WapaDuzi makes
music with verveWapaDuzi in Hawaii: By WapaDuzi (Studio Valentine)
WAPADUZI evokes memories of They Might Be Giants, Simon & Garfunkel and Steely Dan with a musical potpourri that defies easy categorization. The sound is quirky, creative, diverse. For these reasons, the album will almost certainly be ignored by Hawaii's "island music" and "adult contemporary" radio stations.
John Valentine is a multi-faceted veteran of the Waikiki scene with comparable credits as record producer and recording artist. Ian Taylor's songs are a fascinating mix of musical ideas realized with guitar, 'ukulele, acoustic steel guitar, harmonica, and an assortment of synthetic instruments.
Few local artists integrate live and synthetic instruments as smoothly or show such imagination doing remakes. The duo deconstructs Kui Lee's "Ain't No Big Thing" with a verve Lee would likely applaud.
Fresh & Primitive: By Sundrum (Goodwoman Productions)
FRENCH-Canadian drum master Séguin and his Hawaii-based international percussion ensemble incorporate a spectrum of instruments and rhythms from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. Kenny Endo guests on taiko (a Japanese drum) and bamboo flute.
The album is unique in the local record industry and a fine souvenir of an evening with the group. It would have more educational value if the annotation explained the origins of the instruments, rhythm patterns, and chanted passages.
Ke Ala Hou: By Na Kama (Kipuka)
KANILE'A Collection alumni Eric Lee and Brian Mersberg return as Na Kama. The duo's crisp acoustic arrangements, hearty harmonies and emphasis on Hawaiian language lyrics are in the best traditions of Ho'okena and the Brothers Cazimero and make this album an excellent debut. It is one of the year's best contemporary Hawaiian albums.
Bluesy undercurrents make "Ka 'Oni A Ka Moku" unique among the Hawaiian-language songs. George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun" is nicely reworked in a move outside Hawaiiana. Manu Boyd, Puakea Nogelmeier, Larry Lindsey Kimura and Hailama Farden share credit for the translations that give other songs mainstream accessibility. Deleting the synthetic string section would make it even better.
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.
