Hawaiian Music (Part 14)
25 Years The Kilima Hawaiians with Rudi Wairata.
The Kilima Hawaiians
The Kilima Hawaiians are back in the spotlight. The cousin of Bill & Mary Buijsman, John Buijsman is going on a theatre tour, ‘Hula Blues’gaat, across the country in 2015-2016 after finding ‘a treasure’ of old material from his family.
But… thos Kilimas have existed for much longer, haven’t they?
Indeed, far much longer. They existed for over 55 years and were the longest existing Hawaiian ensemble in the world. Even in Hawaii there were no groups that existed for such an extended period. 1960 was a special year. By the end of the fifties, when everybody, especially the Hawaï fans, thought the Kilimas would disappear in favor of the ‘big boys’, guitar virtuosos Rudi Wairata and later George de Fretes, they just happily reappeared. They had just taken a trip to Germany where they became immensely popular. But meanwhile times were changing. Even the Hawaï guitar player that remained faithful to the Kilimas for over 13 years and shared in their biggest successes, Theo Ehrlicher, believed the times of Hawaï music to be over and left the ensemble in 1958. What were they supposed to do without him? A momentary solution was found in ‘Broer’ Arends (Mike Anoi), but they entered their 25th anniversary year with Ambonese Rudi Wairata. And it has to be said, this became one of their best periods. Rudi stepped into a ready made bed. The trio Bill and Mary Buijsman together with their bass player Wim van Herpen formed a solid base with a large repertoire and Rudi added his Ambonese influence to this base. Radio programs were a feast for the ears and were never released on record. So we will listen to them now.
For the playlist send a request to www.concertzender.nl/reactie
