Customer Reviews

Ho'olohe (Listen)

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It's surprising to me just how good this album is. I got it late last year and repeated listenings sound better each time! I was more familiar with his brothers, Cyril and Bla. Martin is the youngest son of Hawaiian slack key legend Gabby Pahinui.

Recorded on July of 2002, Martin handles the lead vocals on this, and plays rhythm guitar, leaving the lead slack key to the very capable George Kuo (both 6 and 12 string), who also sings background vocals. Aaron Mahi plays bass and handles background vocals. Steel guitar player Bobby Ingano appears on 7 of the 13 songs.

The vocals are all excellent. Hawaiian is a language that just flows and is so easy to listen to. At times Martin uses the high falsetto that reminds me of his father. The words are mostly in Hawaiian, a few lines of English thrown in here and there.

Like i said before, this album was a wonderful surprise to me. It puts me in a true Hawaiian spirit, and the mood remains from beginning to end.

As far as I can tell, Martin is the best singer of Gabby's three boys, and with this trio he sounds like they're all having fun. There are classic songs, and silly songs, and a children's song, and a perfectly lovely version of what is described as a favorite local hymn. When the CD is on in the car, and it gets to that, I usually repeat it a couple of times.

Back in the 60's there was a movement for "real Hawaiian language." By its proponents, Gabby sang perfectly dreadful Hawaiian. That I don't know, but it did seem like some of the language perfectionists wanted everyone to sound formal. Fault Hank Williams Senior for not sounding like a Vanderbilt Divinity School student giving his first sermon in front of his professors. Different kind of language. I really don't know how Hawaiian differs along some formal/informal or alii/commoner continuum. In some languages it's a lot. And goodness knows,Martin Pahinui sounds many times better than the younger generation does.

(if the other album is the one I used to have somewhere, he sounded a bit nervous on that one)