"Stainless"
Greg Sardinha
(Keala)
Although Greg Sardinha is one of the few Hawaii musicians of the “baby boom” generation who has helped perpetuate the Hawaiian tradition of steel guitar, this is by no means a traditional Hawaiian steel guitar album.
Yes, the original acoustic steel guitar and the solid-body electric steel guitar developed in the 1930s are both considered “traditional” these days, but Sardinha is taking them well beyond anything that might be considered “Hawaiian” in terms of style or arrangement. Songs that have ties to the islands are played in distinctly nontraditional style.
For starters, there’s a radical reworking of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” that Sardinha plays in an arrangement that’s closer to Jimi Hendrix than David “Feet” Rogers or Santo & Johnny. Elvis’ original hit from 1961 will always be the definitive vocal version, but give Sardinha credit for an imaginative instrumental that owes nothing to Elvis.
Sardinha puts a similarly fresh spin on other hits from the ’60s. Steel guitar replaces Herb Alpert’s double-tracked trumpet playing in “The Lonely Bull (El Solo Toro),” and it gives Sardinha’s surf-rock-meets-jazz-meets-reggae arrangement of “Hawaii Five-0” a tighter link to ’60s surf rock than the Ventures’ original. A three-song medley of tunes recorded by the Ventures and the Chantays is also solid surf rock. Shred it, Greg!
On other songs he takes a conventional approach. An admitted Beatles fan, he presents “Something” and “I Will” as straightforward pop instrumentals, albeit with interesting digressions from the familiar melodies.
“Little Rock Getaway,” written and recorded by jazz pianist Joe Sullivan in 1935, will be much less familiar here in Hawaii; it also is played as melodic, straightforward pop, but with a hint or two of the hapa haole classic “Sophisticated Hula” percolating through it.
The Sullivan composition is one of several that reveal Sardinha’s broader musical horizons. Another is “Jessica,” written by Allman Brothers guitarist Richard Betts more than 40 years ago and played with a verve reminiscent of ’70s-era Southern rock. A third is “Wahine,” composed by English guitarist Hank Marvin of the Shadows, one of England’s biggest rock groups of the past century.
Sardinha looks to Hawaii for two other selections. He writes that he included “Kauholo” as a memento of the time he played it with the composer, John Keawe, at the 2011 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. He plays it this time as something closer to acoustic blues than Hawaiian, and with the Kailua Bay Buddies — Clayton Apilando (guitar), Darrell Aquino (bass) and Mark Caldeira (percussion) — backing him.
Sardinha closes the album with a traditional rendition of a vintage Andy Iona hit, “How’d Ya Do,” recorded on an iPhone while he and Zanuck Lindsey (guitar) and Kimo Artis (bass) were playing for visitors at an airport. The phone picked up audience noise and flight announcements as well.
Lindsey, an A-list journeyman musician, also sat in on “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Other top-flight guests include Chino Montero playing ukulele on “Jessica,” and Ben Vegas playing guitar on “Something” and ukulele on “Jessica.” Gordon Freitas is the guitarist on the “Endless Summer”/
“Lonely Bull” medley, Aquino plays bass on “Little Rock Getaway,” and Randy Aloya is the bassist on three other tracks.
Sardinha mentions in his liner notes that surf rock and instrumental groups like the Ventures were among his early inspirations. All going well, his imaginative work here will inspire young island guitarists to rethink the capabilities of the steel guitar and go for it.
"Can’t Help Falling In Love"
