Waimānalo Kanikapila

GET READY FOR THE
Gabby Pahinui Waimānalo Kanikapila

Gabby Pahinui backyard jam
Gaby Pahinui Wamānalo Kanikapila

The Pahinui ‘Ohana presents the their annual Gabby Pahinui Waimānalo Kanikapila at the Waimānalo Beach Park

The day-long musical celebration is a long time dream of Cyril Pahinui, one of Gabby’s six sons and a pretty good musician himself.

During Gabby Pahinui’s life, weekends at the Pahinui home in Waimanalo were a continuous jam session, dozens of musicians, both young and old, 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, Jessie Kalima, Palani Vaughan, and ukulele virtuoso Peter Moon to name only a few.

With a welcoming pot of beef stew and rice always on the stove, the 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.

Following Gabby’s passing in the early 80’s, Kanikapila sessions were founded at “Pop’s” Gabby Pahinui’s namesake Waimanalo Park Pavilion to feature and perpetuate his Hawaiian style kiho‘alu-slack key music. The Pahinui Ohana wants to acknowledge Waimanalo as a focal point of Kiho‘alu 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. His music has no time it is still played everywhere and still holds its own as strong as ever.

In the old days it was a whole lot easier to just gather the coolers and guitars and head down to the park. It’s a lot more work today with all of the permits and security. We owe a big Mahalo to the Mayor’s Office. The staff has been very supportive and really helped us with all the details. They also awarded us with a $5,000 HTA CPEP grant to get things going and in recognition of Gabby’s ongoing contribution to Hawai‘i’s music.

The event is free and open to the public. Vendor and educational/informational booths are available by contacting: Cyril@cyrilpahinui.com

We have designed a great t-shirt and a poster. We will be giving one to each of the musicians and sponsors and hope to raise a little money to help with their travel expenses too. ORDER YOURS ONLINE HERE!

Please contact Cyril directly with any requests or questions or to make a contribution at : Cyril@cyrilpahinui.com