DNB HANA HOU JAM OF THE WEEK
Aloha DNB Ohana! We’re starting a feature where each week leading up to our Hana Hou Tour, we’ll be posting a song or jam from a previous year in Hawaii, along with an accompanying anecdote about the show. Thanks to Ray Charon for the videos. We invite anyone who was at the shows where each video was taken to share a memory or story from the show on the David Nelson Family Facebook page.
Week 6 – Wicked Messenger
Wicked Messenger – we’re back at the Kona Pacific Charter School in Kealakekua on January 19, 2013, as daylight crashes into night and the light doth fade over the blue Pacific behind the band, the boys rip spritely through this Bob Dylan classic. This will be the last recorded Wednesday Hana Hou Jam of the Week. Next Wednesday’s installment can only be seen live and in person on the Big Island of Hawaii! We hope to see you there! If you can not bring good news then don’t bring any…Aloha!!
Week 5 – Talkin’ Back
Talkin Back – this week’s selection takes us to the Maui Tropical Plantation in Wailuku, Maui on February 8, 2015 for a rendition of David’s rap number, Talkin’ Back. Pass the built in back scratcher…
Week 4 – Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)
Give Me Love (George Harrison) – Since this Aloha Wednesday falls on Valentines Day we thought the Hana Hou Jam should include the topic of love, so we’re giving this one to the almost birthday boy Mookie, doing his rendition of the George Harrison classic, DNB style…with an extended jam at the end. Recorded on February 3, 2012 at the Akebono Theater in Pahoa, on the Big Island of Hawaii, this one also features Billy Kreutzmann on drums.
Week 3 – Different World
Different World – recorded January 19, 2013 at Kona Pacific Charter School in Kealakekua on the Big Island of Hawaii, once again at a beautiful location high above Kealakekua Bay. Just minutes before we played this song, we were treated to Pacific sunsets ablaze behind us and mountain views in front of us as more Big Island magic ensued.
Week 2 – Bird Song
It’s Aloha Wednesday here at DNB and this week’s Hana Hou jam of the week is ‘Bird Song’ (Hunter/Garcia) w/Billy Kreutzmann. Recorded on February 5, 2012 at Kona Historical Society in Captain Cook on the Big Island of Hawaii, this was the final show of our Hawaii Tour that year. It was the second of two Hawaii tours that Billy played drums with us for, and this song was his request. We’d never played it before but Mookie graciously accepted the assignment and learned it just before the show and sang it for the first time. At 1,500 feet above Kealakekua Bay, with the sun at our backs as it was descending into the big blue of the Pacific it was a fitting send off before we flew off. “Laugh in the sunshine, sing…”
Week 1 – Movin’ Right Along
We’ll start it off with a jam going into Movin Right Along (Hunter/Nelson)
This was recorded on February 28, 2020 at Uncle Robert’s in Kalapana on the Big Island of Hawaii. The mana at this place is strong and palpable. So strong in fact, that in 1990 when the lava flow from a Kilauea eruption destroyed everything in it’s path on its way to the ocean, it stopped right where this property begins. You can see lava on all sides of the property but this land was spared by Pele. You can feel the aloha spirit here in a big way. This is the real Hawaii and something about it just feels sacred. We played outdoors on the stage where for years a native Hawaiian band comprised of Uncle Robert’s ohana has played every Wednesday night for the locals. Covered by a tin roof and tarps hung above us over the stage and audience, we jammed on while a tropical rainstorm added sweet percussion to our music, as if the spirit of the ancient Hawaiians were jamming along with us. It was a memorable night.