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“Metal Rabbit,” Stuart Hollinger (Baby Boy Productions)
Two-time Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner Stuart Hollinger (best rock album in 2014, 2016) is back with his fourth collection of original rock. The songs take the listener on an arc that starts in the political arena and ends with accounts of personal tragedy, heartbreak and regret.
The opener, “Great Again,” could be the words of someone on either side of the Trump/ anti-Trump schism. Hollinger and co-producer Michael Ruff include several Trump sound bites without revealing which side they favor.
The next song, “What Really Matters,” stands out from all the others with its declaration that what really matters in life is the love two people share. From there Hollinger explores a darker side of the human experience with a melancholy acoustic ballad (“Free”) that describes the desire to escape. From where, and under what circumstances, he leaves to the listener’s imagination.
The songs that follow seem to tell the story of a romantic relationship that begins with the search for “a pure-hearted spirit who will love me for who I am.” Did the narrator eventually treat the “pure-hearted spirit” badly? Consider the lyrics heard in “Fly Away,” a free-form tale of using alcohol to dull the pain of a broken heart. The final song, “I Should Have Told Her,” brings the journey to a bitter conclusion: “Here I am godforsaken covered in despair …”
Hollinger is a man who writes from the heart. This album will speak to many who are suffering from broken hearts.
Find “Metal Rabbit” on Amazon Music. For more, visit StuartHollinger.com.
“Lavender,” Lavender (Self-produced)
The contrasting textures of piano and violin are the key to this unusual album by Big Island residents Elizabeth Sekona Robinson and Gary Washburn. Robinson is a lifelong Big Island resident with 11 years of classical training. Washburn is a musician, composer and educator, and the director of the Honokaa High School Jazz Band. He is also the composer of nine of the 12 songs on the duo’s debut album.
The three songs selected from outside Washburn’s body of work fit in nicely with the originals. “Meditation,” written by French composer Jules Massenet for performance by solo violin and orchestra, is beautifully played. A Russian folk song (“Dark Eyes”) is a second imaginative choice. The duo’s treatment of Duke Ellington’s 1941 composition, “I Got It Bad (and That Ain’t Good),” is a fresh look at an American classic.
The collaboration is enhanced by a pool of guest bassists Steve Toma (electric bass), Matt Spencer (bass) and Greg Shirley (acoustic bass), and by the work of percussionists Bruce David (drums) and Michael Surprenant (drums/bongos). The guests’ contributions broaden the musical soundscape.
“Lavender” is available on iTunes and Spotify. To buy “Lavender” as a hard-copy CD, contact Washburn at gmusic114@gmail.com.
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