Search - Randall Thompson, Keola Beamer, Keola / Winston, George Beamer :: Ka Hikina O Ka Hau (The Coming of the Snow)

Very pleasantly surprised. Worth listening to, worth owning.

Edmund P. Crumb | Louisville, KY United States | 07/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I mainly bought this all instrumental CD for one song only, The Little Drummer Boy (with George Winston), but was quite surprised at what it had to offer overall. I had no idea the CD contained variations on classical works, as I thought this was just a collection of winter themed Hawaiian slack key music. Each piece is well worth listening too, and keeping on hand for any occasion or mood. Many times a CD features a few really good songs, with a bunch of fillers that are merely passable. This CD is jam packed with quality music (though most of the songs are short at under two and one half minutes and do sound similar). I have other CDs by Keola Beamer, so I knew going into this that this would be a decent CD regardless, as he is quite talented.



The works within are rather mellow and are not upbeat like some of his other songs/works, but I find that this CD makes a great companion piece to his other works - and just plain excellent on its own. My favorite song on the CD, The Snow Goddess (also with George Winston), is phenomenal. Brilliant, even. In fact, not only is this the best song on the CD it's also one of my all time favorites by any artist. It's just that good. However, the quality of this song isn't quite on par with it's release on the Windham Hill Winter Solstice V holiday CD, but a nice addition to this CD nonetheless.



And speaking of quality, that is really the only aspect of this CD that's worth complaining about. I'm not sure what happened or who oversaw this release, but it's not as polished as Keola Beamer's other works, or others by Windham Hill and Dancing Cat records. It sounds as if my speakers are busted on certain songs (this is obviously not the case). And going back to The Snow Goddess, it sounds as if someone turned the volume up on a lesser quaility CD player without the music playing - as you hear a terribly audible white noise throughout. Quite a shame.



Yet even with this quality issue being a nuisance, I can't lower it's score. I liked it too much to do so. It's not for everyone, but by no means would it make for a bad purchase. A must for George Winston fans looking to add another Christmas work of his to their collection (The Little Drummer Boy is very nice and just over four minutes in length), those who are fans of Keola Beamer (Wooden Boat is still my favorite CD of his), and recommended to classical music listeners and all those who enjoy good music.



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