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 Kaulupono
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Where To Buy? Retail: Read Reviews of this Album Chad wanted to do something special for our trip to Cape Kumukahi. So he did what any studious young man would do - he composed an oli. "He Ala Kamaha`o i ka Lewa" details the suns journey across the heavens, weaving a lei that is sacred to the people of Hawai`i. Each island, a blossom in the lei, something to be cherished, something special to Hawaiians everywhere. We all had heard "E Kiss Kaua", but it was our good friend Kihei Nahale-A that reintroduced us to the song. We got to sit down with the composer, the great Dennis Kamakahi, at this quaint little Chinese restaurant in Salt Lake. We talked at length about his musical career, from when he started rock n rolling in the public school system in intermediate, through his journey with the Sons of Hawaii and around the world, to where he is now today. David stopped by too, well for a brief moment because he needed to inform his father about some car trouble. We got the story behind "E Kiss Kaua", how Uncle Dennis had written the song and performed it for a friend of his trying to court the woman that he loved. My favorite line in the song talks about "the crabs in the bucket". After listening to some of Kawaikapu's latest great work "Mo`o`olelo", we sat on the couches outside of his office to get a little more insight to the song "Halalu". He recalled his fond memories of his childhood for us, and took us back with him to the day's when his aunty would lomi just about anything that came out of the sea. He also spoke of a crush he had at the time and we could all understand where he was coming from. It was another pleasant experience, I think just sitting down with him cures whatever ailments I have. He's so magical. In everyone's life, there's that one experience with love that makes you want to get up and do something. Lihau Hannahs, wrote a song about her love experience. She used some of the "tools and tricks" she learned from Hawaiian poetry classes at UH and her command of the Hawaiian language to tell the story of the `i`iwi bird and the lehua blossom. Recording "Ka Lehua Punono" was another fun process. I finally got to experience first hand what a humble superstar that Keali`i Reichel really is. He is the most down to earth guy you'll ever meet. We were so very lucky when he agreed to sing on the track, I think when I found out, I started doing cartwheels in my living room. The de Silva Family have been there for us since the beginning. They have a way of making us feel really good about everything. Kapalai is not only a talented Slack Key Guitarist, but she is also a talented composer. She's currently studying music at UH, and she performs in a fabulous group called "Lihau". She let us record "Kekahao`iolani", a song which talks about her trip to the residence of `Iolani Luahine. I think everyone and their cousin has done some kind of rendition of Alfred Alohikea's "Ka Ua Loku". It has such a memorable moving melody, that after the first couple of notes, you can recognize it right away. I paired this song up with another one of the Kauaian's songs "Hanohano Hanalei". It's hard for me to believe that he had no formal training in music. He wrote another one of my all time favorite Hawaiian songs, "Pua Lilia". If only I had a time machine to go back and meet him. We were sitting around in Kata's garage rehearsing, shortly after Kala'i left, and Chad just started singing the Eagle's tune "The Best of My Love".. Kale and I chimed in, and what you hear is just like what we sounded like in Kata's garage. (more or less) Like I said before, Kale is a very sentiMENTAL guy and a HOPELESS roMANtic. I really don't know who he is singing to in this rendition of Garth Brooks country hit "She's Every Woman". But whoever she is, boy she is one special lady. Call me sometime, let's do lunch! (Just Kiddin') In 2003 we traveled to Japan with Sonny Ching and Na Mamo o Pu`uanahulu. In their show, Mahiehie performed this little ditty along with other songs about love. Chad and I looked at each other and basically said "wow, that's a great song". (I think it helped that the Hula accompanying the song was so memorable) We talked to Sam Kaina about it, and he was so kind to give us his mana`o behind the song. Mark Tang also shared his knowledge with us. We just HAD TO learn the Charles E. King song "Ka Hana ia ke Aloha". On our recorded version, you'll hear the wonderful piano styling's of my old high school drum major, Aaron Sala. He's such a gifted musician. "Ka Beauty a`o Uka" is my favorite song on the album. I'm a mushy guy, and I get all teary eyed when I hear a good love story. Chad talks about finally finding love, being comforted by his loved one, like the misty rain that falls in the mountains...*sob* *sob*. Seriously, this song makes me want to hug everyone. Originally it didn't have that yodeling part, we sat around in my living room one night during rehearsal trying to figure out what the song was missing. Regina Hilo (another c/o `96er) and Stefanie Anderson (Kale's friend from UH Symphony) enhance the track with their magical cello and viola artistry. "He Mele no ka Pipi Palupalu" a catchy song about a delicious oyster. Well this naughty mele ma`i, talks about that same person from "Ka Beauty a`o Uka". I would draw you an illustration of what this song is really talking about, but then it would just be blurred out by the censors. We sat around in my living room one day, thinking about guest artists. When Nina Keali`iwahamana's name came up, everyone was like "oooooooooh". We then tossed some ideas around for a song, and came up with the "Hapa Haole Medley". I finally got to meet Aunty Nina. Not only is she a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice, but she also possesses a beautiful soul. Such a beautiful person, she just leaves you speechless. Hearing her voice takes you back to a time when everything was so much simpler. Big Mahalo to Bryan Tolentino for letting me borrow one of his many `ukulele. We've always admired Makana. I remember a time when we were just starting out....we headed down to Kincaids at Ward, we didn't know it was kind of an upscale place, so there we were with our rubber slippers and T-shirts. Being the broke college students that we were, we pooled our money together to buy a Poke sampler, and just told the waitress "keep the taro bread and water coming". We were there to catch the "Kiho`alu Kid" who was performing at the restaurant. Finally, some 5 or 6 years later we got to collaborate with him. His memorable guitar work on "Hula o Makee" makes my jaw drop everytime i listen to it. He's such an awesome artist and an intelligent fellow. Recording this track was the most fun I've ever had in a recording studio. I think this is my 2nd favorite track on the Album. Our original idea was to try and get that feeling of what it was like if you were at a party in someone's living room, and just jamming....you know, if you're hanging out with an awesome steel guitar player like Greg Sardinha and John Cruz decides to stop by.... Anyway, we had told Greg and 20 of our closest family and friends about our idea and they were all like "shoots!". We told our producer the idea and she was like "um..." (hehe lea, we love you). Anyway we worked out the logistics, and decided to herd everyone down to the room just outside of dolphin sound...The vast concrete floored ice box... DJ, Ron, and Kata set up like 10 mics and headsets while we boozed up our friends and fed them their fill of Zippy's chili, sashimi, and Gina's BBQ. about 10 minutes before we were gonna record, John Cruz surprised us all. He was attending his nephew's graduation party and decided to swing on by. We asked him if he had his guitar, he said "no"...but he did have his harp with him (in the key of A). The song we were gonna do was in the key of F, but oh well we thought we'd give it a try. When someone as talented as John Cruz shows up at a recording session, you have to take advantage of the moment eh? So DJ set up a mic and a headset for John, and that's when we laid down our unrehearsed version of John Fogerty's "As Long As I Can See The Light" with the fast fingers of Greg Sardinha on lap steel, the harmonica styling's of John Cruz, and the ambient sounds of the "Pu`uhale Party Peeps". Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.... |
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06.