HAROLD Kama Jr. has been best known in recent years as Willie K's bass player. This self-titled album will win him well-deserved recognition as a major talent in his own right.
All but two songs on the disc are originals; he sang almost all the vocal parts and played almost all the stringed instruments as well. (His father, percussionist Jon Porlas and Willie K sat in on several tracks; drummer Guy Moriwaki and the ubiquitous Pierre "Petelo" Grill complete the line-up.)
A song or two reflects Kama's time with Willie K - "Sweet Island Woman" and "Midnight Blues" capture the mood and ambience of classic Willie K material. However, both are catchy Kama originals; the latter is one of the album's most striking songs.
Another original, "You Got That Something," isn't quite soulful 1960s-style R&B but it's certainly an exuberant local love song far more expansive and substantial than contemporary local synth-pop. It too displays his stature as a multi-faceted vocalist, musician, writer and arranger.
Kama handles the songs of other composers with equal skill and appeal. A beautiful falsetto rendition of James Kaholokula's "Keali'i," is absolutely beautiful. Willie K's "Kamuela Cowboy" adds a bright and slightly humorous slice of Hawaiian-style country music to the collection.
A dynamic and versatile live performer as well, Kama is clearly a talent to watch.
Sultry Beat of the Pacific Marquisard (Hula Records International)
TAKE the seductive European-techno sound of Enigma's 1990 hit album, "MCMXC a.D.," and replace the Medieval Christian nuances with snippets of Tahitian percussion. The result is this successful cross-cultural musical experiment out of Tahiti.
Released here by Donald P. "Flip" McDiarmid III on his innovative Hula Records International label, the album offers another example of how recording artists elsewhere in the Pacific are exploring new ideas rather than copycatting other cultures in the "Jawaiian" mode.
The interplay between sensual French-speaking lead vocalist Sloane and the Tahitian-techno arrangements of Marquisard principals Patrice Guirao, Christina Lafon and Patrick Touitou will be most fully appreciated by French-speakers; McDiarmid and project coordinator Cindy Lance provide English translations for everyone else.