King Bennie Nawahi - Hawaiian String Virtuoso

King Bennie Nawahi,
Hawaiian String Virtuoso
Acoustic Steel Guitar Classics
from the 1920s
Yazoo 2055; Ordering Information

"Who Can hear this music, this musician, without
feeling awe and joy." - Time
"He tears up and down the fretboard with an
abandon ...notes of glistening liquid tone peal
from Nawahi's guitar." - Wire

Bennie Nawahi was one of the true masters of the Hawaiian steel guitar, ukulele and just about any instrument with strings on it. Not only does his work rank as some of the greatest Hawaiian music ever recorded, the imaginative, accomplished phrasing in his solos make him one of the unheralded giants 1920s string jazz. This overview covers Bennie's singing and instrumental work on native Hawaiian melodies, the blues, jazz, pop and rural music he heard on the mainland, and some of his own dazzling instrumental compositions.


1. KING NAWAHI'S HAWAIIANS, Hawaiian Capers 2. FOUR HAWAIIAN GUITARS, Singin' In The Bathtub 3. GEORGIA JUMPERS, Ukulele Benny 4. KING NAWAHI'S HAWAIIANS, May Day Is Lei Day in Hawaii 5. RED DEVILS, Dinah 6. KING NAWAHI'S HAWAIIANS, Mauna Kea 7. HAWAIIAN BEACH COMBERS, Honolulu Bound 8. CHARLES B. SMITH, My Little A-1 Brownie 9. GEORGIA JUMPERS, Big Feet Rag 10. HAWAIIAN BEACH COMBERS, My Girl from the South Sea Isles 11. KING NAWAHI'S HAWAIIANS, Ticklin' The Strings 12. FOUR HAWAIIAN GUITARS, Black Boy Blues	13. GEORGIA JUMPERS, California Blues 14. Q R S BOYS, I've Seen My Baby 15. HAWAIIAN BEACH COMBERS, Waikiki Blues 16. KING NAWAHI'S HAWAIIANS, I Went to Hilo 17. GEORGIA JUMPERS, Guitar Rhythm 18. HAWAIIAN BEACH COMBERS, Hawaiian Melody 19. KING NAWAHI'S HAWAIIANS, Aloha Means I Love You 20. Q R S BOYS, Wiggle Yo Toes 21. SLIM SMITH, Otto Wood, The Bandit 22. KING NAWAHI'S HAWAIIANS, Maui No La Ka Oi 23. HAWAIIAN BEACH COMBERS, I'm A Dreamer Aren't We All