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Aloha Joe's Steel Guitar Hour | Where to Find the Recordings "Hawaiian Touch"Alvin "Barney" Isaacs, Jr. and George Kuo 
"Hawaiian Touch" is classic Alvin "Barney" Isaacs, Jr. on steel and the incomparable George Kuo on slack key guitar in fourteen mellow duets of traditional Hawaiian favorites. The CD jacket says it best. "This groundbreaking album is the first time in the history of Hawaiian music that pure duets of just acoustic steel and slack key have ever been recorded. The result is a beautiful blend of the sound of old Hawai'i and sweet slack key." Amen to that! The album is not new; Dancing Cat Records produced it in 1995, but some of you may not have it yet or didn't buy it at Joliet '97 convention. Many mahalos, incidentally, to Ben Churchill at Dancing Cat, who donated our Joliet supply so you folks could have one, and HSGA could put all the sales income into our Scholarship Assistance Fund. Favorite cuts? All of 'em, but perhaps the most memorable for steel players will be "Moana Chimes" and "Hula Blues" which George says was the first piece they recorded together. "It was real give and take". Certainly the final cut "Medley: Old Plantation & Ku'u Pua I Paoakalani" is a Barney Isaacs keeper for steel players. Barney plays it solo acoustic, rare indeed. Finally, the 12 page booklet with the CD (and we suppose with the cassette) is a well-done piece all by itself; history of the songs and the tunings George and Barney use. If you're on the Internet, you can order directly from Auntie Maria at "Hawaiian Music Island" <http://www.mele.com>. Or mail order from Dancing Cat Records, Dept. SK, PO Box 639, Santa Cruz, CA 95061. They have a catalog. 
HSGA * HAWAIIAN
STEEL GUITAR ASSOCIATION Homepage URL: www.hsga.org (hsga@lava.net) Last updated: 07/23/02 by Gerald Ross (gbross@umich.edu) |