Eddie Kamae

Edward Leilani "Eddie" Kamae was born August 4, 1927, in Honolulu, Oʻahu, and became an influential ʻukulele player in Hawaiian music. Beginning in the late 1940s, he developed a technique that brought the ʻukulele out of its rhythmic background role and into the solo forefront, plucking the strings so as to play chords and melody at the same time. He is regarded as a central figure of the Hawaiian cultural renaissance of the mid-20th century.

In 1959 Kamae met slack key guitarist Gabby Pahinui, and around 1960 the two formed the Sons of Hawaiʻi, alongside bassist Joe Marshall and steel guitarist David "Feet" Rogers. The group championed traditional Hawaiian repertoire and language. Kamae led later incarnations of the band over the following decades; among the musicians who passed through those lineups was songwriter Dennis Kamakahi, who joined in the 1970s.

Beginning in the 1980s, Kamae turned to documentary filmmaking, working with his wife Myrna to record the knowledge of Hawaiian elders (kūpuna). Together they produced a series of films, starting with Liʻa: The Legacy of a Hawaiian Man, dedicated to preserving Hawaiian music, language, and culture. He continued performing and filmmaking until late in life and died January 7, 2017, in Honolulu at age 89.