Kahulanui’s ‘Mele Ho‘oilina’ CD to Make Debut

Big Island Hawaiian swing band Kahulanui’s highly anticipated second CD, Mele Ho‘oilina – A Musical Legacy, will make its debut on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017, at 7 p.m. at a Christmas performance at the Kahilu Theatre in Kamuela.

Kahulanui is comprised of originator Lena Naipo on lead vocals and guitar, Patrick Eskildsen on bass guitar and vocals, Duke Tatom on ‘ukulele and vocals, Tim Taylor on drums/percussion and Dwight Tokumoto on steel guitar.

The horn section is comprised of Kahulanui’s primary horn arranger, Jesse Snyder, on clarinet and tenor sax, Bill Noble on alto saxophone, Joshua Timmons on trumpet and Vincent D’Angelo on trombone.

Kahulanui. Courtesy photo.

“Kahulanui’s musical creativity is truly from the heart,” said Skylark Rossetti.

Take a trip back in time to an era when Hawaiian culture and music blended and coalesced with American Jazz—a melding that came to be known as Hawaiian Swing. Experience a diverse array of music, including ki ho‘alu (Hawaiian slack key guitar), four-horn Hawaiian jazz combo arrangements and rich, brassy 15-piece Big Band orchestrations. Enjoy the musical legacy that continues to evolve through this new album.

The 15 tunes on the CD (two medleys) include: Analani E, E Mau, Eating of the Poi by Alvin Kaleolani Isaacs, Ka Ua Loku by Alfred U. Alohikea, Ho‘oluana by John Alameida and Randy Oness, Sweet Someone by Harry Revel and Mack Gordon, Fly Me To the Moon by Bart Howard, Heatwave by Irving Berlin (solo vocal by Snyder), Kahulanui Boogie Woogie by Bill Noble, Almost Like Being in Love by Frederick Loewe, On The Beach at Waikiki by G.H. Stover and Henry Kailimai, Maui Medley Maui Boy by Steve Steventon, Maui Girl by Sylvester Thomas Kalama and Medley-Old Hawaiian Style/He‘eia, based on Real Old Style by Keola Beamer and He‘eia by G.H. Stover and Charles E. King.

Mele Ho’oilina, was produced by Kahulanui LLC and Michael Surprenaut of Mana Music Studios in Hilo with an additional arrangement by Emmy Award-winning Composer/Arranger David Pierce. Album graphics and design are by Scarlet Eskildsen. Lliner notes are by Rossetti.

A limited number of albums will available that evening.

The album is also available on the Kahulanui website and at select locations in Hawai‘i and the on mainland.

Tickets available online and at the Kahilu Theatre Box Office, 67-1186 Lindsey Road in Waimea.