This beautiful full-length album by singer/songwriter Aja (aka Aja Gample) shows the value of liner notes that include song lyrics and their English translations. She explains in the liner notes that “palina” can be translated as “connection,” and that these songs share the theme of “connection” to “all things tangible and intangible” in Hawaii and across the Pacific.
With that information at hand, songs that sound closer to Fiji or Tahiti than Hawaii can be recognized as representing the connection of Hawaiians to other Pacific island peoples.
“PILINA”
Aja (Ka‘uhi Productions)
The notes also explain her radical rearrangement of “Tewe Tewe” as it might have been done by the Brothers Cazimero rather than Vicki Ii Rodrigues; Aja writes that although her arrangement of the song is very contemporary in style, she chose the song as a representative of “our connection to the past.” The eight-page booklet of song lyrics, English translations and background information insures that the messages these songs contain is not restricted to listeners fluent in ‘olelo Hawai‘i.
Aja’s history as a recording artist dates from 2016 and her debut release, “Hua‘i,” a finalist runner-up in two categories at the 2017 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards: Most Promising Artist and EP of the Year. “Pilina” is a beautifully crafted follow-up in all respects; on the album cover, attentive observers will recognize the tattoo she first displayed with eye-catching effect on the cover of “Hua‘i.”
Her reworking of “Tewe Tewe” isn’t the only example of her skill as an arranger. Her arrangement of “Lia,” a Fijian standard, is soothing and romantic, almost hypnotic in it blending of the sounds of the acoustic instruments with the singers’ voices.
Original songs are inspired as well. The album’s title song is the opener; with its lyrics Aja explains the concept of the project and then reveals its special relevance to Native Hawaiians. Among the songs that follow are several that describe “connections” with a loved one. Her voice is exquisite throughout.
Mainstream audiences not fluent in Hawaiian will embrace “Goodnight Hoku,” a contemporary hapa haole song sung almost entirely in English. On “Manuoku” English phrases are used as a contrast within Hawaiian verses.
Aji closes on a particularly poignant note with “Kaua‘i ‘O‘o,” a requiem for the last of the four species of ‘o‘o that became extinct. The last known Kaua‘i ‘o‘o was a male heard singing in 1987; presumably the last female had already died. In her song Aja describes the last lonely ‘o‘o seeking the sweetheart he’ll never find.
Contact Aja at kauhi.productions@gmail.com.
