Hawai`i 2004

The musical side of a marvelous month - page 5

After Led returned from the Wolf Trap show he played his regular Kapono's gig, and I couldn't miss it. Alika had challenged me to show up with some different tunes, so I practiced a few that I hadn't played at Kapono's before. This time we had Jimbo's fancy camera along, so we were able to get some better shots even at night.

Sorry about that mic stand in Alika's face - I swear I wasn't the one who took this picture.

Alika is really cooking and Led clearly enjoyed playing with his long-time partner.

This rowdy bunch is our table, I'm afraid.

In the background you can see the Led Heads passing around the birthday cake they brought for Ledward.

The sun is down, the beautiful harbor lights are glowing in the background, and Led is cranking up his Graziano Hulacaster.
He obviously loves this slick little solid body tenor uke. Naturally it sounds great with the master playing it.

After the break Led again asked me up to play a couple of numbers. Being on this man's stage was such a humbling experience.

We did "Isa Lei" and "Grandfather's Clock" These guys just jumped on and played along.

For my last tune I did "E Liliu E" which gave Led a lot of chance to stretch out.

Alika handled the whole thing while he took a little break.

Later in the show an audience member came up with "the bag" and Led pulled out the old Guild thinline acoustic to play a few number with his hand tucked away.
For their closing number Led and Alika did the absolute best version of "I Kona" I can imagine. Their years of playing together gave them an almost psychic ability to follow each other's rhythmic and harmonic shifts as Led directed the tune through three modulations of key and numerous stops and starts. It was truly awe inspiring.