Frequenters of Oahu’s malls know that the best musical bargains in town come not in local showrooms and concert halls, but in the far corners of bustling food courts and upon the unforgiving surfaces of cheap public seating.

That’s where you find the likes of no-cover, no-donation-necessary troubadours like 73-year-old Denver Tau‘a, a retiree who has found his higher calling in sharing his musical talents with the foot-sore and Muzak-weary.

One recent afternoon at Windward Mall, a well-dressed woman took a seat nearby as Tau‘a crooned his way through the second verse of “Sweet Lady of Waiahole.” By the time Tau‘a had finished and was flipping though his well-worn binder of music to find his next song, a half-dozen other passers-by had decided to stop passing by and take a seat.

“This is therapy for me,” said Tau‘a, who brings his guitar to the mall a few times a week to play for whoever may be interested in listening. “I love it. When I see other people happy, I’m happy.”

Tau‘a was born and raised on Maui. The youngest of 12 children, he survived a humble upbringing on the sweat of his father’s labors and whatever sustenance his family could draw from the farmland on which they lived.

By his own account, Tau‘a was a “hyperenergetic” kid who sometimes struggled to stay on track. He channeled much of his youthful energies into football, baseball and swimming, but it wasn’t until a friend loaned him a guitar and his brother taught him how to play that he found a true measure of peace and satisfaction.

Starting with slack key, Tau‘a learned the instrument quickly and with tremendous interest. It was, he said, a “healing” experience.

Tau‘a left high school to work, eventually moving to California in the early 1960s for work as a driver. The experience brought with it a fair amount of culture shock as Tau‘a was forced to confront different ways of thinking and his first encounters with racial discrimination.

“I was very naive,” he said.

Tau‘a continued to play music, however, occasionally performing with friends at private parties. It was at one of those engagements that he met his future wife, Teresann, an accomplished hula dancer.

The couple returned to Hawaii in 1979, and Tau‘a spent much of his remaining working years with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which he is a stalwart member.

These days Tau‘a and his wife keep busy performing at luau hosted by a local timeshare company. Tau‘a also devotes much time to volunteer work at Castle High School, Brigham Young University Hawaii and his church.

Whenever he can, he squeezes in a few afternoon hours at Windward Mall, where he often shares a table with a group of senior ladies eager to call out their musical requests.

With his encyclopedic knowledge of old standards and contemporary popular music, Tau‘a is often able to make immediate and meaningful connections with those who take the time to watch him perform. He said the shared experience means everything to him.

Once, one of his friends requested the Sam Kapu classic “Chotto Matte Kudasai,” and Tau‘a happily obliged. Later the woman, deeply moved, translated the Japanese parts for him.

Sometimes Tau‘a’s impromptu audience members feel compelled to make a donation. Tauʻa politely rebuffs such gestures but respects the patrons’ wishes enough not to make an issue of it should they insist.

Once a grateful gentleman left $40 on the table for Tau‘a and insisted that he take it. After some polite back and forth, Tau‘a accepted the money and, after the gentleman departed, gave it to his lady friends to buy lunch. The monetary gifts are kind, he said, but the gains he cares about most are felt at a spiritual level.

While Tau‘a does not perform for the purpose of proselytizing his faith, he does see the act of sharing music as a kind of ministry, an opportunity to enact the values he has been taught by easing the burdens of others.

“I feel like I’m blessed to be able to cheer people up and perhaps make it through another day,” he said. “I try to express love to everybody I come in contact with through my music.”

———

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.