Tony C preserves legacy of
beloved Aunty Vicki
Tony Conjugacion
By John Berger
Special to the Star-Bulletin
Tony Conjugacion
Wearing one of his trademark vests, a native-American bone choker at his throat, bare arms decidedly muscled but still well proportioned, Conjugacion is a cosmopolitan fashion plate. A malihini would never guess that the multitalented, multi-Hoku-winner has just released an album of impeccably traditional Hawaiian music ("O Ka Wa I Hala"), which honors Nina's mother, Vicki Ii Rodrigues.
"It was very heart-rending because I was her last pupil, and she was my last mentor in music and hula and chant," he explains. "At the time she taught me these songs I didn't ask her a lot of questions (about the songs) because she was there. My memories are still fresh, but if I die without preserving them who is going to remember?"
The 14 songs are all associated with Rodrigues, although several were written by other composers. Most come from her personal collection of more than 700 songs; most of those have never been recorded or annotated until now.
"The translating was the (most) exciting thing for me because I'm very nostalgic," Conjugacion said, "but it was very difficult because a lot of the words and poetry are obsolete and Hawaiian is spoken differently in different districts. Some meanings are unique to a particular area.
"There's also a difference between learning Hawaiian from books and growing up with it. Even people who speak contemporary Hawaiian (fluently) could have trouble with the older phrases.
"For the kaona or hidden meanings you would have to understand the language and know her, too, to (fully) understand them. It's amazing the way writers like Auntie Vicki, Bina Mossman, Sol K. Bright and Maddy Lam could get their message across but keep it very well masked through the mechanism of kaona."
Going for "the vintage sound but with modern sound quality," Conjugacion enlisted musicians from the same era as the material - most notably Violet Pahu Liliko'i and Leila Hohu Ki'aha.
"You can't find people who play like that any more," Conjugacion said.
He then had almost everything recorded live so the musicians could play off each other's energy.
Conjugacion and the Rodrigues children currently are cataloging and archiving the V.I. Rodrigues Collection so that her legacy can be protected, preserved and shared with future generations.
"The Beamer family put out the Helen Desha Beamer book. Auntie Vicki's children and I would like to put one out for her."