A few interesting facts about Kalama's Quartet

or, an exercise in non-sequiturs. See for yourself.

1. Around 1926, the Hawaiian singer and steel guitar player Mike Hanapi founded a band aptly called The Hanapi Trio. The other band members were William Kalama and Bob Nawahine.

2. When Dave Kaleipua Munson joined in 1927, they changed their name to Kalama's Quartet.

3. Even though they were technically a quintet after Bob Matsu joined in 1928, they kept calling themselves Kalama's Quartet until they disbanded in 1932.

4. The above photograph is one of the very few pictures that exist of the Quartet. It dates from around 1930, when the band consisted of five members. The four men on the picture are, left to right, Nawahine, Kalama, Hanapi and, on the right, a man identified as Dan Pokipala. The nature of Pokipala's association with the band is completely unknown. He is also not credited on any of the Quartet's recordings.

5. The song "Aloha Oe", probably the best-known of all Hawaiian songs and one of the Quartet's greater successes, is not included on the CD reissue of the only currently available compilation album of the Quartet's songs, even though it was on the previous vinyl release of the same album.

6. Mike Hanapi is not related to the former Austrian soccer player Gerhard Hanappi. As far as is known, Gerhard Hanappi was not of Hawaiian descent.