One of our favorite activities near the monthly full moon is to attend “Talk Story” or as it’s formally known-“Twilight at Kalahuipua’a”. The site of this no charge, almost monthly event is the Eva Parker Woods Cottage located ocean front on an island of grass between Makaiwa Bay and the historic Kalahuipua’a fishponds. The fishponds were once part of the Makaiwa Bay until ancient Hawaiians built walls into the water to create multiple large ponds for aqua culture. The ponds are now a part of the Mauna Lani resort where the owners continue their maintenance and preservation all to benefit the schools of mullet, milk fish and moi that inhabit and thrive with few predators. Kalahuipua’a is translated to mean “the gathering of the pigs”. Since Hawaiians often expressed themselves allegorically it is speculated they were referring to the large fish in the fishponds as being the “pigs”.

The scene is amazingly beautiful as the crowd gathers at sunset for what is usually a concert by a well known island musician, performance by a popular hula troop or “Kapuna”“ invited to talk story about growing up in Hawaii, island history and ancient folklore. Danny Akaka, the cultural director of the Mauna Lani, has orchestrated the event for over 25 years. Lissette and I remember attending in the 1990’s when we first discovered this magical piece of paradise and count the remembrance of this event as one of the reasons we packed a few boxes and moved permanently from Atlanta in 2001.

This month our friends called to assure we were going to attend this month as they reported that Danny had mentioned to them that it was going to be a “very special” guest” attending. Danny is known for not sharing the details of his monthly guest but instead always states-“it’s going to be special” with a twinkle in his eyes. This time he said “VERY special” and his was right!!

If you are fans of Hawaiian music most people know the name Jake Shimabukuro. He is known as one of the greatest gifts from Hawaii to the “world” music scene and is often touted as a virtuoso related to his skills playing the ukulele. We have listened and loved his incredible ukulele virtuosity since first moving to Hawaii in 2001. There isn’t an hour of local radio music that doesn’t feature one of his songs and to see him in person in this ultra rare venue was a once in a life time experience.

With bassist Nolan Verner, Jake memorized the crowd of 150-200 fans for over 2 hours with only a short break. He often acknowledged his family and friends that had flown in from all over the country to take part in this special event and enjoy the Mauna Lani Resort. Sunset that night was amazing followed by a brilliant full moon rising over and illuminating the Kohala Mountains and Waimea town to the east. The sky glowed a mix of orange and red as a back drop to the catamaran – Wainona- that is always moored in the bay to the west. Jake played a “blue streak” of his more famous songs as well as a few covers of famous pop and Hawaiian artists with his own blazing strum of his custom Kamaka ukulele.

Lissette and I know it will be a long time before we experience a special evening like this one. We looked at the familiar faces of our neighbors and friends gathered in this special place with the incredible beauty of the blue pacific, spectacular sunset, beautiful Hoku moon and the constant serenade by Jake Shimabukuro and Nolan Verner. Lucky we live in Hawaii 🙂

Written by Rick Oliver on July 28, 2017
Posted in: Hawaii Life | Tags: Danny Akaka, Hawaiian music, Jake Shimabukuro, music, Talk Story