The legend, the THE FIRST SONG on Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's new album is a rehearsal tape of "Mona Lisa" that ends with IZ saying, "Try call my wife."
voice, ever strong
Four years after his death,
'Bruddah IZ' sings againJohn Berger
jberger@starbulletin.comThat song is just one of 13 previously unreleased and "enhanced arrangements" of local favorites compiled on "Alone in IZ World," which will be in stores Tuesday and will likely be the blockbuster album of the year in Hawaii.
Nat King Cole made the wistful song of love popular back in 1950, but IZ's seemingly casual version casts an original spell, with no one more affected than IZ's wife, Marlene."Before he came home he'd call to see if we needed anything, or he'd call me and say, 'Try listen, Ma," and I listen in. I don't hear that any more, so when Jon (de Mello) popped that track on for me I was like, 'Right on! I needed that.' It draws me right back," she said.
"Not that I'd forget, but it's put away in my heart -- the good times and the memories -- so when Jon played it, it draws me right back. That's him! It's a very personal album for me -- you can hear him breathing -- and it's just so real."
She describes the album as "a personal thing for the family and friends that we can share with the public."
"Alone in IZ World"
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - BBCD 5907
(Big Boy/The Mountain Apple Co.)
MP3 Audio Clips:
Mona Lisa
Quicktime | RealPlayer | MPEG-3 info
http://www.mountainapplecompany.com De Mello, who produced IZ's previous four albums, shares her feelings. "I feel complete about the project. I feel it's a very definitive work of Israel. I think it's a bigger picture than any of his other albums from all of the pieces of Israel's life than made him Israel.""Alone in IZ World" is the next step in a larger-than-life, stronger-than-death career. As local recording artists go, IZ's popularity was second to none, first as a member of the Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau and then as a solo artist. IZ shared 13 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards with Louis "Moon" Kauakahi and John and Jerome Koko as a member of the Makaha Sons; he received seven as a solo artist, including a 1997 win as Favorite Entertainer of the Year by public vote. Along with his primary appeal as a singer and quick-witted storyteller, IZ was an accomplished ukulele player.
His albums with de Mello -- "Facing Future," "E Ala E," "N Dis Life" and "IZ in Concert" -- have been popular wherever Hawaiian music is heard. He's become even more popular and more visible outside Hawaii since his death in 1997. His songs have been heard on movie soundtracks (most notably perhaps in "Meet Joe Black"), national television shows and ad campaigns. And now with the release of the posthumous "Alone in IZ World" IZ's worldwide reputation can only be solidified.
The new album received an unprecedented promotional boost when almost every radio station in Hawaii, 45 to 50 of them, from all-talk to rock, broke format and played "Mona Lisa" at 7:15 a.m. Sept. 7.
Playlists at local radio stations are being formatted even more tightly these days, but Hawaiian radio veteran Randy Hudnall played all 13 songs off the album during his afternoon-drive show on KCCN Hawaiian KINE 105 last Tuesday."They were overcome," Hudnall said of listeners who called in. Hudnall also took some of IZ's comments on the unlisted 14th track and created his own remix, adding them to IZ's version of "Starting All Over Again."
"(Listeners) were calling about all the songs, but we got a lot of requests for 'Starting All Over Again' and 'Kaleohana,' too. I'm not sure when the last time was where I could play an entire album on the air, but (the station's management) let me do it," Hudnall said.
With that sort of pre-release action, it's not surprising that local record stores have been receiving calls for weeks. Matt Koenig, product director of Tower Records Hawaii and general manager of its Keeaumoku Street store, says it's a no-brainer.
"Facing Future" (released in 1993) is still in our Top 10, and it's been up there in sales ever since it came out, so you know this one is going to sell."
"Every time we have any new IZ CD, it sells well," said Wal-Mart regional manager Tom Munson. "All of his old ones sell very well and are some of our top sellers."
Les Honda, area marketing manager for Borders Books and Music Hawaii, said the chain's six Hawaii stores, as well outlets on the mainland, are looking forward to the release. IZ's CDs will be in Borders' holiday catalog, mailed to more than 2 million people, Honda said. "Something about Israel's music brings a sense of peace and a quality of hope. This new CD is really refreshing."
Given the tragic events on the mainland last week, Honda said, the CD is coming out at a good time. "His music gives us all a sense of hope and adds to the quality of our lives. Whenever I hear 'Starting All Over Again,' I can't help but see the visual images of the devastation in New York. It's certain songs like this that will inspire people and give us hope for the future."
Although "Alone in IZ World" is the fifth IZ album for producer de Mello, he says that working on it was a unique experience (IZ's first solo album, "Ka'anoi," was recorded and released in 1990 when he was still a member of the Makaha Sons).
"It was a little eerie for me because I've never done a project as a producer without an artist, so I was alone in Israel's world, trying to interpret his purity and his music though me," de Mello said.
"It was a little scary, but I moved right into it and found some nice chunks of music right away -- but it was very emotional. There was Israel, talking to me and communicating to me in his wonderful manner of laughter and jokes.
"There were times I'd say, 'Israel, what would you do?' and I would walk away from the recording console, and three minutes later it would be like a bolt of lightning. The decision-making was magical, it was spiritual. It was Israel talking through me so much of the time. I was just engulfed in the project and everywhere I turned, there was Israel."The album exists only because de Mello made it standard procedure to have tape rolling whenever IZ was in the studio. De Mello usually sat with him in the studio instead of working from the control booth as producers usually do.
"I just wanted to be touchable to Israel. It was like a comfort zone for both of us. I wanted it to be informal and comfortable, and we could talk. It worked out real well that way with Israel.
"My standard way of recording Israel was that, any time he was in the building, I had a production tape going. As soon as the tape ran out, we put in another tape. This was going on while we were doing all the multi-track recordings. The production tapes had everything -- all his conversations with me, with the band, the warm-ups, the tunings, the jokes. They showed the atmosphere in the studio. The production tapes show the actual rehearsals all the way up to the one we used.
"After the band left, Israel and I would continue to talk and the second engineer would continue to record those production tapes."
De Mello says he and IZ might talk about ideas for songs or what they planned to work on the next day. The recording of "Mona Lisa" came out of one of those conversations. IZ roughed it out and he and de Mello expected to continue working on it the next day. That session was canceled for some reason, but IZ's demo versions from the night before were on one of the production tapes.
"There were probably seven or eight songs that we did rehearsals of but never got back into the studio to finish them up. Another one is 'Ahe Wela/Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.' We were listening to the song on playback and he started singing the second part and the engineer was fast enough to record it."
De Mello started going through the countless hours of production tapes and other materials last November, looking at the "blueprints" of the various recording sessions. The concept of the album came to him as he worked.
"I wanted this to be the real Israel. He was music, but the real Israel was more than the music. It was humor, it was Hawaiian, it was his own language, his own communication skills. His own way of thinking. He lived in a totally different world, and so when it came to putting those pieces together, I wanted to leave that world of his intact."
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