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Island Mele
Find amounts to time
capsule of isle music"Limited Edition (Vol. 1)"
By Peter Dillingham with Bill Akamuhou and his Nautical Hawaiians (Peter Pam PPR-3)PETER Dillingham recorded 12 songs playing steel guitar with Bill Akamuhou's band in 1947, took the masters home, and forgot about them.
Dillingham found them in a closet at home earlier this year and compiled them with the help of Keith Haugen and Dunbar Wakayama of Audio Media.
The sound is typical of recordings 50 years ago. Audiophiles will find the electronic restoration below the standards set by HanaOla's rereleases, but overall, this is a tremendous find for fans of Territorial Era music.
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Peter Pam Records, P.O. Box 3436, Honolulu, HI 96801
By various artists (Oki Leo Productions OLP-1635)HAROLD "H-Dawg" Kama Jr. brought in Fiji to add soul to this anthology by three Big Island acts. Fiji ends up being the album's dominant talent.
A Jawaiian remake of "The Way You Do the Things You Do" isn't even an original idea and weaker than the remake it copies. Kahikina's "Standing In the Rain" is much more interesting as bar-band fodder, while a good rearrangement of Kuhio Blend's "8 Seconds" would make that country-lite song worthy of radio play.
Kama is at his best with "Oh My Tears" as he eschews a reggae pose and evokes the sound of his impressive 1996 debut album.
No translations of the Hawaiian songs are provided but the liner notes -- white letters on a busy, multi-colored background -- is almost illegible anyway.
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Harold "H-Dawg" Kama Jr. and Fiji
Kuhio Blend
Kahikina
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http://www.nahenahe.net/cronies/
By various artists (No label HUOA2000)OKINAWANS in Hawaii have been active in promoting their culture in recent years. The United Okinawan Association of Hawaii produced this two-disc album to mark the centennial of Okinawan immigration. It includes 10 tracks from an obscure 1988 cassette.
Anyone familiar with their Okinawan heritage will enjoy the music, performed with a mix of Western and Asian instruments such as the taiko, koto (zitherlike instrument) and sanshin (stringed instrument), but the producers give non-Okinawans no information about the significance of the 32 selections. Which are traditional? Which are modern? Such information is vital if others are to learn about this culture.
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United Okinawan Association, 94-587 Ukee St., Waipahu, HI 96797
Telephone 808-676-5400
See Record Reviews for some 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 Today
section on Fridays for the latest reviews.
