Island Mele: Kahele’s “Kakuhihewa” is magnificent new music

“Kakuhihewa (Music for the Hawaiian Islands Vol. 7)”

Kuana Torres Kahele

(Kuana Torres Kahele)

In 2014 — citing what he saw as a lack of new songs for hula performance — Kuana Torres Kahele made an unprecedented commitment. He would record six albums of newly written songs about the seven inhabited major islands.

When residents of Molokai and Lanai told him emphatically that their islands deserved full-length albums of their own, Kahele expanded the series to seven — Lanai became the fifth in the series, and Molokai the sixth.

Now, with “Kakuhihewa (Music for the Hawaiian Islands Vol. 7),” the album for Oahu, the series is complete. It is a magnificent accomplishment.

There is also, perhaps, some significance, maybe even kaona (hidden meaning), in the order which the seven albums were released. The first album in the series honored the island of his birth. With the last he now honors the island that has become his second home.

One song in Vol. 7 shares his feelings for his home and its surroundings. Two others describe the beauty of Manoa Valley and Nuuanu. A fourth is a musical journey to some of his favorite places elsewhere on Oahu; it is couched in terms that suggest that it is about more than sight-seeing.

“Kalihi” celebrates the hidden beauty in a part of Honolulu that Kahele aptly describes as “an over-urbanized area.” In it he recalls “the famed fish ponds of another time.”

Kahele and producer/engineer Dave Tucciarone open the album with a blockbuster arrangement of “Ka‘ohanakupaokamaka,” written in 2015 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Kamaka Ukulele Company. Kahele compares the family to the koa trees of Hawaii; Tucciarone brings the Hawaiian percussion to the front of the arrangement in ear-catching style without overwhelming the other instruments and Kahele’s multi-tracked vocals.

Kahale is well known for his falsetto and uses it beautifully on most of the songs. The three that he sings in his lower vocal register add variety. The last of the three, “Manoaakalani,” is a mesmerizing conclusion to Kahele’s five year journey.

As with previous albums in the series, Kahele sings most of the vocal parts and plays most of the musical instruments — ukulele, guitar, acoustic “stand up” bass and ipu. Jeff Au Hoy backs him on piano and steel guitar, and Imua Garza plays lead guitar on “Manoaakalani.” Robert Cazimero adds his distinctive voice to another song, “Kulaniloko,” and also plays pahu.

Kahele documents his music with a removable liner notes sheet that provides the lyrics, basic English translations and background information.

Visit kuanatorreskahele.com