在2019年上海三山会馆举办的【声动四弦尤克里里文化展】上有一个板块“如父如子”，专门陈列了20世纪被业内广为传播的“夏威夷4K”的故事。其中有一家父子创业的公司 Ko'olau 'Ukulele 非常特别。夏威夷“4K”型号介绍 - 2022版 里面有一些品牌介绍，不过还是需要有篇推文来说说他们的故事。
1996年，“老爷子”John正式成立了父子三人的制琴公司。Ko'olau 名字来源于欧胡岛的一座山峰。官网的介绍是这样的：Ko'olau Guitar & Ukulele Co.
Our family history of making and restoring stringed instruments began 40 years ago. In addition to making instruments, we specialized in the repair and restoration of acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins, ukuleles, violins, and almost every other imaginable stringed instrument. Then about twenty five years ago we decided to focus more on manufacturing, especially ukuleles. ‘Ukuleles were always popular in Hawaii, and eventually throughout the world. And now there is a demand for higher quality. Our goal from the beginning was to produce the most professional quality stringed instrument possible, regardless of the time and cost required. And so, Ko‘olau guitars and ‘ukuleles were born.
我们制作和修复弦乐器的家族历史始于 40 年前。除了制造乐器外，我们还专门从事原声和电吉他、曼陀林、尤克里里、小提琴和几乎所有其他可以想象的弦乐器的维修和修复。然后大约 25 年前，我们决定更多地专注于制造，尤其是尤克里里。 “尤克里里在夏威夷一直很受欢迎，最终风靡全球。现在有更高质量的需求。从一开始，我们的目标就是尽可能地生产出最专业品质的弦乐器，而不考虑所需的时间和成本。于是，Ko‘olau 吉他和四弦琴诞生了。
Compared to most other brands, our first Ko‘olau instruments were expensive. We wanted to be proud of what we made, and we wanted them to last forever. And we refused to cut corners. So except for a few realistic musicians who were seeking a high quality ‘ukulele, we had a limited amount of customers. It was ok then, and ok now. One positive motivation was having some of the biggest “hitters” on our side. We were approached and eventually “endorsed” by three of the most respectable jazz ‘ukulele players in the world. (we mention “endorsement” because we have never had what is termed “sponsors” who sign contracts and require them to play our instruments). Jazz ‘ukulele goes back many years, to the 1920’s and 1930’s. Then for the next 50 years it because simply a fun “toy” until the 1990’s.
与大多数其他品牌相比，我们的第一款 Ko‘olau 乐器价格昂贵。我们想为我们所做的一切感到自豪，我们希望它们永远存在。我们拒绝偷工减料。因此，除了少数追求高品质四弦琴的现实主义音乐家外，我们的客户数量有限。那时还好，现在也好。一个积极的动机是我们身边有一些最大的“击球手”。三位世界上最受尊敬的爵士四弦琴演奏家与我们接触并最终“认可”了我们。 （我们提到“背书”是因为我们从来没有所谓的“赞助商”签署合同并要求他们演奏我们的乐器）。Jazz ‘ukulele 可以追溯到很多年前，可以追溯到 1920 年代和 1930 年代。然后在接下来的 50 年里，它只是一个有趣的“玩具”，直到 1990 年代。
One of the three we were honored to have playing our ‘ukuleles was Lyle Ritz. Mr. Ritz was respected for over 50 years, going back to the days of the Wrecking Crew. He played LA studio sessions with every famous group on the scene. Lyle Ritz was known for his bass playing, for Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, Herb Albert, the Righteous Brother, and many others. But his real musical love and passion was jazz ‘ukulele. And eventually he followed that passion. Another well respected musician who joined our “hall of fame” was Benny Chong. Mr. Chong is honored for his lifetime contribution to Hawaiian jazz. And it’s interesting that he and Lyle Ritz always had plans to team up to produce jazz ‘ukulele recordings. They lived close to each other on Oahu, and played together often, but the original desire to become a duo never happened. But to this day they still hold the record as the “fathers” of modern jazz ‘ukulele.
