Music Scene
New name, same good music at festival

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer

Among the performers at Sunday's O'ahu Slack Key Guitar Festival will be, from left, Makana, Albert Kaai and Ozzie Kotani. 19th Annual O'ahu Slack Key Guitar Festival Featuring Ozzie Kotani, Dennis Kamakahi, George Kuo, Makana, Maunalua with Bobby Moderow, Donald Kauli'a, Brother Noland, David Kahiapo, Willie K, Raymond Kane, Albert Kaai, Jeff Peterson, Native Hawaiian Band 4:30-9:30 p.m. Sunday at Kapi'olani Park Bandstand Free 239-4336

That's Milton Lau explaining his longtime involvement with the annual O'ahu Slack Key Guitar Festival, which celebrates its 19th year this weekend.

If the festival's name seems a bit unfamiliar for an event that has been held annually for almost two decades, maybe you'll recognize its former title: The Bankoh Ki Ho'alu Slack Key Guitar Festival. After serving as title sponsor for most of the festival's existence, Bank of Hawaii opted out of backing this year's show, citing financial concerns.

The bank's decision sent Lau scrambling for sponsors and accepting musician offers to cut performance fees to make sure the series didn't miss a beat. "It makes my work easier if we have a title sponsor, but we're OK," insists Lau. "The artists' passion was still there. They believed the festival was a worthwhile event and just wanted it to go on."

Lau remains grateful to the bank that said "no" for its support over the two decades the festival learned to crawl and eventually walk on its own.

"The experience was a real positive one," Lau says of the partnership with Bank of Hawaii. "Just like us, they saw the festival as a way to help perpetuate an important part of Hawaiian culture."

Lau staged the first festival in 1982 as a tribute to ki ho'alu godfather Gabby Pahinui, who had died only two years earlier.

"The festival started in his hometown of Waimanalo, at Waimanalo Beach Park," Lau says. "There was no real planning. We were just going to do it, and didn't know how long we would go on." A slack-key musician himself, Lau put together a lineup that included the Peter Moon Band, Ledward Kaapana and now departed ki ho'alu masters Leland "Atta" Isaacs and Sonny Chillingworth.

That first festival — which attracted more than 1,000 attendees — featured a couple of calling cards that still contribute to the series' popularity in 2001: the state's best slack-key musicians and free admission. Nowadays, the O'ahu festival draws more than 5,000 attendees, while similar slack-key festivals launched by Lau on Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island attract an equally feverish following.

Sunday's show will feature old-school slack-key legend Raymond Kane, longtime masters Dennis Kamakahi and George Kuo, and up-and-coming experimentalists Makana and Maunalua, among others. The festival's signature all-star jam session by Native Hawaiian Band — a festival-only combo essentially made up of anyone still around at the end of the night to play — lays a thick layer of frosting on this cake.