Aloha mai!Aloha mai! Four new CDs to preview for you this time around, plus plenty concerts! Lucky, lucky California folks get not only the fantastic Keola Beamer, but the Beamer family! The Makaha Sons travel to Alaska! And much more.... I hope you all got a chance to check out the cover to Keali'i Reichel's soon-to-be-released CD, Eo Mai, on my last page (note to newsgroup and email readers: this appeared on the web site only). Here's a little more description of the songs:
"The album continues with "Ballad of the Broken Word," a gospel lament originally sung by one of Keali`i's favorites Sweet Honey in the Rock ("Wanting Memories" and "Stay" also come from this group). Keali`i tells us, "I kind of reworked the gospel song to fit what was happening in Hawai`i today. I added the ipu beat and an ancient prophesy chant relating to big changes in Hawaiian society." He says he wants to make people think about the issues without hitting them over the head with it."
The release date for Eo Mai is October 21! We have located another graphic that will appear on the CD jacket, it is absolutely georgeous.
Trivia time: Auntie Maria (of the Hawaiian Music Island, www.mele.com) reports that there are over 1,000 Hawaiian music albums in current release (CDs and cassettes). How does she know this? She hit 1,000 cataloguing Eo Mai. She doesn't have all 1000 yet, but plans to eventually.
Since the concert season has slowed down a little, I've gone back to my usual reporting format, which is to list concerts, world-wide, in the next two weeks (until the next page comes out). If you want to check out later concerts, check out my early September page on my web site.
Recordings
The Pandanus Club, Reunion. This is not a "best of" compiliation: this is mostly new material recorded by some of the voices that made the Pandanus Club famous, including Gary Haleamau and Roddy Lopez. Typical Pandanus club style, tasty. Opens with the chant "Ka Ali'i Milimili." Other songs include "Ka Home Noho Paipai" and "Nani Ko'ele."
Kolea, No Ka Ohana (ICK 101CD). The hit song off this CD, "Love, Ten Feet Away," has been getting choke airplay on the local Hawaiian radio stations. Why, I don't know, as it's a country-western remake with not a thing Hawaiian about it. [shrug] A pleasant enough song, but not Hawaiian music. The CD shuttles between remakes of pop oldies such as "Sherry," "Diana," and "He Don't Love You" and Hawaiian music such as "Aloha Punalu'u" and "Na Wiliwili." If the dichotomy in styles is going to bother you, get the CD so you can program around it.
Sean Na'auao, Fish & Poi (Fat Katz Productions FKP 4002). Sean is a talented musician displaying his Hawaiian roots on this CD featuring four originals by Sean and the title track by Fiji and Michael Grande. Without a doubt, the song "Surf Pa'ina" is the choice favored by the local DJs: it seems to tie with "Love, Ten Feet Away" for the song played most often. This year's "Opihi Man?" "Ku'upete" is another well-done songs, as is the original "Poka'i Bay." The oldie "Silhouette" is thrown in here, as well as a remake of "Tewetewe."
Various artists, Na Kumu Hula: Songs from the Source, Vol. 1 (State Council on Hawaiian Heritage SCHHCD - 7001) Wow! Lovers of chant and real Hawaiian music will be blown away by this CD! It features contemporary kumu hula doing powerful 'oli (chants) and heartfelt mele (songs) in a dramatic format. The opening chant, "He Mele Aloha no Kamehameha" by Lehua Hulihe'e is the essence of chickenskin, with sounds of thunder permeating the texture of the chant. There's an extremely interesting harmonic chant by Randol Ngum, "Nani Ka'ala i ka Uluwehi," and a sweetly sung "'Ala Pikake" by Manu Boyd. Other featured kumu hula include Kaha'i Topolinksi, Michael Canopin, and Kalani Akana. The quality of the whole CD is very high. Strongly recommended, if this type of music is your cup of tea.
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