Season 365 - Aloha!

One of my favorite Hawaiian songs of all time is this original that Janet (bonesigh) did way back in Season 3:

 
Here's one from the IN Harmony website. I haven't heard a recording of it, just did it the old-fashioned way by reading the music.

 
I must admit: I know next to nothing about Hawaiian music! So I accepted the fact that I'll take a one week leave from the Seasons.
But this morning, I was looking for an easy melody to practice some tremolo on my mandolin and I found Aloha 'Oe by Queen Lili'uokakalni.
I expected a zillion versions of this tune for Season 365, but no one seems to have covered it yet. So here's my tremolo treatment of
Aloha 'Oe
 
this is probably the worst song I have ever covered. Please have mercy on your soul if you listen to the original on youtube and turn the volume down. It sounds like it is sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks if they didn't know how to sing! Even my singing is vastly superior to the original.

 
Forte' and the Hortonville Ukulele Orchestra preparing for this years festival.
Pua 'Olena is a beautiful flower grown in Hawaii for its scent, spice, and medicinal properties. It dies back after each blooming season. This song tells the story about please come show me your beauty once again. It is also written as a double entendre.
 
Written by Ernest Kai'ai (1881-1962) A most eminent and influential figure in Hawaii in the early 20th Century. A gifted writer & musician, known in Honolulu as the "Father of the ukulele" and said to have been the first musician to play a complete melody with chords on the ukulele :D

 
This one's personal!
Seems that every second person that I share my love of uke and appreciation of Hawaiian culture with says how they've been there - twice!!
I was on a plane to L.A. once which stopped at Honolulu airport for two hours to refuel (it's a long way from Sydney to Hawaii). I went up on the roof and saw Diamond Head in the distance - what a tease!
Have a great time in Hawaii Randy - you lucky duck.

 
Oh yeah, this just keeps getting better and better! I’ll be out of touch for a while. See you in Hawai’i!
 
Aloha kakou!

I haven't been keeping an eye on the Seasons for a while, but a friend alerted me to this round on Friday, and given I've been playing Hawaiian Slack Key for a few years, I figured it was time to bust out the guitalele and have a crack at recording a slack key tune especially for this round.

This is Hapuna Sunset, which was originally recorded by Charles Michael Brotman, and appeared on the soundtrack to the movie, The Descendents.



Please forgive my playing; it's been a while since I played this tune, and my playing's a little rough in a few places. It comes across OK though, for the most part.

Amusingly enough, this entry comes only a few days past the first anniversary of my Seasons debut, in Season 313.
 
Here's a lovely one from my favorite Hawaiian songbook that I've come across so far, Charles Hopkins' 1901 Aloha Collection of Hawaiian Songs with arrangements by Ernest Ka'ai.



Have a great time, Randy! (And please forgive my awful pronunciation.)
 
We’re on Maui, and for the first time was here for “midnight, Hawaii time!” Great week everyone. Thank you so much, sincerely. It means a lot to me.

Wrap-up and prizes forthcoming.
 
Just make sure, if you're sending out, or planning to come home with, any 'Maui' souvenirs, that you can get them through customs/conform with applicable state laws ;-)
 
Better late than never. A song about Beamer riding the trolley with a girlfriend who was a bit nervous about it until Beamer and his friends said “You don’t want to miss Auntie’s beef stew!!”.

You guys might want to get some beef stew too! Hoping y’all have a grand time! In Hawaiian that’s...

I kekahi manawa nui :smileybounce:
 
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Aloha! We're back, darn it! We had the time of our lives. When we left Maui, it was 78°F. In Wisconsin, it was -9°F.

Anyway, wrap-up and prizes soon! So many amazing songs the Season, I've just finished re-listening to all of them. Y'all all SO talented!
 
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