February 11, 2007
And the Grammy goes to... Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar!

Photo by MARK J. TERRILL | Associated Pres

Read the story...
Honolulu Advertiser

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 Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar
-Live from Maui
long anticipated second exciting compilation of
"live", on-stage performances from the Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Concert Series on Maui


Live,  Hawaii’s Top Slack Key Musicians, Together on One Album!
...followup to winning 48th Annual GRAMMY Award in the category of
Best Hawaiian Music Album

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Winner   -May 31, 2006...
Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Religious Album of the Year 2006...
Hymns of Hawai'i -Volume 2

An exciting new recording with Daniel Ho containing more of the spiritual and inspirational performances that earned the first CD the Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Religious Album of the Year 2000.

"This is a perfect sequel. Count this as a front-runner for a Hoku in 2006." -John Berger of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Read the full review...
More Info on this CD also can be found on DanielHo.com...

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 Released -April 2006

Na 'ano 'ano: The Seeds
showcases George's strumming artistry (on 12-string guitar)

The latest new solo recording!
Living-room/back-porch informality prevails and annotated liner notes provides details amplifying each title, as if he were there to introduce them. -Wayne Harada

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Marian Liu, music writer for the San Jose Mercury News, interviews George about his GRAMMY nomination. Hear the podcast interview...

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Winner!

Best Hawaiian Music Album
48th Annual GRAMMY Award 

MASTERS of HAWAIIAN SLACK KEY GUITAR -Vol 1
live excerpts from the concert series on Maui !!
featuring:
Ledward Kaapana,
George Kahumoku Jr,
Cyril Pahinui,
Ozzie Kotani,
Keoki Kahumoku,
Daniel Ho,
and Da Ukulele Boys

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George was featured in the Spring 2005 issue of MAUI no ka oi Magazine. Tom Stevens wrote a wonderful portrait and shared his insights on George.

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CD Just Released...
George and Daniel Ho follow up on the first Hymns CD...
Hymns of Hawai'i -Volume 2

An exciting new recording with Daniel Ho containing more of the spiritual and inspirational performances that earned the first CD the Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Religious Album of the Year 2000.

"This is a perfect sequel. Count this as a front-runner for a Hoku in 2006." -John Berger of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Read the full review...
More Info on this CD also can be found on DanielHo.com...

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These are some of the lyrics of an original composition by George for the Ka'anapali Resorts. He translated the resort slogan, “Where the World Comes to Play,” into Hawaiian. You’ll find this song along with historical, animated and scenic images of the resort on their new state-of-the-art flash technology website at: www.kaanapaliresort.com
(Note: To view this site, your web browser needs the Macromedia Flash plug-in)

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From George & Daniel Ho...
 

Classic Hawaiian Hulas - 3 separate CDs
Vol. 1	Vol. 2	Vol. 3

These are beautiful recordings of classic Hula songs played and sung by Slack Key guitar master George Kahumoku, Jr. He is accompanied wonderfully on sparkling ukulele by Daniel Ho. This is true and deep Hawaiian music, and there is an abundance of sweet songs, as well as many other moods. -- George Winston

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Sept 2004 -excerpt from Air Canada’s in-flight magazine, enRoute
Douglas Anthony Cooper explores the Ukulele and Slack Key Guitar
"Hawaii Unplugged"  
"I meet one of Hawaii’s greatest living slack key players, George Kahumoku..."

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The 2004 Workshop is over and was a resounding SUCCESS!
2004 -Seventh Annual Maui Slack Key Guitar Workshop
sponsored by:
Dancing Cat Records  *  Rain Song Graphite Guitars
*  George Winston  *  Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Concert Series
*  John Pearse® Strings

Mahalo to the sponsors, contributors, instructors and guests for making the 2004 Workshop the best ever!
(photo gallery...)

April, 2004 -in Acoustic Guitar Magazine
Brian Kluepfel describes 2003 Annual Slack Key Workshop
"Hawaiian Holiday -Learning slack-key from the masters"  
"Last summer, I had the great fortune to absorb some of the secrets of slack-key, along with a healthy dose of aloha, at slack-key master George Kahumoku's sixth annual Maui Slack-Key Workshop..."

December 2003 - Liz Janes-Brown interviews George in the Maui News - "The essence of island life by George"  
"George Kahumoku Jr. defies the stereotype of a laid-back Hawaiian. A dynamo who exists on very little sleep, he crams all his passions into one very busy life. One of those many passions is slack-key guitar..."

released Fall 2003...
Footprints in the Poi: George Kahumoku Jr LIVE !!
        
An exciting recording of "live", on-stage music and stories from George's last 2 years of touring. Several cuts include guest artists Keoki Kahumoku, Bob Brozman, and Daniel Ho. At last, here is George's spontaneous Guitar and Vocals presented WITH the stories that everyone has been requesting! A great addition to your Slack Key collection!

