Alu Like

Punahou Sessions is a set of live music videos created and produced by Allen Murabayashi ’90 in honor of Punahou’s 175th anniversary, to celebrate the extraordinary depth and diversity of talent among alumni and students who create music.
Visit punahou.link/1R... for more information about Punahou Sessions.
Performers:
Danny Carvalho ’09 (slack key guitar)
Pal Eldredge ’64 (vocals, guitar)
Waileia MIneshima-Eldredge ’94 (vocals)
Jacques “Leokane” Pryor ’82 (vocals, ukulele)
Wil Tafolo Jr. ’06 (bass)
Producer's Note:
If you’ve attended Punahou from the mid-1950s onward, you’ve undoubtedly felt the presence of the Eldredge family. Dave Eldredge ’49 was the winningest football coach in the school’s history and was a staunch advocate of the Hawaiiana curriculum that has only grown stronger in the past decade. Hattie Eldredge ’66 Phillips, like brother Dave, directed and shaped the Holoku pageant. Today, Hattie’s daughters Lauli’a Phillips ’98 Ah Wong and Leilehua Phillips ’95 Utu act as co-directors of the schools HĀ program and the Holoku pageant.
But I was closest to Pal Eldredge ’64 because he was my 4th-grade switch teacher. Of the many things that “Mr. E” was known for, I best remember him giving nicknames to every student in his classes. I was “Jet Ski” for my insistence on being the first one to finish taking a test (I apparently missed the memo that getting good grades was the more desirable outcome). My 4th-grade “girlfriend” Stephanie Honda ’90 Somers was known as “Peaches” for reasons I cannot remember.
Today, Pal serves as co-music director of the Holoku pageant with his daughter Waileia Mineshima-Eldredge ’94. And it is his role as musician that inspired this particular group because all of the other musicians have at one point tipped their hats to Mr. E(s) for inspiring them to learn, play and love Hawaiian music.
Speaking of Waileia, back when I was in high school, she was “Denise’s” little sister. When she’s not teaching the Holoku musicians with her dad, she works as a Campaign Operations Manager at Punahou continuing the long line of Eldredges giving back to Punahou.
Campus kid, Jacques “Leokane” Pryor ’82, used to sneak into the gym to watch Holoku practice while hoping that Uncle Dave wouldn’t kick him out. Both Hawaiian music and hula influenced his development as an artist and in 2000, he released his first album to great acclaim. Leokane moved to Hana from California in 2004, where he still currently resides. He’s sometimes known to bust into song and dance at Holoholo Bar & Grill if you cheer loud enough.
The gentle giant and ever versatile Wil Tafolo ’06 sings, plays guitar, and bass in pretty much any style, which is why you’ll find him playing professionally around town with a diverse range of musicians from Danny to Mango Season, which features Curtis Kamiya ’95 and Chris Yeh ’88. When he gets tired of playing other people’s stuff, Tafolo writes his own music. I last spotted Wil performing at the Ku’u Punahou campaign launch in SF along with Pal, Waileia and Pat Quilter ’64.
I certainly held an assumption that all the musicians on Punahou Sessions could play. But every so often, jaws dropped on set, as was the case when Danny Carvalho ’09 shredded his slack key guitar solo. This Na Hoku Hanohano Award nominee has been a prominent artist on the slack key guitar scene since high school, and continues as an active musician both in Hawaii and the mainland. His commitment to Hawaiian culture has only deepened since receiving his B.A. in Hawaiian Studies from UH.
The choice of venue, the Winne Courtyard, wasn’t accidental. This was a place where so many 3rd-graders shared their Luau - perhaps the first strong taste of Hawaiian culture for many. Winne, as you might know, will give way to the new 2 - 5 Neighborhood in the next few years. So it’s a little bittersweet to get a chance to record in this special place, but also inspiring to know that a whole new set of keiki will experience another incredible space for decades to come.
It would be an understatement to say that Holoku affected the lives of so many of the musicians featured in Punahou Sessions. Even for an orchestra nerd like me, the chance to play in Holoku created a connection to the school that has been felt by thousands of students through multiple generations.
“Alu Like” was written by Haunani Apoliona and is performed with her permission.