Customer Reviews

Ho'Omana'o I Na Mele O Ka Wa U'i (Remembering the Songs of Our Youth

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

 

 

The reviewer below says that this album is made up of vintage recordings that have very poor sound quality. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The entire purpose of this album was for Bob Brozman & the Tau Moe Family to perform songs that the Family had originally recorded during the Hawaiian Music boom of the 1920's - hence the album's title. In this respect, the CD could draw comparison to the much more famous Buena Vista Social Club project that Ry Cooder initiated in Cuba - younger student/musicologist type ventures to find much older musicians who made wonderful recordings years ago before moving into other vocations, and gets them to re-convene and perform their old songs, accompanying them with sensativity, and giving them an opportunity to record under conditions far more flexible (and high-fidelity) than had been previously available.

The recordings on this album were made, I believe (I don't have the album in front of me), in the early '90's. The recording quality is wonderful, fully in accord with modern technology. The performances are ecstatic, joyous, and virtuosic - this is actually one of the finest CD's of Hawaiian music I have heard, from any era. As a technical note, there is one point in the CD where a vintage "scratchy" recording is used - the first 30 seconds or so of the final track are from a 1920's 78 RPM record of the Tau Moe Family - this performance fades into the Family's 1990's performance of the same tune, serving to illustrate how their original sound has remained intact through the years. Gimmicky? Maybe. But it's really not a big distraction - and it is only 30 seconds of the CD, which, if memory serves me correctly, runs over 1 hour. I have to wonder if the reviewer who said that this is a noisy CD of vintage recordings even listened to it at all - perhaps he has confused this album with something by Don Ho.

Guitar whiz Bob Brozman, collector of antique instruments and arcane musical lore, has probably done as much as any single person could to help keep the flame of old-fashioned Hawaiian music burning bright. In the early 1970s, he and his band, The Cheap Suit Seranaders, worked island music into their diverse blues and ragtime repertoire; later in the decade Brozman opened up his extensive collection of old 78s and made possible the first significant LP collections of classic Hawaiiana, issued on Arhoolie and Rounder record labels. He's kept at it over the years, and here is one of his most intriguing and endearing albums, a late '80s collaboration with the surving members of the Tau Moe Family, one of the hottest Hawaiian acts of the 1920s and '30s. Like Sol Ho'opii, Tau Moe took a lively, energetic approach to Hawaiian guitar music, though, outside of a few tunes on a compilation album here and there, his classic recordings are pretty hard to find. Thank goodness for this great album, recorded in the same style that took the Moes overseas and made them huge stars during the golden age of Hawaiian popular music. There's plenty of traditional material as well as original songs that the family has been singing for decades, all delivered with the same robust, playful kookiness that made them great to begin with. Brozman's accompaniment is great, of course, but it's also remarkable to hear Tau and Rose Moe singing their hearts out at age 80 and sounding as charming now as they did back then.

Cherish the Aloha and savor these fine 1920's selections that time has not forgotten. Celebrate Rose's sweet falsetto, Tau, Lani and Dorian's great playing and harmonies, and Bob Brozman's gentle musical "laying of hands" on this project. Standing-OH! Bravo, Bob, and thanks!

With my desire for Bob Brozman's upcoming album (or at least some information!), Lumiere growing, I thought I'd pass the time with a review. With this album from 1988, the Tau Moe Family and Bob Brozman came together to "recreate" the Moe recordings from the late '20s and early '30s.

This brings me to my first point... the Moes did record this stuff when they were younger... most famously as Mme. Riviere's Hawaiians (though there were other bands/names, too), of which (of what I've found) you can get the biggest chunk of their sides on It's Hotter in Hawaii. I've always wished there was a nice one-stop-shopping disc with every Moe side, but there isn't (at the time of this review).
I think alot of people may come to this album from the Brozman steel-guitar camp (I of course love Bob, as my past reviews illustrate), but when I think of this album, I think of Rose first and foremost. No, this is not the premiere album if you're just wanting to hear Bob be Bob... for that, one need buy Live in Germany, Blues Reflex, Four Hands Sweet & Hot, Rolling Through This World (from Bob's site), etc... For this album, Bob basically takes Tau's old role as lead steel, framing Rose's lovely vocals within these great songs.

This is the magic of the Moes, for me. They always sounded old. In the '20s, they were closer to Kalama's Quartet Early Hawaiian Classics than they were to Sol Hoopii Master of the Hawaiian Guitar, Vol. 1 or Sam Ku West Hawaiian Hula Blues: Acoustic Steel Guitar Masterpieces 1927-1928. Whereas Sol and Sam could have sat in with Oscar Aleman or Django and slid right into some ripping string-swing, Kalama and the Moes always sounded more like an older Hawaii, less touched by modern times. This is no slam on any artist I just mentioned, as I love them all. I'm just noting differences.

Rose's voice just hits me in such a sweet, loving way. With Rose gone now, and Tau at age 99, I've long secretly thought that if I ever hit the lottery, I'm contacting Bob to fund the completion of his movie with Terry Zwigoff about the Moes. I'd love to be able to help honor them in that sort of a way while Tau is still around to see it. In ways that I don't understand, I feel this album (particularly Rose) ties in with another album I love, Mahagita: Harp & Vocal Music of Burma. There's no concrete reason why these 2 come together for me, but for some reason Rose's vocals and Daw Yi Yi Thant's go together. The musics could scarcely be more different, but if you dig Rose Moe, give the Mahagita album a try. I think you'll love it, and outside of Burma there's nothing else like it.

This CD is a wonderful listen, but mostly academically. One wishes that Tau Moe had been able to record these songs when he and his wife were much younger. They are lovely songs and I'm grateful that they will be remembered. It's a great CD for a beautiful drive.

I love this album. We drove all around the Big Island and Kauaii in a convertible listening to this music at least a hundred times. Give it a try and get into the Aloha spirit of old Hawaii. You will be amazed.

Try the Felix Mendelshon CD which is much better than this. There are a few decent tracks on this CD, but overall, the songs sound old, scratchy, and superannuated. Might not be a good buy unless you're into really old, authentic hawaiian songs (original recordings too).