Kahele honors the Forbidden Island with the second album of 6

"Kahelelani Niihau (Music for the Hawaiian Islands Vol. 2)"
Kuana Torres Kahele
(Kahele KT 226)

Kuana Torres Kahele embarked on an unprecedented musical project earlier this year with the release of his fourth solo album, "Hawai’i Keawe (Music for the Hawaiian Islands Vol. 1)." The album is to be the first in a series of six — each about a different Hawaiian Island — that Kahele plans to complete by the end of 2016. When the sixth album is released, Kahele will have written more than 50 songs honoring their historically important places and unique traditions.

With the release of "Kahelelani Niihau (Music for the Hawaiian Islands Vol. 2)" in September, Kahele is on schedule with the second album in the series. "Kahelelani Niihau" is as beautiful as its predecessor, and as unique in the series as the island it represents. Kahele writes in his liner notes that because of the island’s unique history and cultural importance, he "felt a historical responsibility to deviate from my all-original music format." And so, along with three originals, there are several other songs, written by Niihau residents in years past, that were "gifted" to him and recorded with the residents’ permission. Two other songs were created when Kahele set existing Niihau poetry to newly written melodies.

He opens with a chant that honors the wind, the rain and the special places of Niihau. The songs that follow address similar themes. One describes an island landmark in poetic terms; another recalls a ship that transported residents to and from Kauai many years ago. Kahele’s three new songs pay homage to the shell lei of Niihau — the jewels of the lei maker’s art.

As with "Hawai’i Keawe," Kahele plays ukulele, guitar, acoustic bass and ipu. Casey Olsen (steel guitar), Jeff Au Hoy (piano) and George Kuo (slack-key guitar) join him on what is otherwise a one-man project.

Kahele’s commitment to honoring the island and documenting its culture extends to the text of the liner notes. Residents of Niihau don’t use diacritical markings when writing Hawaiian, so he doesn’t use them here.

For more information go to www.mountainapplecompany.com.

"Tainted Love"
Stef Muzic
(Steftunes, no serial number)

Stef Muzic is priming the market for her next full-length album with this download-only remake of a rock classic that has a surprising history. Several generations of modern music fans know "Tainted Love" as a dark 1981 hit by the English vocal-and-electronics duo Soft Cell, but the English group wasn’t the first to record it. Muzic’s remake commemorates the 50th anniversary of the obscure original recording by American soul vocalist Gloria Jones for Champion Records in 1964 (Jones’ recording didn’t make the Hot 100 in 1964, but became popular in England in the 1970s).

Muzic makes the song her own with an arrangement that conveys more in the way of intense emotion than Soft Cell did in 1981, and with less raw anger than Marilyn Manson radiated with his equally memorable remake in 2001. We feel her pain and look forward to the next album.

"Tainted Love" is available at itunes.apple.com/us/album/tainted-love-single/id912650809.

"Salsa in Paradise"
Eddie Ortiz and Son Caribe
(Son Caribe Entertainment 2014)

The rhythms are unmistakably Latin from start to finish, but bandleader Eddie Ortiz goes beyond the standard cultural frontiers of "Latin music" with "Salsa in Paradise." Two selections make the transition from mainstream American pop in impressive style.

Ortiz and the band put a fresh spin on "(They Long to Be) Close to You," a song best known as the Grammy Award-winning breakthrough hit for the Carpenters. They also distinguish themselves with a similar bilingual Latin-ized arrangement of "Vehicle."

The other selections are Latin standards. Ortiz writes in the liner notes that he wanted the album to be representative of the different genres the band is known for playing: bachata, cha cha, mambo, merengue and salsa. Ortiz and his musicians do them all.

For more information go to www.soncaribe.com.

"Good Thing"
Maggie Herron
(no label, no serial number)

Pianist Maggie Herron has a singing style reminiscent of Anita Baker. Put a small group of studio musicians behind her and the result is a beautiful blend of jazz standards and pop. The title song, one of five originals, shows that she can write engaging love songs as well. With another original, "Things Could Be Better," she expresses the day-to-day experiences of anyone who is trying to get by while their loved one is gone.

Herron’s skill in interpreting old-time pop standards is heard in her slow and easy take on "Straighten’ Up and Fly Right," and again with her smokey, woe-is-me rendition of "Baby Baby All the Time."

A pair of Top 20 hits are imaginatively made over. "Woodstock," first a hit for Crosby Stills & Nash, fits in nicely among the jazz standards. Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s "Moon River" takes on a beautiful new form when stripped down to a vocalist, piano, drums and bass.

For more information go to www.maggieherron.com.