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‘Na’auao’
Sean Na’auao (Mountain Apple Company)
You’d never know from the beautiful Hawaiian and hapa haole songs that fill Sean Na‘auao’s new album that he has an important place in Jawaiian history as a member of The Mana‘o Company, a pioneer act in that genre in the early ’90s. The group’s Jawaiian remakes of "1865 (96 Degrees in the Shade)," "Drop Baby Drop" and "Who Loves You" helped define an era.
Although the group won no Na Hoku Hanohano Awards while Na‘auao was a member, he has won several as a soloist. The first came in 1998 when his third solo album, "Now Serving Fish & Poi," won the island contemporary category. Na‘auao has since released full-length albums of traditional Hawaiian music as well as Hoku-winning Jawaiian.
With "Na‘auao" he digs deep into his Hawaiian heritage. The result is nahenahe (sweet, melodious) work from start to finish.
"Na‘auao" is almost a one-man project. Na‘auao sings all the parts and plays ukulele, guitar and bass; Casey Olsen plays steel guitar on five songs and a pianist joins him on others.
"No Kapiolani" is one of several songs to showcase his smooth falsetto range. "I Fell in Love with Honolulu" and "Aloha Week Hula" show he can do justice to hapa haole standards, too.
"Na‘auao" would be a perfect introduction to his Hawaiian repertoire if the annotation included lyrics of the Hawaiian songs and their English translations. Those lyrics are available at www.mountainapplecompany.com/sean.
Falsetto vocals are the foundation and through-line as Steven Espaniola follows his 2006 debut album, "Ho‘omaka," with a second collection of beautiful, old-style Hawaiian music. He opens with an original, "Ka Wahine Helekahi," and slips another orignal in later. Most of the others are standards.
"Ka Wahine" is a convincing introduction to Espaniola’s falsetto talents, but his arrangement of "Meleana E" is mesmerizing.
His voice floats in and out of falsetto as he tells the risque story of a woman known for her skill at "massaging the fish," a sexual euphemism. Only those who know the kaona (hidden meaning) of the song will appreciate the contrast between Espaniola’s soothing delivery, so sweet and romantic, and the subject matter. His ability to hold individual notes for dramatic effect adds to the impact.
This could have been a one-man project, with Espaniola accompanying himself on percussion, ukulele, acoustic guitar and electric bass.
Instead he welcomes slack-key guitarist Jeff Peterson on "Ku‘u Lio," steel guitarist Casey Olsen on "Ka Wahine Helekahi" and "Ka Ano‘i," and ukulele virtuoso Bryan Tolentino on "Waiulu" and "E Ku‘u Lei E Ku‘u Ipo." Each pairing works well. Tolentino adds a nice, bright bounce to "E Ku‘u Lei."
Lyrics and translations are not included but Espaniola says they will be posted at www.stevenespaniola.com.
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You’d never know from the beautiful Hawaiian and hapa haole songs that fill Sean Na‘auao’s new album that he has an important place in Jawaiian history as a member of The Mana‘o Company, a pioneer act in that genre in the early ’90s. The group’s Jawaiian remakes of "1865 (96 Degrees in the Shade)," "Drop Baby Drop" and "Who Loves You" helped define an era.
Falsetto vocals are the foundation and through-line as Steven Espaniola follows his 2006 debut album, "Ho‘omaka," with a second collection of beautiful, old-style Hawaiian music. He opens with an original, "Ka Wahine Helekahi," and slips another orignal in later. Most of the others are standards.