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Island Mele John Berger |
Jon Yamasato has had a prolific career in local music since he abruptly quit Pure Heart in 1999 and said he was going back to school. Yamasato released his first solo recording a few months later and has been active as a recording artist ever since. "One" is his first full-length album, and he does such a good job as an acoustic pop-lite balladeer that it could easily put him in the running for a Hoku award. "One"
Jon Yamasato
808e ProductionsThe arrangements are reminiscent of Pure Heart, whose weakness was recording bland remakes. There are several similar such remakes here, but Yamasato does better with others. Even though "Tracks of My Tears" lacks the passion of the Smokey Robinson and the Miracles original, as reworked by Yamasato as a duet with Mailani Makainai Kalahiki, it is still a step towards originality. "He Aloha Mele" and "Ku E Manu" also show his growth as a vocalist, and his two doleful originals will melt the hearts of his female fans.
www.jonyamasato.com
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The Way It Should Be
It's the vocal interplay between Noelani "Noli" Soriano and Tiare "Tiki" Suan that makes Milo Shade's debut album a memorable one. Soriano and Suan are only two members of the septet, but the fact that they also wrote or co-wrote all eight of the originals suggests that they're the ones in the group to watch. "Sweet One"
Milo Shade
Progressive Island RecordsThe music is primarily a Jawaiian/pop blend of Caribbean rhythms and pop vocals. The catchy title song opens the set with a solid commercial vibe. "Strummin' Away" seems to speak of music-making, but does so in cleverly ambiguous terms.
The remakes, however, fall short by comparison. "Baby Come Back" is generic despite a Spanish-language introduction. More iffy in appraising Shade's long-term prospects is the extensive use of veteran studio musicians as "guests" and stand-ins for male band members on many of the tracks.
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Rupert Tripp Jr. was a member of Nalu in the late 1980s who later became addicted to crystal meth. Tripp rode the pipe for over a decade before he turned to Christ, and, like many other local born-again entertainers, he is now sharing his newfound faith in song. Unlike some of the others, however, his songs are appealingly rhythmic and well-crafted, despite the earnestness of the lyrics. "For an Audience of One"
Rupert Tripp Jr.
LL ProductionsTripp's acoustic arrangements create the feeling that we're eavesdropping on his private expressions of gratitude to God. The sense of intimacy is accentuated by the fact that he uses only a single acoustic guitar as accompaniment. The melodies are simple, but the arrangements are varied enough to keep the album from becoming monotonous. All things considered, Tripp's work here is more memorable than anything he did with Nalu, and the impact of his new album is likely to be far more lasting.
llproductions@verizon.net
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See the Columnists section for some past reviews.
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. Contact John Berger at jberger@starbulletin.com.
