​THE HAWAIIAN LEGACY FOUNDATION

WORDS, EARTH & ALOHA
The Source of Hawaiian Music

 

In Hawaiʻi, music has always been much more than entertainment. It has been a key to Hawaiian culture. This one-hour documentary explores the sources of a complex tradition, from early chants and 19th-century gospel influences to the work of composers who flourished between the 1870s and the 1920s, for whom Hawaiian was still a first language. This film pays tribute to the poetry and play of their lyrics and the places and features of nature that inspired songs that are still loved and played today.

 

This is the fourth film in Eddie and Myrna Kamae's highly acclaimed Hawaiian Legacy Series. It features some of Hawaii's most respected cultural resources and talented performers. Among them, Pualani Kanakaʻole Kanahele, Lydia "Mama" Hale, Andy Commings, Clyde "Kindy" Sproat, Helena Maka Santos, Sheldeen Halemau, Gary Halemau, Aaron Mahi, Rev. Dennis Kamakahi, and "Braddah Smitty" Hoapili Smith.

 

"A fascinating cultural story of Hawaii from the 1870s to the 1920s, as seen through the development of a distinctly Hawaiian style of music. It charts the melding of imported musical forms with the Indigenous chants of the native Hawaiians and shows the continuous inspiration of the natural beauty of the islands."

Rita De Silva, The Garden Island