Hawaii’s Renaissance Man, George Kahumoku Jr, is a multiple Grammy & Hoku Award winning master slack key guitar and vocalist, songwriter, performer, teacher, artist and sculptor, story-teller and writer, farmer and entrepreneur.George is known for playing slack key on a jumbo12-string guitar because he loves the full sound and the lower bass tones of this guitar.

Go to the Fox website (click here) for tickets, starting at $20. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

George Kahumoku Junior’s website: http://www.slackkeyshow.com/

Fox Tucson Theater is at 17 W. Congress St. (between Stone Ave. and Church Ave.)

And if you want to hear Hawaiian music (and George’s) tune in tomorrow to the Mele O Hawai’i radio show by John Putnam on KXCI Community Radio 91.3 FM, Saturday mornings from 6 to 8 a.m. John’s a “local haole” from Honolulu who loves Hawaiian music and plays a wide variety of “all kine stuff” on his show. I’ve called a few times to request my favorite songs, 520-622-5924.

If you really want to get in the Hawaiian mood, eat authentic “grinds”/dinner first at Lani’s Luau, 2532 S. Harrison Rd. (NW Corner of Golf Links and Harrison) out east. They’re open till 8 p.m. Tuesday to Thursdays, 9 p.m. on Friday & Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday. Lani is from Kona on the Big Island and cooks food that is indeed “some ono” (delicious). Both the owners Zane and Leilani (Lani) know George and have a photo of him with them during his last visit to Tucson.

KXCI community radio website info: www.kxci.org, 91.3 FM radio. Request line is 520-622-5924.

Last week Putnam played favorites by Raiatea Helm, Israel Kamakawiwio’ole, Cyril Pahinui, Mark Yamanaka, Brothers Cazimero, Cecilio & Kapono, etc. I just heard Cyril, Mark, and Lehua play live a few weeks ago at the Hawaii County “Magic of the Season” events. But the best singer for that holiday event was Henry Kapono (of former Cecilio & Kapono duo) who sang “Danny’s Song” and other favorites to a huge crowd in Hilo, Hawaii.

KXCI even lists their programming playlist (click here for January 5 show).

My favorite Hawaiian music station on the Big Island (when I get to go home) is KAPA 100.3/99.1 FM, where the radio hosts speak Pidgin English and have a Hawaiian word of the day for the listeners. And by the way, one of my favorite singers who plays slack key is Kohala local boy/friend John Keawe, who attended the same high school as me. I think I own all of his CDs.

And save the date: February 21 for George Kahumoku, Jr. at the Fox Theater, 17 W. Congress St.

Then after two hours of Hawaiian music, you can head over to Lani’s Luau for authentic Hawaiian food for lunch. They say they “speak aloha” at that restaurant, located at 2532 S. Harrison Rd. (NW corner of Golf Links Rd).

Listen to Mele O Hawai’i tomorrow morning, and every Saturday morning.

It’s the 3 year anniversary of when I started blogging here for the online Tucsoncitizen.com. It was June 18, 2009 when I wrote up a blog article entitled “Is Lani’s Luau international cuisine?” (link), as I was wondering how varied the food & ethnic culture was at Lani’s, my favorite Hawaiian restaurant in Tucson. For those of you who don’t know it, Lani’s is located at the NW corner of Harrison & Golf Links, 2532 S. Harrison Rd., phone 520- 886- LUAU (5828).

As for my 1001 blog articles, it’s amazing that I’ve managed to write so many, as it is now at the stage that I don’t remember all the topics I’ve chosen to feature in my blogsite — focusing mostly on community events/issues/groups.

And which one has been my most popular post? Sadly my farewell article on the late Gabe Zimmerman, Congresswoman Gabrielle “Gabby” Gifford’s slain aide, whom I knew.

I do have a chronological listing by categories for myself, but the most useful is the “Search the Citizen” box on the Tucsoncitizen.com front page. If you want to know when I wrote about a certain person or topic, just type it in. It’s been very helpful, even for me to locate previous articles. And because the tags below each article are so powerful, you can usually find our articles via Google as well. And I do have a long listing of archives on my blogsite (left column) starting in the hot summer month of June 2009, followed by each month up to June 2012.

