The title of Gary Aiko’s long-awaited album is fitting for several reasons. It describes his family’s impact on modern Hawaiian music. It applies to Aiko personally although he is far too modest to describe himself that way. It also applies for a reason that he reveals in the liner notes.

Malihini (newcomers and those unfamiliar with Hawaii) should know that Aiko is the oldest child of Edward Puniwai Keawe-Aiko and his wife, Genoa Leilani Adolpho Keawe-Aiko. When "Aunty Genoa" began singing professionally several years after Gary’s birth, Edward initially felt it unbecoming for a Keawe-Aiko to be performing in commercial venues rather than at family parties and church functions. By way of compromise his wife became Genoa Keawe — one of the greatest female Hawaiian vocalists of the 20th century.

Gary, a professional entertainer from his mid-teens to the present, uses the last half of the family name; his youngest brother, Eric, heard here as the featured vocalist on "Lately," is known as Eric Keawe. Eric’s daughter, known professionally as Pomaika‘i Keawe Lyman, joins Aiko on "E Maliu Mai" and brings the family’s musical traditions forward another generation.

Aiko has perpetuated the traditions of Territorial-era hapa-haole music for decades and does so here as he applies his rich baritone to a beautiful collection of island standards that includes "Aloha ka Manini," "Ho‘omalimali" and "Hawaiian Cowboy." Also fitting in nicely are "Bali Hai" and "Tiare no Tahiti," the latter sung in Tahitian.

Kaipo Asing (guitar) and Alan Akaka (steel guitar/dobro/ukulele) back Aiko and his acoustic bass. Their work together is magic from the opening bars of the title song through the closing notes of "Hawai‘i Sang Me to Sleep."

Aiko completes his album with a beautifully illustrated booklet that provides song lyrics, English translations of Hawaiian lyrics, and short explanations of why he chose each song. He even notes places where he changed lyrics for personal reasons. Vintage photos show him in all stages of dress from dinner jacket and aloha wear to the self-designed, leopard-print, Speedo-style garb he sometimes wore while riding horses.

"Poina ‘Ole ‘Ia"