Jumping Flea
'Ukulele entertainer and master teacher Walter Kawa'i'aea keeps the beat of Hawaiian music.
Michael Stein
Photography by Jason Moore
Joe D’Alessandro
Cecilia Fernández
You don’t have to know Walter Kawa‘i‘aea’s qualifications—his fifteen years as a professional musician, his classes on O‘ahu and Maui—to see that he has the right look for an ‘ukulele “professor.” Of Native Hawaiian descent, tall, tanned and cheerful, he has just enough of a furrowed brow to keep the circle of adult students in his ‘ukulele class thoroughly focused.
The atmosphere couldn’t be more friendly and relaxed—and yet there’s a serious purpose to this gathering, for the group is meeting to rehearse for what Kawa‘i‘aea calls a mele kuka‘i, an exchange of Hawaiian song. They will be playing at kumu hula (teacher of hula) Gordean Lee Bailey’s farm, a place renowned not just for its protea but for its importance in the preservation of local hula tradition. These students, who range from an alternative-health therapist to a realtor to a former sailmaker, are not just learning ‘ukulele technique, but discovering the role that the good old “uke” has played in the history of Hawaiian music.
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