Bluesman bonds with Hawaiian sounds

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Bluesman Taj Mahal is a longtime fan of the late great Gabby Pahinui, whose music he has recorded. Says Mahal: "I've worked my whole life to understanding the blues quality in Hawaiian (music). And when I listen to Gabby, brah, I know he listened to jazz; I hear it in his voice." TAJ MAHAL AND THE HULA BLUES BAND 7:30 p.m. today (doors open at 7 p.m.) Pipeline Cafe, 805 Pohukaina St. $35 at the door ($30 advance); 589-1999 Also: 7 p.m. Saturday (doors open at 6:30 p.m.), University of Hawai'i-Hilo, Big Island; $35 ($30 advance); (808) 974-7310, (808) 896-4845 7:30 p.m. Sunday (doors open at 7 p.m.), Castle Theater, Maui Arts & Cultural Center; $30, $35, $40; (808) 242-7469 (A performance was held last night at the Kaua'i Memorial Theater.) Taj Mahal Real name: Henry St. Claire Fredericks Stage name: Came to him in a dream Birthdate: May 17, 1942 Birthplace: Harlem, New York City Parents: His father is a jazz pianist-composer-arranger of Caribbean descent; his mother, a gospel-singing school teacher from South Caroline. Number of instruments he plays: More than 20, including the 'ukulele. Known for: Preserving traditional acoustic blues; melding anything from Hawaiian to African music with his blues. Notable 'n' quotable: "I have songs in my head from so many languages and people. I know my sound is in the middle of this whole." Online: tajblues.com

"Everytime I hear his voice, I hear the blues," said Mahal about "Pops" Pahinui, a respected and revered singer from an earlier generation of Hawaiian musicians and as much a staple as poi has been to the Hawaiian diet. "I've worked my whole life to understand the blues quality in Hawaiian (music). And when I listen to Gabby, brah, I know he listened to jazz; I hear it in his voice. It's wonderful to hear a full style."

Mahal, 62, was indoctrinated into the Gabby sound in the late 1970s and early '80s when some fans who'd been in the Peace Corps in Fiji, came to see one of his shows. "They'd spent some time in the Pacific islands, and they had this album, by the Gabby Pahinui Hawaiian Band, with Ry Cooder, Cyril, and Bla Pahinui (among others)," he said.

"When I first heard 'Moonlight Lady' (on a 1975 album), I fell in love with the song. And I met (composer) Carlos Andrade before I knew he did the music. By that time, I started to realize that Gabby, like Robert Johnson (the blues guitarist), was a pioneer — and more so, he was contemporary. He had an incredibly creative force; unlike Johnson, who was recognized mostly by his record company but not the fans, Gabby was appreciated and worshipped by the people."

All this is a prelude to this week's visit of Taj Mahal and the Hula Blues Band, a nine-piece group that savors the blues and presents Mahal's Island adoration (he used to live on Kaua'i for about a decade), in a four-island tour that began last night in Lihu'e, Kaua'i, and continues today at the Pipeline Cafe in Honolulu, before moving on to Hilo on Saturday and Maui on Sunday (see box).

It's no accident that Mahal's latest CD is entitled "Hanapepe Dreams," and includes two tunes with Hawai'i vintage.

"I was exposed to Hawaiian music as a child, between 7 and 9, but it wasn't till I moved to Kaua'i in the 1980s that I started getting real close to real people and real sound," he said of local music. Indeed, he's so comfortable in the Islands, he's picked up local lingo ("brah," for brother, surfaces frequently in his candid comments) and tunes ("Living on Easy," thematically a song about taking life easy, not in the fast lane, which he recorded).

"When I make (mah-kay, the Hawaiian word for die), I want to come back as Gabby," he said, with benevolence and respect.

Indeed, Mahal feels refreshed and relaxed like a poi dog — a mixed breed — though in his case, he said: "One beeg kine poi dog. Popolo kine," referring to his black roots.

For a chap raised in Springfield, Mass., Mahal said the Garden Island suited him well in the years he spent here. "My background was as a farmer, so Kaua'i was rural, slowed-down, and a good fit," he said in a phone interview from Oakland, Calif., where he was winding up a gig before heading thisaway. "I was on the road 260 days a year, in those days, and I needed a place to come off the road and relax. Besides, environment inspires me. When I was on Kaua'i, I'd work in my garden and hang out and play music weekends with the locals. I met Martin, Cyril and Bla, and Raymond Kane, Keola Beamer, Ledward Ka'apana. We had a lot in common."

His first encounter with Hawaiian sounds came accidentally and early. "My father composed music; so I was exposed to music as a kid," said Mahal. "We had speakers and equipment, and I remember tuning in to this system, where you could dial anything from London to Honolulu, and I remember punching in Honolulu. The music that came out of the speaker changed my life. It was not just the sound, but the tempo; the feel of a live kindred spirit on the other side of the notes; but not just playing notes, but a live kindred spirit.

"It was sheer beauty. But what I heard stopped my heart; blew me away. It was outside any music tradition that I heard. I know I didn't breathe for a while. Someday, I thought, I need to find out what these people felt to get that sound."

He had visited the Islands when he was in his 20s, but it was years later that he would immerse his musicologist's appetite into Hawaiian music.

"When I formed the Hula Blues Band, a lot of people asked me how blues (related to) Hawaiian music," he said. "My response, really, is that if these guys did their homework, and found some Andy Aiona records with Louis Armstrong, or Lionel Hamilton on vibes, you'd see how Hawaiian music relates, how it was created. The point is, Hawaiian music has had a lot of influences over time: Mexican guitars, Portuguese instruments (including the uke), with so many other influences — ragtime, jazz, blues, pop. People just don't get it; there are many blues guys who started with an 'ukulele; even country guys in some early cowboy bands — all kinds of instruments were played, including the uke."

Thus, it's not surprising that Mahal would incorporate Hawaiian slack-key into his repertoire; except in his turf, ki ho'alu is called Vastapol tuning. As he explained: "I strum ki ho'alu on a Crafter guitar, which looks like one Martin, which I have ... which is the slack-key sound, with open tuning. But what a sound; I'm bringing this instrument to share. Sounds like the old (slack-key)."

When Mahal strums in this manner, he admits: "I play a whole other kind of blues."

So how does Mahal define blues?

"The way blues speaks to me ... it uses the lament," he said. "Very strongly, to totally frame the music, frame the mind. Blues has the ability to lift any kind of sorrow, get that out of the way, so we can get to something good. Some people think blues expresses how bad it always is; but you gotta get through it, to live for joy. Blues came down during hard times of human development, but you gotta find the happiness.

"At the same time, blues also is a window through which you can speak of joy, pain, love and sorrow — sort of the different hues out there. Originally, blues was African music, melancholic; but over time, there's been a bigger resonation.

"I like it best when people realize that it's up to them to be responsible for their own happiness. Blues is a lot of stuff — and it really helps people be self-reliant, if they work at it."

Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067, wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, or fax 525-8055.