Vaughan continues
prideful workKaulana Na Pua Vol. 2: Palani Vaughan & the King's Own (Na Kahili Productions)
PALANI Vaughan was a Hawaiian nationalist long before Hawaiian nationalism was fashionable. His Hoku-winning "Ia'oe E Ka La" albums commemorated King Kalakaua's struggle to preserve the freedom of the Hawaiian people and refuted the racist canard that Kalakaua had been a dissolute monarch. The "Kaulana Na Pua" series restates many of the same themes in the same instantly recognizable style but brings the story into the modern era.
Topics include the construction of the first traditional Hawaiian double-hulled voyaging canoe in centuries, the exploits of paniolo in Wyoming, the beauty of romantic love, and his fatherly pride in daughter Ka'ilihiwa (Miss Aloha Hula 1995). Six panels of almost microscopic annotation share the history and cultural significance of the songs.
Vaughan's blending of "Ka Ipo Lei Manu" with "I Will Always Love You" and "Unchained Melody" is masterful. Queen Kapiolani wrote of her love for Kalakaua - but he died on the mainland and never heard it. Dolly Parton's composition has some similar sentiments, but Vaughan's use of "Unchained Melody" draws on cultural references that didn't exist when the song first charted in 1955 or when Phil Spector produced the definitive Righteous Brothers version in 1965. Pop culture memories of the 1990 film tearfest "Ghost" create the crucial connection.
Kanaka Ki Ho'alu: Nolan Ha'o (Waiaka Records)
NOLAN Ha'o was an original member of Ho'aikane while the quartet recorded three albums of unpretentious Big Island slack-key for Ken Kahanu Post in the mid-1980s. When Kahanu Records imploded, the quartet signed with John Kahale Chang and morphed almost immediately into local pseudo Jamaicans. One member quit at that point; another soon followed. Ha'o and Walter "Ace" Tavares skanked on through two more Jawaiian albums with Chang and three Jawaiian-rap albums for another label.
This album brings Ha'o and Tavares full circle. It contains all nine songs from the first Kahanu album, "The Ho 'aikanes Presents Nolan Hao Ki Ho'alu...On The Back Porch," and two songs from the later Kahanu albums. The liner notes don't make clear whether Ha'o and Tavares reunited with Russell and John Mauga to painstakingly duplicate the recordings of 12 years ago or if producer Tavares is rereleasing part of the out of print Kahanu catalog. Slack-key fans will be happy to have this music on disc; those who remember the original quartet and bassist Richard "Dicky Boy" Kamai will be hoping for a reunion.
See Record Reviews for some of John Berger's past reviews.
See Aloha Worldwide for locals living away.
John Berger, who has covered the local
entertainment scene since 1972, writes reviews of recordings
produced by Hawaii artists. See the Star-Bulletin's Home Zone
section on Fridays for the latest reviews.
