Young Maui musician finds passion in old Hawaiian music
Anthony Pfluke, whose next album pays tribute to Maui, will play in Ukulele Festival Sunday
Performing at the 15th annual Maui Ukulele Festival at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on Sunday, Maui-born musician Anthony Pfluke will join a stellar lineup that includes Raiatea Helm and Herb Ohta Jr.
A Na Hoku Hanohano nominee for his album “We Will Rise,” and three-time winner of the Hula Grill’s youth Ukulele Contest, Pfluke, 22, is currently studying Hawaiian language and composition at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
“I’m flying back and forth,” he explained. “It really helps with the music that I play and of course the music has been a foundation of my musical career, if not my life really. Growing within those roots has been really enriching, and I’m excited for what I can create with what I’m learning now. So I’m just trying to build the foundation so that I can create more Hawaiian music, and perpetuate old Hawaiian music, and be a servant to that is my goal.”
Performing a mix of Hawaiian, contemporary and reggaeinfluenced songs, Pfluke became entranced with the ukulele as a 10-year-old. First learning piano at 5, taught by his mother, he then “stumbled into Kumu Jarret Kealoha Delos Santos’ group called 808 Uke Jams. It was like everybody jams together. I had so much fun, and it instilled the joy of music.”
In time he would study with Kamehameha Schools music teacher Rama Camarillo, which expanded his palette to include ukulele versions of classics like the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s “Take Five.”
“He would teach us different arrangements and that led me to think maybe I can actually play a gig,” he noted.
And so he debuted at the Monsoon Bar & Grill Indian restaurant playing for tips, “and then at 14, I started playing at Nalu’s South Shore Grill, and I still play there every Saturday.”
Impressed with his talent, Uncle George Kahumoku Jr. began teaching him slack key guitar.
“Uncle George said, ‘I’d love to mentor you’,” Pfluke recalled. “I was 15 when I first started working with him, and he really propelled me to create my first EP. I treasure those moments playing with him.”
For his next album project, “Singing to the World: A Wahi Pana Series,” Pfluke crafted a Maui tribute with songs honoring places from “Kaulana O Haleakala” and “Kihei” to “Ulupalakua” and “Kahakuloa Sunrise.”
“I really wanted to pay homage to Maui where I was born and raised,” he said. “I included Maui songs that I learned from Kumu Jarret, and as well as some originals, one of which is called ‘Kaulana O Haleakala.’ That’s the track I’m most proud of.”
He followed-up with his most accomplished recording to date, “We Will Rise,” which showcased his ability as a gifted songwriter across styles, and portends great things to come.
Ranging from the island reggae flavor of “Let Your Love Grow” and the eminently catchy “Island Love,” to the lovely Hawaiian “E Ala ma Luna,” which sounds reminiscent of Hapa, songs like “Spirit of Love” echo the soulfulness of John Cruz, and the rousing, anthemic title song commemorated those who died in the mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
“I wrote ‘E Ala ma Luna’ for Protect Mauna Kea,” he said. “I definitely take inspiration from Uncle George (Kahumoku) as well as Uncle Barry (Flanagan). For a few years before COVID I opened for Barry Flanagan and Eric Gilliom at Nalu’s, and every Sunday I would play with Uncle George.”
Among his inspirations, he also cites ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro and Ledward Kaapana.
“He’s known as the grand master of slack key guitar, but he plays ukulele as well,” Pfluke said of Kaapana. “The way he flows and improvises is second to none. Mike Love is also a big inspiration in the way he combines amazing, soulful songwriting with the technology of looping.”
In recent years he has been involved with the Lei of Aloha for World Peace project, including playing for Maui’s Aloha for Ukraine event in March. He composed the song “Ku‘u Lei Aloha” and performed it in Las Vegas when a two-mile lei was presented in the city following the 2017 music festival massacre. Lei of aloha had previously been sent to Paris and Orlando in the wake of tragedies.
“It’s an organization that I’ve been really proud to be a part of since the Las Vegas shooting, when Uncle Ron (Panzo) asked me to go with them,” he said. “I started making the song ‘Ku‘u Lei Aloha,’ and it’s kind of the musical representation of the lei of aloha’s need for change. Then we took our three-milelong lei to Parkland, Florida, and it was on behalf of the children of Hawaii, and I wrote the song ‘We Will Rise’ to spread awareness and bring hope. We can use horrible experiences to create a better world for generations to come.”
The 15th annual Maui Ukulele Festival is presented at the MACC’s Alexander & Baldwin Amphitheater at 3 p.m. Sunday. Gates open at 2:30 p.m. Admission is free. The lineup includes Raiatea Helm, Ahumanu, Rama, Kamaka and Kala‘e Camarillo, Anthony Pfluke, Kamakakehau Fernandez, The Hula Honeys, Benny Uyetake, Arlie Asiu, Herb Ohta Jr. with Jon Yamasato, the Kalama Intermediate Ukulele Band and the Kamehameha Schools Maui Ukulele Band. The concert will be livestreamed on the MACC’s website and on its Facebook page, YouTube channel and on Alaku channel 55.
At 11 a.m. Saturday, a free ukulele workshop will be held in the MACC’s Morgado Hall conducted by ukulele master Roy Sakuma for students of all ages. Participants will be invited to perform at the festival, playing a song they learned in the workshop.