November 2003 -CD Review by RootsWorld.com.
RootsWorld is an online world and roots music magazine whose mission is to bring readers good information and knowledgeable opinions about the world of music and culture.

July 2003 - Jamie O'Brien reviewed the performance at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia  in PopMatters.com, an international online magazine of cultural criticism.

(June 18-22, 2003)
George's Sixth Annual Maui Slack Key Workshop

Culmination of another marvelous workshop
with lots to learn and unique experiences.
When was the last time George performed
Kane (male) Hula in public?!
(Mahalo! to Rich Shipley for this candid photo at the 2003 Maui Slack Key Festival.)

Brian Kluepfel, in a special to AsianWeek, wrote a wonderful article about George's recent Workshop. He writes "At the heart of it all, literally, is Kahumoku. This workshop was his brainchild six years ago, and it has grown from a handful of participants to more than 50. George and his partner, the incredibly energetic Nancy Sweeney, oversee all the details." AsianWeek is a national English-language newsweekly for the rapidly growing Asian Pacific American community.

George has just finished writing the music "Kahua" a play by Kent Lee Brisby, that will open in San Diego, April 4-12, 2003. George is going to try to bring it up to the Mello Center for the Performing Arts in Watsonville CA where he is an artist in Residence.

If you are a AAA-Hawaii member, there's a nice article about George in your April/May 2002 issue of Hawaii Westways Magazine
(A Healing Place by Jeanne McCabe on page 16).

George as 'coverboy' of GOOD TIMES, Santa Cruz County's leading news and entertainment weekly. View the Jan 17, 2002 Internet edition of the photos and story by Bruce Willey.

March 2002 - Jamie O'Brien reviewed a performance of the 2002 Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters Tour in Rambles.net, a cultural arts online magazine for folk and traditional music, speculative fiction, folklore, movies and more. Jamie had previously reviewed George's book in November 2001.

January 21, 2002 - Live from San Diego California...  George was interviewed on KFMB radio's "Jack and Paul Show".  A Real Audio archive of the radio broadcast is available here as for your listening pleasure.

January 5, 2002 - Live from Honolulu...  George performed Live on the NPR's "A Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keillor.  Also appearing were his son Keoki, Ledward Kaapana and Noelani Mahoe & the Leo Nahenahe Singers.  In addition to the radio broadcast, the show was broadcast over the internet and a Real Audio archive is available at the Prairie Home Companion website.

George's latest CD on the Dancing Cat label.

Hawaiian Love Songs
(Na Mele Ho`oniponipo Hawai`i)

His second Dancing Cat release, George Kahumoku, Jr. plays evocative original songs and soulful interpretations of a variety of beautiful Hawaiian classics. HAWAIIAN LOVE SONGS features both solo renditions in his trademark slack key style and great duets with Bob Brozman, Norton Buffalo and Diana Aki.

George and Daniel Ho have done it again.  Their newest album is called:

Island Classics

Though George has traveled extensively playing Hawaiian music at concert halls throughout the world, his "Steady Freddy" gig for the last 30 years has been playing at the open air restaurants, buffets, and clam bakes of the Westin chain, now owned by Starwood Resorts and Hotels. He continues to charm audiences from all over the world in his classic, no-nonsense cha-lang-a-lang style and brings back the romanticism of days past through his music. These songs are the island classics that are requested every night, sometimes several times in an evening.

George Kahumoku, Jr. - vocals, Hawaiian slack key guitar
Daniel Ho – ukulele

Record Label: Daniel Ho Creations
Recorded: 2000
Release Date: January, 2001

The Island Classics CD on Daniel Ho's Website

Tracks:

1. I'll Remember You (Kui Lee / Kona Kai Publishing)
Written by Kui Lee at the height of his career. Sadly, Kui Lee died of throat cancer at an early age. The song is an expression of his feelings for his large family that he was going to leave behind. George remembers Kui Lee performing at the Kamehameha Schools in the late 60's and remembers Kui Lee for giving him his first professional debut at the Forbidden City on the corner of Kapiolani and Kalakaua Streets at the gateway to Waikiki in 1962.

2. One Paddle Two Paddle (Kui Lee / Alley Music Corp)
In the 60's George and his cousin Dexter Gomes and cousin Steve Ho'okano used to paddle for Healani Canoe Club located on the Alawai Canal in Waikiki. This song was written by Kui Lee in the mid 1960's when there was a renewal of interest in canoe paddling and outrigger racing in Hawaii and throughout the world. The Hawaiian canoe has since become a huge icon in the resurgence of the Hawaiian culture. This song is a musical expression of the rising interest in Hawaiian sailing canoes that continued into the 1970's and '80's with the around the world voyages of the Hoku Le'a, the Moku Lele, Hawai'i Loa, and other canoes.

3. Maui Waltz (Bob Nelson / Criterion Music)
This Maui island classic was made famous by Loyal Gardner and was written by Robert Nelson who also wrote Hanalei Moon. This song is a favorite among both locals and tourists.

