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Island Mele
Friday, December 29, 2000
R.J. Kaneao steps
beyond JawaiianFlipside:
By R.J. Kaneao (Island Heat IHCD2002-2)If R.J. Kaneao isn't already getting major play on Hawaii's " island music" radio stations he certainly should be. Kaneao occasionally dabbles with a faux-Jamaican accent but he does an excellent job musically on a full album of original songs. Most have a solid reggae orientation but Kaneao writes and sings modern island pop as well. Several tunes establish him as a romantic guy with a knack for crafting basic love songs while his beautiful "Hawaii Calls To Me" should already be the theme of a visitor industry ad campaign.
Bailey "Bubble Meister" Matsuda leads the tight studio band behind him; the group provides smooth support throughout. Kaneao will be of primary interest to Jawaiian fans but he has broader musical visions.
Email: isleheat@aol.com
MP3 Audio Clips:
Quicktime | RealPlayer | MPEG-3 info
By Ke 'Ope Ono (Island Groove Productions IGPD2010)This sextet has a repertoire that defies easy labeling. Ke 'Ope Ono introduces itself with six originals performed in styles ranging from calypso-lite to acoustic pop; several are earnest odes to various family members and of interest mostly to the families. The title song is a calypso-vibe salute to the meals on wheels industry and includes a trite bit of dialect humor. A straight and crisp treatment of "Hualalai" adds a welcome Hawaiian sense of place to the collection.
Three pop chart remakes are done as basic cover band material but reflect the fact that Ke 'Ope Ono is a band that plays parties "both corporate and personal." This album is not likely to get much local radio play despite "Hualalai" but is certainly a fine advertising vehicle for the band's professional services.
http://ono.hypermart.net
MP3 Audio Clips:
Quicktime | RealPlayer | MPEG-3 info
By various artists (Hula CDHCS-920A)These recordings were already classics when this album was released on vinyl in 1981. They capture the ambiance of the long-running "Hawaii Calls" radio show and the world-wide popularity of traditional hapa-haole music performed by stars including Alfred Apaka, Nina Keali'iwahamana and Haunani Kahalewai. The packaging and annotation provide little information on the history of the recordings or the artists but most "Hawaii Calls" fans already have that information.
http://www.whawaiicalls.com
MP3 Audio Clips:
Alfred Apaka
Nina Kali'iwahamana
Haunani Kahalewai
Quicktime | RealPlayer | MPEG-3 info
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.
