‘I Wish Christmas Was Everyday’
Henry Kapono
(Kapono)
Henry Kapono Ka’aihue’s 1989 Christmas album, "Merry Christmas to You," is one of the best full-length local Christmas albums of the 20th century for a list of reasons that would take too much time and space to get into here. Twenty-four years later he’s back with a second Christmas album that is equally impressive but completely different from the first.
This time he’s performing solo and without celebrity guests. The general approach is reminiscent of another earlier Kapono album, 1990’s "Song for Someone," but there’s more diversity in the acoustic arrangements of this one. His imagination as an arranger and song stylist make for fascinating work throughout.
One of the best examples is "Guitar Boy," which, in fact, is "The Little Drummer Boy." Kapono eliminates all references to drums in the lyrics, changes the rhythm in dramatic style and makes the song into a narrative by another poor boy who wants to entertain the newborn Jesus with his guitar. Making changes like those, either in the lyrics or in the arrangement, of a well-worn national hit is all too often a bad idea for island recording artists, but the changes Kapono has made here all turn out well.
Kapono’s imagination as an arranger is heard in most of the other selections. Take note of the melodic reference to "Tequila," the classic instrumental by the Champs, that he slips in near the end of "Feliz Navidad." Take note of his instrumental rendition of "Symphony of the Bells" performed without bells, and his dramatic reworking of "Silent Night" with a new rhythm and ominous melodic undertones.
There’s also a zesty and playful rendition of "Must Be Santa" that includes a bit of scat singing and rhythmic references to several American presidents.
"What the World Needs Now" makes Kapono the second Hawaii artist this year to include a Jackie DeShannon hit that does not mention Christmas on a Christmas album (Mailani Makainai has DeShannon’s 1968 hit, "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," on her recently released Christmas album, "My Island Christmas"). Kapono changes the rhythm of the song and adds a personal prayer to lyricist Hal David’s work. Understand Christmas as being about God’s love for the world, rather than as a seasonal orgy of commercialism and greed, and the DeShannon hit is a good fit.
Kapono also speaks about love in the lyrics of the album’s title song, "I Wish Christmas Was Everyday," one of the two original songs in the collection. "Love and peace would be here to stay," he sings, celebrating the joyful aspects of Christmas while sharing another prayer for the hungry, the homeless, the lonely and the lost.
The other original, "Love Is the King of Kings," speaks of the importance of love in general terms. Love "will keep you out of the dark/Keep you from a lonely heart," he sings. The lyrics bring to mind a theme found in his first hit as solo artist, "Stand in the Light," more than 30 years ago, and also the fact that Handel’s "Messiah" hails Jesus as the King of Kings.
A jazzy, guitar-plus-percussion rendition of "The Night Before Christmas" closes this remarkable album. It sums up the vision and the talent that make this album such an impressive milestone for Henry Kapono, and such a delight for Hawaii this Christmas and for countless Christmases to come.
www.henrykapono.com
"I Wish Christmas Was Everyday"
