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POSTED: Friday, December 05, 2008
                       

This story has been corrected. See below.

It's another year, but the names are pretty much the same as the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences announced yesterday the five finalists in the “;Best Hawaiian Music Album”; category for the 2009 Grammy Awards.

Three-time Grammy Award-winning record producers Daniel Ho, Wayne Wong and Paul Konwiser are back with a shot at making it a four-peat with their latest “;live”; compilation album, “;The Spirit of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar,”; among the finalists.

A win would make it five straight for slack key-themed compilation albums—Charles Michael Brotman produced the winner in 2005—and also earn a third Grammy for co-producer George Kahumoku Jr.

NARAS rules specify that the Grammy for a winning compilation album goes to the producer(s) and not to the performing artists; since Kahumoku was not credited as a producer in the credits for the 2006 winner, “;Masters of Slack Key Guitar Vol. 1,”; he did not receive a Grammy that year.

Ho is competing against himself for the second year in a row because “;Ikena,”; his second collaboration with expatriate local girl Tia Carrere, is also a finalist. Carrere and Ho were among the also-rans last year with “;Hawaiiana,”; an album that was billed as a Carrere solo project. Ho and Carrere are both billed as performers on “;Ikena,”; and a win would make Ho the first Hawaii artist to win a Grammy as a performer as well as a producer.

Veteran record producers Milton Lau and his son, Chris, are back as finalists for the second time in three years with “;Hawaiian Slack Key Kings: Master Series Vol. II,”; the follow-up to their 2007 Grammy finalist compilation, “;Hawaiian Slack Key Kings.”; The father-and-son team's record label, Rhythm & Roots, has also made the final ballot twice with solo albums by Ledward Kaapana.

Milton said he and his son are “;very humbled”; to be finalists for a third time.

“;Chris and I just love to do what we do and don't seek out these kinds of recognition. However, we are very thankful for all of the artists that we work with, and especially all of the artists that appeared on the album. It's all about the music, and it's always been that way with us.”;

Kaapana is back as a finalist for the third time in four years with “;Force of Nature,”; a live album recorded with veteran Hawaiian entertainer Mike Kaawa. The album is unique among the finalists in that it was underwritten by Judy Barrett, the “;Queen”; of Kaapana's legions of “;Ledheads”; and the manager of his Jus' Press Productions LLC, rather than by one of the established record labels. (The album is now being distributed nationally by Warner/ADA.)

“;(Kaapana is) excited like a kid before Christmas,”; Barrett said late Wednesday. “;He's been (a finalist) twice before for solo work and been a part of several Grammy Award-winning compilations, but this project with Mike Kaawa is very special to him.”;

“;Mike is awesome,”; Kaapana said. “;We're so close in feeling the music, and for me it's good because when I have him backing me up, I get the chance to do all my tricks that I can't do when I play solo. I can create only so much (playing solo), but when I have him behind me the door opens more for me and I can just have fun with him holding down the foundation.”;

This is also the third time that Kaapana is competing with himself, because he is also one of the “;kings”; included on the Laus' compilation. If “;Force of Nature”; wins, Kaapana and Kaawa will become the first artists to win Grammys as performers rather than producers.

If the Laus' compilation wins, Kaapana will not get a Grammy, but will have once again been a participant on a Grammy-winning compilation; he also had tracks on two of Ho's winning compilations.

Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom makes her third appearance as a Grammy finalist as “;'Aumakua”; rounds out the list. Gilliom first made the final cut with “;Amy & Willie Live,”; a souvenir of a concert tour with her longtime partner, Willie K, which was a finalist at the 2005 Grammys. She returned as a solo finalist with “;Generation Hawai'i”; in 2007.

Male artists continue to dominate the category as performers as well as producers. Counting Gilliom's album with Willie K, she has reached the final ballot three times as a performer. Raiatea Helm has been a finalist twice, both times a solo artist, and Tia Carrere's return as a finalist makes her a two-timer, once as a solo artist and now as half of a duo.

               

     

 

 

CORRECTION         The photograph than appears with this article shows the four winners of last year's Grammy Award for Hawaiian music album: Wayne Wong, Paul Konwiser, George Kahumoku Jr. and Daniel Ho, along with several other people standing with them. Originally, the caption incorrectly identified everyone in the photo as winners.