Tonight, I heard one of the most amazing bass players I’ve ever heard in my life. #1: the bass player is a woman #2 the woman is 14 years old!

The group is called The Delima Ohana, and you can find information on their latest CD here. I was just walking back from dinner, and I heard some nice music with a nice beat. In my hotel area was a band playing and a couple of Hula dancers. But as I got closer, what caught my ear and my eye was the bass player, clearly a young girl playing a beautiful 5-string bass. Like most really professional musicians, she has no music in front of her, and she NEVER looks at her fingers. She plays very complex lines, but all of it relevant to the music and the beat. It is not overbearing, and it’s always musical. Her father plays the guitar, and her sister plays rhythm guitar. He starts the next tune without saying anything, and the three of them just go at it. I cannot describe it fairly in words because you really have to see her play in person.

This is one of the highlights of my vacation. My family knows how important music is to me, and especially good, live music. During the break, I gave her plenty of compliments, and congratulated her father on her talent, and of course, asked for and purchased a CD. This kind of talent merits such feedback and support, and I hope he is as proud of his girls as I am of my boys when we play together.

PS: Arianna, her name is Lilo!