“3.0”
Ho‘okena
(Huliau LLC HLLCD1012)
Ho‘okena earned three Na Hoku Hanohano Awards — Group of the Year, Traditional Hawaiian Album of the Year and Most Promising Artists — in 1991 for its aptly titled debut album, “Thirst Quencher!”
The group dates its origins to Kipona Leo Hawai‘i, which won the Ka Himeni ‘Ana singing competition in 1986, with members William “Ama” Aarona, Manu Boyd, Horace Dudoit III and Chris Kamaka.
Aarona, Boyd and Dudoit formed Ho‘okena with Bozo Hanohano and Glen Smith, recording “Thirst Quencher!” Hanohano left Ho‘okena after the release of its second album, “Choice of the Heart.” For the recording of “Ho‘okena 5” in 1999, Kamaka joined the lineup. Aarona and Boyd left in the years that followed.
Dudoit, Smith and Kamaka are excellent stewards of this important musical heritage. They make that clear with the first song, “Holomua e Hawai‘i,” a contemporary call for Hawaiian unity by Willie K. The harmonies and strong solo voices, always supported by the trio’s acoustic instruments, are a strong and consistent foundation throughout. Maila Gibson-Brandman and cellist Taylor Kanoa Yasui join them on “Behold La‘ia,” the Jack Pitman classic best known for its 1981 recording by Loyal Garner and Robert Cazimero.
Ben Vegas adds a hot and soulful fourth voice to Ho‘okena’s swinging arrangement of “Ka La‘i o Nu‘uanu,” a recent composition by Kaipo Hale. “Lovely Hula Girl” and “Mohala Pono E” are two other gems in this beautiful collection.
Liner notes aptly document the music with Hawaiian lyrics, English translations and background information.
Visit hookena.com.
“Love Will See Us Through”
Uncle Tadashi & Da Boyz
(no label no serial number)
Uncle Tadashi & Da Boyz is a sextet that includes one “girl,” Sandy Ordonez Tsujimura, along with “boyz” Dino Bee (vocal/ukulele), Pierre Grill (drums), Micheal Ige (lyricist), Gabriel “Gabe” Man (electric guitar, electric bass) and Chris Yeh (alto sax). Alto sax and ukulele rarely turn up in the same group, and they give Da Boyz an unusual sound. Tsujimura adds ear-catching vocal options that wouldn’t exist if all the “boyz” were male.
The song is an earnest local love song written without concern for conventional concepts of rhythm, rhyme and meter. However, the message that love can be the key to surviving bad moments in a relationship will certainly resonate with many romantics in Hawaii.
Visit uncletadashi.com.
