NEW ON CD

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COURTESY PHOTO

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Ry Cooder taps
Pahinui, Kaapana

Ry Cooder's latest album has been getting overall good reviews since its release last month. But of special interest to us locals is that he also brought a bit of island soul among his mix of musicians, courtesy of Bla Pahinui and Ledward Kaapana.

For longtime Hawaiian music fans, they may remember Cooder's guest guitar work on classic Panini label recordings by Gabby Pahinui and his sons that started back in the 1970s.

Now Bla Pahinui has returned the favor by doing the lead vocal for "3rd Base, Dodger Stadium," a pivotal song on Cooder's album, "Chávez Ravine." Pahinui's trademark nasal and eccentrically phrased singing is perfect, giving voice to a Mexican-American parking lot attendant whose pre-stadium childhood memories are still strong, emanating from various park locales.

Cooder ruefully describes in the song's introductory liner notes that "Bla lives in Honolulu, a place where memory is erased every day. It's like losing language or bird species. The overhead construction crane is the state bird of Hawaii, no doubt about that."

Kaapana's guitar is part of the musical patchwork of the song, and can be sensed (more that heard) on two other songs on the album. "Onda Callejera," co-written by David Hidalgo of Los Lobos and singer David Garcia (aka Little Willie G. of the 1960s Chicano rock band Thee Midnighters), is an atmospheric account of a 1943 brawl between sailors and zoot-suited Pachucos, while the police looked the other way.

"Barrio Viejo" is a definite highlight on Cooder's album, as Lalo Guerrero pays a heartfelt homage to his old barrio in Tucson, Ariz. Another one of the guitarist's old friends, Tex-Mex accordionist Flaco Jimenez, sweetens the song's sound.