‘Pacific Rendezvous’
Lance Jyo
(Cool Sound Hawaii)
Songwriter Lance Jyo is one of the many Hawaii artists whose career has flourished in other markets. This two-disc album, released by a Tokyo-based record label for international sale, is a compendium of almost two decades of his work here and elsewhere. It includes recent recordings of Jyo’s compositions by a galaxy of local artists — Jon Basebase, Maurice Bega, Zanuck Kapala Lindsey, Sunway and Dave Toma among them.
Jyo is the composer or co-composer of all 22 songs, but while the album could be described as a composer’s demo, it has the production values of a polished commercial release.
Anyone who remembers Jyo as a member of At Second Glance or as a solo artist in the mid-’90s will find the smooth pop sound of those early projects here. But Jyo’s new arrangements display the discoveries a songwriter can make when he revisits his work. Discoveries aside, they make for beautiful romantic pop music.
Sunway provides the vocal hook to "Falling," and Galen Takushi from A Second Glance gets the lead vocal on "Tropic Paradise" and performs in Japanese as well as English on "Marina." Bega is not heard often enough in Hawaii these days, and so it’s great to catch him on two tracks.
Buying foreign CDs in their country of origin isn’t as difficult as it used to be, but music shoppers who like things simple can get "Pacific Rendezvous" at iTunes and CDbaby.
www.lancejyo.com
"Tantalus 7 p.m."
‘Departure’
Hiroshima
(Hiroshima Inc.)
Hiroshima, alas, is not a Hawaii group per se, but islanders of a certain age will recall when "Hawaiian Electric" from the group’s 1987 album, "Go," was heard almost 24/7 as the theme music for a Hawaiian Electric Co. ad campaign. And as long as expatriate Kimo Cornwell is Hiroshima’s pianist-keyboard player, the group will have that link to Hawaii as well.
As for the title, this is indeed a departure for the group, which also includes founding members Dan Kuramoto (wind instruments, percussion), June Kuramoto (koto) and Danny Yamamoto (drums, percussion) plus Dean Cortez (bass) and Shoji Kameda (taiko, percussion). After more than 30 years as recording artists, Hiroshima founded its own record label and distribution network. Although venturing into new territory on the business front, the band’s ever-popular blend of Asian and Western instruments remains intact and as enchanting as ever.
June Kuramoto’s koto and Cornwell’s keyboards and synthesizers define two instrumental contrasts — one Asian and organic, the other Western and electronic. The group’s skill at blending those disparate elements and building on them pays off once again.
The contrasting melodic textures of koto and harmonica (the latter played by guest artist Tetsuya "Tex" Nakamura) open the album on an intriguing note. Harmonica isn’t heard on any subsequent selections, but the interplay among the koto, the rhythm section and Dan Kuramoto’s shakuhachi and assorted Western wind instruments makes each of them distinct.
"Yamasong Duet," featuring Kameda on taiko and Yamamoto on Western drums and percussion, is a dramatic departure from the standard smooth jazz-new age format and taps a different part of Hiroshima’s musical foundation.
Beautiful new arrangements of two older selections — "Thousand Cranes" and "One Wish" — complete the collection.
"Departure" is available at www.hiroshimamusic.com, iTunes, Amazon.com and CDbaby.
www.hiroshimamusic.com
"Have You Ever Wondered"
