Music has been part of Christmas in Hawaii for as long as Christmas has been celebrated here. The first Hawaiian Christmas songs were almost certainly translations of traditional Christian hymns, but since those early days the holiday has inspired countless island songwriters — and such chestnuts as “Mele Kalikimaka” and “Numbah One Day of Christmas.” Hawaii recording artists have also embraced the modern tradition of putting out Christmas albums, and this year there are four new releases.
“A Backporch Slack & Steel Christmas”
Ken Emerson
(HanaOla)
Steel guitarist Ken Emerson first surfaced as a Hawaii recording artist in the late 1970s when he and his brother, Phil, won a place on Ron Jacobs’ “Homegrown III” album in 1978, recorded a full-length album in 1979 and backed Moe Keale on his 1980 album, “South Sea Island Magic.” More than 30 years later he is known as a multifaceted musician who plays acoustic steel guitar as well as ukulele and slack-key guitar.
On this album he uses several vintage instruments. Their sound gives familiar songs an old-time feel that brings to mind an era when kerosene lamps rather than electric lights illuminated many island homes. From the first bars of “Mele Kalikimaka” to the last notes of “The Little Drummer Boy,” Emerson captures the spirit of the season in unique-to-Hawaii style.
The album is also significant as the first HanaOla release since the death of the label’s founder, Michael “Mike” Cord, in May. It’s a welcome sign that his record label will continue to preserve and perpetuate Hawaiian music.
“A Gift of the Heart”
Mark Yamanaka & Kupaoa
(Hulu Kupuna)
Na Hoku Hanohano Award winners Mark Yamanaka and Kupaoa (the husband-and-wife duo of Kellen Paik and Kalikolehau Hannahs Paik) blend their talents as singers, musicians and songwriters in this beautiful celebration of Christmas. Originals fit neatly next to standards; secular songs about caroling and a visit to the North Pole are balanced with Christian songs celebrating the birth of Jesus.
The trio explains in the liner notes booklet that although “Amazing Grace” and “My Chains Are Gone” are not about Christmas, they are reminders that “our cause for celebration should not be limited to this season.” A pair of Hawaiian-language songs, “Ohohia Ko ka Honua” and “Silent Night/Po La’i E,” express similar feelings.
The fanciful hapa haole song “Hula Girl Christmas” features a request that Santa bring a hula girl for Christmas, and another imagines a Santa who yodels.
Helen Liu Wong backs the trio on viola and violin, and Dwight Tokumoto sits in elsewhere on dobro and steel guitar. A colorful 18-page booklet contains the lyrics, English translations where needed, and brief accounts of why each song was chosen.
“Metal Kalikimaka Volume 2”
Tin Idols
(Tin Idol Productions)
Producer-musician Gerard Gonsalves and Tin Idols Productions built on the hard-rock/heavy-metal template of their 2013 project “Jesus Christ Supernova” to create “Metal Kalikimaka Volume 1,” an eclectic cross section of seasonal standards, in 2014. “Volume 2” is more of the same.
This year’s set list includes secular and Christian songs from “Silent Night” and “O Holy Night” to “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth.” Gonsalves plays drums on all 15 songs; different combinations of singers and musicians work with him on each of them.
“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” the first song on the album, has Tin Idols veteran Sandy Essman on vocals and introduces the heavy-metal concept in convincing style. “Run Run Rudolph,” also known as “Run Rudolph Run,” a hit for Chuck Berry in 1958, is played with an instrumental nod to one of Berry’s iconic guitar riffs and is one of the highlights. An eerie and ominous reworking of “Blue Christmas” is another.
The late R. Alex Anderson would certainly appreciate Tin Idols’ take on “Mele Kalikimaka” — in “Metal Kalikimaka” Essman sings of a Hawaii where Christmas is “loud and bright” and “we rock the night away.”
Gonsalves and Tin Idols again succeed in taking American standards to places the song’s composers certainly never imagined.
“Da Nite B’4 Xmas”
Various artists
(Moon Surfer Productions)
Gordon Broad has significant credits as a songwriter, record producer, recording artist and producer of a voluminous series of local karaoke-track CDs. Broad brings all those things to the table with this collection of island Christmas songs.
Two tracks are pidgin “translations” of American standards — “The Night Before Christmas” becomes “Da Nite B’4 Xmas” — while Mel Torme’s classic “A Christmas Song” keeps its title but becomes a tale of “kukui nuts pulehu on kiawe wood” and Santa bringing “choke kine toys and stuff li’ dat.”
Broad is the featured voice on several tunes. Chad Yangson, Rod Young, Kaylee Shimizu and Lee Gonsalves each get the spotlight on others. “Santa’s Red Jet Ski” updates a traditional theme of Santa vacationing here after all those presents are delivered.
The musical arrangements evoke comparison to karaoke tracks in terms of arrangement and sonic texture. That makes the CD a composer’s demo for Broad and an invitation for other artists to record them with more elaborate arrangements. However, the honest sentiments of a song titled “I Wish You Happy Holidays” come through loud and clear.
