David Luela Kaili was born on June 17, 1890 in Kahana, O'ahu, HI. Kaili is known as one of the very earliest steel guitarists to tour the U.S., England, India, Australia, Jakarta Indonesia and the Far East. He toured with his wife "Queenie" who was a great singer in her own right and was often called "Hawaii's Sophie Tucker". He toured with Irene West's Royal Hawaiian Troupe and teamed up with Pale K. Lua to make recordings for Columbia Records. Lua accompanied him playing the Spanish guitar. Kaili popularized the "Hilo March" by recording it and wrote songs which were published by Roach-Frankland of Cincinnati, OH. He performed with Tau and Rose Moe at carnival in Manila in February and March of 1934. At the height of the Japanese invasion, Americans were evacuated from the Philippines and Singapore. Kaili stayed because he had bought a restaurant and night club. It was written that he had died in a POW camp in 1937, but there was speculation as to whether or not that was the correct date.
Information from Ruymar, Lorene., & Jerry Byrd (Eds). (1996) The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians. Anaheim: CenterStream (p.92).
Additional recordings are available on the Library of Congress National Jukebox [http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/artists/detail/id/4955/]
Songs
- Ukulele Dream Girl, Queenie and David Kaili
- Ukulele Lullaby, Queenie and David Kaili
- Rosary, The, Pale K. Lua and David K. Kaili
- Kohala March, Pale K. Lua and David K. Kaili
- Hawaiian Waltz Medley, Pale K. Lua and David K. Kaili
- Kilima Waltz, Pale K. Lua and David K. Kaili
- Minnehaha Medley Waltz, Pale K. Lua and David K. Kaili
- Aloha Oe, Pale K. Lua and David K. Kaili