Kalaʻi Miller Aloha, I’m Kalaʻi Miller.

Welcome to Home is Here.

In 2022 the Hawaiʻi State Archives received two historic collections of Hawaiian music.

One of the collections came from a man named Michael Scott, a steel guitar fan based in Toronto, Canada.

The other came from legendary local DJ, Harry B. Soria Jr. who hosted the Hawaiian music radio show, Territorial Airwaves, for more than 40 years.

In all these collections equal roughly 20,000 records in addition to photos, show notes and sheet music.

The earliest records date back to 1905 and are invaluable resources for historians, musicians, kumu hula, and mele lovers both here at home and abroad.

(Instrumental music) Haʻalilio Solomon This this particular collection, I was blown away.

I thought I knew Hawaiian music.

There is so much here that is new to me, names of individual artists, names of groups, names of mele that I've really never even heard of.

And that's exciting.

(Singing) ʻō i ka nahele o Ma... Adam Jansen So contained within our music archives are two very significant collections.

The first is the Territorial Airwaves music archives that came from Harry B Soria Jr. and Kilohana Silve.

From their lifetime of collecting Hawaiian music.

And at the same time we had been contacted by the son of Michael's Scott, who spent his entire life collecting and playing Hawaiian music.

He wound up accumulating almost 10,000 records.

Kilin Reese This is this is a really historic thing that's happened here at the Hawaiʻi State Archives.

These records, in essence, map and chart, a great renaissance in the musical arts.

And one thing that's unique about this, this gathering of records is that they span over a century from a singular vantage point that is Hawaiian music.

You could say that this collection of records and recording technology goes from Edison all the way through to the iPad, it's pretty incredible.

Kilohana Silve I was married to Harry B Soria Jr. and it was music that brought us together.

I returned to the islands after living over 30 years in France, with all kinds of goodies, including a treasure trove of Hawaiian records.

I brought these records back to Hawaiʻi, and wondered, now, what should I do with them?

And a dear friend insisted that I show them to Harry.

That was the beginning of our love story.

Harry B Soria We had a mutual friend that said, “you know, you both have these record collections, you should meet.” So we’ve combined our collections and we’ve combined our lives.

Kilohana Silve In the early days, he had his father's records.

And he realized that there were lots of elderly people out there who didn't even have what was called a phonograph to play their records anymore.

And so he would actually go knocking on doors on weekends.

He would look for houses with green and white awnings, and really old looking fruit trees in their front yards.

And he'd say, Aha, they might have records that they don't want.

And they would usually send him crawling under the house (laughs) to salvage these, these records that were covered with dust.

And so he always said, “you know, this collection belongs to the people of Hawaiʻi.” Paige Okamura Aloha nui mai kākou ke hoʻolohe nei But the value is not just in the collection itself.

Both collections are massive.

But the real value to having them in the archives is access because they could have each collection could have gone to a private collector, or could have been sold and dispersed right.

But the choice to have it in a publicly accessible location.

And the work that the archives is doing in digitizing everything to make it available.

That's the real value, because now anybody who is curious or anybody who has any sort of ties to a song or a composer or an artist, now they can access it, and they can reclaim that bit of history for themselves.

(Singing) ua kani lehua Haʻalilio Solomon One of the projects that kcps is sponsoring is the Pūmanamana Project.

And I'm the manager for that project, which is indexing and cataloging these Hawaiian music albums.

We envision the Pūmanamana project to be we're calling it a one stop shop.

Because nowadays you can find the lyrics to most Hawaiian mele, that, after a certain point in history, but you probably can't find the recording.

Maybe you can find the recording but no lyrics or maybe no at least no translation.

So Pūmanamana is trying to be all of that.

A very thorough, very robust resource on Hawaiian music that considers Mele Hawaiʻi as a historical record and a primary resource for it.

So the Pūmanamana index is starting here at the public archives.

Adam Jansen You know we’re, we're a relatively small staff.

And we have a lot of responsibility into preserving other records within the archives and making those accessible.

So we reached out to the community and said, We need help.

And it was a most wonderful experience for us.

Because the love of Hawaiian music is so pervasive.

We had three dozen volunteers step forward in the first week and say, I would love to help I'm willing to give of myself my time to come help this project.

And so as a result, the entire project is really turning into be a community based project.

Debbie Garcia I heard about this great opportunity for this volunteer program.

I think it’s so important for the people of Hawaiʻi to have this sort of archival history.

I plan to be here for everytime that I’m back in Honolulu.

Back in this little dark space, being able to put in information or cleaning records or whatever I can do to help.

(Singing) Aloha ʻoe Jesse Shiroma When I caught word of what was going on here with the Hawai’i State Archives.

