Come on, Hawaii's Peter Moon, not to be confused with the rock and roller from the states, has got to be one of the all-time, if not the greatest 'musician' from Hawaii. As a true musician, he was a composer, arranger, student, producer, singer (kinda limited, though), and instrumentalist including: ukulele (all styles), guitar (6-string, 12-string, slack key), tiple, banjo, and any other instrument with strings on them. His smooth flowing and melodic stylings have yet to be matched. Take for example his licks on E Pili Mai (Cane Fire), Pua Lilia (Guava Jam), or Dreamer (Chinatown)......so nahenahe and 'happy sounding.' Sorry Jake (Shimabukuro), Troy (Fernandez), or even Kelly (DeLima)......you guys may have had influence from him, but don't even come close to his stylings.
His stylings were also responsible for the Hawaiian music revolution back in the late 60's and early 70's. He along with the Brother's Cazimero teamed up to create "Sunday Manoa" which laid the foundation for 'contemporary' Hawaiian music. His rips on 'Kawika' and 'Hilo Hanakahi' were an authentic sound back then. Then when he formed his own band, he took his slack key stylings along with his ukulele rips to a new level. It was a far cry from the 'traditional' Hawaiian sound as has been maintained throughout the years by everyone else. For example, you should hear his slack key rips on 'Slack Key Shuffle' (Tropical Storm) or 'Opihi Moemoe/Wheeha Swing' (Malie). How awesome is that slack key sound! Not what you'd typically associate the slack key sound with, huh?
The list goes on and on.
Aloha Peter! A hui hou, malama pono.
