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By John Berger - Star Bulletin, Honolulu
FAME REVIEW
Hawaiian slack-key guitar, ki ho’alu, is one of the world’s great acoustic
guitar traditions. It is also one of the oldest musical traditions to
still
be a viable
part of modern-day culture.
Slack –Key aficionados everywhere recommend Slack-Key Tradition originally
released in the mid-1990’s as part of Liko Records Hawaiian Folk
Collection.
One of the best-selling slack-key albums of its time, it has been out of
print
& unavailable for years…until now.
Pull up a chair, put your feet up, close your eyes & listen as Nolan Ha’o,
Robert Keli’iho’omalu Jr., Gary Haleamau & Elmer Lim play 17 acoustic
instrumental selections in the slack-key tradition that first inspired
them to pick up a guitar.
All learned the old way, from family members, in the true folk tradition.
Slack-Key Tradition is real Hawaiian music; the essence of Hawaiian
heritage… drawn from the heart… out through the fingers…bursting with
vibrant sweetness & soul. Listen & you will hear the legacy of all the
generations that came before.
<Click for full album details> |
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John Berger
HanaOla Records president Michael Cord has made an
important contribution
to the Hawaii record industry by reissuing the long out-of-print catalogs
of old-time island record labels such as 49th State Hawaii and Bell. He
moves into new but equally
interesting territory with this reissue of a compilation album released
relatively recently on producer John Keoni Fujitani's Big Island-based
Liko Records label.
Liko was one of the major neighbor-island labels of the 1990s.
This album is a good example of the high quality of Fujitani's work.
The album consists of instrumentals by four Big Island residents: Gary
Haleamau, Noland Ha'o, Robert Keli'ho'omalu Jr. and Elmer "Sonny" Lim Jr.
Haleamau, who was one of Fujitani's top acts in the 1990s -- a fine
vocalist as well as guitarist. Ha'o was a member of Ho'aikane before the
group switched from ki ho'alu to Jawaiian.
Lim has gone from being a member of the Lim Family to a stellar solo
artist.
Fujitani's annotation completes the package with biographical and cultural
information.
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