So after being a “My Tucson” guest columnist at the original Tucson Citizen afternoon newspaper in 2008, I can now write on my resume that I’ve blogged for 3 years at Tucsoncitizen.com. Some of my blogs have been re-printed in Oasis, the only Japanese magazine in Arizona (published in Phoenix by editor George Nakamura). And I may be free lancing articles for a new magazine to debut this summer, “Tucson Woman” edited by Linda Ray, of Tucson’s Birthday fame.

Stay tuned, keep reading, and happy blogging!

“Carolyn’s Community” aka Carolyn Classen

My photo taken at Tucsoncitizen.com Dec.2010 holiday party

Saturday, November 19 (6:30pm) Lani’s Luau (2532 South Harrison Road, Tucson – [520] 886-5828), Tucson’s authentic Hawaiian Restaurant presents:

An evening of Celtic Aloha!

Hawaiian Music Award winner Jamie O’Brien comes from a London-Irish family, but his heart lies across a different ocean. Tonight, he presents an evening of the music he loves: a little bit of Irish, a little bit of Hawaiian … a lot of Celtic Aloha.

Lani’s Luau presents Jamie playing solo from 6:30 to 8:30pm: songs, slack key guitar and ukulele. He has played Irish music for as long as he can remember and Hawaiian for over a decade. Since meeting and teaming up with slack key guitarist and singer, George Kahumoku Jr., to present “Oceans Apart – Islands Together”, Jamie has been making connections between the music and culture of the islands.

Jamie has taken his Celtic Aloha performance to Maui, Oahu, the Big Island of Hawaii, Lanai and Kauai, as well as across the Mainland from Washington State to Washington DC and many places in between. He has played with such musicians as Daniel Ho, Keoki Kahumoku, Ozzie Kotani and many others from the world of Hawaiian music and Aoife Clancy, Danny Doyle, Jim Eagan and many others from the world of Irish music.

Enjoy a meal at Lani’s Luau, Tucson’s authentic Hawaiian restaurant and enjoy the music of Jamie O’Brien and a Celtic Aloha. No cover charge, but reservations are recommended.

And read my previous blog about Jamie’s latest CD “Chasing Ghosts” (click here), which I listen to often in my car. Lani’s Luau is on the NW Corner of Harrison and Golf Links, and serves delicious (ono) Hawaiian food.

Jamie on his guitar, courtesy of the musician

My favorites from this particular CD are #1 “Don’t Look Back”, #7 “See You Sometime” and #15 “You Only Wish”. The titles probably reveal the theme of the song’s lyrics. Jamie composed the 18 songs on this CD, and seven in collaboration with Stephen Roud, Ernest Hone, Peter Cooper, or Peter Morson.

He (and Bob Lee)will be performing at Lani’s Luau restaurant (NW corner of Harrison and Golf Links) on Friday April 29 at 6:30 p.m. Call ahead at 520-886-LUAU (5828). And he and some friends are also performing the next day at Lani’s for a fundraising luau (click here for the flyer).

Website: www.launies.com, email jobrien@launies.com to order this CD and others.

I’ve heard Jamie perform at 2nd Saturdays Downtown as well as at Himmel Park branch library and Bookman’s. He performs a lot of Irish Celtic music as well as Hawaiian slack key guitar and on the ukulele. “Uku” is flea and “lele” means jumping in Hawaiian, which is indicative of the lively music of this instrument. He’s also the winner of the 2011 Hawaiian Music Awards Anthology of the Year.

The local musicians accompanying Jamie on this CD are:
Dillon Barr (trumpet)
Phil Borzillo (guitar)
Bruce Campbell (bass)
Jenny Ford (vocals)
Ryck Kaiser (fiddle)
Henry Koreztky (vocals, mandolin, guitar)
Gary Mackender (accordion, Hammond organ)
Paul McKeown (guitar, keyboards, percussion, vocals)
Jon Villa (trumpet)
Dede Wyland (vocals)

Please come to Lani’s Luau for an Hawaiian hula show/fundraiser luau:

Saturday April 30, 2011, 4-8 PM

Delicious authentic dinner buffet:

Kalua Pig, Teriyaki Chicken, Steamed rice, Macaroni Salad, Lomi Lomi Salmon, Poi (upon request), Haupia, Pineapple Upside down cake, Hawaiian Punch/water

Dance performances by Hula Mai Ka Pu’uwai and Pacific Islanders Dance group.

