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From livestreaming performances with virtual tip jars to socially distant outdoor concerts, Hawaii recording artists have come up with innovative ways over the past year to bring their music to the community.
Many used the imposed break from indoor concert spaces and life on the road as an opportunity to focus on creating new music. And while it’s common to release download-only projects, digital music files cannot be autographed.
Lucky for music lovers, in-person concerts are slowly returning and, so too, will opportunities for fans to get traditional CDs signed by their favorite artists.
Hawaii musicians have released a welcome number of full-length CDs in the first four months of 2021. In no particular order, here are six of them.
“Nani Wai‘ale”
Kuana Torres Kahele
(Kuana Torres Kahele)
Kuana Torres Kahele lives up to the high standards he’s known for with this superb collection of 16 modern Hawaiian songs. He sings most of them in his beautiful high falsetto voice, but on a couple he displays the warmth of his lower register. The backing vocals are Kahele as well; he also plays almost all the instruments.
Kahele’s reworking of Hawaiian standards show his skill as an arranger. His originals reaffirm his place as one of the leading Hawaiian songwriters of his generation.
Kahele documents his work with a liner-notes booklet that includes the Hawaiian lyrics, English translations and notes each selection’s significance. Kahele’s attention to these details makes the album an excellent introduction to his work — and to the nuances of Hawaiian music.
Info: kuanatorreskahele.com
“Aloha Ku‘u Hawai‘i Aloha E”
Maui Jam Band
(Maui Jam)
Al Nip is the core and leader of the aptly named Maui Jam Band. Nip is one of the group’s several vocalists; he also plays guitar, slack key guitar and ukulele in studio, and contributed two original songs. Geronimo Valdriz (steel guitar) and Wayne Purdy (bass) are the other primary musicians. Anyone searching for old-style Hawaiian music can expect to enjoy their work.
Vocalist Patti Kuwaye stars in two memorable spotlight numbers — “Hula O Makee” and “Nani Nani.” Jon Toda delivers another Hawaiian standard, “Henehene Kou Aka,” in great style. Toda sings and plays lead ukulele; Nip and Valdriz are excellent behind him.
The final song, “Lei Na Honoapi‘ilani,” is credited to Mima Apo but uses the melody composed and published as “I Left It With Jesus” by James McGranahan in 1875. In 19th-century Hawaii, it was not considered plagiarism to take a popular melody and put new words to it.
Info: Mauislackkey.com
“Inspiration”
Darrell Aquino
(Mana Recordings)
The pandemic gave Darrell Aquino the free time he needed to finish his personal statement of Christian faith. He wrote or co-wrote almost all the songs and recorded almost all the instrumental tracks himself. Five studio guests add their voices or instruments here and there across the 11-song project.
Aquino is an effective spokesman; he sings original lyrics, Scripture or the lyrics of other writers with equal sincerity. One song describes the experience of “waiting for another miracle,” another delivers its message in its title: “Live Love, Love Life.”
Aquino calls attention to the message contained in another song, “Redemption,” by delivering it with an Afro-Caribbean rhythm.
Contemporary Christian music is primarily a vehicle for Protestant theology. Keen ears will notice that Aquino draws Scripture from the Book of Mormon as well as from the Bible.
Info: DarrellAquino.com
“Waipunalei”
Kainani Kahaunaele
(Mahuahua Music)
Kainani Kahaunaele’s first album won three Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, including female vocalist of the year in 2004; her second earned her two for her Hawaiian language skills in 2011. Her third matches them in all areas. Most of the songs display her skill as a songwriter. Others show how skillfully she can personalize the work of other lyricists. The beauty of her voice makes all of them mesmerizing.
Kahaunaele opens with the title track. The lyrics tell a story inspired by a legendary romance. Her performance is an exquisite introduction to all the memorable music that follows.
Kahaunaele successfully challenges cultural expectations with two of her originals. “Kaulana Versae” includes two phrases in French and has a cocktail-lounge jazz arrangement performed by Tommy James (piano), Dean Taba (acoustic bass) and Noel Okimoto (drums) as her backing musicians. She achieves a similar result with “He Lei Aloha No Mi Nei” with Shawn Kekoa Pimental (guitar), Michael Grande (piano/ keyboards) and Kale Chang (supportive vocals).
Yes, Kainani Kahaunaele can take the Hawaiian language beyond the traditional boundaries of Hawaiian music!
Kahaunaele completes her long-awaited album with a liner-notes booklet that provides the Hawaiian lyrics, English translations and background information on the songs and the circumstances of their creation.
Info: kainanikahaunaele.com
“Mele Nahenahe”
Jeff Peterson
(Peterson Productions)
Al Masini famously taught that the best name for something is one that describes what it is. Slack key virtuoso Jeff Peterson does that here. “Mele” translates as “music” and “nahenahe” as “sweet, melodious,” and that describes the contents perfectly. Peterson’s mastery of the instrument makes this marvelous listening through all 17 original compositions.
This sweet and melodious music is a soothing antidote to the ongoing stress of everyday life.
Info: JeffPetersonGuitar.com
“Diamond Head Road”
Michael Piranha
(Michael Piranha)
Michael Piranha has been prominent for several decades on the Waikiki rock scene as the frontman of the Piranha Brothers. His second album as a solo artist shows that he has much more to offer than his successful bar band repertoire. All but one of the songs is an original. The nonoriginal is an acoustic reworking of “The Star-Spangled Banner” that he should be asked to perform when sporting events resume to their full capacity.
The originals cover an impressive diversity of genres. Friends will recognize “Victoria” as drawn from life; Piranha’s wife is Canadian, the title refers to Victoria, British Columbia.
The story behind “Sherman’s Ride” is more complicated. The lyrics describe Sherman’s March to the Sea during the Civil War as experienced by one of Sherman’s soldiers. Friends know Piranha wrote it as a response to “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” the 1969 hit by The Band about the Civil War as experienced by a Confederate citizen.
Whatever the topic, Piranha crafts memorable lyrics. Consider, for example, the woman who “ran like a devil with a saint closing in.”
Info: facebook.com/michaelpiranhamusic
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