"Ke Au Hou"
Danny Carvalho
(Lava Rock Music)
Comparing artists of different generations must be done with care lest the impression be given that the younger artist is copying the older, rather than following a logical career trajectory. That caveat applies when assessing the new album by 20-something slack-key guitarist Danny Carvalho, whose work could easily be compared to Makana’s.
Both artists acquired a solid understanding of traditional slack-key techniques by studying with masters of the genre — Makana with Sonny Chillingworth, Carvalho with Ozzie Kotani. Both then became interested in how the techniques can be applied to other types of music.
Makana did this successfully while remaining grounded in traditional slack key. Carvalho does so here.
Tradition is represented with a pair of original instrumentals, one a solo, the other a duet with cello, and also with his arrangement of "Pandanus," a Peter Moon composition. The phrase "successful experiment" applies to almost everything else.
The milestone piece is Palani Vaughan’s classic "Ka Mamakakaua" rearranged as Hawaiian-language reggae with a blazing electric-guitar solo by Carvalho and with Jon Osorio as a featured guest vocalist. Hawaii has long held the unenviable distinction of being the only Pacific nation where some form of reggae-style music is not performed in the language of the indigenous people, and although Carvalho isn’t quite the first to record a hapa-Iameka (hapa-Jamaican) song, his take on "Ka Mamakakaua" is an impressive example.
And there’s more: "He‘eia" gets a jolt of contemporary energy from a funk-style electric bass solo by Wil Tafolo. Jamaica Osorio adds an enigmatic spoken-word piece to Carvalho’s reworking of "Ku‘u Lei Ku‘u Ipo," and she is the featured vocalist on "Ka Ipo Lei Manu." A zesty arrangement of "Na Ali‘i," with brief bass solos by Tafolo, also bridges traditional and contemporary Hawaiian music.
Carvalho steps outside Hawaii with Jobim’s "Girl from Ipanema" arranged for performance by slack-key guitar, acoustic bass and cello.
Take note that Carvalho has spent the past three years studying vocal performance and Hawaiian language, so it’s no wonder that the album is a significant step forward for him.
He writes in the liner notes that song lyrics and English translations will be available at www.dannycarvalho.com Opens in a new tab.
"Ka’aumoana"
"I Believe"
Iakopo
(Robert Sterling Music)
Reggae music is rooted in the Rastafarian religion of Jamaica with its faith in Jah (God), doctrines of positive living and policy of resistance to the "downpressor Babylon system."
Jacob Scott Jones-Iakopo — Iakopo for short — doesn’t mention Jah or Allah or Jesus Christ or any other deity by name in the lyrics of this download-only single, but he sings of the power of love with religious fervor while his musicians lay down a radio-friendly reggae-style groove. Religious undercurrents percolate through the song even without overt religious references.
"I believe in love … I can be the love … I believe that we can be the change we want to see, and the world can be so free." Positive sentiments, to be sure.
"I Believe" is available on iTunes at www.apple.com/itunes Opens in a new tab.
"I Believe"
