RIP Raymond Kane

[Russell Letson]

Uncle Ray was the last of the old generation of slack key players, roughly contemporary with Gabby Pahinui, Sonny Chillingworth, Leonard Kwan, Atta Isaacs, and Led Kaapana's Uncle Fred Punahoa. I interviewed him several times, and he was a larger-than-life character and deceptively skillful player--he made it look easy, and it ain't. He taught and encouraged generations of younger players and played out even when he had to get to the stage (like Grappelli in his last years) in a wheelchair. When he played and sang, the years (and even the effects of the emphysema) dropped away.

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