A songbook filled with stories

“Ho’ahu ‘Ana O Na Mele”
Noelani Kanoho Mahoe
Self-published; $24.95

Review by John Berger
jerger@staradvertiser.com

“Ho’ahu ‘Ana O Na Mele,” Noelani Kanoho Mahoe’s new, annotated songbook, is filled with resources for those who care about playing, singing and appreciating Hawaiian music in the most authentic way.

In the 1950s, Mahoe got her start as one of the first recording artists on Margaret Williams’ Tradewinds Records. She continued as a recording artist, author, educator, record producer, associate producer of the original “Na Mele Hawai’i” television series and custodian of the Tradewinds Records archives.

Mahoe, 82, is also one of the very few people to have received two Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Hawai’i Academy of Recording Arts. The first in 2002 for her lifetime achievements of more than 50 years, and again in 2013 when it was bestowed on her quartet, the Leo Nahenahe Singers.

Mahoe draws on her many years of practical experience in annotating 26 of her favorite songs, all but two of them Hawaiian standards.

She provides brief biographies of the composers and lyricists, background information on the songs and, in many cases, explains why the songs are important to her. The personal information she shares makes this book unique.

One of the most interesting inclusions is a letter James Kalei Kaholokula sent her in 1980 explaining in detail the poetic techniques he used in writing the lyrics of “E Helu,” and some of the kaona (hidden meanings) the lyrics contain.

There’s a section on how to strum the ukulele, and another on the importance of diacritical markings — okina and kahako — in indicating the meaning and the correct pronunciation in modern Hawaiian spelling.

The book comes with a CD that contains recordings of the songs, something of a “greatest hits” compilation that begins with her first recordings for Tradewinds and continues up to relatively recent work. Mahoe also provides clear vocal demonstrations of the correct and incorrect pronunciation of words and phrases such as “Maui no ka ‘oi.” Mahoe’s authoritative and entertaining anthology will definitely help preserve and perpetuate knowledge of Hawaiian music.