Roland Cazimero created beautiful music on many guitars throughout his career. But the guitar he cherished the most was his handmade, double-neck, 12-string koa guitar that he designed.
“The guitar was so much a part of him,” says his wife, Lauwae. “No one else could bring out the same kind of sounds that he made from that guitar. It was the magic that he had.”
Since Roland’s passing in 2017, Lauwae has been looking for ways the guitar could be used to honor her husband’s musical legacy. She decided to bring the guitar home to Kauai where it was born 34 years ago and donate it to the Kauai Museum.
Homecoming
Chucky Boy Chock, the museum’s director, says it’s fitting that the guitar is back on Kauai. He remembers when Roland first traced and cut the guitar design on plywood in Chock’s garage on Kauai in 1990.
“We laughed because it looked weird and uncomfortable – this big, fat guitar,” says Chock. “But it was his vision and he brought it to life. Everything about that guitar was Bozo’s (Roland’s nickname). He wanted it to be Hawaiian.”
Lauwae Cazimero with her husband's guitar. Photo by John Zak
Roland chose Mickey Sussman, an Anahola luthier (skilled maker of string instruments), to make the guitar. Sussman used koa wood that he harvested from ancient trees in a lowland forest near his home. The frets are made from Anahola kiawe trees. Roland made dozens of trips to Kauai to oversee the two-year process and would send the guitar back for tweaks until he was satisfied with the sound.
The guitar allowed Roland to have two tunings so he could flow from one song to the next without having to switch guitars. “Playing that guitar is not easy because it’s so heavy, but only Bozo could make it sing,” says Chock. “If that guitar could speak, a lot of moolelo (stories) would come out of it.”
Roland Cazimero with his 12-string double-neck handcrafted koa guitar. Photo by John Zak
Musical legacy
The 50-pound guitar is displayed in a custom-made glass-covered koa box at the museum. The exhibit includes a replica of Roland’s signature white cube and pillow that he’d sit on while performing. There are photos of Roland playing the guitar and a description of the musical contributions he and his brother Robert made to the Hawaiian Renaissance, which started during the 1970s.
“Anyone who knows Hawaiian music knows the Brothers Caz. Having the guitar here gives it the opportunity to live and be shared with the community and visitors. It’s like having the ‘Mona Lisa.’ It’s the golden nugget to our exhibit of Hawaiian tradition,” says Chock.
The guitar is part of the museum’s new exhibit of haku mele (composers) and kumu hula (hula teachers) of Kauai and Niihau.
Hero image courtesy Kauai Museum
FA24F
