Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 5, 1 May 2002 — Moe Keʻale remembered as a gifted composer, singer [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Moe Keʻale remembered as a gifted composer, singer

By manu Boyd The airvvaves were somber April 15 as deejays throughout the islands announced the passing of one of Hawai'i's favorite sons, Moe Ke'ale, Honolulu-born keiki of a Ni'ihau family who got his musical start decades ago with Eddie Kamae and the Sons of Hawai'i, passed at age 62, Best known as an actor and entertainer, performing recently at the Sheraton Waikīkī and Duke's Canoe Club, Ke'ale also collaborated on dozens of mele, adding his simple, heartfelt Hawaiian touch, Kīhei de Silva, the composer/scholar and resource to wife Māpuana de Silva's Hālau Mōhala 'īlima, reflects, "What I remember most about Moe was his ability to take poetry and put music to it that was not distracting, Some people say they get inspiration from above or from within, That was Moe, ' Hanohano Wailea' is the first of a dozen or songs we did together, He didn't

think he had it in him to compose, but he did it, and did it beautifully, "When I wrote uKapalai'ula " for my daughter, I gave it to him, He had the song for a long while, and couldn't eome up with a melody, One day he eame over to the house and played with baby for awhile, He went home, and with-

in half an hour, he had the music done, Ke'ale also put the melody to Kahikina's uHanohano 'o Maui ," he said referring to a song eomposed by his eldest daughter, Moe was in line at the supermarket and just as he approached the cashier, the melody eame to him, He told her, 'I'll be right back', ran to the car for his 'ukulele, When the song was pau, he went back in for his groceries, "I wrote a song for my mom (Lorna de Silva), 'Aia i Hi'ikua i

Hi'ialo' He did the music pretty quickly, but didn't share it with me for three months, When he finally eame over, he said, apologetically, 'I tried to make this a hula song, but it eame out as a waltz, I'm so sorry,' I told him then that when I wrote the lyrics, I had a waltz tempo in mind, "He had a gift, His music

presented words as I imagined they'd be presented," de Silva said Moe Ke'ale lives on in his numerous recordings and songs, and continues as a mainstay in the music industry, He is survived by wife, Carol; son Nālani, who performed with his father regularly; sister Momi; and many others, Aloha nō e Ke'ale ē i hele loa aku i ka poli o ke Akua. ■

Mfi f 'Aii ana

Moe Ke'aie, 1939-2002