DENNIS ODA / DEC. 10
Kamaka Kukona was a Grammy nominee for "Hanu 'A'ala."
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For the fourth year in a row, a Cajun album captured the Grammy in the regional roots category, which includes Hawaiian music.
Jo-El Sonnier won for his album "The Legacy" on Sunday in Los Angeles. Maui kumu hula Kamaka Kukona’s "Hanu ‘A‘ala" album was Hawaii’s only regional roots nominee.
Two other nominees with Hawaii connections also failed to take home Grammys.
Isle native Daniel Ho, nominated for best world music album, lost to "Eve," by Angelique Kidjo. Ho, who now lives in California, was nominated for "Our World in Song," along with Wu Man and Luis Conte. Ho already owns several of the coveted trophies, won during the period when there was a separate category for Hawaiian music album.
In 2011, as part of a Grammy overhaul, the Recording Academy abolished a number of smaller genre categories, including best Hawaiian music album. Hawaiian, Native American and Zydeco or Cajun music were merged into the regional roots category. Since then the Grammy has gone to Cajun or New Orleans-based "roots" artists.
The music video for Arcade Fire’s gay anthem "We Exist," co-produced by Jason Baum, a Maui High School graduate, lost out to Pharrell Williams’ "Happy" in the music video category.