Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 4, 1 ʻApelila 2006 — A MEGA-TALENT AMONG YOUNG HAWAIIAN ARTISTS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A MEGA-TALENT AMONG YOUNG HAWAIIAN ARTISTS

By Manu Buyd Public lnfnrmatinn Directnr You've probably heard the works of Aaron I. Salā, be it the riveting "Hawaiian swing" piano on Nā Palapalai recordings, or intricate choral arrangements at the Kamehameha Schools Song Contest. Salā has, however, remained somewhat behind the scenes. Recently, however, he's been sighted here and there promoting his debut recording along with musician pals Shawn Pimental, Kamakoa LindseyAsing, Steve Iones and Snowbird Bento. For his "day job," Salā works as a graduate assistant at the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at UH Mānoa, where he is teaching mo'okū'auhau (genealogy) this semester. He is surrounded by those who help to nurture his commitment to his island heritage, to Hawai'i, and most especially, to music. "When I was really young growing up in Sāmoa, I studied piano," says Salā, whose father is Sāmoan, while his mother is Hawaiian-Chinese-Portuguese. "When we moved back to Hawai'i, I thought the piano in my grandma's house (Cecilia

Cabral) was there just for me. Then I heard her play, and I was just mesmerized. But I couldn't watch her play - I just listened. The first song she taught me on piano was Kalama'ula." He continued to fine-tune his musieal talents at the Kamehameha Schools Kapālama campus, where he graduated in 1994. At UH, Salā's graduate work in ethnomusicology eenters on the role of the piano in the development of Hawaiian music. He is doing oral histories on pianists he considers his heroes, including Mahi Beamer, Robert Cazimero, Leila Kl'aha, Wehilani Ching and, of course, his grandma. He is also studying the artistry of the late Richard Kauhi, whose Hawaiian jazz piano was one-of-a-kind. After finishing up his master's degree this fall, he will sail right into his Ph.D. studies. Salā's years of vocal training, his instrumental and vocal arranging skills, a host of musieal friends and a self-described avant-garde flair combine in an impressive debut. "Ka 'Upu Aloha - Alone In My Thoughts" - is a refection of the multi-fac-eted concepts of aloha, ranging from joy to heartache to the

euphoria of falling in love. "As artists, it's sometimes difficult to express who we are," he says. "I want people to feel a bit of what I was feeling when I recorded this, experience what I experienced. I didn't want the cover art to look typically Hawaiian, since I'm intending this for a broader audience. Hawaiian music is for the world." A number of originals showcase the talents of Salā's associates, including Kamehameha Schools mentor Randie Kamuela Fong. Fong's Hale a Laka for Nu'uanu and Nani Kaluako'i for the west end of Moloka'i have great energy and fresh appeal, though composed more than 25 years ago. A more recent Fong composition, E Ho'i ke Aloha i Ra'iātea, recalls a historical

Hōkūle 'a voyage to Taputapuātea in the early 1990s. Klhei de Silva composed Ehuehu mai nei 'o Mānoa, a tribute to "Pauahilaninui" (Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop) in reaction to litigation challenging Kamehameha's admissions policy. The recent composition has roots in a late 1890s mele, Halepiowai, honoring "Wilikoki" - Robert Wilcox, who led the counter-revolu-tion that attempted to restore power to Queen Lili'uokalani. "Halepiowai served as the primary inspiration for this eomposition, the mele 'ai pōhaku of our generation," de Silva explains. Kaumakaiwa "Lopaka" Kanaka'ole, the prolific young composer/performer/recording

artist from Hilo, contributes Mele Kāpekapeka AIolui, with poetic imagery that is stunning in its lyrcis as well as its well-crafted English translation. Here, pahu meets piano in an unusual mix - dramatic, powerful, intriguing. With charisma, heaps of talent and a deep aloha for his heritage, Aaron Salā is a name many more will know in years to eome. Aside from preparing for a number of musical performances at this month's Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo, Salā's jam-packed schedule - juggling teaching, trips to lapan, concerts and school - may just leave him enough time to start another recording, whieh he predicts will be released in early 2007.

MELE 'AILANA • ISLAND MUSIC SCENE

Aaron SūIū's debut cd combines chūrismū, tolent, avant-garde flair and years of fraining. Pholo: Kauila