Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on January 17, 2019 • Updated on January 17, 2019 at 5:51 pm
Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on January 17, 2019 • Updated on January 17, 2019 at 5:51 pm
Kevin Chang made a significant contribution to the Hawaiian music scene with his band, Kuap’aina. Now he’s back, 15 years later, as a solo artist.
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Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on January 10, 2019 • Updated on January 10, 2019 at 5:59 pm
Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on January 10, 2019 • Updated on January 10, 2019 at 5:59 pm
A new anthology of recordings by the Honolulu Students, aka Royal Hawaiian Troubadours, are among the earliest commercially made recordings of Hawaiian music known to exist.
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Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on December 13, 2018 • Updated on December 13, 2018 at 5:43 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on December 13, 2018 • Updated on December 13, 2018 at 5:43 pm
“Marketplace,” the first album of Cyril Pahinui’s music to be released after his death, was already on the way when the multi-Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning slack key master died last month.
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Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on November 29, 2018 • Updated on November 29, 2018 at 5:05 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on November 29, 2018 • Updated on November 29, 2018 at 5:05 pm
If the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts has a Na Hoku Hanohano Award category for comedy albums in 2019, Joe Kingston’s “Love Doll” will certainly be a front-runner.
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Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on November 22, 2018 • Updated on November 23, 2018 at 4:13 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on November 22, 2018 • Updated on November 23, 2018 at 4:13 pm
Hawaii recording artists aren’t releasing Christmas albums at the rate they did 10 or 20 years ago, so Kuana Torres Kahele’s beautifully packaged CD is a welcome seasonal treat. Also, Lee Gonsalves speaks eloquently of the plight of Hawaii’s homeless.
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Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on November 15, 2018 • Updated on November 18, 2018 at 7:25 am
Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on November 15, 2018 • Updated on November 18, 2018 at 7:25 am
Forty-five years after Malani Bilyeu, Mackey Feary, D.J. Pratt and Kirk Thompson founded Kalapana, the group stands next to Cecilio & Kapono as one of the two biggest Hawaii recording acts of the 1970s.
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Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on October 25, 2018 • Updated on October 26, 2018 at 5:54 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on October 25, 2018 • Updated on October 26, 2018 at 5:54 pm
With the release of “Ua Ko, Ua ‘Aina” earlier this month, multi-Hoku Award-winners Keauhou complete a three-year, three-album musical voyage. Also, Maui resident Kaleo Phillips makes a solid first impression with his debut album.
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Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on October 18, 2018 • Updated on October 18, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on October 18, 2018 • Updated on October 18, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Old-time island recording artist Alan Thomas makes a welcome return to the local music scene, and Wade Cambern and Tsun-Hui Hung present standards from several locales.
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Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on September 27, 2018 • Updated on September 27, 2018 at 5:20 pm
Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on September 27, 2018 • Updated on September 27, 2018 at 5:20 pm
Elijah Sky, 27, a member of the celebrated musical Farden ohana, is stepping out as a solo artist in Hawaii after several years working with a reggae group in California.
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Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on September 20, 2018 • Updated on September 20, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on September 20, 2018 • Updated on September 20, 2018 at 5:14 pm
There’s an unmentioned note of irony in the title of the new album “Ukulele Hula” as ukulele master Herb Ohta Jr., explores several generations of songs popular with halau hula.
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Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on September 13, 2018 • Updated on September 13, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on September 13, 2018 • Updated on September 13, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Jake Shimabukuro leads a large group of musicians and vocalists on an imaginative musical odyssey that spans several genres of contemporary music.
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Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on September 6, 2018 • Updated on September 9, 2018 at 10:09 pm
Review by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on September 6, 2018 • Updated on September 9, 2018 at 10:09 pm
“The Songs of C&K” is a compilation recorded by a younger generation of artists, with each providing their own twist on classic Cecilio and Kapono tunes.
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Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on August 23, 2018 • Updated on August 26, 2018 at 11:25 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on August 23, 2018 • Updated on August 26, 2018 at 11:25 pm
Rather than rework compositions from the Great American Jazz Songbook, or test the market for original melodies, saxaphone player Jason Gay is introducing listeners to songs written or co-written by Chinese composers.
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Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com on August 9, 2018 • Updated on August 9, 2018 at 6:06 pm
Reviews by John Berger jberger@staradvertiser.com Posted on August 9, 2018 • Updated on August 9, 2018 at 6:06 pm
Kalani Pe‘a made history early in 2017 when he became the first Hawaii-resident recording artist to win a Grammy Award since Hawaiian music was absorbed by the catch-all Regional Roots Music category.
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