I realized this would be a phenomenal potentially once in a lifetime opportunity to get literal hands on experience handling old records, some of them like 100 years old and featuring artists and songs that have, haven't been heard in decades.

(Singing) One fond embrace Kilohana Silve That was that was Harry's dream and sense of mission towards the end of his life, that this music be protected and made available for not only people here in Hawaiʻi, but for the entire world.

He was absolutely convinced that at this point in history, the whole planet needs the beauty and soothing quality of Hawaiian music.

(Singing) Until we meet again I’m no musician but Hawaiian music is an important part of my identity and cultural understanding.

I was lucky to grow up exposed to cultural icons like Kahauanu Lake and Irmgard Aluli passing on stories and history and culture through mele and hula.

In many ways the music shared by artists like Kahauanu Lake helped perpetuate the Hawaiian language and culture that had been generationally suppressed.

As both professional and amateur archivists explore the annals of recorded Hawaiian music they have continued to uncover the breadth and depth of Hawaiian music history and have made discoveries that strengthen the Hawaiian identity and provide a better understanding of the evolution of our culture.

George Helm It is nice for me to share what I like, Hawaiian music.

(Singing) ʻĀina ua kaulana ea Kilohana Silve Hawaiian music has made a huge impact on music all over the world.

I don't think people realize how influential Hawaiian music has been, and continues to be.

(Singing) Palu palu Kilin Reese W.C.

Handy, who is credited with inventing the blues, he said the first time, the blues really, really solidified in his mind and the style of songs he wanted to write.

He was hearing a man at a train station playing this Hawaiian style steel guitar.

Roger Bong Starting in the 1900s Hawaiian music was known around the world.

And a big part of that was touring musicians, but also recorded music.

Kilin Reese Much has been written about the great Renaissance in Hawaiʻi in the 19th century in language and the literary arts.

And what we've become really clear on as we've studied this history is that there was a concurrent renaissance in the musical arts here.

And that renaissance in the musical arts really had an incredible impact on modern music on a global level.

So I’m excited to take a listen to this record “Sweet Lei ʻIlima” recorded by the Royal Hawaiian Band String Ensemble, about 1935.

This record is really special to me because it shows the string band style that evolved here in the Hawaiian Kingdom and went on to change the way people think and play music all over the world.

(Singing) Lei ʻilima sweet lei ʻilima, A he ana lā sure lā e hana lā, Aloha ʻole ʻoe iaʻu, O Kilin Reese At the dawn of the 20th century, those Hawaiian string bands born out of this Royal Hawaiian music culture, would really herald what was to come and jazz, bluegrass, country, you know, rock and roll.

The story of the Royal Hawaiian band is one of the great musical stories of the world.

This band, founded officially as the Royal Hawaiian military band in 1836, is still playing, today.

The fact that today The Royal Hawaiian band plays every Friday, just across the lawn from where these records now live, is really, I think, an incredible triumph.

(Instrumental music) Paige Okamura I think it's important for us to regain those, those stories that we've lost, and it strengthens our sort of national identity, right?

And our identity as a people.

Because so much has been taken away, right?

Language, culture, our history.

And so you really, you know, that's like one of the best ways to oppress people is to take away their history and their language.

So if I can give that back, I think that strengthens us as a people.

(Singing) Pupue iho au I mehana, hone ana o uese Haʻalilio Solomon If we Just turned to even songs written in the 1880s and 1890s.

We have few 100 of them.

And those are just the ones that were documented in the newspapers and then culled together for Buke Mele Lahui, which is the book of national songs written in support of Queen Liliuokalani, the Hawaiian nation, in opposition to annexation, in opposition to the overthrow, in opposition to Americanization.

One would just be enough to say there was some resistance to this political agenda of 1890s.

But when we have so many we have to take into account what does that what does mele become when a majority of them are saying this around this particular event?

That's a really powerful statement.

(Singing) Hoʻohui ʻāina kūʻai hewa, I ka pono sivila aʻo ke kanaka Harry B Soria Howzit?

Welcome to the territory of Hawaiʻi for another edition of Territorial Airwaves taken from the 70,000 plus recordings... Paige Okamura I really appreciate Uncle Harry, really wanting to share his stories and his life work with me.

In his collection that's at the archives now there's actually all of his scripts, and they're very meticulous.

His resources are invaluable, because a lot of the artists that I play today and I talked about today, they've passed away for a long time now.

(Singing) Kumaka ka ʻikena Hiʻilawe Mai ka hola ʻeono ā i ka hola ʻehiku o ke ahiahi, today’s episode is... Kilohana Silve So many of the songs were written when the Hawaiian language was no longer the spoken language in these islands.

To understand what the real implications are, it takes research.

It's it's not something that you can easily find by Googling.

