Kohala Girls

The Kohala Girls was a female band, formed in 1932  in Chicago, playing steel guitars in the 40s...
The band was created by Letritia Kandle who learned hawaiian guitar when it was fashionable in the 30s.
In 1937 the first guitar amplifier, the "Grand Letar",  was used by Letritia, as a real pioneer of electrified instrument.
 

More infos at  Letritia Kandle
 

Unfortunately, very rare recordings... still looking for...

Only this listenable untitled piece here

 

Cocaïne blues

The CD's re-issued of the unavoidable "Cocaïne blues" LP of Cyril Lefebvre originaly issued in 1978.
This mythic record, composed with blues, waltzes, strange short pataphysician music and original compositions, shows the talent of Cyril as a guitar player and a real "amateur de musiques".
With a 16 pages booklet with rare pictures and a biography by Dominique Grimaud.


"... de toutes façon, je me considère plus comme un musicien de blues (tel que l'entendent les nords américains) - il s'agit là plus d'une manière de concevoir la musique que d'une musique spécifique! - que comme un musicien."
Cyril Lefebvre

    picture : P.Riou - 1977 - unknown place


More infos at "Les Zut-o-pistes"
&  here

Thanks to Dominique Grimaud & Marcelle Galinari.

Plectrophonic Orchestra

In 1941, Letritia Kandle (1915 - 2010), former member of the Kohala Girls, became the featured soloist of the 50-piece ‘Chicago Plectrophonic Orchestra,’ which featured Letritia playing classical numbers such as “Blue Danube Waltz” as well as other pop and Hawaiian numbers.  When her mentor, conductor Jack Lundin, passed away in 1943, Letritia took over as conductor of the Orchestra.

Letritia Kandle, a serious Hawaiian guitar player, pioneered the electrified slide guitar in the 1930's.
She asked her father to buy a harp guitar and help her to convert it to a Hawaiian raised-nut instrument with a standard neck and a 12-string neck capable of different tunings. Then she had a vision for a brand new electrified instrument with 24 strings: the "Grand Letar". This instrument demonstrated in 1937 in trade conventions was able to generate lights' effects.

Letritia played different radio programs as NBC.

 And in 1937, she build a more portable  instrument, the "Small Letar".

 More informations on Vintage Guitar Magazine (nov. 2012) and Muleskinner blog.

& still looking for recordings of this artist and her instrument, as well of the Chicago Plectrophonic Orchestra!

Gino Bordin

Gino Bordin, born in 1899 in Vicence (North Italia) started with his brother
in the "Ottorino's African Jazz ", an orchestra which mixed accordions, banjos, guitars, bùmbass with horn, as well musical saw played by Gino himself.
In the early 20s, he went in Paris to play banjo and musical saw, as well an impressive harp-guitar, at Bousca's, a Bastille's famous place for dancing in Paris where the french "musette" started to be fashionable.
He supported Antoine Bouscatel who was one of the masters of the "musette" (bagpipes from Auvergne, France) and Charles Péguri at diatonic accordion.

"C'est une valse qui chante"
by Gino Bordin (muiscal saw) and Charles Paknadel (violin)
Parlophone 80483 - 1930/1931 / courtesy of Grass Skirt Records

Then he started to play guitar in the Hawaiian style, and became successfull through his concerts, radio shows and records on his own name, as well accompanying known singers as Tino Rossi, Lucienne Delyle, as well accordion aces as Louis Ferrari, Gus Viseur, Fredo Gardoni and many others.

A reissue of Gino's acoustic steel guitar music from the 30s had been published by Les Cook, manager of Grass Skirt Records and our friend Cyril Lefebvre who signed the excellent booklet. 

excerpt of the tribute played by Loïc Hula Boy in L'isle sur la Sorgue, south of France,  

last week-end, where was fixed a commemorative plaque on the wall of the house 

where Gino finished his life in 1977.
 

 

 

   

Gino Bordin with the "Ottorino African Jazz band", playing the musical saw

    picture extracted from the booklet of "Gino Bordin, virtuose de la guitare Hawaiienne"
    courtesy of Grass Skirt Records

 

   

    _-!-_ 

Beyond Hawaii

Tribute to our friend Cyril Lefebvre (1947-2012) who flied away yesterday...

Cyril, as an excellent blues guitar player, also played ukulele and was a fan of Gino Bordin
and contributed to re-discover  this french hawaiian guitar player.

                                   "Chant d'amour de Tahiti"                       

            "Maria La 0" composed by Ernesto Lecuona in 1943