Songs of the Hawaiian Cowboy
(Na Mele O Paniolo)

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Not many people know the fascinating story of the paniolo or Hawaiian vaqueros, which began with the introduction of cattle into the Islands in 1793. When three vaqueros from California were brought over to teach the Hawaiians how to deal with the burgeoning cattle population, they imported not only their methods, but their gear, clothing, and songs. The word paniolo was adapted into Hawaiian from español.

This album combines the best of Hawaiiana and cowboy culture in one of the most romantic collections of music anywhere. The songs, in both ballad form and lively rhythmic renderings, are melodic evocations of the beauties of the land, of heroic cowboys, and the special culture that evolved on Hawaii Island and Maui.

Beginning with a traditional chant, the album contains the slack key guitar, ukulele and vocals that are uniquely Hawaiian. The songs are sung in Hawaiian (there are translations in the liner notes), and include "AdÎos Ke Aloha," "Hawaiian Roughrider," and "Cowboy Hula."

For those who haven't experienced this special culture and music, be ready to fall in love with it. For those who are familiar with it already, this is music to savor and enjoy. Discovering slack key is one of the best moves you can make in the new year!

For information: Warner Western, (615) 748-8000

-Charlotte Berney

Waila with the Gu-Achi Fiddlers
Old Time O'odham Fiddle Music

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If your idea of North American tribal music is powwows and pastoral flutes, prepare for a surprise. In the Tohono O'odham and Pima tribes of southern and central Arizona, polkas prevail.

Native Americans in this region have been playing European dance styles such as the polka and schottische for a hundred years. Called "waila" or "chicken scratch," this music has become as much part of local tradition as indigenous repertoires.

Every April, waila is celebrated in a street festival outside the Arizona Historical Society's Tucson headquarters. Contemporary, Mexican-influenced waila bands feature button accordion, saxophone, guitar, bass and drums. They play into the night as couples dance a sedate two-step or a side-by-side cumbia. An older waila line-up features fiddles and frame drums.

The word "waila" -- which can refer to the overall event or specifically to the polka style itself -- comes from baile, the Spanish word for a social dance. Many of the tune titles of this almost exclusively instrumental music are in Spanish. It acquired its other name, "chicken scratch," possibly because dancers kick up their legs like foraging hens.

Missionaries may have helped spread the European dance forms. Guitars and violins were cropping up among the Tohono O'odham as far back as 1750, says James S. Griffith, director of The Southwest Folklore Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson. German immigrants, band practice at government boarding schools, and Mexican norteño music also had an influence.

Much of waila's recorded repertoire is on the Phoenix label, Canyon Records, which started issuing waila records by popular demand in the early Ô70s.

"I kept hearing about chicken scratch and I had no idea what it was, but different people would mention chicken scratch and we didn't have any in our catalog," recalled Ray Boley, who founded Canyon in 1951, and sold the business to his longtime collaborator Robert Doyle in 1992.

In some ways, the waila appears to have changed little. It is still the music for social occasions such as church feasts, weddings and birthday parties.

At a traditional church feast, or piest, the waila can last from sundown to sunrise, with the band playing in a shelter adjoining a dance area decorated with ribbons. In colder weather, coals are heaped under the surrounding benches, so that both dancers and observers can stay warm on and off the dance floor.

However, many listeners are more likely these days to hear waila in a bar or dancehall adjoining O'odham country. In addition, waila bands have been guests at prestigious venues far beyond Arizona, including Carnegie Hall and Smithsonian's Festival of American Folklife. Southern Scratch - probably the best-known band currently - has performed at the National Folk Festival in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Waila is not a relic of the past, but a living tradition. For information: Canyon Records, (602) 266-7835. www.canyonrecords.com

- Andrew Means

Copyright ©1998 Cowboys & Indians

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