Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar and Ukelele
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival / Series 4: On The Move / 4.3: Audio
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Sound recording (digital audio file)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2017 July 04
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.2017, Item SFF2017_0704_Circus_Arts_Jubilee_Stage_0006
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Listening copies available
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Mark Puryear (presenter); Ledward Kaapana; Judy Barrett ;NEA National Heritage Fellow Ledward "Led" Kaapana is a master of the Hawaiian ukulele and ki ho'alu, the slack-key guitar—a finger-style guitar art form that originated in Hawaii. This talent, combined with his vocal skills in the baritone and leo ki`eki`e (falsetto) range, have made him a legendary performer who has been entertaining audiences in Hawaii and abroad for more than forty years. Kaapana grew up in Kalapana in the southernmost district of Hawaii Island in a family of musicians. His teachers included his mother, Mama Tina Kaapana, from whom he learned to sing leo ki'eki'e, and his uncle, Fred Punahoa. Over the course of his career, Kaapana has dedicated himself to perpetuating the traditional style and repertoire of his Hawaiian home village, as well as engaging in innovative performances with virtuoso performers from other American traditions.