Our Beloved Land

R. Carlos Nakai

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 12, 2005)
• Original Release Date: July 12, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Canyon Records
• ASIN: B0009VI5K2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #96,455 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Hawaiian slack-key guitar and Native American flute aren't the most likely combination one could think of. Slack-key guitar is a sound both laconic and light, made from loosely tuning the guitar strings. The Native flute is renowned for its frail, lonesome call. But two masters of these instruments, Keola Beamer and R. Carlos Nakai, find common ground and lay some new turf on their first full collaboration, Our Beloved Land.

Beamer is a guitarist who makes it look easy as he peels fingerpicked melodies from his instrument the way Tiger Woods peels off a long drive. All but three of the tunes on this album are either traditional Hawaiian songs he arranged, or his own originals. Hawaiian and Native American chants share a certain sound, and you can hear that when Nakai joins in singing on "E Manono." On "Lapule (Sunday)," Beamer picks up the Hawaiian nose flute and duets with Nakai over the sounds of a rain forest. Together, they create a sound far from the tourist music you may have heard before. Instead, they orchestrate a tribal mood full of ambience and rumination. Shakers, rattles, double gourd drums, and coyote echoes encase their often fragile melodies. R. Carlos Nakai has a knack for bringing out the more soulful side in musicians, but Keola Beamer probably didn't require any prompting. He remains the most original and exploratory of modern slack-key guitarists. --John Diliberto

Product Description

Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai joins with famed Hawaiian slack key guitarist Keola Beamer in a new album, Our Beloved Land. Nakai, the world's leading performer of the traditional flute with over 3.5 million albums sold, journeyed to Hawaii where he spent time fitting the haunting melodies of his traditional flute into the songs and arrangements of Beamer, one of the leading slack key guitar players. The result is a new music, blending elements of two indigenous American cultures that expresses the cultures of both artists. Features Moananlani Beamer.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, atmospheric, full of mana, October 24, 2005

By	happyhaole "K.W." (California) - See all my reviews

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.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two native masters join hands across the big water, September 14, 2005

By	Pamela S. Barcita "Honey Cat" (Chesapeake, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars gives you "chicken skin", September 11, 2005

By	V. A Ortiz "Forties wahine" (Tybee Island, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.