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©2000 by Ely Music/Pub |
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Aloha Joe's Steel Guitar Hour | Where to Find the Recordings "Ka Hanauna Hou"Herb Ohta, Jr. 
Attention 'ukulele players! Freddie Von Paraz at Pa'ani Records has done it again! The second in his 'Ukulele Stylings Master Series' is in the stores: Herb Ohta, Jr. leads the pack in the new generation of `ukulele players on "Ka Hanauna Hou" and steel artist Casey Olsen plays some sweet, romantic background steel on many numbers that will melt your Hawaiian heart. Delightful, soothing and fresh sound on all cuts, some with steel, one featuring slack key and a wonderful duet with papa Ohta San. Junior earned himself a Na Hoku Hanohano for "Most Promising Artist" with his featured playing on Pa'ani's first "`Ukulele Styles #1 - The Best With The Best" which came out in 1995. This is his first solo effort. He has a distinct, recognizable style of his own with a graceful nahenahe quality that is pure Hawaiian, because Juniorlives "Hawaiian" and it shows. My ears perked up on the very first cut "Holo Wa'apa", a very upbeat rendering with "plenty spark" and some real jazzy jam segments. I fell in love with Hawaiian music all over again on cut #2, a medley of "He Aloha No 'O Honolulu/Island Style" done in slack key rhythm with lovely background obligato steel by Casey. There's some fun stuff on this album, too. This album has both modern and traditional Hawaiian rhythms on it -- a wake up call for all Hawaiian music instrumentalists. I've seen the CDs and tapes at Border's, Harry's Music and Tower in Honolulu. 
HSGA * HAWAIIAN
STEEL GUITAR ASSOCIATION Homepage URL: www.hsga.org (hsga@lava.net) Last updated: 07/23/02 by Gerald Ross (gbross@umich.edu) |