Keola Beamer
Wailuku, Hawaii, United States | MAJOR
Music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
CDs
The Descendants Soundtrack (2011)
Ka Hikina O Ka Hau (2011) - Grammy nomination in Hawaiian Music
Keola Beamer & Raiatea (2010)
Our Beloved Land (2005): Keola Beamer with R. Carlos Nakai
Mohala Hou (2003)
Soliloquy: Ka Leo O Laka (2002)
Island Born (2001)
Kolonahe - From The Gentle Wind (1999)
Mauna Kea (1997)
Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar In The Real Old Style (1996)
Moeuhane Kika (1995)
Wooden Boat (1994)
Pure Hawaiian Magic (1991): Keola & Kapono Beamer
Sweet Maui Moon (1989)
Honolulu City Lights (1978): Keola & Kapono Beamer
Hawaiis Keola & Kapono Beamer (1975)
DVDs
The Art of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar (2005)
Loosen the Key (2003)
Photos
Bio
"The Quintessential Hawaiian Slack-Key Guitar Master" --The New York Times
Keola Beamers style is the best there is on the planetTheres no better slack key player than Beamer Willie Nelson
Keola Beamer is the Andres Segovia of the slack key guitar. Long Beach Press Telegram
Featured on the soundtrack of the film The Descendants, starring George Clooney.
For over thirty years, Keola Beamer's artistry has helped breathe new life into slack key guitar music while remaining true to the soul of its deeply Hawaiian roots.
Keola Beamer has become a Hawaiian music legend, having grown up in one of Hawai'i's most famous music families. One of Hawai'i's premier singer-songwriters, arrangers, composers and masters of the Hawaiian slack key guitar, Keola Beamer's breadth of talent springs from 5 generations of family musical history. The Beamers can trace their involvement in Hawaiian music and hula at least as far as back as the 15th Century.
A multiple Na Hoku Hanohano Award Winner (Hawaiian Music Awards) and Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, Keola established himself early as a leader in contemporary Hawaiian music when he wrote the classic "Honolulu City Lights," one of the all-time best-selling records in Hawaiian music history. He was one of the first to integrate Hawaiian chants and instruments, like the tiny gourd whistle and the nose flute, with contemporary forms of music. His wife Moanalani Beamer joins him in performing hula as well as chants and traditional Hawaiian instruments.
Keola is featured in a just-released PBS Hawaii special: "Keola Beamer: Malama Ko Aloha (Keep Your Love)" with Moanalani, R. Carlos Nakai, Raiatea Helm, and others. It will be scheduled for national PBS broadcast in over 60 U.S. markets later in 2012.
Keola was one of the first to use slack key techniques to create contemporary music that are as much at home in jazz or classical forums as in Hawaiian music. The art of the Hawaiian slack key guitar is trying to match the composition with the tuning, said Beamer. When you really get into it, you discover that each tuning is kind of a tonal palette. You can really present a piece in a different light than it's ever been seen before.
The lovely "kumu hula" (hula master) Moanalani Beamer performs with him, featuring hula and traditional Hawaiian percussion and other instruments.
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