Search - JIm Kimo West :: Ki Ho'alu Christmastime

Smooth and glistening like the winter snow on Mauna Kea, these masterful slack key guitar arrangements of contemporary and traditional Christmas songs mark another step in Jim Kimo West s personal journey of ki ho alu. Although mainland-based, he displays an instinctive and assured technique. His expressive nahenahe playing is the result of spending much of the last twenty-two years in the small town of Hana, Maui, where he developed his relationship with the aina and with the cultural landscape of East Maui. Having never even seen Waikiki, Kimo came right to Hana, Maui in 1985 and spent much of his time there for many years. It was in Hana where he first heard the music of Gabby Pahinui, Sons Of Hawaii, Sonny Chillingworth and Atta Isaacs. Already familiar with alternate tunings, the sound of ki ho alu became his favorite soundtrack . He is a veteran of Hawaii s famed slack key festivals as well as the So Cal Slack Key Festival in Redondo Beach, CA. He has shared the stage with almost all the world s top slack key players at one time or another. Kimo is a 2008 winner of the Hawaii Music Awards and a two-time Na Hoku Hanohano, (the Hawaiian Grammy ) nominee. He is also a two-time winner of the LA Treasures Award for his efforts in keeping this important acoustic guitar tradition alive. Kimo s show encompasses both traditional an contemporary original slack key material as well as vocals in Hawaiian and English language. He sometimes incorporates steel guitar and when possible, video projection. He uses a number of different tunings in his set, including some of his own invention which have been added to George Winston s extensive compendium of ki ho alu tunings Besides his slack key work, Kimo is well-known as long-time guitarist for the world s most successful musical satirist, Weird Al Yankovic, with whom he has received three Grammy s and many gold and platinum records. They have recently performed on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Jimmy Fallon Show.