“The Voice of Bamboo”

Steven Casano

(no label, no serial number)

One of the mysteries of Hawaiian music is why some haole (non-Hawaiian) instruments were adopted and adapted by Hawaiians and others were not. The guitar, piano, stand-up bass and ukulele became integral parts of Hawaiian music.

But despite the similarity of the Hawaiian ohe hano ihu (bamboo flute) to the Japanese shakuhachi (bamboo flute), it was not until 1999 that American-born shakuhachi master Riley Lee partnered with slack key guitarist Jeff Peterson to make the first known recordings of the two instruments together.

Hawaii resident Steven Casano is now making history with the release of the first known locally recorded album of solo shakuhachi music. It is a beautiful introduction to the instrument.

Casano’s annotation provides a concise introduction to the shakuhachi, the cultural significance of the melodies he plays and the breathing technique he uses. The beauty of the melodies speak for themselves.

Visit stevencasano.com.

“Metal Mormons: A Tribute to the Osmonds”

Tin Idols

(Tin Idol Productions TIP0012)

Back in the the early 1970s, The Osmonds were a group that pre-pubescent girls loved to love and almost anyone with knowledge of American music history could not help but hate. Even those who didn’t know that the four older brothers had been a clean-cut barbershop quartet in the 1960s before they changed their sound, grew their hair out and added their brother, Donny, as a lead voice, could see the similarities to the Jackson 5. Many saw the Osmonds as yet another white act jumping on the success of a black act and “covering” the black act’s success in the original sense of the word.

That said, the Osmonds’ last Top 5 hit, “Down by the Lazy River,” written by Alan and Merrill Osmond, and recorded with Donny’s voice buried deep in the mix, showed that group could also play straight commercial rock — and that Jay Osmond was a great showman on drums.

Fast-forward to the present, and Gerard Gonsalves’ Tin Idols collective is following its “Jesus Christ Supernova” and “Metal Kalikimaka” projects with this heavy-metal take on songs associated with the Osmonds. It is Tin Idols’ lightest work to date.

The premise works best when Tin Idols rearrange the Osmonds’ lightest white-pop material — “One Bad Apple” and “Double Lovin’” in particular. When Tin Idols take on “Down by the Lazy River” and “Crazy Horses,” it doesn’t seem like that much of a stretch.

Visit reverbnation.com/tinidols.