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E Ku`u Morning Dew -- on steel string guitar in a C Old Mauna Loa/Niihau Tuning (C-G-C-G-A-D, from the lowest pitched string to the highest)

`Ukulele virtuoso, researcher, and filmmaker Eddie Kamae, his wife Myrna, and Larry Kimura collaborated on this lovely mele ho`oipoipo (love song) about a romance that remains as fresh as morning dew. Keola performs solo on a steel string acoustic guitar in an Old Mauna Loa/Niihau type Tuning, C-G-C-G-A-D. Old Mauna Loa/Niihau means a tuning where the 6th note of the scale and the 2nd note of the scale are on two successive strings with the 6th note of the scale being on the lower of the two.

Keola begins this piece with an original introduction, and the lightly diffused ho`opapa (harmonics) heard in the middle and at the end delicately evoke the first blush of morning light pushing through the leaves of trees.

Keola says he found the inspiration for this impressionistic arrangement in the misty uplands of Waimea on the Big Island, where he spent his youth. "Our little house, Pu`unani (beautiful hill) was in a small clearing in the forest. In the very early mornings, only the soft hush of the wind would speak in the complete silence of the forest. I often think that one of the most precious things in the world is the space between things - the air that lives amid the strings, the space that sings between the notes."

About the record:
Keola draws on a Hawaiian heritage that encompasses his deep roots in traditional chant and hula, himeni (hymns), the classic royal songs, and modern influences, all of which contribute to his very original and beautiful slack key style. Ki ho `alu (slack key) is the name for the finger-style guitar tradition unique to Hawai'i. First introduced to Island culture by Hawaiian cowboys in the early 1800s, this evocative world music is characterized by a variety of tunings and the wealth of deep feelings each individual artist brings to the music.