Tim Rose rocks, Johnson Enos’ Honu celebrates, ‘Sermon’ set to music

Can Hawaii resident artists write funk? Believe it!

An imaginative tribute to a female postal worker, “Lady Postman,” demonstrates Rose’s knack for matching memorable lyric images to a dance groove too strong to resist; the bass work actually brings to mind the Isley Brothers in their their “Fight The Power” days. Please, Lady Postman, deliver that package!

Rose shows his command of softer jazz-rap material with “Your Team,” a song of respectful encouragement to women toiling in low-end jobs. “Please don’t quit five minutes before the miracle” is one of the affirmations it contains.

Rose’s broader horizons are represented with some of the other songs. “Please Please” opens with the straightforward statement, “Today I woke up and I wasn’t in jail,” while “U Da Boss” describes unconventional sex.

Visit www.timrosemusic.com.

Johnson Enos debuted “Honu By The Sea,” a childrens’ musical about the importance of protecting ocean life from abandoned fishing nets and other oceanic debris, in 2012. He has been revising it ever since.

The most recent spin-off is this CD-single that was released June 8 to commemorate World Ocean Day, as well as Marine Day on July 16.

Johnson and his daughter Nickey are the voices on this whimsical invitation to imagine living “where you can soar beneath the sea.” Guest musicians Jeff Peterson (ukulele/slack key guitar), Ian O’Sullivan (rhythm ukulele), Dean Taba (acoustic bass) and Rafa Padilla (bongo) heighten the Hawaiian sense of place.

Johnson’s appealing little honu (turtle) will be performing with Hello Kitty at Sanrio Puroland in Tokyo July 15 and 16.

Visit honubythesea.com.

Veteran record producer Gordon Broad is the foundation of this Christian music project that sets three chapters of the Gospel of Matthew (King James Version) to original music co-written by Broad and David “Kawika” Crowley.

Rod Young, Al Erub, Rachel Gonzales Angelo Jensen and Roslyn Catracchia are some of the performers.

Broad, Crowley Erub and David Kauahikaua share credit for the imaginatively diverse arrangements.

A second DVD disc shows the text line-by-line as each verse is sung.

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