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Island Mele: ‘Marketplace’ a welcome memento; ‘Humility’ displays mastery

Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on December 13, 2018
• Updated on  December 13, 2018 at 5:43 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on December 13, 2018
• Updated on  December 13, 2018 at 5:43 pm
“Marketplace,” the first album of Cyril Pahinui’s music to be released after his death, was already on the way when the multi-Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning slack key master died last month. Read More

Island Mele: Na‘auao mixes cultures with ‘Keiki,’ Storm returns

By John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on December 6, 2018
• Updated on  December 7, 2018 at 8:45 am
By John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on December 6, 2018
• Updated on  December 7, 2018 at 8:45 am
Reviews of new music released by Hawaii-based artists by Star-Advertiser music critic John Berger. Read More

Island Mele: ‘Love Doll’ scores; ‘Blues’ a convincing debut

Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on November 29, 2018
• Updated on  November 29, 2018 at 5:05 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on November 29, 2018
• Updated on  November 29, 2018 at 5:05 pm
If the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts has a Na Hoku Hanohano Award category for comedy albums in 2019, Joe Kingston’s “Love Doll” will certainly be a front-runner. Read More

Island Mele: ‘Holidays’ a delight; ‘Homeless Man’ calls for compassion

Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on November 22, 2018
• Updated on  November 23, 2018 at 4:13 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on November 22, 2018
• Updated on  November 23, 2018 at 4:13 pm
Hawaii recording artists aren’t releasing Christmas albums at the rate they did 10 or 20 years ago, so Kuana Torres Kahele’s beautifully packaged CD is a welcome seasonal treat. Also, Lee Gonsalves speaks eloquently of the plight of Hawaii’s homeless. Read More

Island Mele: ‘Best of Kalapana’ includes rarities, head-scratching selections

Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on November 15, 2018
• Updated on  November 18, 2018 at 7:25 am
Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on November 15, 2018
• Updated on  November 18, 2018 at 7:25 am
Forty-five years after Malani Bilyeu, Mackey Feary, D.J. Pratt and Kirk Thompson founded Kalapana, the group stands next to Cecilio & Kapono as one of the two biggest Hawaii recording acts of the 1970s. Read More
 

Island Mele: Keauhou completes voyage; Kaleo Phillips makes solid debut

Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on October 25, 2018
• Updated on  October 26, 2018 at 5:54 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on October 25, 2018
• Updated on  October 26, 2018 at 5:54 pm
With the release of “Ua Ko, Ua ‘Aina” earlier this month, multi-Hoku Award-winners Keauhou complete a three-year, three-album musical voyage. Also, Maui resident Kaleo Phillips makes a solid first impression with his debut album. Read More

Island Mele: ‘Two Sides to Every Story,’ ‘Constant as the Moon’

Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on October 18, 2018
• Updated on  October 18, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on October 18, 2018
• Updated on  October 18, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Old-time island recording artist Alan Thomas makes a welcome return to the local music scene, and Wade Cambern and Tsun-Hui Hung present standards from several locales. Read More
 

Island Mele: Elijah Sky makes strong solo debut

Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on September 27, 2018
• Updated on  September 27, 2018 at 5:20 pm
Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on September 27, 2018
• Updated on  September 27, 2018 at 5:20 pm
Elijah Sky, 27, a member of the celebrated musical Farden ohana, is stepping out as a solo artist in Hawaii after several years working with a reggae group in California. Read More

Island Mele: Herb Ohta Jr. shows mastery; Storm returns

Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on September 20, 2018
• Updated on  September 20, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on September 20, 2018
• Updated on  September 20, 2018 at 5:14 pm
There’s an unmentioned note of irony in the title of the new album “Ukulele Hula” as ukulele master Herb Ohta Jr., explores several generations of songs popular with halau hula. Read More

Island Mele: Jake Shimabukuro, Haole Kid Local Boy Blues Project

Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on September 13, 2018
• Updated on  September 13, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on September 13, 2018
• Updated on  September 13, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Jake Shimabukuro leads a large group of musicians and vocalists on an imaginative musical odyssey that spans several genres of contemporary music. Read More

Island Mele: ‘Songs of C&K’ a collection of updated classics

Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on September 6, 2018
• Updated on  September 9, 2018 at 10:09 pm
Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on September 6, 2018
• Updated on  September 9, 2018 at 10:09 pm
“The Songs of C&K” is a compilation recorded by a younger generation of artists, with each providing their own twist on classic Cecilio and Kapono tunes. Read More

Jason Gay’s ‘Dynasty’ presents Chinese tunes as jazz

Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on August 23, 2018
• Updated on  August 26, 2018 at 11:25 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on August 23, 2018
• Updated on  August 26, 2018 at 11:25 pm
Rather than rework compositions from the Great American Jazz Songbook, or test the market for original melodies, saxaphone player Jason Gay is introducing listeners to songs written or co-written by Chinese composers. Read More

Storm previews next album with ‘30 Minutes’

Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on August 16, 2018
• Updated on  August 16, 2018 at 5:12 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on August 16, 2018
• Updated on  August 16, 2018 at 5:12 pm
Frank De Lima wasn’t the only one who found inspiration in January’s infamous “false alarm” ballistic missile incident. Read More

Pe’a’s second CD ‘award worthy’

Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on August 9, 2018
• Updated on  August 9, 2018 at 6:06 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on August 9, 2018
• Updated on  August 9, 2018 at 6:06 pm
Kalani Pe‘a made history early in 2017 when he became the first Hawaii-resident recording artist to win a Grammy Award since Hawaiian music was absorbed by the catch-all Regional Roots Music category. Read More
 

Maggie Herron ‘Ton of Trouble’ a musical buffet

Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on August 2, 2018
• Updated on  August 7, 2018 at 12:07 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on August 2, 2018
• Updated on  August 7, 2018 at 12:07 pm
Two-time Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner singer/pianist Maggie Herron is back with an album “born during a year of flu, a broken arm and a natural lowering of my vocal range.” Read More

Quadraphonix ‘M-130’ offers a rich combination of styles

By John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on July 19, 2018
• Updated on  July 19, 2018 at 8:16 pm
By John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on July 19, 2018
• Updated on  July 19, 2018 at 8:16 pm
Quadraphonix celebrates the release of “M-130” on Friday at the New Ong King Art Center in the old Blaisdell Hotel on Fort Street Mall. Read More

Uluwehi Guerrero’s “E Mau ana ka Ha‘aheo” shares his aloha

Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on July 12, 2018
• Updated on  July 15, 2018 at 9:41 am
Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on July 12, 2018
• Updated on  July 15, 2018 at 9:41 am
Kumu hula Uluwehi Guerrero isn’t a man who rushes to release new albums. Quite the opposite. Read More

Singer/songwriter Aja demonstrates value of liner notes with ‘Pilina’

Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on July 5, 2018
• Updated on  July 5, 2018 at 4:15 pm
Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on July 5, 2018
• Updated on  July 5, 2018 at 4:15 pm
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. Read More

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