‘Pride’ teams
newcomers with starsKCCN FM 100 Presents Pride of the Islands: various (KCCNl)
KCCN's Pride of the Island contest premieres new talent and previously unrecorded songs. The grand prize winner is the top vote-getter overall out of six categories: male vocalist, female vocalist, group vocals, slack-key, ukulele, and best vocal performance by a songwriter. Producers Michael Kelly, Rhoda Ann Kihikihi and Kenneth Makuakane asked last year's winners for a wish list of local stars they'd like to record duets with. The stars could have claimed their managers wouldn't let them do it, but this is Hawaii and everyone supported the project.
Kelly Boy DeLima jams with Francis Kalamau (Ukulele/Grand Prize). Gary Haleamau joins Lopaka Ho'opi''i on a beautiful rendition of "Kupa Landing," and Jonathan Castillo (Slack Key) trades licks with Led Kaapana.
All the duets are remakes. The originals cover a wide range of music. Ho'opi' won male vocalist with a beautiful falsetto rendition of "E Hua" by John Clark. Trace Hinckley's "My Promise To You" tells of her love for her daughter and was the winning original song sung by the composer. Conventional love songs won for Unique (Group Vocals) and Sherry Fox (Female Vocal); Castillo wrote "Carla's Lullaby Tune" for his fiancee.
Darlene Ahuna, Sean Na'auao and Jeff Rasmusson sing with Fox, Unique and Hinckley respectively. Lyrics and artist information complete the package. Part of the proceeds benefit Punana Leo O Hawai'i and Adult Friends For Youth.
Youthman: Jesse Dawn & The Kind (World Changing Records)
An annoying thing about much "Jawaiian" music is its cultural obliviousness. There was never much risk in denouncing apartheid from 12,000 miles away, and imitating Jamaicans doesn't show much pride in one's own culture. Addressing relevant local issues like sovereignty, water rights, land use and destruction of culturally significant sites by foreign developers is another story.
Those are the topics that Big Island resident Dawn addresses with an assist from Brudda Walta Aipolani. The duo distills their messages to sound-bite size -- "Colonial thinking poisons our 'aina" and "We try to find solutions but they offer more pollutions." Use of Hawaiian words and phrases reinforces that the sense that this is original Hawaiian reggae and not vacuous rasta wannabe stuff.
Dawn attacks irradiated food in "Radiated Deadfood Kaka" ("We ask for answers/They give us cancer") and shares his philosophy on longevity and healthy living in the title song. The melodies and arrangements are simple but Dawn and his band make their point.
See Record Reviews for some of John Berger's past reviews.
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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.
