Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 2, 1 February 2004 — R&B meets Hawaiian in a musical re-mix called 'Ua' [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

R&B meets Hawaiian in a musical re-mix called 'Ua'

By Manu Boyd £ £ ""W" "T" a" means rain, and in the Hawaiian I I musical context includes a trio from the five-member, hot loeal R&B group Reign. Kale Chang, Afatia ___

Thompson and Kūhiō Yim eomhine their talents in an \ enjoyable collection of most- \ ly traditional Hawaiian tunes \ on a project they eall "Ma'ō \ 1 ma'ane'i: then & now ." They \ ■ apply R&B and jazz stylings to \ old favorites, giving them a \ more youthful appeal without \ compromising the mele — no easy ' task. Chang, responsible for vocal arrangements, has an excellent ear and good sense of 'ōlelo Hawai'i.

Helen Parker's kolohe classic about the wide-sterned Maunaloa steamship pleads for the return of a lover to Ka'awaloa in

South Kona. The arrangement of "Maiuialoa" is fresh and energetic, somewhat reminiscent of a kind of Cazimero-Buddy Fo mix, resulting in a performance that is appealing — and all their own.

The pig god Kamapua'a is memorialized in a lovely mele l by Tane Inciong and Val \ Kepilino, "Kauhale o \ Kamapua 'a ," in a setting of \ rainbows and waterfalls at \ Nu'uanu. A moonlit night

amid eoeo palms comes to life in "He Aloha Nō 'O Wai'anae ," already a popu- \ lar radio hit for Ua this \ year. \ A really eool arrangeJ ment with modulations

___ — — and tempo changes breathes new life into "He Aloha Nō 'O Honolulu ." Composer Lot Kauwē recalls a trip on the Maunaloa steamship, bidding farewell to Honolulu Harbor,

acknowledging the breadfruit grove of Lele at Lāhaina, continuing on to 'Upolu point at Kohala, and after passing through the ealm seas of Kona, landing up at Ho'okena. Good stuff. Among these many classics is the sole original, " Laehala ," honoring a seaside property at Keaukaha. Hōkū Award-winning Julian Keikilani Ako composed this after attending a workshop at Laehala conducted by Aunty Ulunui Garmon at the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education held in Hilo in 2000. A Tahitian medley of "Te Mihi Nei Au' and "Tiare Taina" underscores the trio's love for and connection to our Polynesian 'ohana in Bora Bora. The splendor and fragrance of the tiare blossom is likened to a beautiful woman. The project rounds off with Queen Lili'uokalani's tribute to her home at Waikīkī and her garden at Uluhaimalama. "Ku'u Pua I Paoakalani" is performed with dignity and sweetness and, again, with a fresh, new approach and appeal. ■

mpip'aiiana