[ MAUKA-MAKAI ]
ROBERT CAZIMERO doesn't consider himself to be a kupuna, but when asked to comment about what's happening these days in island music, he speaks with the perspective that comes from having spent several decades as a major figure in modern Hawaiian music, and years of studying the language and culture of his Hawaiian ancestors.
Pushing the limits of tradition
while holding on to
their roots'85 Caz recording timeless work
By John Berger
Star-Bulletin"You have to have the foundation. You have to have the roots. I know this sounds like an old person telling a young person this, 'cause you know youth is immortality. So have fun, create, do what you want to do, but remember that there is a foundation, and if you don't have it -- if it's something that you just made up -- you might want to think about it again."
He and Roland are in the offices of the Mountain Apple Company to talk about their 24th Annual May Day concert at the Waikiki Shell on Tuesday. Yes, there was a time when the Brothers' style of Hawaiian music was criticized by some of the older Hawaiian musicians, just as Jawaiian and some Hawaiian contemporary music is questioned today. Robert admits to having pushed the envelope as a kumu hula, as well.
Featuring: The Brothers Cazimero, with guests Auntie Irmgard Aluli and Puamana MAY DAY CONCERT
In concert: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
Place: Waikiki Shell
Tickets: $23.50 reserved; $17 grass, at Blaisdell Box Office, by phone at 526-4440, or online at http://www.tickets.com or http://www.ticketsplushawaii.com.
Call: 597-1888
"I'm the last one who should talk about 'traditional' because I was always the one who was avant garde," Robert says. "After all these years, I think we can say that there'll always be someone to carry on the traditional part, and there will be those who create, and I think that's a good thing too. It says that you are part of a living culture, and that's what we want our culture to be.
"The best thing Hawaii can show the world is that we have a dance form. The best thing the world can tell Hawaii is that dance is universal. What it makes it unique is your language, and certain things that pertain perhaps to your own place in the culture, and I'm all for pretty much going for the gusto. I think that all facets of the hula -- whether it's traditional or non-traditional, or going really far out, or mixing it with ballet or mixing it with jazz, or doing a hula to a haole song --"
"It's gonna go there," Roland interjects.
"-- and let's just support it the best we can."
HULA WILL CERTAINLY be an important part of whatever the Brothers have planned for Tuesday. One of the traditions of the annual celebration is that they always feature one or more surprise guests -- anyone from Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom & Willie K to the year's newly crowned Miss Aloha Hula.
Joining Robert and Roland this year will be Auntie Irmgard and the ladies of Puamana, featuring Irmgard's daughters, Mihana and 'A'ima, and her niece, Luana. Irmgard composed some of Hawaii's most popular songs, including "E Maliu Mai," "Puamana" and "Boy From Laupahoehoe."
The brothers and producer Jon de Mello also try to do something different with the show each year.
"You wake up in April and you realize that you've done it for 23 years, and here it is again," Roland says. "How do we keep it fresh? We've started to rehearse earlier, we've dug deeper for songs that we really want to do, and the funny thing is that when you've done all the work and we sing 'May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii,' it all disappears and that's what it is."
Robert adds: "Make a lei, wear a lei, and give a lei. You just take whatever you were practicing and throw it all out the window, and it's whatever emotion you're feeling at the time and whatever kind of feedback you're getting from the audience. There's really no other way to express it except that it's fresh, it's happening at the moment, and I think it's what people expect of us. It's also what we enjoy doing."
Robert describes the May Day concert as "a throwback" to a kinder and gentler period in Hawaii's history when Hawaiian ways were more prominent in daily life here than they are now. ("A sweeter Hawaii, a calmer Hawaii, a more laid-back Hawaii," Roland explains.) The show is also one of the rare Hawaiian cultural events staged primarily for the local community that is also easily accessible to visitors.
That's important for several reasons, Robert says.
"We Hawaiians believe so much of the propaganda, and we've willingly given up so much of what is ours already that we have to hold on to something -- the hula, the music (and) May Day. We have such a small population that we must always be ready to accept from others, and I think that's another thing that's good about May Day. Everybody can come together: local and visitor and everybody else."
AN ADDED ELEMENT this year is the fact that the Brothers and their fans worldwide are celebrating the first-time release on CD of their epic 1985 album, "The Sound of the Sea Surrounds Me" (review follows).
"Whenever an old album is reformatted, it's a reminder of the continuation of what we've been doing," Robert explains. "They're like dreams that come back and visit you again and again.
"Not all albums are favorites for Roland and myself, but there are some lovely things on this one.
"When we did experiment, and maybe take it to the edge, what we always had with us were the roots and the foundation of the old style. That's what I look for in the young kids today. If you can give the composer of a song the respect of learning their melody and their words correctly, then you can afford to stray and be more creative, but you have to be able to know when to come back to the traditional. I think that's what carried Roland and I through. That and a lot of help and a lot of luck."
As for Roland, he says he's not finished shaking things up and pushing the limits.
"Hang on to your seats, kids, and get your belts out and buckle up, because they're gonna let me loose again in the studio, and I'm gonna do my best to extend the envelope. A lot of people don't like the Jawaiian movement, whatever, but some people don't like slack-key or traditional Hawaiian, and I know there's a middle ground. Maybe it takes a radical to bring it off so be aware that the radical is loose. Hawaiian music is going the same way as hula, right out into the new millennium and further!"
The Brothers Cazimero were headlining the Monarch Room when they recorded this beautiful album in 1985. It contains some of Robert and Roland's best work as innovators and traditionalists. ’85 Caz record
The Sound of the Sea Surrounds Me
timeless work
The Brothers Cazimero
The Mountain Apple Company (MACD 2007)
Review by John Berger
Star-BulletinThe music is timeless yet definitely of an era. The expansive and dramatic opening medley links the title song and "Diamond Head" with a grandeur reminiscent of the orchestral creations of producer Jon de Mello's visionary father, Jack de Mello, in the 1960s. Roland's brooding, powerful arrangement of "Pupu A'o 'Ewa" remains a perfect example of the Brothers' skill as cross-cultural song stylists, while "E Ku'u Lei" shows their respect for more traditional perspectives.
"Kuhio Beach" brings the album full-circle thematically, an excellent example of hapa-haole music in contemporary style.
All in all, obviously one of the Brothers' best albums.
http://www.mountainapplecompany.com
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E Ku'u Lei
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