Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 2006 — Kī hōʻalu dominates Hawaiian Grammy bids [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kī hōʻalu dominates Hawaiian Grammy bids

By Manu Boyd Public lnformation Director As the National Recording Academy gears up for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles Feb. 8, this year's nominees are in for the Best Hawaiian Album category. Selected by academy members from 26 candidates, the five finalists include four slack-key guitar recordings, along with a lone vocals-focused CD - "Sweet & Lovely" by twotime Nā Hōkū Hanohano female vocalist of the year Raiatea Helm - although nominees

Ledward Ka'apana ("Kī Hō'alu - Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar") and Kapono Beamer ("Slack Key Dreams of the Ponomoe") are also noted singers, besides being guitar masters. Kohala's own Sonny Lim will be returning to the awards after being a part of last year's first-time Grammy-winning Hawaiian CD, a kī hō'alu eompilation produced by Hawai'i island resident Charles Miehael Brotman. This year, Lim returns to the final ballot with a solo slack-key project, "Slack Key Guitar: The Artistry Of

Sonny Lim." Rounding out the nominations is a slack-key compilation, "Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar - Vol. 1," produced by Daniel Ho, Paul Konwiser and Wayne Wong. Grammys are voted on by members of the National Recording Academy, whieh has more than 12,000 members nationally, though fewer than 100 in Hawai'i. Members may vote for only nine out of the 98 categories. For information on how to join the academy, visit www.grammy.com. ^

Catch the Grammy nominees in concert This year's Hawaiian Grammy nominees will perform a free concert at the Hawai'i State Art Museum in downtown Honolulu on Fri. Jan. 6, from 5 to 9 p.m. The concert will be videotaped and broadcast online at www.hawaiianclassics.oceanic.com on Sat., Jan. 7, starting at 10 a.m. Hawai'i time. Fans ean also catch a television simulcast of the concert recording on KITV ehannel 4 and OC16 on Tues., Jan. 31 at 8 p.m.