To have someone like Harry a walking encyclopedia, share the stories, share the history of the period to bring the song to life helps us hold on to Hawaiian history from all the different periods.

(Singing) I ke kai hāwanawana, Hoʻopuni ʻia e nā pali Paige Okamura Hawaiian music becomes an additional primary source for Hawaiian language academia.

We can cite them directly because they provide us context, whether it's context in the time that they were written or around a specific situation.

Each mele, each oli, each composition is like a repository of knowledge.

Haʻalilio Solomon What this also stands to do is challenge what stereotypical beliefs about Hawaiian music are.

It doesn’t take much to look and see there’s a whole bunch of different genres there.

Roger Bong So much of what Hawaiʻi's success is in terms of like, international recognition is based on some form of marketing.

Right?

What do you put out in into the world that resonates with people?

Maybe it's something like a song that has ukulele or steel guitar or sounds of the ocean, right?

And people understand that.

But when you actually live here on the ground, and you you meet the people that create these, these communities, you see their their triumphs and their struggles, their dreams and aspirations and their failures as well.

I mean, a lot of that comes through in the music that's being created.

It's not always that those songs are heard by a lot of people so we tend to root for, I guess the underdog or the artists whose music is not reaching the ears in a way that you would think, "That's Hawaiʻi," right?

But it is Hawaiʻi.

Paige Okamura Cultural appropriation is a big issue.

1950s, 40s anybody outside of Hawaiʻi the image they get is very much like Hawaiʻi steamship era, coconut bra, tiki culture, I hate tiki culture so much.

Hotel life at Waikīkī is luxurious and gay.

You lunch informally or stroll out on the lawn to admire the grace and beauty of the hula—exotic native dance of old Hawaiʻi.

Paige Okamura Hawaiʻi was really sold as a destination and it’s still sold as a destination today.

But even as much as I hate how Hawaiʻi was marketed in that time some of the music in that time is my favorite.

It’s beautiful, I think Hawaiians’ ability to adapt and learn and bring in outside influences is amazing.

I can still appreciate that music and not condone the marketing of Hawaiʻi at the time.

(Singing) A he ʻipo hoʻohenoheno, E hoʻohihi ʻai no ka manaʻo Haʻalilio Solomon In telling the story of Mele Hawaiʻi, there's a lot of re-centering that can be done in our relationships to the mele.

Kilin Reese This Hawaiian influence is one that we can trace to everything we hear in the world today, through all these different styles.

And I think it’s time that credit is really given.

And I think that’s one thing this project at the Hawaiʻi State Archives can start to do is return recognition to a really profound Hawaiian vision of the musical arts.

Kalaʻi Miller It is amazing to think about how a small group of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has produced so many talented musicians that have had such a profound impact on the entire world.

That legacy of music, storytelling, and poetry is being carried on today by Hawaiian artists and scholars.

They continue to inform and shape Hawaiian culture and share its beauty with the world.

George Kanahele Hawaiian music has to do with the soul of Hawaiʻi.

That really is in essence the vitality of this community.

And its roots go back to Hawaiian culture.

Music is an integral part of Hawaiian culture.

(Chanting in Hawaiian) Kilohana Silve As King Kalākaua said, the ipu heke beat.

It's like the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people.

That continues even in contemporary music.

(Instrumental music) Paige Okamura Well, I think music kind of universally creates a community for people, you know, people find connections over music.

Music is a conduit for relationship building and community building, for sure.

Music is a big part of any gathering, especially Hawaiian gatherings, but also things like hula and chant that have survived a little bit better even than the oppression of Hawaiian language, and that became something for Hawaiians to reference.

It's kind of the thing that survives and brings us into the Renaissance.

Haʻalilio Solomon The 70s is really kind of like has galvanized the idea of Hawaiian music, having an identity tied to it, very intimately and inseparably.

If Mele Hawaiʻi and Hawaiian identity are so closely connected we absolutely should preserve as much of it as we can.

It's going to continue to evolve with Hawaiian identity.

It's going to continue to inform it and it's going to continue to deepen it.

(Singing) Ana ka puana (Okay good girls) Aia i ʻĀlika (Instrumental music) Roger Bong The vinyl record is a medium that can transcend regional boundaries, as well as generations, you can pick up an original copy which was recorded in the 70s.

And you can hear it today, that's 40 years later.

And it's the medium that carried it through.

I started Aloha Got Soul because I heard this record from Mackey Feary in high school, which is created years before I was born.

As a record label in the 21st century, if we're able to put out records, physical vinyl records, and they can exist, at any point in time in the future, anywhere in the world, there's a good chance that someone is going to pick it up and it's going to touch their lives.

And it could change their lives and their perspectives on themselves but also what it what music from Hawaiʻi can sound like.

