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mike2jb
Lokahi
USA
213 Posts |
 Posted - 05/27/2011 : 07:25:29 AM
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Had the pleasure of hearing this duo perform last night at Rocketfish, a smallish Japanese restaurant in my neighborhood here in SF-- maybe 40 or so in the audience.
The performance lasted about an hour with appetizers served before and dinner after. The program was all vocals, mostly Tia alone with Daniel accompanying on his Yamaha guitar, ukulele, or keyboard. Selections included standards like "Aloha 'Oe", "Pupu Hinuhinu", "Ku'u Lei Awapuhi" and "Hi'ilawe", as well as covers of late 20th-century numbers in both English and Hawaiian.
Also included were original compositions by the duo and Taropatch member Amy Stillman (kuulei88), including the "Spam Song", and one classic "Brahams' Lullaby" with Hawaiian lyrics by Dr. Stillman and a beautiful keyboard arrangement by Daniel.
Tia took care to introduce each song with a little talk story so the listeners could appreciate both a bit of background history and a bit of kaona for each.
I would like to have heard a guitar solo or two from Daniel, but he did sneak in bits and pieces of his original slack-key pieces as intros to some of the vocals. He appeared to be in his G Kilauea tuning most of the time, but often capoed up to A or Bb for Tia's voice.
After the performance, the pair made the rounds of the restaurant and greeted every diner. Overall this was an incredibly warm and aloha-filled evening. I will leave it to others to discuss whether what I heard last night was "Hawaiian music", but it sure sounded like it to these old ears that have been listening to Hawaiian music for a very long time.
For others in the Bay Area, Daniel and Tia will be playing a benefit for Japan relief in San Jose tonight (Friday).
- Mike Butler
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2011 : 08:20:02 AM
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Nice review, Mike.
Perhaps now that the Grammy controversy is behind them, listeners will judge their music on the music itself, and not on where they reside or what their other activities are or on the sour grapes of anyone else.
I, for one, am pleased to see them make more of an effort to present their music to a wider audience, to put it out there for critical assessment. |
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Daniel Ho and Tia Carrere in San Francisco