Entertainment: Ukulele & slack key guitar by Jamie O’Brien & company, and Sierra Vista’s own Pat Tinnell & Company.

Cost: $25 for adults, $12.50 for children (12 and under)

Lani’s Luau is at 2532 S. Harrison Rd. (NW corner of Harrison and Golf Links).

Call Lani’s Luau for tickets at 520-886-5828 (LUAU) or 520-405-1212.

All proceeds go to Lani’s Luau to pay off their debt from rental of kitchen equipment.

One of my previous blogs on the fundraising efforts (click here). Please kokua (help).

UPDATE: This terrific luau raised over $7,500 and now Lani’s Luau only owes about $250 to Arizona Restaurant Supply. Mahalo plenty (as we say back home) to all you participated to “save” Lani’s Luau!

Open to girls over 16 years old and all women. RSVP to Kathleen Kuck, 520-909-2706.

Workshops being offered to promote National Sexual Assault Awareness month. I remember taking such a workshop years ago and it has been very useful throughout my life, living in various cities across America.

Lani’s Luau (Hawaiian restaurant) is at 2532 S. Harrison Rd. (NW corner of Golf Links Road). Phone # there is 520-886-5828. I recently wrote about this restaurant
(click here), as they need financial help.

A friend of theirs is having a car wash outside their restaurant on Saturday April 2, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. so please stop by if you can help, or if you need your car washed. Address is 2532 S. Harrison Rd., 85748-8137, phone # is (520) 886-5828.

They also welcome checks (of any amount) mailed to their address if you can’t stop by & eat a delicious Hawaiian plate lunch (or spam musubi if you dare. Try it, it’s a local favorite.)

Here’s a photo of Leilani (Lani) and Zane from our Tucson Citizen archive:

Lani and Zane at Lani's Luau restaurant

Lani grew up on the same tropical island as me (Hawaii Island aka “The Big Island”), over on the Kona side. She and her husband exhibit a lot of the “aloha spirit” of Hawaii.

Please kokua (help).

lots of lei

“May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii
Garlands of flowers everywhere”…

For those of you who have never lived in the 50th State of Hawaii, May 1st–May Day is like a holiday, with Hawaiian pageantry, music, hula dancing, people wearing lots of lei, contests over the best types or most creative lei, etc.

As a kid, we even danced around the May pole. We made lei mostly out of flowers (which we hand picked), but you can use different types of leaves such as ti or maile, or a mixed haku lei of native plants. Actually nowadays lei are made out of all kinds of stuff (yarn, plastic, ribbons, beads, seeds, aluminum can pull up tabs, etc. etc.)

Lei (na lei) is a plural word in Hawaiian, so please don’t think I don’t know how to spell “leis”. We just don’t use it often in that plural English form.

So, feeling homesick, a good place to feel at home in the Islands (even while in the desert), is to head out east to Lani’s Luau restaurant, at the NW corner of Harrison Rd. and Golf Links. I wrote about them in my very first blog for this new online Tucsoncitizen.com entity — “Is Lani’s Luau International Cuisine?” (click here).

Lani’s Luau is at 2532 S. Harrison Road, 520-886-LUAU (5828), and has been there for almost three and a half years, because the Hawaiian food is “some ono” (delicious). Co-owners Zane and Leilani (Lani) Dowling speak “aloha” there too. And check out all the Hawaiian paraphernalia on the walls & shelves. They’re open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. today.

Lani’s Luau no ka oe (Lani’s Luau is the best)!

Happy May Day!

luau poster

This luau is being put on by Leiola Galla (a kumu/instructor originally from Oahu) and her Leiola Hula Halau, with a pre-luau workshop on September 4-6 on hula and Tahitian dancing, featuring guest artists Tarita and Gerard Tehotu. Leiola has studied under hula masters Bella Richards, George Na`ope (founder of The Merrie Monarch Festival “hula olympics”), John Pi`ilani Watkins, Edna Aguil, Edith Kanakaole, Johnny Lum Ho, and Leilani Sharpe Mendes.

I hear that the luau food is being catered by Leiola’s husband Dino who has helped out cooking at my favorite Hawaiian restaurant, Lani’s Luau at 2532 S. Harrison Road out east. I blogged about Hawaii Island-born Leilani Dowling and her ono (delicious) food back in June.

For luau tickets call 520-777-5134 or write to leiolahulahalau@gmail.com.