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COURTESY KEALA RECORDS
“Across the Sea” features the musicianship of Greg Sardinha, Tsun-Hui Hung and Jeff Peterson.
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“ACROSS THE SEA”
Greg Sardinha, Tsun-Hui Hung and Jeff Peterson
(Keala Records)
One of the unanswerable questions about the evolution of Hawaiian music is why Hawaiian musicians adopted and adapted some haole (non-Hawaiian) instruments and not others. The guitar, piano, acoustic “stand up” bass and the Portuguese instrument that became the ukulele all were adopted as integral parts of Hawaiian music, but the cuatro, a four-string Puerto Rican instrument similar to the guitar, did not. The first Chinese immigrants came to Hawaii more than 200 years ago, but Chinese musical instruments never crossed over into Hawaiian music. Until now, that is. A talented trio of Hawaii residents is blending Hawaiian and Chinese traditions with “Across the Sea.”
Tsun-Hui Hung plays the erhu, also known as “the two-string Chinese fiddle,” a folk instrument with a history that goes back more than 1,000 years. Greg Sardinha is one of the few “A-list” Hawaiian steel guitarists working in Hawaii. Multi-Hoku Award-winning ki hoalu (slack key) guitarist Jeff Peterson also has formal training in the jazz and classical genres; Peterson participated in an earlier cross-cultural project when he recorded three albums playing ki hoalu with Hawaii-born shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) master Riley Lee.
Peterson, Hung and Sardinha make a great first impression with “Royal Hawaiian Hotel.” The violin was much more prominent in Hawaiian music 100 years ago than it is today, so Hung’s erhu fits in smoothly on an instantly recognizable melody. Other island standards — “Waika,” “Keawaiki” and “Pua Lililehua” — are also imaginatively arranged in ways that emphasize their Hawaiian origins. On several other songs the tones and textures of the erhu come through more assertively and underscore the fresh sound of the Chinese instrument.
The trio also includes melodies from China and Japan, an original by Peterson and a tune co-written by Sardinha and Hung.
Liner notes describing the musicians’ credentials and the uniqueness of their precedent-setting partnership complete the project.
Note: Hung, Peterson and Sardinha are celebrating with a CD release party at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Uncle’s Fish Market & Grill at Pier 38, 1135 N. Nimitz Highway.
Visit kealarecords.com.
