Island Mele

Friday, November 9, 2001

By John Berger

"Music For Two"

Pierre Grill & Ernie
Provencher

Pierre Grill's reputation as a dedicated and resourceful record producer tends to obscure the fact that he is also an accomplished and versatile pianist. Grill's latest album brings that talent to the fore with bassist Ernie Provencher as his partner in rhyme.

Grill and Provencher explore the melodies of 10 pop and jazz standards in grand acoustic arrangements. From the first bars of "You're Driving Me Crazy" through the final notes of "There'll Never Be Another You," the imaginative interplay between Grill and Provencher is the key to a series of marvelous performances.

Write:
RVR Records
3250 Beaumont Woods Place
Honolulu HI 96822

MP3 Audio Clips: Mercy Mercy Mercy What Is This Thing Called Love Cantelope Island Quicktime | RealPlayer | MPEG-3 info

"Treasure"

Ho'okena
Ho'omau Inc.

Ho'okena's seventh album commemorates the birth of the original quartet in 1986 with songs culled from their first five albums. The collection is problematic.

Loyal Ho'okena fans who have the other albums must decide if they want to pay the price of a local CD in order to add three "bonus tracks" to their collections. Other buyers will find no information on where these songs fit in Ho'okena's history.

While "Treasure" contains some fool's gold, the group's arrangement of "Let Me Be There" could easily make that "bonus track" their next hit.

www.hookena.com

MP3 Audio Clips: He Hawai'i Au Me Ka Nani A'o Kaupo Let Me Be There Quicktime | RealPlayer | MPEG-3 info

"Remembrance"

Honolulu Jazz Quartet
Kolivas Productions

The Sept. 11 attacks hit John Kolivas hard. His years in New York were some of the happiest in his life. Adding to the impact was the fact that his wife worked for two years on the 59th floor of One World Trade Center. This CD-single is his requiem for victims and their survivors. (A portion of proceeds go to the New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund.) It's a superb debut by his Honolulu Jazz Quartet as well.

Vocalist Anita Hall joins the HJQ in a hauntingly beautiful expression of loss and solace. Hall's rendering of poet John Penneybacker's lyrics is exqui-site, and the HJQ supports her perfectly. "Deanna," a melody Kolivas wrote for his wife, is lighter and gives each member of the group - Kolivas (bass), Dan Del Negro (piano), Richie Pratt (drums) and Tim Tsuki-yama (sax) - room to move.

jkolivas@juno.com

MP3 Audio Clips: Remembrance Deanna 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.