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John Kameaaloha Almeida (28 November 1897 – 9 October 1985), born John Celestino Almeida, was a blind Hawaiian musician and composer. Known by some as the "Dean of Hawaiian Music", he mentored several protégé and composed more than 200 Hawaiian songs.[1][2]
Early life[edit]
John Celestino Almeida was born in Pauoa, Hawaiʻi on 28 November 1897 to John Celestino Almeida, Sr., a contract laborer from Madeira, Portugal, and Julia Kamaka Almeida, a Hawaiian woman from Honolulu. Julia was picking maile in Pauoa Valley when she gave birth. Some believe that the toxic maile sap on her hands may have contributed to Almeida's childhood blindness.[1][3]
After his daughter Annie was born in 1900, John Almeida, Sr. returned to Portugal. Julia and her two children then moved to Waiʻanae, Hawaiʻi, where she married Paulo Kameaaloha, whose last name became part of John Celestino Almeida's name. The couple had a second daughter, Martha, in 1904. By the time he turned ten years old in 1907, Almeida was completely blind and turned to music for comfort. He learned how to play the ʻukulele, guitar, and mandolin, and was asked to perform at the funeral of Queen Liliʻuokalani on November 17, 1917.[1][4]
Almeida married Elizabeth Nāhaku, a woman from Pāʻia, Maui, on 3 September 1919. He continued to master more instruments, including the steel guitar, violin, banjo, bass, saxophone, and piano. He also became the chief musician on the Matson ships that sailed to and from Hawaiʻi. When his sister remarried, Almeida adopted his sister's son, Charleston Puaonaona, as his hānai son. He eventually became Almeida's first protégé.[1][4]
Almeida mentored several other protégé during his career, including Genoa Keawe, Joe Keawe, Bill Aliʻiloa Lincoln, and Billy Hew Len. Several of his protégé performed at a fête held in his honor at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in 1971.
Almeida died on October 9, 1985 of atherosclerosis.
Legacy[edit]
In 1998, Almeida was posthumously inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.[5] In 2009, ten of Almeida's compositions were performed by students at the eighty-ninth Kamehameha Schools Song Contest entitled Celebrating the Life of John Kameaaloha Almeida.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d "2009 Kamehameha Schools Song Contest official program" (PDF). Kamehameha Schools. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
- ^ a b "89th Annual Song Contest - Kamehameha Schools". Kamehameha Schools. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
- ^ Donaghy, Keola (2003). "Nā Hīmeni a John Kameaaloha Almeida: He kālailaina hoʻohālikelike me ke kālele ma luna o ka ʻokoʻa o ka puana kamaʻilio a me ka puana hīmeni" (Document).
{{cite document}}: Cite document requires|publisher=(help); Unknown parameter|accessdate=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|format=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|url=ignored (help) - ^ a b Tucker, Keahi (2009-03-18). "Kamehameha Song Contest Remembers Almeida". KGMB. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
- ^ "HMHFM Honorees - John Kameaaloha Almeida". Retrieved 2009-04-08.