Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 5, 1 May 2010 — Hawaiian music soul mates [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian music soul mates

By Francine Murray KaWai Ola Like a cherished memory, hali'a aloha, this new alhum invokes a special dejā vu. This is something old but something new; you may recognize some tunes, but I've never heard them this way before. "It just clicked. When we are together our spirits blend, and when we perform together, the joy comes out," says Raiatea Helm of her collaboration with Keola Beamer. "It was the energy between Keola and I that inspired this CD." The two Hawaiian music icons first played together in 2008 at the Shinnyo-en/Nā Lei Aloha Foundation event after the annual lantem floating ceremony. They performed "Imagine" by John Lennon, but to give it a Hawaiian feel Beamer asked his hānai brother, Kaliko Beamer-Trapp, to translate it into Hawaiian. As Beamer said at the time of this first performance, "There is a kind of a timelessness to 'Imagine' that serves to make it as relevant in today's world as it was when Lennon penned it almost four decades ago." On this CD, Charles Ka'upu contributes a moving oli to "Inā (Imagine)," whieh compels listeners, "Arise and stand together, all children of the land." For Helm, every one of the songs on this CD is one of her favorites because they eaeh have their own special meaning, but, she said,

"Our Time for Letting Go" is particularly touching, written by Keola Beamer for his mother Nona Beamer after her passing. Helm says her tūtū passed in the same year, and the song is of that longing you feel when you miss a departed loved one. In what's sure to heeome a classic, Beamer is pure genius as he performs this song. Beamer recalls that when he met Helm: "She was singing old works like 'Kimo Hula' and 'Ke Ali'i Hulu Mamo,' my great-grandmother's compositions. In there somewhere, there's an older soul." Both songs are featured on the alhum.

Ot the song seiection, Beamer says: "I eome from the old school of record production. The pieces should reflect the places where the artists are. She (Raiatea) has courage to explore her own heart. She's blessed and interested in more mature work, and for me thinking of the passage of time, loss and the central meanina of life, this work was

a reflection." Beamer also wrote "Where I Hold You' for his great-grandfather and the inspirational

"You Somebody," whieh offers the encouraging words, "I wish that you'd know that you are never lost, 'cause

you some body . . . in this heart of mine." Beamer's voice is so smooth and soothing it is easy to lose yourself in its genteel arace especially when coupled with his kl

hō'alu guitar, and Helm's leo ki'eki'e never ceases to amaze. "She is quite a talented lady," Beamer says. "Talent is kind of a Ke Akua thing. It's just part of you." She has such a unique voice and work ethic it awoke his dormant passion for music, he says. Other mele on this very special CD include: "Hilo Hanakahi" honoring the Big Island by Keola Nāumu; lost love ean be found again with "Ka Makani Kā'ili Aloha," the love-snatching wind, by Mathew Kāne; beautifully executed "When I Look In Your Eyes" by Leslie Bricusse was translated to "I Kīlohi Aku Au" by Beamer-Trapp, who also

provided the Hawanan transiation tor "Ke Kulu O ke Au" from "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" by L Sandy Denny; and in memory of a

nan who made a young Beamer and his classmates feel proud to be Hawaiian, "Days of My Youth" by Kuiokalani Lee.

Don't miss this incredible new CD, available in music stores May 4 or online at mountain applecompany.com/ raiatea/keola. ■

mele 'ailana il,,d n"*

www.oha.org/kwo

Where I Hold You Keola Beamer and Raiatea Helm Starscape Music and Raiatea Helm Records

"When we perform together, the joy comes out," says Raiatea Helm. - Photo courtesy of MountainApple Company