The very busy Bob Brozman helped assemble this collection from a bunch of old 78s primarily recorded in the 1920s and 1930s. The 1987 disc Master of the Hawaiian Guitar, Volume Two (Rounder CD 1025) is a dazzler. The aforementioned Sol Hoopii was one of the most revered guitarists to record and perform in the vintage style. Riviere's Hawaiians, the Coral Islanders and the famed Sol Hoopii Trio.
This is early jazz, Hawaiian-style-tight, highly syncopated, rigorously played and yet bubbling over with rhythm and playfulness, from the likes of the Waikiki Stonewall Boys, Mme. Now let's dig into those roots, starting with Vintage Hawaiian Music: The Great Singers 1928- 1934 (Rounder CD 1053). CGRC 8191-2) ranks, in my opinion, as their best work. Their self-titled 1992 album Hapa (Coconut Recording Co. Tops for me is a band called Hapa, whose name is pidgin for "half"-a label that suits their bicultural hybrid of rock and traditional island music perfectly. Hawaii is also home to lots of contemporary, modern-sounding music that nevertheless borrows liberally from older forms.
The atmosphere of fun that must have permeated these sessions comes through in the guitarists' sprightly interplay as they perform renditions of old standards and newer material. Kika Kila Meets Ki Ho'alu (Dancing Cat Records 08022-38031-2) essentially means Hawaiian acoustic steel guitar meets the slack-key style-this time in the hands of Bob Brozman in collaboration with yet another master, Ledward Kaapana. On first listen, it takes you into a world of flowers and fragrant days and nights. I like his gorgeous, deft 1995 album Kani Ki Ho'alu (Dancing Cat Records 08022-38013-2). Unlike most of them, however, Kotani uses nylon strings, which give his songs a more subtly polished sound, and his four-fingered picking style makes some of the selections sound vaguely classical. Ozzie Kotani is another of the great slack-key masters. Cyril has his own lilting way of singing that transports listeners to soft, breezy places included on this disc is his version of "Hi'ilawe," a song made famous by his dad. Of the current generation's CDs, I recommend Night Moon-Po Mahina by Cyril Pahinui. Gabby Pahinui's three sons have kept their father's name alive and each is a successful musician in his own right. Pahinui loved performing and his soulful songs show it. 1 (Panini Records PCD-1007), recorded in the mid-1970s (and featuring world-music visionary Ry Cooder, who went on to introduce us all to the Buena Vista Social Club), is my favorite of this late legend's many reissued recordings. The acknowledged master of slack-key guitar worked for the Honolulu Department of Highways, but his passion was music. Great liner notes on the history of Hawaiian music. Together they re-recorded many of the songs from that era that made the Tau Moe Family justly famous throughout the islands and beyond. It combines past and present as Brozman-an ethnomusicologist and historian of Hawaiian music, as well as a ferocious guitarist-gets together with the Tau Moe Family, a legendary Hawaiian band that began performing way back in the 1920s.
This 1989 album is the ultimate good-time music, perfect for parties. The Tau Moe Family with Bob Brozman (Rounder CD 6028). All instrumental, it features single cuts from the genre's top players. I've given away dozens of copies of this CD, and everybody says that this is the one they put on whenever they want to leave their troubles behind. In their hands, a musical style developed that utilized open tunings, emphasized finger-picking over strumming and found for its source material a limitless trove of ancient chants and hulas, modified and updated in the great folk tradition. These new arrivals, largely Spanish and Mexican, brought their guitars with them, and shared tunings, styles and songs with the local Hawaiian cowboys, called paniolos. In the early 1800s, Southwestern cowboys were "imported" to Hawaii to help contain the island's cattle population.
MY TOP PICK HAS GOT TO BE Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters (Dancing Cat Records 08022-38032-2).
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