WAILUKU — Maui’s Hawaiians laughed and cried Monday as they spoke of the late Genoa Keawe, a multiaward-winning recording artist and famed Hawaiian songbird.
Nona Beamer, a well-known kumu hula who lives in Lahaina, said “Aunty Genoa” was a lifelong friend.
“I feel like an era is ending,” Beamer, 85, said tearfully. “I feel a heaviness in my heart.”
Beamer said she admired Keawe’s boundless energy, wonderful smile and ability to reach audiences with beautiful island music.
“I think she epitomizes the Hawaiian woman — the love, the humor, the eloquence, balancing it all in your life,” Beamer said. “She was a good example for all of us, a very good example.”
Beamer’s son, Keola, a slack-key-guitar virtuoso and award-winning recording artist who also lives in Lahaina, performed with Keawe at some of the same events.
“She was a dear, beautiful lady. . . . Never could hold a note as long as she could, even if I tried,” he said, laughing.
Alan “Braddah Poki” Pokipala, a local deejay at KPOA, said he had tried for years to get Aunty Genoa to perform at his monthly “Picnic With Poki and Friends” program held under the monkeypod tree fronting Ka‘ahumanu Church on High Street in Wailuku.
Pokipala agreed to switch his program from the third Thursday to a Friday morning last month to accommodate the schedule of Keawe and her family. She was worth the wait, Pokipala recalled, and arrived ready to perform despite overcast skies and the threat of rain.
Just in case, Pokipala said he brought pillows, towels and extra blankets for the comfort of Keawe, who faced health challenges. Members of an Upcountry halau made good with their offer to take turns holding an umbrella over Keawe as she performed in light rains that day.
“It was awesome,” Pokipala said of the Jan. 18 performance.
Keawe’s appearance attracted about 250 people for one of the largest audiences in the six-year program.
Pokipala said he was “stressed out” about Keawe’s appearance and told her she could bow out of the show at any time. She responded by telling him: “I’m the driver of this bus. I’m not stopping this bus, because people came to see me.”
The 90-minute performance was one of her last on Maui. “Her spirit was fine. She was happy. She was talking. . . . It was such an honor,” Pokipala said.
He noted that Aunty Genoa telephoned him the weekend after her Maui performance to thank him for the opportunity. He remembered that she spoke in Hawaiian and he responded in the same language, although he isn’t very fluent.
“It was just chicken skin talking to her.”
Molokai’s Raiatea Helm, a recording artist pursuing Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said she spent time Monday with Keawe’s family, eating lunch at Like Like Drive Inn Restaurant in Honolulu.
Helm said she first met Keawe at a falsetto contest during Aloha Week 2000. The two eventually spent a lot of time together, giving Helm a chance to know Aunty Genoa and her family.
The two performed onstage together several times in different venues, and Keawe recorded “Hu‘i E” with Helm on the latter’s “Sweet and Lovely” album.
“I had a good relationship with her,” Helm said, adding that it was an honor to have performed alongside Keawe.
Their recording session occurred about two years ago when Helm was just 21 and Keawe 87. “It was really intimate — a very, very special moment — and it’s something I’ll always be able to cherish.”
Helm said Keawe’s son and the family spokesman, Eric, acknowledged his mother’s acceptance of whatever came in life.
“Aunty said whenever the Lord called, she was ready to go.”
Helm said she’ll miss her role model in Keawe.
“We’re all going to miss her smile.”
• Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.
