please join us for the third annual Gabby Pahinui Waimānalo Kanikapila

Saturday, August 6, 2011 at the Waimanalo Beach Park from 9am to 6pm.

Staring more than 100 icons of Hawaiian music and dance ~schedule posting at gabbypahinui.com.

The event is free and open to the public

Buy your 2011 limited edition t-shirt now!

Vendor and educational/informational booths are available by contacting:

• Na‘alehu Theatre, Executive Director:  Chelle Pahinui <Chelle@cyrilpahinui.com>

Workshops in slack-key and ukulele: August 5th

Please email me directly <cyril@cyrilpahinui.com> to register as participation is limited.

During my dad, Gabby Pahinui’s life, weekends at the Pahinui home in Waimānalo were a continuous jam session, hosting dozens of musicians, both young and old, who came by to jam with “the Master.” Memorable guests included slack key masters Leland “Atta” Isaacs, Sonny Chillingworth, and Ray Kane, along with David “Feet” Rogers, Joe Marshall, ukulele virtuoso Eddie Kamae, Jessie Kalima, Palani Vaughan, and Peter Moon to name only a few. With a welcoming pot of beef stew and rice always on the stove, our Waimanalo home became the perfect setting for a rejuvenation of Hawai‘i’s musical traditions. As Gabby’s fame grew, attendance at the weekend jam sessions mushroomed — sometimes hosting a hundred or more musicians and fans. The jam sessions would begin early on Friday morning and continue straight through to Monday morning.

During the early 80’s, Kanikapila sessions were founded at “Pop’s” Gabby Pahinui’s namesake Waimānalo Park Pavilion to feature and perpetuate Gabby, his Ohana and his Hawaiian style kihoalu-slack key music. It has long been the dream of the Pahinui Ohana to acknowledge Waimanalo as a focal point of Kihoalu and Hawaiian music by reestablishing these musical gatherings and their ability to perpetuate, and preserve the uniqueness of Hawai‘i’s  musical identity.  And most importantly to recognize Gabby’s contribution at the building dedicated in honor of him and everything he stood for.

The Pahinui Ohana along with the Na‘alehu Theatre, and the Waimānalo community, feel that Gabby “Pops” Pahinui and everything that he has done for the State of Hawai‘i, the City and County of Honolulu and the renaissance of Hawaiian music, language and culture played an important role in our past and continues to play an important role in our present. We strongly believe that by presenting the Annual Gabby Pahinui Waimānalo Kanikapila we will preserve and support Hawai‘i’s continued growth in the music industry and our unique identity as a world-class destination while, at the same time, developing and strengthening community pride and partnerships among ‘Ohana, Community Organizations, Businesses, and Government Agencies.

Please contact me with any requests or questions at: cyril@cyrilpahinui.com