Page 5 - MidWeek Kauai - Nov 30, 2022

Ginai: Home On The Farm, Life On A Stage
FROM PAGE 4
NOVEMBER 30, 2022
KAUA‘I MIDWEEK 5
to her sister’s daughters and a cousin’s five children, but also as guardian of an elderly man from the Valley Isle.
diately, Ginai cleared out her home office, had a hospital bed installed and sought on- site nursing care so that he could spend his remaining days among loved ones.
In the seventh grade, she cap- tured a talent contest by sing- ing Roberta Flack’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. By 16, she joined a group that toured military bases (her fa- ther was in the U.S. Army) and performed ’50s music covers. Following high school grad- uation, she landed in the Bay Area where she played with a nine-piece funk band called Mo Dog.
In explaining how she first crossed paths with Izuo Yamazaki, Ginai recalls per- forming with Willie K at Maui Memorial Medical Center a few years back and noticing an emotionally distraught man crouched in the corner of the hospital.
“Before he died, he told me, ‘Ginai-san, you take my ashes ... I like go swimming with the fishes,’ ” she recalls. “When he passed, I had him cremated and flew his remains to Maui.”
“When I inquired about him, the staff said that he needed a guardian, someone to take charge of him because he gets bounced around a lot by care homes, and that there’s a little bit of dementia also go- ing on,” she recounts.
Pausing briefly to remem- ber her time with the man she fondly calls “Yama,” and reflecting upon the lesson taught to her so many years ago by her mother, an emo- tional Ginai begins to tear up. There isn’t a day that goes by in which she doesn’t think of him.
After returning to the is- lands, she found success with local swing band Hula Joe & The Hut Jumpers and Hot Club of Hulaville, and captured both Hawaiian Mu- sic and Nā Hōkū Hanohano awards along the way. In re- cent years, she’s turned into more of a jack-of-all-trades type of musician despite be- ing defined as a jazz and R&B singer for much of her career.
Rocking out at Tapa Bar earlier this year with guitarist Charlie Longhi (left) and bassist Darrell Aquino of Funk-A-Holics. PHOTOS COURTESY GINAI
“So, I volunteered to take guardianship of him.”
cian ... I’ ve been freed, I’ ve been allowed to fly.
Hawaiian Village. She also plays a monthly gig with Ha- waiian Soul at the same venue. And, to help ring in the new year, she’s teaming up with Kailua Bay Buddies for three performances at Shorefyre in Waikīkī. The dates are Dec. 30, 31 and Jan. 1, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Once Yamazaki was on O‘ahu, Ginai found a place for him at a care home. Then, to form bonds between him and her ‘ohana, she’ d pick him up on a regular basis so that he could participate in family activities.
“He was a troubled and lonely man ... and he fought his care home operators all the time, but I loved him till he moved on.
“When I’m with (bands) Kailua Bay Buddies and Funk-A-holics, I’m playing rock, funk and soul,” explains Ginai, who was a regular per- former at Blue Note Hawai‘i from 2017 to 2019. “So in a sense, I’ve expanded as a sing- er, as a performer, as a musi-
“Idon’twanttobeina box,” she continues. “You can no longer define me other than to say that I’m the cream of the crop at whatever I do. I’m not trying to toot my horn, but I’m really good at a lot of stuff.”
Unfortunately, Yamazaki was diagnosed with terminal cancer just a few months after their friendship began. Imme-
F
ever since she was a teenager.
Of her friend Izuo Yamazaki, Ginai says, “I treated him the way that I would want to be treated.”
SEE PAGE 7
“I like to think that I treated him the way that I would want to be treated,” she says.
ans of Ginai have been treated to her melodi- ous and powerful voice
Music lovers can still catch her live with Funk-A-holics every fourth Thursday of the month at Tapa Bar at Hilton
Those who prefer catching her performances on social media regularly visit her In-