Customer Reviews

Our Beloved Land

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We have a lot of Nakai CDs and quite a few of IZ's and other Hawaiian artists' work. This album is as good as IZ's Facing Future and has instantly become one of my favorite top ten albums of all time. Nakai is amazing as always. But here Keola Beamer is not the warm, talented slack key Hawaiian master we know and love. In this release he is even better -- powerful, haunting vocals in Hawaiian, accented by understated minor key guitar arrangements. The songs stir your soul and feel like the raw power of primal, pre-Captain Cook Hawaii. If you've never strayed from the resorts that might sound weird, but if you've been deep in the rainforest or visited the top of Mauna Kea, you'll know the feeling. What IZ did for love with Facing Future, Beamer does for spirituality on this album, and both will give you goosebumps.

These two masters of native music create a blend never heard before. As a collector of native american recordings I find this refreshing, haunting, mellow and full of spirit. I listen when my soul needs to be nourished, which is often in this material world.

The atmospheres musically created by these two masters results in one of the most awesome CDs ever recorded. In this day of cloned & sampled digital music, it is so refreshing to hear two virtuoso musicains laying down fresh material never before attempted, and with astounding success. Nakai is at his usual spendid self, but Keola goes where no one has gone before. Singing deep spiritual Hawaiian chants while his Slack Key minor chord useage creates soulful atmospheres and melodies that Nakai fills with his haunting Native American flute. This CD is a true masterpiece and Keola's finest recording.

I first listened to Keola Beamer's slack key guitar music on Putumayo's "Gardens of Eden." I also listened to his music when I worked at an Alzheimer's home,where it was played for the residents' comfort&relaxation.This is a haunting collaboration with Carlos Nakai,who is more famous for bringing Native American music into the mainstream.

Highlights-
1)Ka Honua-It's all about the earth.Natural sounds are used to accent the piece.
2)Ke Ha'a Ala Puna-A song about hula dancers,but it's not the tacky tiki song you'd expect.
3)E Manono-A song in praise of a woman who sacrificed herself for her beloved husband.
4)Ka Mano (The Shark)-A beautiful instrumental.
5)"for you,O glittering sun"-Both Carlos Nakai&Keola Beamer provide vocals in this interesting piece that honored a Hawaiian monarch for circling the globe&being initiated as a Hindu Brahman in the Himalayas.
6)The Beautiful World-Carlos Nakai provides powerful narration.
7)Sunday-Beautiful instrumental using natural sounds.
8)The Good Road-Carlos Nakai powerfully chants the words of the Blessing Way of the Navajo.

It's a fascinating fusion of Navajo&Hawaiian music.Perfect for relaxation&meditation!

I read about this cd in a Hawaiian newspaper. It is amazing. One of those masterpieces that transports you into the spiritual spaces of the performers. Mahalo nui loa to Mr. and Mrs. Beamer and Mr. Nakai.

When I discovered this CD, I was so happy to find a collaboration of these two artists. It is a must for your collection if you enjoy either genre!

Perhaps in a nod to the acclaim which his first version had garnered back in the '70s, Keola Beamer chooses to open this album with the traditional mele Waipi`o Paka`alana. The effect is to make it instantly apparent that not only will this cd bypass any hint of frivolity, but will surely run a path straight into profoundest sacred darkness. Po. The liner notes give a slightly more gentle version of the Waipi`o Paka`alana mana`o, but the music invokes the full sense of mystic tragedy incumbent upon this mele. Carlos Nakai`s flute steps deftly between blues and a traditional sound, Keola's guitar is weighted with a visionary depth. No, this cd will be no lightweight.

The deepest and darkest track may be E Manono, a traditional mele that concerns the last moments of chiefess Manono, Keola's kupuna (ancestor). The liner notes describe well how she led the battle of Kuamo`o after her husband was killed. Not mentioned is how she died. Manono was shot at point blank with a musket. In the face. By her brother. Kou aloha, kou aloha. Malama kou aloha. Mahalo a mau loa e Manono.

The guitar-flute duets engaged in by Beamer and Nakai, in Ka Mano for an excellent example, reveal more than their respective musical mastery. Two disparate musical traditions are not heard. Not only are they not competing, they are not even trying to complement each other. They are playing inside of each others' heads.

And then there is the flute-flute duet. Followers of Keola Beamer's work will know of his affinity for and virtuosity with the `ohe hano ihu, the Hawaiian nose flute. The `ohe shows up often in his music, and one has to believe that this was a catalyst, if not a root cause, for the pairing of Beamer and Nakai. So it was inevitable that this cd should feature a track such as Lapule. The call and response thing seems to be very natural for the `ohe, any time you get a couple of nose flautists together this seems to happen. The result can be an aural intimacy of spirits, so closely entwined and reacting as to make the Westernized mind a little uncomfortable. Lapule blesses us with just this.

Throughout this disk, Moanalani Beamer articulates a number of traditional instruments, including the rarely-heard `ukeke and oeoe. The kahiko backdrop couldn't be stronger. Layer upon this the chant styles that Keola and Carlos lay down, and you might think that Keola's signature (forgive me) new-age/folk flavor of slack key or the bluesier notes of Carlos' flute might raise a hint of discord. You might think that, until you heard it. Count yourself lucky to be alive now when you can experience this cd.

Keola Beamer, a well known Hawaiian slack key guitarist, and R. Carlos Nakai, a Navajo/Ute Native American most known for his flute music, join together creating a particularly earthy and haunting fusion of sound that stems from two native musical traditions that honor the earth.

Wow, this blend creates a whole new sound, not quite Hawaiian and not quite pure Native American, but a sound that is completely earthy, spiritual, oceanic, and organic. Through voice, guitar, flute, drums, and rattle, this music evokes so many images of Hawaiian rain forests, lush green mountains, the ocean, eagles souring, as well as south west desert canyons with echoed sounds of wind softly blowing through them. The complementary voices of both Beamer and Nakai blend so harmoniously, it's as if they are one voice and it's hard to tell where one voice and language starts and where one leaves off. If you are looking for music that is rich, mellow, sometimes ethereal, and yet tangibly grounded in the Earth, then this is the perfect music.

I've been a fan of both these artists for a long time so this CD is a special treat for me. While I would agree with some others that this is not the usual that Keola Beamer puts out, also like others, I agree that Beamer went to a whole new dimension with this and it was very pleasant for me. Mahalo!

I have long been a fan of both these two fine artists, and they did not disappoint...

In fact, I was totally BLOWN AWAY!! My soul is STILL resonating from the sense of peace, homecoming, connection with nature, etc. that this CD empowered me with! I have shared this CD with others - many who do NOT like either artist, and they have become converts - they also agree with me!!

###------> lakotakat

I'm from Hawaii so am very familiar with Keola Beamer. Sorry, Brah - this is sortuv a snooze compared to previous work. It put me to sleep, but not in a mellow, laid back way.