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“Kawili” Various artists, (Hawai‘i Institute of Philippine Studies)
In the 19th century, Hawaiians adopted and adapted many non-Hawaiian musical instruments. The most influential were the guitar, from which came “ki ho‘alu” (slack key) and the steel guitar, and the Portuguese instrument known variously as the “braguinha” and the “machete,” which evolved into the ukulele. In the 20th century this crossover stopped.
The “cuatro,” a guitarlike instrument brought here by Puerto Rican immigrants in the first years of the 20th century, could have become part of Hawaiian music but didn’t. There was also no adoption and adaptation of musical instruments from Japan, Korea or the Philippines.
With “Kawili” — a collection of recordings by Keauhou, Ei Nei, Na Wai ‘Eha members Kahikina and Kalanikini Juan, steel guitarist Jeff Au Hoy and other Hawaii residents — co-producers Lance D. Collins and Zachary A. Lum present 11 songs from the Philippines rearranged as Hawaiian music and with their Ilokano, Tagalog or Visayan lyrics translated into Hawaiian. Collins and Lum explain in the liner notes that “Kawili” spelled with a kahako over the “a” translates as “the act of mixing, blending, ensnaring of birds, entwining, interweaving.”
Au Hoy is the featured musician on two instrumentals; he also joins Ei Nei on a zesty arrangement of “Ho‘opohaku/Pamulinawen.” A female vocal trio and cellist Anna Callner share credit for an exquisite rendition of a song titled “Dandansoy” that transcends language barriers. Ukulele virtuoso Bryan Tolentino sits in with Keauhou on a beautiful treatment of “He Aloha Wau ia ‘Oe/Dungdungenkanto.”
The final two songs reverse the process with Ilokano translations of “Aloha ‘Oe” and “Hawai‘i Aloha.”
The translators — Lum, his brother, Nicholas K. Lum, Collins and Lilia Quindoza Santiago — describe their work this way: “While the lyrics to some songs incorporate a more direct translation, other songs received a revised theme, reflected in the ‘translated’ lyrics. These revisions emerged as an appropriate modification that served to respect and adhere to the conventions and norms of mele as a cultural practice. The resulting collection of mele celebrates a new, hybridized expression that only exists in its sum of two proud cultures and their people.”
Sales benefit the Refugee & Immigration Law Clinic at the William S. Richardson School of Law and the Ilokano Language and Literature Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Visit facebook.com/kawilimusic2021.
“Dark Lady” Storm, (Tin Idol Productions)
Three-time Na Hoku Hanohano Award winners Storm opened 2021 with their metal rock remake of Cher’s 1974 chart-topping hit, “Dark Lady.” The first-person account of a woman who catches her lover with another woman and kills them both is a good fit for the group given the general darkness of metal rock.
Storm vocalist Sandy Essman makes the rock song her own, and the group adds another successful remake to its repertoire.
Visit reverbnation.com/storm808.
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