Return to a golden era
and a golden voice"Hawaii's Golden Voice" Alfred Aholo Apaka (HanaOla)
Producers Michael Cord and Harry B. Soria Jr. provide a perfect introduction to Apaka and his music with these recordings made for Bell Records and Aloha Records in the late 1940s.
Randy Oness and Al Kealoha Perry assembled all-star combos for the sessions they produced; Apaka is backed by musicians of comparable talent.
The songs are a cross-section of popular island songs of the era. Among them are "Aloha Oe," "Haunani," "Hawaiian Hula Eyes," "To You Sweetheart, Aloha" and "Two Shadows In The Sand."
The original 78s have been out of print for almost 50 years, and HanaOla has done an excellent job of restoring and digitally remastering the surviving recordings.
Six pages of Soria's detailed annotation provide an overview of Apaka's life and explain the significance of each song.
Vintage photos show Apaka as teen-age member of the Don McDiarmid Orchestra, and at his prime as Hawaii's superlative male vocalist of the 1950s.
This album belongs in every collection of modern Hawaiian music.
John Berger, Special to the Star-Bulletin
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