"Island Boy"
Mike Young
(Palm)
Kauai singer-songwriter Mike Young was terminally ill when he recorded the tracks for what he knew would be his final album. He lived long enough to finish them but died in September before the album could be released. With slack-key master Elmer "Sonny" Lim Jr. and Grammy Award-winning record producer Charles Michael Brotman as his backing musicians, Young bid Hawaii adieu in memorable style.
Young sings and accompanies himself on guitar and ukulele; Lim plays bass, ukulele, guitar and nose flute; Brotman, who was also the producer of the project, adds keyboard-generated string effects and also plays guitar.
Most of the songs are island standards: "Pauoa Liko ka Lehua," "Ku‘u Ipo i ka He‘e Pu‘e One" and "Hi‘ilawe," to name three. Two others describe the beauty of Kauai. A third honors Molokai. There are also two earnest originals, "Island Boy" and "Slack Key Guitar," in which Young shares his love of Hawaii and slack-key music, his fond memories of times past, and his desire to share his knowledge with future generations.
Young sings them all in what is now known as "the old Hawaiian style" with a hint of oli (chant) vocalizing and a touch of falsetto. He and his two celebrity sidemen play in the soothing nahenahe (sweet, melodious) style traditionally associated with Hawaiian slack key. The result is an album that will take Young’s music to distant audiences and introduce him to people who never had the chance to see him entertain on Kauai.
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"Pauoa Liko Ka Lehua"
"Soul Sound Slack"
Stephen Inglis
(‘Aumakua)
Slack-key guitarist Steven Inglis is enjoying success on two career tracks. One is his partnership with slack-key master Dennis Kamakahi, which resulted in a Na Hoku Hanohano Award in 2012. The other is as a solo artist.
Inglis the solo artist is heard on this collection of 13 instrumental recordings and unlike some "solo" projects, there are no guests or studio players involved.
Inglis honors island traditions in several ways. His choices in terms of material include melodies by Helen Desha Beamer and Mary J. Montano. His arrangements draw on the legacy of slack-key masters Sonny Chillingworth and Ozzie Kotani. Inglis contributes to the continuing evolution of slack key with several original tunes. One aptly titled original, "Guitarlele Adirondack Slack," spotlights the sound of that modern guitar-ukulele hybrid instrument.
A jaunty rendition of "Hula Blues" expands the set list to include a hapa haole classic from the 1920s.
Tunings are the foundation of Hawaiian slack key and no modern slack-key release is complete without them. Inglis provides composer and arranger credits in the CD’s liner notes; the tunings and background information on the songs are posted at www.stepheninglis.com.
And, although Inglis doesn’t sing a word on "Soul Sound Slack," he put the song lyrics and their English translations on his website too.
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"Waioha"
