The Tara Cafe Project

The Tara Café Project promotes the cultural continuity of Tibetan music. Live performances, recordings, and film documentation involving Tibetan artists, both inside Tibet and in exile, are supported. The Tara Café Project began in 2003, taking its name from a small cafe in Dharamsala, India, where refugees from the Amdo region of Tibet often gather to visit and play music together.  In 2003, the Tara Café Project CD was produced, featuring the music of Gompo Kyab and Gompo Dhundup. These two talented musicians were living in exile in Dharamsala, home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Songs of the Inland

Ray Kane October 1925 – February 2008

Slack key guitarist Raymond Kane died February 27. Kane, who was 82, had been hospitalized for three months with respiratory difficulties. Raymond Kaleoalohapoina’oleohelemanu Kane was born in 1925 in Koloa on the island of Kaua’i. His middle name can be translated into English as “the voice of love that comes and goes like a bird and will never be forgotten.” It describes his outgoing personality, which has earned him status as one of slack key’s most beloved and colorful characters. Ray grew up in Nanakuli on O’ahu’s rugged Wai’anae coast where his stepfather worked as a fisherman. On his mother’s side, Ray was related to many famous Hawaiian musicians, including Andy Cummings, Genoa Keawe and others.From an early age Ray Kane immersed himself in the traditions of Hawaiian culture. His natural father, Herman “Manu” Kane, was by all reports an extraordinary slack key player, but left home when Ray was only two. At age nine, when Ray felt a call to play slack key, he had to turn outside of his family for lessons. This was very difficult at the time. “Back then people wouldn’t teach you unless you were family,” Ray said. “But I was a good diver, so I made a deal with Albert Kawelo. I gave him fish and he gave me lessons.” Ray also credited Henry Kapuana and the radio with teaching him songs in the early days. “Back then I used to take my guitar everywhere,” Raid said. “My favorite spot was Zablan’s beach. It was so quiet at night. There was nobody around. I’d sit and play and watch the moon shine down on the waves.”

In the 1940s, Ray joined the military and traveled to Europe and the Mainland. When he got back home, he heard the first records by the legendary slack key guitarist Gabby Pahinui. “That inspired me to start playing again,” he said. “After Albert, for me, it’s Gabby. He had the true Hawaiian style; his voice, his timing, his touch: you can really feel it in the heart. I play a lot of his songs. I owe him a lot.” In 1961, the Tradewinds label invited Ray to make his first recordings. “It was a great experience, but there was no money in it,” he said. “I had a family, you understand, so I just played out a little on the weekends.”

The 1970s brought new attention to traditional artists in Hawai’i, often elevating them to the position of media celebrities and role models for the young. It all began for Ray in 1973 when the newly created Hawaiian Music Foundation asked him to give formal concerts. This was something new for slack key. It brought the music and musicians to an entirely different audience. “I don’t know why they picked me,” Ray said. “I wasn’t famous. I wasn’t playing steady anywhere. I was just trying to stick to the style I learned back in the 1930s. Maybe that’s why, but the next thing I knew people were asking me to play all over the place. All kinds of people came to those concerts. They’d just sit there and listen, then applaud after each song. I was in a state of shock.”

Ray’s humor delighted concert audiences. His soft, romantic music made them relax and even cry. “Hey, sometimes it makes me cry too,” Ray said. Unfortunately, at the height of his new-found fame, he had to quit playing due to serious medical problems. In the 1980s he resumed playing and teaching. “I like to teach one-on-one,” he said. “I tell all my students to do it your own way, from the heart. And don’t talk stink about the other guy. Humble yourself. Play the best you can and share what you know.”

Ray began recording for Dancing Cat Productions, a label specialized in Hawaiian guitar music. “Meeting the folks at Dancing Cat was a dream come true,” Ray said. “They’ve helped me, my family and all the slack key guitarists in so many ways. They really love the music and it shows. They’re taking real good care recording us and taking our music all over the world.” Punahele, Ray’s first album for Dancing Cat, came out in 1994. Mixing familiar standards with songs Ray had never previously recorded, it quickly became a local favorite. His second release on Dancing Cat was titled Wa’ahila (1998). The album featured Ray’s wife, Elodia Kane.

Genoa Keawe October 1918 – February 2008

Genoa Keawe, a major figure in the history of modern Hawaiian music and an inspiration for several generations of Hawaiian entertainers, died on February 25 at her family home in Papakolea. She was 89. Entertainers, elected officials, members of the entertainment industry and the general public alike mourned the death of the woman who, more than anyone else, kept the tradition of female Hawaiian falsetto singing alive through the final decades of the 20th century. Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona hailed “her deep commitment to mentoring Hawaiian musicians and perpetuating the Hawaiian culture.” Genoa was a tireless performer and dedicated teacher and mentor of so many young Hawaiian musicians. She had a signature falsetto voice and way of captivating her audiences everywhere she played. Genoa Keawe’s career as a professional entertainer spanned more than 60 years. Her professional career began in 1939 and ended less than a month ago when she performed at the Waikiki Beach Marriott on Jan. 31.

Alan Budd with Genoa Keawe
at the Moana Terrace, Waikiki March 2007