Search - HAPA :: Hapa Holidays

Hau 'oli Makahiki Hou.

Mary Whipple | New England | 11/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Holidays, Hapa's second recording, made in 1995, establishes the pattern of their most successful albums--half the songs are vocals, and half are instrumentals. Hapa, which means "half," consists of Keli'i Kaneali'i and Barry Flanagan, a duo that is half Hawaiian, but in their dedication to the sounds of the islands they are a hundred percent Hawaiian. Here their sounds honor the Christmas holidays, with four of the seven vocals being new holiday songs composed by Flanagan.



The album is quiet and mellow, music which captures the holiday spirit without being loud or intrusive. The instrumentals feature virtually every stringed instrument in the islands-from slack key guitar to rhythm guitar, ukulele, electric sitar, and bass. Percussion adds to the rhythm, with Eric Keawe on the claves, Flanagan on castanets, and Larry Leiberman on drums and tympani, where appropriate. Two of the most interesting instrumentals are their version of "Oh Come, Oh Come, Emanuel," which features Flanagan on lead guitar, ukulele, electric sitar, and bass, and Eric Keawe on percussion, and John Lennon's "Love," in which Flanagan plays bass, and the acoustic and rhythm guitar take over. Four of the vocals are new songs by Flanagan, my favorite being "Ke Ku'ulani," a beautiful song in which a chorus emphasizes the loving spirit of the season, and Flanagan plays bass.



As is characteristic of Hawaiian albums, everyone helps out in the recording: Robi Hahakalau ("Sistah Robi"), Lehua Kalima, and Fiji provide the chorus on "It's Christmas Day, Mahi Beamer plays piano on "It's Alright, Christmas Time is Here," and the group thanks the Keawe family and the (Kenny) Loggins family on the Big Island, for their contributions. The only song that doesn't seem to fit the recording is "Lady in Red," which is dedicated here to Mrs. Claus "from S.C.," but which remains a song about a mysterious (and not very "Christmas-y") siren. An interesting combination of vocals and instrumentals, this is a CD which adds immeasurably to the Christmas songbook of the Hawaiian islands. Mary Whipple

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