Slackers In Paradise-Aloha From Ragtime to Hawiian

There is something infectious and engaging about slack key guitar music. It’s as if the ragtime of the 1920’s found a new home on the Hawaiian Islands. The style, which has become a genre of its own, has been around for since the late 19th century, but it has not become a household word on the mainland. 

The new album by Jim “Kimo” West and Ken Emerson goes a long way toward correcting this musical oversite with the deceptively named, Slackers in Paradise. The album is an all acoustic, instrumental gem that will either make you want to return to the days of ragtime or jump on the next jet to Maui. Jim “Kimo” West’s day job is band leader for “Weird” Al Yanckovic. The Weird one even makes an appearance on this album with his accordion on the song, “Slack Key Polk.”  Ken Emerson is guitar master who can play anything with strings and make magical music.

With mostly original songs laced with beautiful guitar phrasing, melodic exchanges between Emerson’s resonator lap steel guitar and West’s beautifully imaginative acoustic leads, the album carries its own island magic. There are also interludes into other musical domains that include ragtime, jazz, blues and rock. There are stringed intricacies alongside melodic simplicity that helps to create the one-of-a-kind island magic captured on these sessions.

While it all begins with a strong ragtime and traditional Slack Key feel on the first two songs, the title track, “Slackers in Paradise,” and Ken Emmerson’s “Hapa Haole Hula Girl,” the track that follows “Aokealoa,” brings in a subtle modern jazz-folk feel that is hypnotic. The same experience holds true on “Me A ‘u Lei,” a haunting enduring melody.

Some of the fun in this collection of songs is in the good time that is being had by the musicians on tracks like “Slack Key Polka,” which truly does justice to both genres, and West’s own “Silent Movie Slack Key,” which allows the listener to conjure up Charlie Chaplin and the Keystone Cops as Emerson, dazzles on slide guitar. They even take a slack-key poke at Jagger & Richards with the rock classic, “Ruby Tuesday.”.

The proficiency and imagination of these sessions is something that needs to experienced first-hand. While the genre is inherently mellow, the talent it takes to bring this music to life is no small matter. This becomes clear with mindful listening. But, beware, a listen at home loud & long enough may result in taking the next flight out and a fond “Aloha” to the mainland.