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Bill Wolfgramm
Bill Wolfgramm (7 October 1925 — 25 September 2003) aka Bill Wolfgramme was a musician specialising in lap steel guitar and popular Hawaiian music. He was born in the island kingdom of Tonga and was also of German descent. He is the former leader of Bill Wolfgramm & His Islanders, a popular island band in New Zealand that played regularly at the Orange Ballroom, a historic dance venue in Auckland. Background He was born in Vava'u. As a teenager he was a member of a band whose lead guitarist was the nephew of Charlie Sanft a well known Tongan steel guitar player and teacher. At that time he was playing ukulele and rhythm guitar. He started playing the steel guitar at 19 years old. At age 23, Wolfgramm immigrated to New Zealand. His first recording was Fijian Holiday and released as Mavis Rivers with Bill Wolfgramm and His Rhythm on the Tanza label.Audio CulturBill Wolfgramm page on Audiocaulture NZ/ref> A big draw card on the live music scene, he was also a major recording sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest; Samoa to the northeast; New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west; Niue (the nearest foreign territory) to the east; and Kermadec (New Zealand) to the southwest. Tonga is about from New Zealand's North Island. First inhabited roughly 2,500 years ago by the Lapita civilization, Tonga's Polynesian settlers gradually evolved a distinct and strong ethnic identity, language, and culture as the Tongan people. They were quick to establish a powerful footing acr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nani Wolfgramm
Nani Wolfgramm was a Tongan born Steel guitarist and recording artist who released multiple albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Biography Wolfgramm was born 1 November 1939 in Neiafu, Vava’u, Tonga. His parents were Konrad Uhi Wolfgramm, and Alilia Funaki Toutai Fulivai. He was of Tongan and German descent. He was the nephew of pioneering Steel Guitarist Bill Wolfgramm who along with Bill Sevesi made many recordings on the Viking Records Viking Records was an independent record label that featured many New Zealand and Polynesian recording artists. Background The company was founded in 1957. In the 1960s, the company was the largest locally owned record label in the South Paci ... label. Nani had albums released on Viking, the same label as released his uncle Bill's albums. Nani's releases included ''The Sounds Of Hawaii'', ''Hawaiian Cocktail'' and Hawaii Calls He died on 26 August 2012. Releases Nani Wolfgramm and the South Pacific String LP * Hawaiian Cockta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steel Guitarists
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant typically need an additional 11% chromium. Because of its high tensile strength and low cost, steel is used in buildings, infrastructure, tools, ships, trains, cars, machines, electrical appliances, weapons, and rockets. Iron is the base metal of steel. Depending on the temperature, it can take two crystalline forms (allotropic forms): body-centred cubic and face-centred cubic. The interaction of the allotropes of iron with the alloying elements, primarily carbon, gives steel and cast iron their range of unique properties. In pure iron, the crystal structure has relatively little resistance to the iron atoms slipping past one another, and so pure iron is quite ductile, or soft and easily formed. In steel, small amounts of carbon, other ele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viking Records Artists
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9–22. They also voyaged as far as the Mediterranean, North Africa, Volga Bulgaria, the Middle East, and North America. In some of the countries they raided and settled in, this period is popularly known as the Viking Age, and the term "Viking" also commonly includes the inhabitants of the Scandinavian homelands as a collective whole. The Vikings had a profound impact on the early medieval history of Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, Estonia, and Kievan Rus'. Expert sailors and navigators aboard their characteristic longships, Vikings established Norse settlements and governments in the British Isles, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Normandy, and the Baltic coast, as well as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tongan People Of German Descent
Tongan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Tonga *Tongans, people from Tonga *Tongan language, the national language of Tonga *Tong'an District, a district in Xiamen, Fujian, China See also *Tonga (other) *Tonga language (other) *Tonga people (Malawi) *Tonga people (Zambia and Zimbabwe) The Tonga people of Zambia and Zimbabwe (also called 'Batonga') are a Bantu ethnic group of southern Zambia and neighbouring northern Zimbabwe, and to a lesser extent, in Mozambique. They are related to the Batoka who are part of the Tokaleya pe ... {{disambig Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tongan Emigrants To New Zealand
