http://www.staradvertiser.com/featurespremium/islandmelepremium RSS Feed for Island Mele Premium en-us Sun, 12 May 2013 14:22:03 GMT http://www.staradvertiser.com/featurespremium/islandmelepremium/20130512_Ohtas_let_their_ukes_sing_on_father-and-son_album_.html Hawaii's music has been enriched by the contributions of several families in which talent extends from one generation to the next. This aptly named album by Herb "Ohta-san" Ohta and his son, Herb Ohta Jr., is an excellent example. http://www.staradvertiser.com/featurespremium/islandmelepremium/20130505__Well-written_songs_and_swell_harmonies_mark_nifty_surf_band.html If the top Brill Building pop songwriting teams of the late '50s and early '60s had been tracking what Dick Dale and the Beach Boys were doing in Southern California, and if the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean had spent more time in Hawaii, they all might have come together to create a group like the Dukes of Surf. http://www.staradvertiser.com/featurespremium/islandmelepremium/20130428_Standards_served_up_in_sweet_casual_form.html Beautiful acoustic Hawaiian music played in the old Hawaiian style and recorded to preserve and perpetuate the language and traditional music of Hawaii — that's what Nate Kana‘e's economically packaged album is all about. http://www.staradvertiser.com/featurespremium/islandmelepremium/20130421_Fernandez_exhibits_superb_uke_artistry_.html Troy Fernandez holds an important place in contemporary local music for his work as a member of the Ka‘au Crater Boys with Ernie Cruz Jr. in the '90s. The duo won the Hoku Award for contemporary album of the year two years in a row. http://www.staradvertiser.com/featurespremium/islandmelepremium/20130414__Wide-ranging_Bumbye_another_win_for_Kupaoa.html Kupaoa — the husband-and-wife duo of Kellen Paik and Kalikolihau Hannahs Paik — goes from triumph to triumph with its third album. A majority of the songs are written by the couple or by Kellen working with other collaborators. http://www.staradvertiser.com/featurespremium/islandmelepremium/20130407__Pretty_Manawa_shows_this_is_Mailanis_time.html Mailani Makainai broke out big as one-half of the pop duo Keahiwai; the group's debut album won two Na Hoku Hanohano Awards in 2002. Mailani and producer Dave Tucciarone keep the instrumentation uncluttered. http://www.staradvertiser.com/featurespremium/islandmelepremium/20130331_Petersons_slackkey_stylings_take_us_on_relaxing_journey.html In the 13 years since he released his first album with Riley Lee, soft-spoken slack-key guitarist Jeff Peterson has made significant contributions to Hawaiian music. • Plus: "Tiki Tonic" by Tiki Taboo http://www.staradvertiser.com/featurespremium/islandmelepremium/20130324_Personal_Note_tracks_career_of_Kristian_Lei.html As Kristian Lei and her husband, Gavin Vinta, anticipate their first child, this CD is a timely retrospective on where she's been. The first few selections represent the trajectory of her career. http://www.staradvertiser.com/featurespremium/islandmelepremium/20130317_Grill_backs_Ohta_san_on_fine_new_display_of_ukulele_mastery.html Multitalented musician-arranger-producer-studio engineer Pierre Grill is the third member of the de facto trio heard on this recently released album by Herb "Ohta-san" Ohta. http://www.staradvertiser.com/featurespremium/islandmelepremium/20130310_Hula_2_employs_voice_and_piano_on_island_standards.html Robert Cazimero's fifth solo album is a sequel to last year's Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winner, "Hula." Like its predecessor, "Hula 2" makes excellent use of his talents as a singer and pianist.