![Cuatro de puerto rico](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Cuatro_de_puerto_rico.jpg)
Cachi Cachi music, also spelled Kachi Kachi, Kachi-Kachi
and Katchi-Katchi,
is a term that was coined to refer to music played by Puerto Ricans
in Hawaii, after they migrated to Hawaii in 1901.
It is a "variation of dance music found in Hawaii"
which is, at times, played very fast.
The "influence on Hawai'i endures to this day in the musical form known as ''cachi cachi'' played on the
quarto
Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...
icand derivative of the Puerto Rican
jibaro style."
''Jibaro'' means farmer in Spanish.
The Puerto Ricans in Hawaii "worked hard and played hard" and lightened the load for other plantation workers with their music.
In Hawaii, the Puerto Ricans played their music with
six-string guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
,
güiro
The güiro () is a Puerto Rican percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines (see photo) along the notches to produce a ratchet sound.
The güiro ...
, and the Puerto Rican
cuatro
Cuatro is Spanish language, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4 (number), number four.
Cuatro may also refer to:
* Cuatro (instrument), name for two distinct Latin American instruments, one from Puerto Rico (see cuatro (Puerto Rico), ...
.
Maracas and "palitos" sticks could be heard in the music around the 1930s.
More modern versions of the music may include the accordion and electric and
percussion instruments
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...
such as
conga
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...
drums.
Etymology
Cachi cachi music is what the people in Hawaii, who heard the Puerto Ricans playing their own music, called it. It needed a name and the people of Hawaii, specifically the Japanese plantation workers called it cachi cachi according to oral tradition- video recordings by Onetake2012 and research done by Ted Solis, an
ethnomusicologist
Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...
.
The Puerto Ricans, who only spoke Spanish and no English, worked alongside immigrants from the Philippines, China, but in one location their "camp" was next to the Japanese camp.
and when the Japanese heard their music, they said it sounded "scratchy".
The relationships between the Japanese and Puerto Ricans working on the plantations, didn't use to be good. They lived near one another and the Puerto Ricans felt disrespected when the Japanese walked around naked or almost naked for their baths. Sometimes fights would break out.
Current status
In 1989, the
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fou ...
, a nonprofit established for recording music by small communities from around the world, made available an album called ''Puerto Rican music in Hawai'i'' containing 16 tracks.
The Library of Congress included the recording in its 1990 list of "outstanding recordings" of US
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
for meeting specific criteria including that the music emphasizes "root traditions over popular adaptations of traditional materials."
![Phoenix-Musical Instrument Museum-Puerto Rican Güiro](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Phoenix-Musical_Instrument_Museum-Puerto_Rican_G%C3%BCiro.jpg)
William Cumpiano
William Richard Cumpiano (born April 30, 1945) is a builder of stringed musical instruments and is known for his writing and teaching of the art of luthiery. He has been involved in the preservation and understanding of the fading musical and mus ...
, a master guitarmaker and his colleagues Wilfredo Echevarría and Juan Sotomayor researched, wrote, directed and produced a short documentary about the Hawaiian Puerto Ricans and their music which includes genres such as
slack-key
Slack-key guitar (from Hawaiian ''kī hōalu'', which means "loosen the uningkey") is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii after Portuguese cowboys introduced Spanish guitars there in the late 19th century. The Hawaiian ...
,
décima
A décima is a ten-line stanza of poetry. The most popular form is called décima espinela after Vicente Espinel (1550–1624), a Spanish writer, poet, and musician from the Siglo de Oro who used it extensively throughout his compositions.
The d ...
, seís and
aguinaldos. It was titled ''Un Canto en Otra Montaña'' or ''A Song From Another Mountain''.
Sonny Morales, a resident of the Big Island of Hawaii, was "famous for making cuatros".
The young
Auliʻi Cravalho
Chloe Auliʻi Cravalho (; born November 22, 2000) is an American actress and singer who made her acting debut as the voice of the titular character in the 2016 Disney 3D computer-animated musical feature film '' Moana''. She went on to star in ...
