“Tales of the Fruit Stand Mystic” — Kanekoa
(Self-published)

Kanekoa is a quartet with the potential to bring something creative and new to local music. Two of the four — Vince Esquire and Kaulana Kanekoa — play ukulele. A third, Don Lopez, plays a Kala brand uBass, a hybrid acoustic-electric instrument described as a combination of a baritone ukulele and a conventional bass guitar. None of them plays guitar, although Lopez plays a conventional electric bass as well as the uBass. Travis Rice (drums/percussion) completes the lineup. They all sing, and eight of the nine songs on this recording are originals.

Two songs — “Hypnotized” and “Everyday Runaway” — show how the quartet can sound in its pure form with just the two ukuleles, uBass and percussion. It is a promising new approach to contemporary island music.

Kanekoa plays it safe elsewhere and adds other instruments. A saxophonist sits in on two songs, and several other songs are arranged with a bigger and much more mainstream Jawaiian/“island music” sound. There is also an expansive musical suite titled “Nahiku” that brings to mind the psychedelic album tracks of the late 1960s.

The quartet closes with an inspired remake of an Eagles classic, “The Last Resort.” Glenn Frey and Don Henley were writing about the plundering of California, but Kanekoa makes the song a relevant requiem for old Hawaii as well.

Visit kanekoaband.com.

“Live in Hawaii” — Deems Tsutakawa and Friends
(J-Town, no serial number)

Jazz keyboardist Deems Tsutakawa describes himself as a native of Seattle — his record label is based there — but his newest album was recorded here and his “friends” are Hawaii residents. That’s enough to earn the album consideration as a project of the local music industry — particularly since one of Tsutakawa’s friends, saxophonist Fred B. Li, is credited with making the recordings.

Tsutakawa, Li and the other players introduce themselves with an extended arrangement of “That’s the Way of the World” that gives all of them space to stretch out and take some time in the spotlight. The group also does nicely with its arrangements of “The World is a Ghetto” and a medley that appends “El Mar” to “Europa.”

Tsutakawa also includes two originals. “Tough Tofu” has been a musical signature for him for three decades. “Friendly Man” is a bit more recent; it dates from 1991.

The one thing the album could have but doesn’t have is much sense of being a “live” recording. Tsutakawa is heard faintly introducing “Tough Tofu” as the closing number of a set at the ‘Iolani School Carnival, but other than that these recordings are free of crowd noise. With this music, that’s not a bad thing.

Visit deemsmusic.com.