Tongan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Tonga *Tongans, people from Tonga *Tongan language, the national language of Tonga *Tong'an District, a district in Xiamen, Fujian, China See also *Tonga (other) *Tonga language (other) *Tonga people (Malawi) *Tonga people (Zambia and Zimbabwe) The Tonga people of Zambia and Zimbabwe (also called 'Batonga') are a Bantu ethnic group of southern Zambia and neighbouring northern Zimbabwe, and to a lesser extent, in Mozambique. They are related to the Batoka who are part of the Tokaleya peo ... {{disambig Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Musicians
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 Songs * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1999 *"new", by Loona from '' Yves'', 2017 *"The New", by Interpol from ''Turn On the Bright Lights'', 2002 Acronyms * Net economic welfare, a proposed macroeconomic indicator * Net explosive weight, also known as net explosive quantity * Network of enlightened Women, a conservative university women's organization * Next Entertainment World, a South Korean film distribution company Identification codes * Nepal Bhasa language ISO 639 language code * New Century Financial Corporation (NYSE stock abbreviation) * Northeast Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion in the northeastern United States Transport * New Orleans Lakefront Ai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2003 Deaths
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societies. Evolution of the Arabic digit The use of three lines to denote the number 3 occurred in many writing systems, including some (like Roman and Chinese numerals) that are still in use. That was also the original representation of 3 in the Brahmic (Indian) numerical notation, its earliest forms aligned vertically. However, during the Gupta Empire the sign was modified by the addition of a curve on each line. The Nāgarī script rotated the lines clockwise, so they appeared horizontally, and ended each line with a short downward stroke on the right. In cursive script, the three strokes were eventually connected to form a glyph resembling a with an additional stroke at the bottom: ३. The Indian digits spread to the Caliphate in the 9th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Let Me Hear You Whisper (song)
Let me Hear You Whisper is a popular Samoan song that has been covered by a multitude of artists that include Jo Stafford, Nephi Hannemann, the Samoan Surf Riders, Fatu, and many others. The song is a staple in Samoan music and has great popularity in the Pacific. The title in Samoan is "Tele i’a o le sami". Background The song was composed by Napoleon A. Tuiteleleapaga, Ray Evans, and Jay Livingston. In Samoan the song's title is "Tele I`a O le Sami". The song is so well known in Samoa that it would probably be one of the first a visitor to the islands will hear. English versions A version was recorded by Jo Stafford And David Hughes and backed with the Paul Weston Orchestra. In film Along with five other Samoan and Polynesian songs, it was included in the film '' Mr. Roberts''. Releases English or Western styled versions * Jo Stafford and David Hughes * The Voices Of Walter Schumann Walter Schumann (October 8, 1913 – August 21, 1958) was an American composer fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Sevesi
Wilfred Jeffs (28 July 1923 – 23 April 2016), better known by the stage name Bill Sevesi, was a musician and master of the steel guitar who helped popularise Hawaiian-style music in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Tongan-born Sevesi composed more than 200 songs with over 20 albums to his credit during a career spanning six decades. He began playing the Hawaiian Steel Guitar in 1936, and in later years his band ''Wilfred Jeffs and the Islanders'' became ''Bill Sevesi and the Islanders''. He performed all over the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Australia and United States. He recorded some classic favourites such as '"Bye Bye Baby Goodbye" (1958) as well as recording artists such as Daphne Walker, The Yandall Sisters and Annie Crummer. Early life Sevesi was born in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, in 1923 and came to New Zealand at the age of nine. He saw active service during World War II and in 1944 he was in Italy. When he returned to New Zealand after the war, he resumed his ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Jets (Minnesota Band)
The Jets are a Tongan-American family band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, composed of brothers and sisters LeRoy, Eddie, Eugene, Haini, Rudy, Kathi, Elizabeth, and Moana Wolfgramm, who perform pop, R&B, and dance music. They started performing as a family band in 1977. The group enjoyed worldwide success in 1985–1990, performing three world tours, and producing five top-10 hits on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Background The original band consisted of the eight oldest children of Maikeli "Mike" and Vaké Wolfgramm, who were originally from Tonga. The family has 17 children: 15 by birth, and two, Eddie and Eugene, by adoption. The children attended Robbinsdale Cooper High School. The family are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The band initially called themselves Quasar after a now-defunct brand of television sets. They changed their name to the Jets, a name taken from the Elton John song "Bennie and the Jets" on the suggestion of manager Don Powe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