4. Tiny Bubbles (Leon Pober / Granite Music Corporation)
Another Don Ho classic, probably the most requested song George has played for the last 30 years. It has little to do with Hawaii, but because Don Ho sang it intermingled with other popular Hawaiian songs, people relate Tiny Bubbles to Waikiki, waves washing upon the shore, and drinking Mai Tais on the beach.

5. Lahainaluna (Kui Lee / Sunbeam Music)
This Maui island classic was written by Kui Lee when he played music at the Sheraton Hotels located at Kaanapali on Maui in the early 60's. George has taught at Lahainaluna High School for the last seven years and has played this classic for over 30 years.

6. Beautiful Kaua'i (Rudolph Farden / Munrab Publishing Co.)
This was written by Randy Farden and has since become a Kaua'i island classic.

7. Pearly Shells (Webley Edwards, Leon Pober / Criterion Music)
This classic was made popular by Don Ho in the early 60's and continues to be an island classic sing-along.

8. The Hukilau Song (Jack Owens / Owens-Kemp Music Co.)
This classic comes from Lai'e, where the Mormon church members would hold huge fishing gatherings as a show for the tourists in the 30's, 40's, and 50's and has become a classic, too, for beginning hula dancers, especially tourists. Huki means to pull a long rope tied with lau, Hawaiian ti leaves. This was used to scare the fish into a net.

9. Akaka Falls (Helen Kauinohea Parker / EMI Miller Catalog, Inc.)
For ten years George lived eleven miles from Akaka Falls in Hilo town on the Big Island of Hawaii. For four years he farmed Chinese root ginger, Hawaiian and Chinese taro, cucumbers, and bananas on the roadway up to Akaka Falls located in the district of Honomu. George also fished for Opu, Dojo, and Opae on the small inlets and streams that led up to Akaka Falls. This song is dedicated to William "Billy Aina" DeMotta, a pure Hawaiian raised by and lave hanai by Portuguese. Billy was born and raised in Honomu and worked on George's Kealia Farm for over twenty-five years. Honomu was also the birthplace of Aunty Edith Kanaka'ole, one of George's mentors.

10. Little Brown Gal (Don McDiarmid, John Avery Noble, Wendell Lee Wood / Bourne Co.)
Here is another island classic written by Don McDiarmid and Lee Wood from the 1950's and continues to be promoted by the Waikiki Kodak Show held at Kapiolani Park.

11. Hanalei Moon (Bob Nelson / Criterion Music)
Hawaiians would write songs about special events and places in their lives. This song was written by Bob Nelson, George's mentor and good friend, when Bob played at Princeville in Hanalei, Kaua'i. Bob has also helped guide George through the maze of his musical career and now resides in Arizona with his wife Irene.

12. My Little Grass Shack (Thomas J. Harrison, John Avery Noble/ EMI Miller Catalog, Inc.)
This song was written by Tommy Harrison, and Johnny Noble in 1933 and made famous by Uncle Tom Lindsey who played for many years in New York City. He finally returned home in the 1980's where he resides in Kealakekua Mauka on the Big Island. This song is reminiscent of the times when Hawaiian families would gather at Honaunau Bay to celebrate birthdays, weddings, graduations, and dedications of canoes for their families.

Hymns of Hawaii

It’s a peaceful, quiet Sunday morning on the Big Island of Hawaii...

Bright sunlight reflects off a calm sea, a brief, warm shower forms a rainbow on the slopes of Mauna Loa. A small, colorful wooden church is shaded by mango and palm trees in a tiny coastal fishing village. The soft island air, redolent with the gentle scent of plumeria and the richer fragrances of passion fruit, is stirred by sweet music from the church. The songs are distinctly Hawaiian, yet somehow familiar. These are the hymns of Hawaii, the songs that George Kahumoku, Jr. sang as a child growing up on the Big Island. They are the hymns that have helped to hold his family together over several generations.

With this recording, George realizes a dream he has had for many years. He has long wanted to preserve this music, which has been an important part of his spiritual life. When Daniel Ho proposed that they collaborate on a recording of Hawaiian hymns, George immediately agreed. These are the hymns, the hïmeni, that George learned as a young boy seated with his parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles and their children around the kitchen table. For George, the little and sometimes not so little tragedies of life are just ways of bringing one closer to God. "George Kahumoku has gotten a little off track, so let’s give him a bout of cancer right at this point in his life,” is the way he puts it. Especially at these times, not just the words, but also the melodies and rhythms of this wonderful music have brought him comfort and peace. He hopes that this recording will do the same for others.

"Hymns of Hawaii", George and Daniel's first album together, has won a Na Hoku Hanohano award for Religious Album of the Year 2000.  The Hoku award is basically the Hawaiian version of the Grammy.  George has won Hoku awards before.  If you can't picture him in a tux, here's a photo.

Above:  Actual un-retouched photo
 of George Kahumoku, Jr. wearing a tuxedo.