Best of the Gabby Band 1972-1977

Pahinui, Gabby

Sweet Slack-Key Guitar

Just a few notes from Gabby Pahinui's guitar, and a feeling of perfect-sunset serenity spreads over the room. A master technician who is one of several responsible for refining the Hawaiian "slack key" guitar style, Pahinui (Pa-ha-newy) plays in a way that's beyond laid-back. There's no contrivance or manipulation in his game—on these simple folk songs and originals, he strives for and attains an ideal of beauty. No matter how stressed you are when you start listening, he has a way of softening the cares of the world.

After several apprenticeships, Pahinui (1921–1980) began recording in 1946. His works drew attention to Hawaii's long heritage of stringed-instrument innovation—ever since Portuguese laborers brought the four-string braguinha, a precursor to the ukulele, to Hawaii in the 1870s, local musicians have tweaked the instruments and changed the playing styles to suit their needs. Slack-key guitar might be considered the most extreme example: Its otherworldly swooping is produced by carefully slackening and tightening the tension of guitar strings. The result is a sound that's a bit like the bluesman's pitch-bending, but over longer intervals.

Some slack-key masters play with the exaggerated manner of lounge musicians trying to wow tourists. Pahinui's recordings, particularly the ones he made with this band in the 1970s, are much more subtle. The emphasis is on the way each of the parts fit together—often a strumming acoustic guitar coexists with a ukulele, a wandering steel-string lead, and some distant slack-key melody picking up the bittersweetness of the vocal. These recordings feature several of Pahinui's sons, as well as his protégé Sonny Chillingworth and longtime friend Atta Isaacs. Some tracks also include guest Ry Cooder, who became enchanted after hearing a Gabby Band record in a Honolulu gift shop. It's easy to hear what caught Cooder: This band sways in a way that's both mighty and delicate, embodying a grace that seems to come naturally in Hawaii.

Genre: World, Hawaii
Released: 1990, Panini
Key Tracks: "Ku'u pua lei mokihana," "Aloha ka nanini," "Lei nani."
Catalog Choice: The Pahinui Brothers: The Pahinui Brothers
Next Stop: Sonny Chillingworth: Endlessly
After That: Ray Kane: Punahele
Book Pages: 572–573