Customer Reviews

Hawaiian Blossom

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is Raiatea's best album yet! Sweet and Lovely and Far Away Heaven showed off her sweet angelic voice. This album shows her voice and talent has matured and her taste in song selection is excellent.

The musical accompaniments are excellent and the piano adds a different touch to this than the other 2 CD's.

I have played this on "replay" for hours on end, and I never tire of it. This is Raiatea at her very best!

Don't miss this!

The music on this album is very Hawaiian except for a jazzed selection or two. Raiatea's voice is very nice, and I especially liked "E Ku'u Tutu" (I Love my Grandma). The tempo of that song is fast, and most grandmas I know of would be out of breath tapping their toes to it, but it is very pleasant. This will be one of your favorite Hawaiian albums, I am certain.

When Raiatea Helm sings in Hawaiian, she is truly magical. Hers is a rare gift. The liner notes with"Hawaiian Blossom," although fetching in a macabre way, are almost totally illegible. Black letters on a pink background would have been a more fortunate choice. The last song on the record, sung in English, is nice but not exceptional. Perhaps Raiatea needs an entire CD of popular jazz offerings in order really to strut her stuff.

I was just on the island of Oah'u and I wanted to purchase something that would give me that 'ALOHA" feeling... The CD by Raiatea was just what I was looking for. Her voice and selection of songs in the Hawai'ian language are so beautiful. Every time I play the CD, I am taken back to the island of Oah'u and can feel the "ALOHA' feeling!!!!

She is the commercial future of Hawaii's past.....she is Aunty Genoa's protegee with beauty, splash and a huge reperatoire that spans Broadway as well as Hawaiiana.

I second Hulamama's comments -- with this CD Raiatea really comes into her own as a mature talent. I've loved her voice, spirit and talent since the release of the first CD, but back then it was clearly a young voice and a young talent. But now... wow! All the work, all the study and all the natural gifts come together. This is, and probably always will be, one of my favorite CDs in my collection. p.s. -- if you get a chance to see Raiatea in person, don't miss it! In addition to her talent, she is just a 100% wonderful, gracious young woman and a joy to be around.

As mood music goes this isn't bad. The best music I've heard was on the radio while in Hawaii. I don't know why I can't find That! Nevertheless, this isn't bad for imagining yourself on the beach at Waikiki with the sun shining down on you. Hawaiian music tends to be...active...and when setting a romantic mood, something more soothing is best. This works.

Raiatea's voice, and the selection of songs on this album, swing like a hammock in the warm breeze. She has mastered the vocal breaks of traditional Hawaiian singing, and her vibrato is loose enough to make you think it might just fall out of tune. In fact, occasionally, it does - ever so slightly. But I cannot find fault with this. Hawaii has its own rules, its own time, its own music. It can only be judged against itself. This album creates mind images for the listener worth so much more than the cost of the music on Amazon. I give the work five stars just because it has the same affect as a good massage or an hour with the shrink. It is impossible to be tense while listening to Raiatea.

That being said, my husband, for some unfathomable reason, does not like this album. He is the first to admit that he is not a musician; nor has he studied music or Hawaiian culture. He can't really even explain why he doesn't like it. I just thought I'd include his opinion here as a two-fer review, for what it's worth. It may just be that he is strung too tight and can't get back to that Hawaiian space once he has returned to the mainland. But you can tell whether or not you're going to like it by listening to the samples.

This is a most beautiful way of remembering a trip to Hawaii. Raiatea is an incredibly gifted musician. This wonderful C D automatically makes your heart sing and gives you the deeply relaxing feeling of being back on the Islands. Thank you Raiatea!

I must agree with the other positive comments here. I've been a fan of Raiatea's work ever since I heard songs from her first release. I love all of her cds equally; but this cd really is the highlight of her career. I was just back on O'ahu in September (08) and was able to see her perform at the Hawai'i Theatre on her "Hawaiian Blossom" tour. For those of you who know Hawai'i and when I say "chicken skin" you'll know what I mean. I almost wish a live cd came out from that performance alone. I've been to many of a concert in my day; I would have to put that in the top 3 that I've ever been to. People asked me what the highlight of my last trip back was... I tell them the Raiatea concert! I met her afterwards and she is so kind and gracious. I live on the mainland, East Coast and she will be touring in early 2009 -- I've already purchased tickets for one of the venues! Don't miss either one of her releases!