, the voice of the
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
character,
Moana, in the 2016 movie by the same name, talks about growing up with cachi cachi music. She was raised on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Willie K., an award-winning, Hawaiian musician from the island of Maui,
sings about it with lyrics "Cachi cachi music
Makawao
Makawao is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, Maui County, Hawaii, Hawaii, United States. The population was 7,297 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Located on the rural northwest slope of Haleakala on East Maui ...
...play the
conga
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...
drum down in
Lahaina
Lahaina ( haw, Lāhainā) is the largest census-designated place (CDP) in West Maui, Maui County, Hawaii, United States and includes the Kaanapali and Kapalua beach resorts. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a resident population of 12,702. Laha ...
".
Artists
Some of the artists who played or play a variety of Puerto Rican (cach cachi) music in Hawaii:
* Bobby Rodriguez
* Danny Rivera
* Darren Benitez
* Eddie Rivera
* Ernest Rivera
* Eva Lopez
* Glenn Ferreira
* Juan Rodriguez
* Luciano Alvarez
* Natalio Santiago
* Peter Rivera
* Raymond Rodriguez
* Silva Rivera
* Tiny
* Virginia Rodrigues
*
Willie K
William Awihilima Kahaialiʻi (October 17, 1960 – May 18, 2020), known as Willie K, was a Hawaiian musician who performed in a variety of styles, including blues, rock, opera and Hawaiian music.
Early life
Born and raised in a family of music ...
The following musicians are featured in the ''Puerto Rican Music of Hawaii'' CD by the Smithsonian Folkways.
* August M. Rodrigues
* Bobby Castillo
* Bonaventura Torres
* Charles Figueroa
* El Leo
* George Ayala
* Johnny Lopez
* Jorge Burgos
* Juan Cabrera
* Julio Rodrigues
* Leroy Joseph Pinero
* Los Caminantes
* Los Guepos
* Mi Gente
* Quique Rosario
* The Latin Five
* The Latin Gentlemen
* Tommy Valentine
See also
*
Poncie Ponce
Poncie Ponce (born Ponciano Tabac Ponce; April 10, 1933 – July 19, 2013) was an American actor, musician and stand-up comedian. Born in Maui, Hawaii, he moved to Los Angeles, where from 1959–1963 he played the role of cab driver Kazuo Kim in ...
*
Music of Hawaii
The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Styles like slack-key guitar are well known worldwide, while Hawaiian-tinged music is a frequent part ...
*
Music of Puerto Rico
The music of Puerto Rico has evolved as a heterogeneous and dynamic product of diverse cultural resources. The most conspicuous musical sources of Puerto Rico have included European, Indigenous, and African influences, although many aspects of P ...
*
Boogaloo
Boogaloo or bugalú (also: shing-a-ling, Latin boogaloo, Latin R&B) is a genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly among teenage African Americans and Latinos ...
*
Jibaro
*
Puerto Rican immigration to Hawaii
Puerto Rican migration to Hawaii began when Puerto Rico's sugar industry was devastated by two hurricanes in 1899. The devastation caused a worldwide shortage in sugar and a huge demand for the product from Hawaii. Consequently, Hawaiian sugarcane ...
*
List of Puerto Ricans
*
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
*
History of Hawaii
The history of Hawaii describes the era of human settlements in the Hawaiian Islands. The islands were first settled by Polynesians sometime between 124 and 1120 AD. Hawaiian civilization was isolated from the rest of the world for at least 50 ...
*
Gabby Pahinui
Philip Kunia Pahinui (; April 22, 1921 – October 13, 1980), known as Gabby Pahinui, was a slack-key guitarist and singer of Hawaiian music.
Born into a struggling family, Gabby was born Charles Kapono Kahahawai Jr. and later ''hānaied'' wi ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Rodney Pimental on YouTubeis the third generation (in Hawaii) playing cachi cachi music
Charles Figueroa on YouTubeOne Take Kachi Kachi Documentary trailer
Latin American styles of music
Hawaiian Styles of Music
Puerto Rican styles of music
American folk music
Hispanic and Latino American culture in Hawaii