While you’re busy stuffing your opu with leftover mac salad from
last weekend’s baby luau, there are musicians all over the islands
churning out albums. In fact, the Hawaiian music industry seems to be
growing, much like your opu, with talk of the Grammys expanding their
Hawaiian music category to include a separate vocal category and local
music stores doubling their Hawaiian music sections. With all that’s
out there, it can be hard to know where to start. So here’s a few lists
breaking down the latest, most popular releases.
Top 5 New Albums According to DJ Shaggy at Q103
1) CHAZAR`E
TEMPTATION
“She’s from Honolulu. This is a really, really good CD. There’s some
reggae, some hip hop, some R&B—it’s kind of like Hawaiian R&B.
Right now I am playing [on the radio] ‘Life’s Not Fair,’ which she does
with Tribal Seeds—a popular reggae band from San Diego.” —Faith Music
Int’l 2007
2) EKOLU
EKOLU MUSIC
This one’s been out for a while but it’s just one of those classic
albums that’ll always be popular. Another classic Ekolu. [And it won
the 2006 Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Reggae Album of the Year. – Ed.]
—Waiehu Records 2005
3) SAM*SON
LET MY PEOPLE DANCE
“He is a Samoan singer from Honolulu but now out of Las Vegas. He
does a cover of Cheers, and the two popular songs are ‘Wherever I Go’
and ‘Polynesian Girl.’ —Pacific Rhythm 2006
4) VARIOUS ARTISTS
RSP VOL. ONE
“This is Rubbah Slippah Productions, with Ryan Hiraoka, his brother
Shane and some other people. The three singles we get the most requests
for are ‘Live Everyday’ with Ryan, ‘Your Love’ with Maelan Abran, and
‘I’m Thinking About You’ with Preston De Luz.” —Rubbah Slippah
Productions LLC 2007
5) TIE: CONSCIOUS HEALING’S CONSCIOUS HEALING (2006) and CHRIS OANA’S WOLVES (2004)
“Chris Oana’s album is really good—people still call almost daily
for ‘Every Day,’ a nice little love song. But so he, along with Brad
Kahikina and Curtis Piligrin, are the original songwriters of this Maui
band, then added a horn section and became Conscious Healing. Their big
song everybody asks for is ‘Give Me the Roots.’” — Base-2 Records LLC
Top 5 New Releases on AlohaJoe.com Internet Radio
1) SONYA MENDEZ
BACK TO THE ISLANDS
The lovely Sonya Mendez, seen in lei and hugging a doggie, is the
rare triple threat: recording artist, dancer and actress. Of course,
she is also the president of the Rotary Club of Kapolei and the
co-founder of the Well of Hope Foundation, which is raising money to
dig a well in a remote Ethiopian village. And her global consciousness
extends to her music as well—Mendez once fronted a Latin-jazz group
called Worldwide Groove, which seems to have influenced her
long-awaited, jazzy Latin-flavored album Back to the Islands. —2007
2) CODY PUEO PATA
HE ALOHA
As a person and as a performer, Cody Pueo Pata is a unique
combination of contemporary and traditional. As a member of Native
American and Hawaiian communities, Pata has learned the language,
chants and dances of both cultures—becoming his Northern California’s
Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians tribe’s linguistic compiler and holder
of songs and ceremonies, as well as kumu hula, haku mele and winner of
the Frank B. Shaner falsetto contest in 1999 in Hawai`i. Pata says he
strives to maintain a balance between the spiritual and physical
worlds, believing that the spiritual affects the physical. And he loves
Cap ‘N Crunch cereal. This album is the follow-up to his multi-Na Hoku
Hanohano nominated first release. —Ululoa Productions 2007
3) LEDWARD KA`APANA
GRANDMASTER OF THE SLACK KEY GUITAR
Hawai`i’s legendary master of the slack key guitar and `ukulele,
Ledward Ka`apana garnered a Grammy nomination for Grandmaster of the
Slack Key Guitar in 2006. Most people would say it’s about
time—Ka`apana’s been in the biz for more than 40 years. He’s also an
accomplished player of autoharp, bass, steel guitar, as well as
baritone and falsetto singing, which he utilizes on about half of the
songs on this critically acclaimed recording. Although his solo album
didn’t get the award last year, Ka`apana was featured on the one that
did—Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Vol. 1. —Rhythm and Roots
Records 2006
4) HO`OMALIE
ONLY YOU
Ho`omalie is a group of well-established musicians including Zanuck
Lindsey, Kimo Hussey, John Enos and Lopaka Ho`opi`i. Collectively, they
cite influences ranging from funky, modern jazz to the Doobie Brothers
to traditional Hawaiian, resulting in a debut album that is both
swinging and soothing, featuring four-part vocal harmonies and
imaginative rhythms. —Ho`okupu Records 2006
5) BRITTNI PAIVA
BRITTNI
Called the “slack key supergirl” after winning a Na Hoku Hanohano
“Most Promising Artist Award” in 2005 for her debut recording, Brittni
Paiva released a second CD, which was nominated for two Hokus the next
year. Now at the ripe old age of 18, Paiva may have just graduated from
high school at home, but she’s been exploring the world’s genres
through her `ukulele—from classical to modern, Latin to Hungarian—along
with the help of a few notable musicians: bassists Nathan Aweau and
Shawn Pimental, Ryan Hiroaki Tsukamoto on violin, Dan Del Negro on
keys, Wendell Ching on drums and even a duet with Melveen Leed.
—Brittni Paiva 2006
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