Uncle Ben Kaili spent his life bringing music, joy to the Big Island and beyond

Last week was the first time in 20 years that JJ Ahuna was not able to sit next to Uncle Ben Kaili as they played Hawaiian music for crowds in bars, restaurants, festivals or parties.

Kaili, the renowned and legendary Hawaiian musician from Hilo, passed away Jan. 26 after playing a regular show at the Hilo International Airport.

“It is a weird feeling. I miss him,” Ahuna said. “This is a big loss of a friend, of a musician and the space left behind is not something that can be filled.”

In 2006, Kaili and Ahuna began performing with Vic Chock and Dwight Tokumoto in the group, Kanakapila, which is also the name of the traditional Hawaiian style of informal jam session where people gather to play music, sing and dance.

The idea was hatched in 2005, after Kaili and Ahuna were asked to perform together at their friend Vic Chock’s baby’s party.

“We played together that night, then ended up playing another gig and another gig and another,” Ahuna said. “In the next month, we were at Ben’s house talking about forming a group.”

While this was the first time the two formally played together, Ahuna has known Kaili since they were kids in Keaukaha and watched him play and improve on slack-key guitar since he was 13-years old.

Kaili was the oldest of three children and was raised from birth by his grandparents in Keaukaha and then in Panaʻewa. The family often hosted lūʻau for their friends and family members and catered events in and around Hilo.

“We used to go to his grandfather’s house and I would see Ben there,” Ahuna said. “He knew how to work hard as a person and a musician. I got to witness all of that.”

According to a prior interview, Kaili began to teach himself to play slack key guitar when he was 8 or 9 years old. He would watch local musicians play at the catering events then go home and would position his hands as close as possible to what they played to get as close to the proper tuning as possible.

Although he plays ‘ukulele and bass too, the slack key guitar in the G-20 tuning, also known as Taro Patch tuning, was his main instrument. It is the most popular, fundamental tuning in Hawaiian music.

“He was a master in the Taro Patch tuning,” Ahuna said. “He could play any chord in G tuning and is the only guitarist I know of who can play any chord while accompanying a song in the slack key tuning. Musicians, especially of Hawaiian music, understand how rare that is and how much hard work and talent that takes.”

When Kanikapila began playing, one of their most regular and well-known gigs began at the Hilo Town Tavern in 2006. Every Tuesday, the band would play to a crowd of fans and new faces for nearly 20 years, ultimately helping to establish the bar as a performance venue in downtown Hilo.

“Every Tuesday, we would go there and just have fun,” Ahuna said. “Ben would say we were going there to jam, which was perfect, because I never wanted this to feel like a job.

“That’s exactly what it was. We had old timers coming in every week, people just coming in for dinner, and visitors that would often come back again. Some visitors, which we call snowbirds, would return every year for 10 to 15 years and became our good friends.”

According to Dao Nguyen, a former bartender at the Hilo Town Tavern, sometimes every table was reserved for Kanikapila Tuesday because people needed to hear live, local music.

“The band geled together,” Nguyen said. “They drew in the crowds who didn’t know who they were, but also had their loyal following with them every Tuesday. He touched people’s lives with music and made people happy, which is the most important part of being a musician.”

One of Kanikapila’s frequent audience members was Uncle George Na‘ope, who is famous for co-founding the Merrie Monarch Festival and a relative of Kaili.

“Uncle George enjoyed the music and told us it was good and what he enjoyed as a child,” Ahuna said. “Those kind of compliments meant a lot to me. His presence also brought in hula dancers who would get up during the night and dance. It was one of my favorite things to see each week.”

Hula was known to be important to Kaili as a musician throughout his life. He played music for Kumu Meleana Manuel’s Ke ‘Olu Makani o Mauna Loa, a hālau based in Volcano, for more than 15 years.

Kaili and Manuel would often book gigs as a duo where he would play the slack key guitar and she would dance hula, which left an impression on tourists staying at the Grand Naniloa Hotel or residents walking by the Moʻoheau Bandstand in Hilo.

Throughout his career, Kaili recorded five albums: two with Kanakapila, two solo and one slack key guitar album with bass player Eddie Atkins. He also played on a Christmas music compilation “Slack Key Christmas” put out by Palm Records that was nominated for a Nā Hōkū Hanohano award in 2008.

“Kaowahi,” the slack key album he released in 2009, also was nominated for a Nā Hōkū Hanohano award that year. Kaili’s slack key music is also heard in the background of the popular “Volcanoscapes” video, which features footage of erupting Kīlauea caldera.

“While Ben will always be known as an incredible musician, more importantly, he was always an awesome husband, father and grandfather. He took good care of his family,” Ahuna said. “He is a real, local-kine kanaka. He never worried about what other people thought, he was always his own man.”

Jennie Kaneshiro met Kaili in 2013 after moving back to the island and became his informal student. While she was an experienced vocalist and musician, she did not explore traditional Hawaiian music much until she met him.

“He saw me perform one night and came to talk to me about music,” Kaneshiro said. “After that day, he would often support me at gigs where I played a variety of music. He would always tease me and tell me I should only play Hawaiian music.”

In 2018, Kaili invited her to perform with several Hawaiian musicians at the Hilo Hawaiian Music Festival, which he had been involved in since 1990. While it was her first festival, Kaili helped her overcome any imposter syndrome she felt on stage.

“He always assured me that I was good enough to be there, even when I felt like I didn’t stack up with these legends of Hawaiian music,” Kaneshiro said.

She said when she had difficult questions about things regarding music and the music business, he would give her advice.

“He was always supportive of up and coming musicians,” Kaneshiro said. “I think he was a legendary music uncle of the east side and I am just super honored to have known and learned from him and love him.”

The Rainbow Room at the Booch Bar in Hilo held a special tribute to Kaili on Jan. 27. It was the night Kaili was scheduled to play with Kanikapila. They had a full house full of longtime fans and loved ones.

While there is no public memorial planned at this time, Kanikapila is scheduled to play the Rainbow Room on Tuesday, Feb. 10.