有幸演奏我们的四弦琴的三个人之一是 Lyle Ritz。Ritz 先生受到了 50 多年的尊重，这可以追溯到 Wrecking Crew 时代。他与现场的每个着名团体一起演奏洛杉矶工作室的会议。Lyle Ritz 以其贝斯演奏而闻名，为 Frank Sinatra、The Beach Boys、Linda Ronstadt、Herb Albert、Righteous Brother 和许多其他人着称。但他真正的音乐爱好和热情是爵士乐尤克里里。最终他追随了这种热情。加入我们“名人堂”的另一位受人尊敬的音乐家是 Benny Chong。Chong 先生因其对夏威夷爵士乐的毕生贡献而受到表彰。有趣的是，他和 Lyle Ritz 一直计划合作制作爵士乐尤克里里唱片。他们在欧胡岛住得很近，经常一起玩，但最初想要成为二人组的愿望从未实现。但直到今天，他们仍然保持着现代爵士乐尤克里里“父亲”的记录。
The third professional musician to help us “kick off” our dream was Roy Sakuma, the legendary ukulele teacher and ukulele festival promoter. He and his wife Kathy and several of his their teachers play our Ko‘olau and Pono ‘ukuleles.
第三位帮助我们“开启”梦想的专业音乐家是传奇的尤克里里老师和尤克里里音乐节的发起人 Roy Sakuma。他和他的妻子 Kathy 以及他的几位老师演奏我们的 Ko'olau 和 Pono 夏威夷四弦琴。
Eventually other excellent musicians came on board. Lyle and Benny have passed the flame so to speak on to a young man they both respect, Abe Lagrimas. Abe is now considered the newest and youngest jazz master. Other ‘ukulele masters include Led Kaapana, Tracy Terada, Chino Montero, Mike Keale, Paul Hemmings, Kimo Hussey, Ernie Cruz Jr., John Cruz, Blayne Asing, Tevana, and even Jimmy Buffet and Bruno Mars.
最终，其他优秀的音乐家也加入了进来。莱尔和本尼已经传递了火焰，因此可以对他们都尊重的年轻人 Abe Lagrimas 进行交谈。安倍现在被认为是最新、最年轻的爵士乐大师。其他四弦琴大师包括 Led Kaapana、Tracy Terada、Chino Montero、Mike Keale、Paul Hemmings、Kimo Hussey、Ernie Cruz Jr.、John Cruz、Blayne Asing、Tevana，甚至 Jimmy Buffet 和 Bruno Mars。
We proudly tell people that these musicians play our guitars and ‘ukuleles because they appreciate them, not because we give them out for free.
我们自豪地告诉人们，这些音乐家演奏我们的吉他和四弦琴是因为他们欣赏它们，而不是因为我们免费赠送它们。
Back to our Ko‘olau production. One obvious problem was figuring out how to make a high quality ‘ukulele at an affordable price. We still haven’t figured it out. But we refuse to compromise our standards of craftsmanship. As the demand grew, we eventually needed to expand our Ko‘olau production. We tried various experiments in “mass” production, and then decided that we would instead add a different line of guitars and ukuleles, and we named them Pono. They are similar, but less expensive, and still very high quality.
回到我们的 Ko‘olau 生产。一个明显的问题是弄清楚如何以可承受的价格制作高质量的“尤克里里琴”。我们还没有弄清楚。但我们拒绝妥协我们的工艺标准。随着需求的增长，我们最终需要扩大 Ko‘olau 的生产。我们在“大规模”生产中尝试了各种实验，然后决定添加不同的吉他和尤克里里系列，我们将它们命名为 Pono。它们相似，但价格便宜，而且质量仍然很高。
For information on our Pono line of guitars and ukuleles, we invite you to visit our other website, www.ponoukuleleco.com
We would like to to express our sincere appreciation to all have purchased and play one of our instruments.. Our continual goal is to improve. And so, as always we appreciate your suggestions.
有关我们的 Pono 系列吉他和尤克里里的信息，我们邀请您访问我们的其他网站，www.ponoukuleleco.com。我们衷心感谢所有购买和演奏我们的乐器的人。我们的持续目标是 提升。因此，我们一如既往地感谢您的建议。
国内资深尤克里里群主千里是内地最早的Ko'olau琴主之一，介绍过这一品牌的一些历史。早期Ko'olau内标里是有“父子”名字的， Kitakis & Bonk。右下角是序列号，右上角则是型号代码。签名会有三个人，Kitakis的独子Andrew，就是后来创立了 Hawaii Music Supply 店铺的老板，那时负责油漆工序。
后来（2009）开始琴内标不再印有老爷子的名字，他的签名简化了。型号标志移到了底部。
作为中国琴友最熟悉的Ko'olau客制琴艺术家当属Abe Lagrimas Jr. “老司机”多次通过Ohana Ukulele公司组织来中国巡演，他自己定制的Ko'olau Spruce/Rosewood 一直是自己录音节目和个人巡演的伙伴。Abe Lagrimas Jr. 新专辑直播音乐会 Abe为Ohana品牌代言，不过他一直喜欢这只为他“半路出家”带来艺术成就的伙伴 2004 Custom Tenor
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