Cyril Pahinui
Jaz: KAPA Hawaiian FM, 100.3 and 99.1 and online at kaparadio.com. Happy Aloha Friday folks, 23rd day of May. It’s Jaz and Ka’ea in your radio and time now for another addition for the KAPA Café. Let’s get him on the horn the one and only Uncle Cyril Pahinui.
Cyril: Aloha kakahiaka.
Ka’ea: Aloha kakahiaka Uncle.
Jaz: Hey Uncle Cyril.
Cyril: Maikai.
Ka’ea: Are you on Hawai’i Island today?
Cyril: No, I’m in Honolulu. I’m heading towards Waikiki. I’m going to uh, I stay stuck in traffic. I’m performing for you know Buffalo the surfer?
Ka’ea: Yeah.
Jaz: Yes, yes.
Cyril: Uncle Buffalo. They having one thing for him, honoring him today.
Ka’ea: Oh, wonderful.
Jaz: Awesome.
Cyril: Yeah, it’s some kind of award for him but he wanted me to perform at his gig today.
Jaz: Awe awesome.
Ka’ea: Awe, how special is that!
Jaz: Uncle how do you, how do you, you are like busy, how do you juggle all that you do?
Cyril: I don’t know maybe my grandkids making me young yet.
Jaz & Ka’ea: (Laughter)
Cyril: Nah, maybe I think it’s the age. I guess you know. But, you cannot help it, you know. For me like I say once I collect the Life Time Achievement Award it’s worse now, you know.
Jaz & Ka’ea: (Laughter)
Jaz: I know yeah.
Ka’ea: Oh goodness, so Uncle you have been a part of, I guess, somewhat created several collaborations in the last few years. You guys are doing very well, the latest collaboration with the two other gentlemen that are with you.
Jaz: Jeff Au Hoy and Peter Moon Jr.
Cyril: Yes.
Ka’ea: How’s that been going?
Cyril: It’s been going fine. You know for me I like to help out the young ones. Because they be the next generation, they will be doing this.
Ka’ea: Absolutely.
Jaz: Yeah, roger!
Cyril: They will be doing this and I think my responsibility for continuing the legacy from Hawaiian music. But, I look forward for Peter and Jeff.
Ka’ea: Yeah.
Cyril: I know within five years from now they be taking over.
Jaz: Yeah.
Cyril: I won’t be playing that much, I got to retire already.
Jaz: You not going retire.
Ka’ea: Uncle, come on, what you going do play golf? What you going do?
Cyril: (Laughing) Nah, nah nah. You know me I love to teach. I teach at the connection school in Panaewa yeah.
Jaz & Ka’ea: Mmm, hmm.
Cyril: So yesterday was my last day, so I came home last night. And, but anyway, I, I just like to teach kids today.
Ka’ea: Yeah.
Cyril: I have a gig in Waikiki at the Outrigger Reef Hotel. But, I just like to be…
Ka’ea: Be with the keiki.
Cyril: Yeah. Whenever else I can do for the young one.
Jaz: Uncle in the many years that you have been performing, when you look back does it look like the years just wen’ fly by?
Ka’ea: (Laughing)
Cyril: Yeah, yeah you right. I mean you know it’s over fifty years already I been playing music. And you know I thank all the old timers and the ones that are coming up now. That you know, the experience I share with them or they share with me. But, if it wasn’t for Aunty Genoa, Daddy, you know, Jessie Kalima, Aunty Commons, all this old timers, that I when really learn from them to continue. For me I think well, music, Hawaiian music will never end. Today we have all this young ones and they are great. You get Mark, you get Kahone, all them they are great.
Jaz & Ka’ea: Mmm, hmm.
Cyril: They are all great, you know. At least, I am proud to see that Hawaiian music will continue. And when I watch Kamehameha High School, the song contest the Hoi’ke. Everything, you know now our kids can speak the language, they can sing. It’s awesome. So awesome. From when I was a little boy, it was limited.
Ka’ea: Yeah.
Cyril: But, yeah. So anyway, I thank you guys Jaz and Ka’ea for calling me up because we trying for do this CD release party.
Ka’ea: Mmm hmm.
Cyril: At the Royal Kona Resort at Don’s Mai Tai Bar.
Jaz: Nice spot. Is actually right next to our studio.
Cyril: Well I want you guys to be there.
Ka’ea: Ok.
Cyril: Be part of us too.
Ka’ea: Ok. Ok. So tell us what day you guys are going to be there uncle.
Cyril: It’s going to be on a Thursday, May 29th.
Jaz & Ka’ea: Ok.
Cyril: It starts at 5 p.m. and I think I going have my student Sean.
Ka’ea: Oh, Sean going come down?
Jaz: Oh right on.
Cyril: Yeah, what a student. He doing so well that boy.
Ka’ea: He is.
Jaz: He such a good boy.
Ka’ea: He is, uncle. He doing so well.
Cyril: Yeah, I so proud of him. It just so happens I teach at the connections school, the high school, so the kids they entered the Brown Bags to Stardom.
Ka’ea: Uh, huh.
Cyril: And they won!
Ka’ea: Oh really!
Jaz: Oh wow.
Cyril: Yeah. So they said, “Eh, Uncle we got the trophy!”