Kainani Kahaunaele Well I would say I'm still in training on composing Hawaiian music, Hawaiian poetry.

And there's a need for a good foundation in Hawaiian music, classical Hawaiian songs, chant, stories, places and through the songs, we learn a lot.

(Chanting in Hawaiian) To me, the language is primary the poetry is primary.

And when that is solid, then any music, any kind of music and accompany.

And I can do it in the traditional style and the classic Hawaiian style, but I also love other kinds of music.

(Singing) Lei pōhuehue pulu ʻehukai o Mī Nei Roger Bong What makes a song Hawaiian, right?

What makes it what makes it Hawaiian?

Right?

I am not Hawaiian.

I'm not Kanaka.

I grew up here and identify identify Hawaiʻi as my home.

But to hear that, from Kainani's perspective, who very much is rooted in this place, who has a legacy and ancestry speaks to the notion that okay, what is Hawaiian music?

Is it any one particular style?

Or can it be anything?

Can it be disco?

Can it be electronic?

Can it be jazz?

Can it be r&b?

Documenting, sharing, representing music that was recorded here during a certain time, past or present, that doesn't necessarily fall into to what we might understand as music from Hawaiʻi.

It could potentially inspire a young musician to create something that is Hawaiian.

It could potentially help us move forward and progress and and shape our own future.

(Singing) Lulu ʻia, haliʻa ke aloha ē, He mai, he mai haiamū Isaac Nāhuewai When I think about Hawaiian music, I think about all of that, and I think about the language aspect of it, what makes this music Hawaiian?

Is it the music side of it?

Or is it the language side of it?

Kilin Reese I haven't come across any communities that put such value and emphasis on the poetry of song, as we see in the Hawaiian Kingdom.

(Singing) Manaʻo healoha ea, No ka ipo lei manu Kilin Reese The fact that this, this body of recorded music spans the very, very beginning all the way through to the current day, gives us a unique opportunity to study how modern music has taken shape, how it has grown and synthesized all of these many traditions, to form, to form the soundscape that we all inhabit, in the modern era.

If we look at the way the diversity of cultures that had come to, to live in Hawaiʻi under the patronage of a monarchy, who really celebrated cosmopolitan sophisticated arts cultures.

They invited all of these musicians to take part and to find a voice.

Isaac Nāhuewai I definitely tap into music from the past, to see how it was always contemporized.

The Hawaiian music, the traditional Hawaiian music that we listened to these days are from church hymns, and their influence in those chords and progressions.

(Singing) lani ʻoia la no ʻoukou, A he milimili hoʻi na mākou Isaac Nāhuewai I don't necessarily listen to that genre of music, and thus creating my own niche where we can have different genres, but in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and still tapping into the same elements of Hawaiian composition but using current genres.

(Singing) H – a – w – a – i – ʻokina – i Hawaiʻi H – a – w – a – i – ʻokina – i, E nā kini o ka lāhui, H – a – w – a Haʻalilio Solomon I would say historically, the relationship between the Lāhui Hawaiʻi and mele Hawaiʻi was a very intimate one and a very important one.

Where mele were a vehicle for political resistance and still are to document all kinds of emotions, feelings, reactions, attitudes, love stories in a way that was just second nature and still is for us going well into the future.

Paige Okamura Music can be the doorway, for something deeper.

One window into a much bigger house.

Isaac Nāhuewai I feel that music can infiltrate the minds and the consciousness of our Lāhui.

(Singing) E piha ana i ka loko iʻa Isaac Nāhuewai I believe there’s a lot of power there.

Music is a way for the Lāhui to show that we're still thriving and that we can still thrive and that we can still create and grow.

We're not only informed by the things of the past, we're not only affected by the things of the present, but we have a future.

(Singing) E nā kini o ka lāhui, kau ka lima i luna a hahai iā mī, E nā kini Kalaʻi Miller Mahalo for joining us for this episode of Home is Here.

Please check out PBS Hawaiʻi dot org or the PBS Hawaii YouTube page for exclusive digital content including performaces by guests from this episode.

For Home is Here, Im Kalaʻi Miller, a hui hou.

(Singing) Mai pūlama i ke kia aʻo Ladana Poina i nā mauna hau aʻo Kina ʻO Hawaiʻi nui kuʻu kulāiwi ʻO nā Hono aʻo Piʻilani ʻO ka pule oʻo aʻo Molokaʻi I ke one aʻiaʻi aʻo Waikīkī ʻO kahi Mano aʻo Kauaʻi ʻO Niʻihau o Kahelelani ʻO Lānaʻikāula I ka ʻāina aloha ʻo Kanaloa E nā kini o ka lāhui, kau ka lima i luna a hahai iā mī E nā kini o ka lāhui, kau ka lima i luna, Noho papa au Noho papa au Noho papa au