Customer Reviews

The Gabby Pahinui Hawaiian Band

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gabby "Pops" Pahinui (Phillip Gabby Pahinui) was absolutely the greatest Slack Key Guitarist that ever lived.Many folks consider him to be the father of the style. Any title with his name on it is a Must Have item for the Hawaiian Music Lover. Gabby was a state road crew worker by day and an incredible guitarist, singer-songwriter by night and weekend.

Ry Cooder lived and studied with this man and his family in the 70's.

To see Gabby in person provoked instant Chicken Skin (goosebumps). Gabby left us in 1980 but fortunately for all of us, three of his sons - Cyril, Martin & Bla Pahinui all continue making fine music and extending the family legacy.

Anytime you see a cd with the name Pahinui on it, grab it...you will not be sorry. Pahinui, like Mercedes, means absolute perfection. - Rabbett

This album clearly demonstrates why Gabby "Pops" Pahinui holds the undisputed title of King of Slack Key. Not only does this album present him, in all his slack-key glory, but also the talented Ry Cooder and Hawaiian musicians Atta Isaacs, Sonny Chillingworth, Randy Lorenzo, Joe Gang, Manuel Kapahu, Bla & Cyril Pahinui.

This album delivers!

Gabby Pahinui put slack key guitar on the map. While the art form began evolving in the 1830's with the Hawaiian cowboys, Gabby became synonymous with Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar. In 1974, Warner Brothers recorded the legendary guitarist and singer with his seven piece band. Gabby and his fellow performer Atta Issacs were later to make famous Ry Cooder's Chicken Skin Music. Ry Cooder sits in here. This warm and soft music melts guitars together, and the vocals tell the story of Hawaiian history in the words and tones.

I got turned on to Pahinui by Medeski,Martin, and Wood. (They cover one of his tunes on "Combustication"). I decided to check out one of his CDs on spring break in Waikiki. Me and my travel companions are still spinning the disk nonstop even back here in cold rainy Seattle! If you haven't heard him you MUST aquire this CD.

I was a very little child when my mother, who was born in Hawaii, introduced me to Pahinui's music and the beauty of his guitar playing. I had never been to the islands at that point, but everytime my mother played his music at our home in California, I could see Hawaii in it. The music became more powerful when I finally traveled with my family to the Hawaiian islands in the late 1970's. When I came home, listening to Gabby's music again had a much deeper impact, and I was only six or seven at the time! It speaks volumes of Pahinui and his band's talent if they could reach the soul of a young child. Pahinui cannot be topped.

One of Gabby's many great albums. Stick to the Hawaiian titles and you'll hear some great slack key and singing. He and the band do an especially wonderful job on "Pu'uanahulu" and "E Nihi Ka Hele." On the down side, he drags "Ipo Lei Manu" out a bit. Worth every penny.

Few things can draw people into my office like when I put on some Hawaiian music CDs, and one of the best is this great collection from the master of slack-key guitar, Gabby Pahinui. Slack-key just *sounds* like Hawaii is supposed to sound, and while Iz or Keali'i Reichel sometimes fit my mood better, when you're looking for a traditional sound, Gabby is in many ways the place to begin and end. Very highly recommended.