Jaz: Oh, right on!
Cyril: Yeah!
Ka’ea: That is so awesome.
Jaz: You know uncle, with playing with, so how does it feel, tell us more about cause you been playing with Peter Moon Sr.
Cyril: Yeah, yeah.
Jaz: And now you getting to play with his son. What’s that like to see, you know…
Cyril: Well, for me Jaz, his son Peter, he get good potential to sound like his father. Which he does sound similar to his dad. But learning the style of his dad, you know his father was a wonderful ukulele player.
Jaz: Oh yeah.
Cyril: And then he came to be a slack key guitar player. So, I am teaching Peter the dad’s tuning.
Ka’ea: Oh wow!
Jaz: Wow!
Cyril: Because Peter said, “Eh Uncle, I trying all this other tuning. I cannot sound like my father. Because I knew. I told him because it’s a different tuning. Your father had a special tuning on his guitar. So, right now I tell you Jaz, I tell you he sound just like his father.
Jaz: Wow, wow!
Ka’ea: Wow.
Cyril: He sound like. I mean when we started with Palani Vaughn and Sunday Manoa. Peter is twenty three years old. And that was his father’s age when I started with Palani I was sixteen years old and Peter Moon was twenty-three.
Ka’ea: WOW!
Cyril: So now Peter boy is twenty-three and I guess I stay Kupuna status.
Everyone: (Laughter)
Jaz: You know what? You no look anywhere close that age you are.
Ka’ea: No, no, no, Uncle. Not at all.
Jaz: And you so active.
Ka’ea: So active. You so active.
Jaz: I going tell you Uncle, I bet you going be playing with Peter the third.
Everyone: (Laughter)
Cyril: Well, I crossing my fingers you know. But, like I say what a thrill, what an honor for me, you know. Peter was playing with my dad, so Peter boy playing with me. It’s like this father and son kinda thing, you know.
Ka’ea: Yep, yeah. That’s awesome.
Jaz: You know, you know Uncle when you play with the younger guys what do you try to instill in them? Especially with guys like Jeff Au Hoy, who actually are young but actually experienced already. Like, what do you share in your experiences for them to use as musicians?
Cyril: You know I think of my dad and what. You know I use to help my dad arrange his music with the Gabby band and the way my father played his steel guitar. Because my father was a steel guitar player, so I kind of try to share things that I know to Jeff Au Hoy. And when I used to play steel with the Peter Moon Band and Robert and Roland Cazimero. But my father [told] me this Jaz, “Son you can have my steel guitar, my [bottles] and picks but speak to your guitar.
Jaz & Ka’ea: Mmmm.
Cyril: So when my father told me that I said, “What daddy, okay then I will put the steel guitar in the closet.” So, now I just play guitar, ever since over twenty years I never touch the steel guitar. But, ever since I met Jeff and I told Jeff, “I need one steel guitar player”. And he said, “Uncle I can play steel.” So ever since we been together, little over five years already.
Jaz: Wow. That is amazing.
Cyril: And he is playing wonderful. They are so talented, Peter and Jeff. And they keep me going. Come on uncle you slowing down or pick it up, pick it up uncle…
Jaz & Ka’ea: (laughter)
Cyril: …come on you falling asleep.
Ka’ea: I love it!
Jaz: Well tell us about the new CD uncle.
Cyril: Ok. By any chance you guys got it.
Jaz: We get…
Ka’ea: Yeah, we have it, we have it.
Jaz: Yeah.
Cyril: Ok. Well the new CD, because when we play at the Kanikapila Grill people ask us, “You guys have a CD?” So, I told Peter and Jeff you know we should make a CD. Because people asking us for one. I have mine with dad, with Gabby. But I don’t have nothing with Peter and Jeff.
Ka’ea: Mmm, hmm.
Cyril: So, we did this CD and it just features us three guy, Kani Pu Kolu. Just three of us. Three sounds together. You have the ukulele, steel guitar and guitar. It’s not more like me. I like to feature Peter and Jeff, you know.
Ka’ea: Ah.
Cyril: I treat them just like my son, my nephew, my friend and I try guide them the best I can.
Ka’ea: That’s beautiful. That’s awesome.
Cyril: Yeah.
Ka’ea: So you guys going come Hawai’i island, Royal Kona Resort, Thursday.
Cyril: Thursday May 29th.
Ka’ea: OK. So that’s next week. Ok, ok.
Cyril: Starts 5 p.m.
Ka’ea: Ok, ok.
Cyril: At Don’s Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Kona and it’s free.
Ka’ea: Oh, nice.
Jaz: Even better. We just gotta pay for Mai Tai’s.
Cyril: And buy CD’s.
Jaz: Yeah.
Ka’ea: Yeah, yeah. There you go, there you go awesome.
Cyril: So anyway, I gotta go. I love you guys so much.
Jaz & Ka’ea: Love you uncle.
Cyril: Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my music, okay.
Ka’ea: Ok, have a good day. We see you Thursday.
Jaz: We see you Thursday.
Cyril: Ok.
Jaz: Kiss Aunty Shell for us.
Cyril: I will.
Ka’ea: Ok. Bye.
Jaz: Aloha.
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