Once again — and for the sixth year — Mitch Chang presented an outstanding lineup of talented Hawaiian musicians and dancers at the Southern California Slack Key Festival in Redondo Beach, California. This has become Southern California’s premier event for Hawaiian traditional and contemporary slack key music.
Headliners included Dennis Kamakahi and Steve Inglis, Cyril Pahinui, Jeff Peterson, Makana, Kimo West and Ken Emerson, and Led Kaapana.
I had a chance to chat with Jeff Peterson at the concert and learned that he’ll be headed soon for an “American Music Abroad” tour in South America with Keola Beamer. This program is sponsored by the U.S. State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, and is designed to introduce a wide variety of American music genres and artists to other cultures, and “communicate America’s rich musical contributions to the global music scene as it fosters cross-cultural communication and people-to-people connection to global audiences.” I’m looking forward to hearing about the experience when I see Jeff at George Kahumoku’s slack key workshop in June.