Kahumoku pays tribute to his grandma with classic slack key stylings

“TUTU’S FAVORITE SONGS”

George Kahumoku Jr. (Kealia Farms)

George Kahumoku returns to the music of his childhood with this collection of songs that he grew up listening to in the early 1950s. He plays them in what might be called “the real old style”: slack key guitar and vocals, no extras and no add-ons.

Some of the songs go back to the late 1800s. “La ‘Elima” describes what happened when a tsunami struck Milolii on Hawaii island in 1868. Some were written by Kalakaua or Likelike; some are so old that the composer’s name is no longer known. The newest are by Helen Desha Beamer, Lena Machado and John K. Almeida — all of them now considered classics.

The four songs presented as instrumentals display Kahumoku’s technique as a practitioner of ki hoalu. Three others show his skill as an arranger and song stylist; “Green Rose Hula,” “Ku‘u Ipo i ka He‘e Pu‘e One” and “Makalapua” have been recorded countless times, but Kahumoku’s treatment of each is memorable.

Kahumoku personalizes the album with stories about the things his grandmother enjoyed, and what it was that made these songs her favorites. He dedicates the album to “the people who nurtured, mentored and molded me” and thereby made him the successful entertainer and entrepreneur he is today.

Visit kahumoku.com.

“MIKE VICTORINO PRESENTS… 30 YEAR COMMEMORATIVE COLLECTION”

Various Artists (Johnny “Sweetbread” Productions)

McKinley High grad Mike Victorino looks back at three decades as a recording artist with this economically packaged collection of clips from projects dating from 1989 through 2005. Victorino, 58, has been sidelined recently with health problems — he’s recovering from a stroke — and most of his work is hard to find even secondhand, so this could introduce him to a new generation of local music fans.

Victorino held dual identities as a recording artist. As Mike Victorino he was the leader, lead vocalist and bass player of the Loco Moco Band. As Johnny “Sweet Bread” or Johnny “Sweetbread,” with quotation marks part of the name, he performed as a “Portagee” joke teller — his first album in that format was titled “Favorite Jokes That Everybody Knows.”

This collection is primarily musical in content with a couple of Johnny “Sweet Bread” cuts at the end. It also contains two tracks from a project by Hilo resident Ricky Wayne Shelton.

Visit facebook.com/mike.victorino.92.