In 1985, after a long summer on the road as guitarist with musical satirist "Weird Al" Yankovic, Jim West made his first trip to Hana, Maui and fell in love with cultural and physical landscape of Hawaii, sometimes spending a couple months a year there. It was there that he also discovered ki ho'alu or as it is more commonly called, "slack key" guitar, an old Hawaiian style of playing where the strings are loosened or "slacked" to different tunings, allowing the bass, chords and melody to be played simultaneously.
Already a devotee of playing in altered, non-standard tunings, he quickly fell in love with the gentle spirit of slack key and the great sense of discovery that comes with exploring new tunings. Records by Gabby Pahinui, Atta Isaacs,The Sons of Hawaii, The Sunday Manoa and Peter Moon played continuously on the turntable or cassette deck and Jim absorbed ki ho'alu more or less, by osmosis. Jim didn't concentrate on learning the standard riffs and songs but instead, developed his own slack key vocabulary which now defines his very unique approach to this great tradition.
His first two CD's, "Slack Key West" (2005) and "Coconut Hat" (1999)are some of the first examples of the tradition of slack key guitar taken to a new and unique place, while still retaining the essence of the "nahenahe" or gentle style. Jim, or "Kimo" as he is called in Hawaii, has performed at many of the islands' legendary slack key guitar festivals as well as many concerts on the mainland. His playing has been featured in a number of Honda TV spots, Disney Channel movies and National Public radio. His new CD, "Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar: Kimo-Style"was released in Dec of 2007 and will undoubtedly prove to be another seminal step in the ever-evolving journey of ki ho 'alu.
Between composing music for TV and film and slack key guitar playing, Jim also finds time to hone his production chops and has produced CDs for a number of independent artists. A recent project is for Los Angeles-based Hawaiian performer Kapo Ku, a talented composer of new Hawaiian language mele. "Eia Mai Ka La" was recently released by Hawaii's foremost record label, The Mountain Apple Company. He also has produced two CD's for CMH Records in Los Angeles, "Hotel Honolulu", and 'Livin's EZ-The Hawaiian Tribute to Sublime".
Kimo's newest project is for acclaimed artist Donovan Chapman: www.myspace.com/donovanchapmanmusicJims other hobbies include traveling, scuba diving, hiking, fishing, cooking and of course, playing guitar!
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