“Eia Hawai‘i Part 1”
Various artists
(Mana Mele)
Mana Mele is the music and multimedia arm of Mana Maoli, a nonprofit whose music programs give students the opportunity to work with music industry professionals. The latest Mana Mele project is this six-song CD. Five of the selections are island standards. Pomaika‘i Keawe Lyman and her daughter, Malie Lyman, are celebrity guests on “Aloha O‘ahu,” and Kamakakehau Fernandez is a featured vocalist on “Kaneohe,” the song Abbie Kong and Johnny Noble wrote to commemorate the installation of electricity there in the 1930s. The tradition of Hawaiian himeni (hymns) is observed with Calvin Hoe’s rendition of Robert J.K. Nawahine’s 1925 classic, “Ekolu Mea Nui” (“Three Important Things”).
The one newly written song is Kapali Keahi’s hapa haole mele kue (song of resistance), “When I Look.” Keahi decries the problems Hawaii faces these days but does so using Afro-Caribbean terminology.
The final selection is a blockbuster rendition of “Hawai‘i Aloha” recorded by students from 10 charter schools and more than 20 celebrity guests. It brings the collection to a stirring close.
Visit manamele.org.
“Spa in a Box”
Cymber Lily Quinn
(Cymber Lily Quinn, CLQ 003)
Outside the realm of classical music, mainstream America associates harp music with angels strumming in heaven. Professional harpist Cymber Lily Quinn promotes harp music as an aid to relaxation — fill the tub, light some candles, hit “play” and relax.
Quinn picks rather than strums — think “acoustic guitar” rather than “angels in heaven.” With more than 70 minutes of soothing music, her “spa in a box” is relaxing even without candles and a tub.
Visit cymber.com.
“Black Friday”
Frank De Lima
(Pocholinga Productions)
Remember “Elvira,” written by Dallas Frazier in the mid-1960s and a megahit for the Oak Ridge Boys in 1981? Frazier’s familiar melody is the vehicle for Frank De Lima’s topical Christmas-season single, “Black Friday.”
De Lima describes in good-natured terms the frustration involved in fighting mobs of Christmas shoppers in stores only to find that the item he wanted is sold out, then fighting the mobs online and getting the same result. However, as befits a man with De Lima’s joyful heart, he ends his tale of woe with a hearty “Merry Christmas.”
“Black Friday” is available for free as a download at De Lima’s website, but a payment of any amount supports his nonprofit Frank De Lima Student Enrichment Program — and Frazier will certainly appreciate the composer royalties.
Visit frankdelima.com or email frankdelima@hotmail.com.
