Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 7, 1 July 2005 — Natalie Ai Kamaua steps into the limelight --again [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Natalie

Ai Kamaua steps into the limelight --again

By Manu Boyd

Fifteen years after victoriously representing her family and hālau in the Miss Aloha Hula competition, Natalie Noelani Ai Kamauu is back out front, this time with microphone in hand. Her new CD, 'Ē, represents her first solo recording, although she is no stranger to the recording studio. Back in 1996, with the group Sundance that also included her husband, 'Iolani Kamauu, Natalie recorded on albums released in Japan, Europe and Hawai'i. And in support of her parents' hula school, Hālau Hula Olana, a "low-key" CD

was produced of songs regularly performed by the troupe. That hālau recording has since made it into

mainstream music stores. Although her new CD appears to be a solo venture, Natalie folds into her arrangements family members whose performance talent could easily put them in the solo spotlight. Her father, Howard Ai, joins Natalie in a duet of Aloha Hawai'i Ku'ii

One Hānaa by Kawaikapuokalani Hewett. The elder Ai's performance is exquisite and enhances the already beautiful song. Tai, Natalie's brother, sings out on Latitn, a kolohe love song where the composer wrongly assumes that he was the only one who knew the latitude of a particular "boat harbor." And Natalie's grandmother, Blossom Ka'iliponi Kaipo, is remembered in an original, BIossom Nani Ho'i E. Kumu Hula Olana Ai, Natalie's mom, inspired "Kiowao," a lilting lullaby that soothes like the rain of Nu'uanu, a special song for a Natalie's daughter, Sha-Lei. And husband 'Iolani sings lead in Ua Nani 'o Nu'iianii, a mele inoa for Kamehameha IV, also named 'Iolani. Natalie's mother-in-law, the late kumu hula Hoakalei Kamauu, gave Sha-Lei's inoa Hawai'i (Hawaiian name) describing the misty Kiowao rain of Nu'uanu, where the young family had an apartment. When mom (Olana) would visit, she'd often sing a refrain of "Don't cry Kiowao, it's raining in Nu'uanu." Inspired by her mom, Natalie completed the song one night while her daughter was away at grandma's

preparing for a keiki hula eompetition. "When my daughter was born, my mother-in-law said that Ua Nani 'o Nu'uanu should be her first hula, because it mentions the Kiowao rain, and is for 'Iolani, the same name as her daddy." And in the keiki hula competition, Sha-Lei performed just that. Encouraged by family and friends - with a particularly persuasive nudge by pals Moon, John and Jerome ( the Mākaha Sons), Natalie recorded 'Ē over a 15-month period, with lots of family support. "I really couldn't piek a theme for the songs on the CD." she said of the eclectic

mix. "The CD title, 'Ē, means strange or odd, whieh describes how I felt about doing a solo recording. It was a little scary, weird, yet wonderful for me m to step out and be on my own. 1 I'm usually out their performing with my dad, my husband or the hālau. It was kind of uncomfortable, but I was really happy at the same time." Is there another solo recording on the horizon? "No, not yet," Natalie says. "Were going to work on a CD for dad. Until that's pau, I'll just wait."

'Ē is a product of Keko ("monkey") Records, the recording lahel owned by Natalie and 'Io, both of whom were born in the year of the Monkey in the Chinese calendar. The CD gives promise that, with her humor, talent, genuine aloha and dynamic voice, Natalie Noelani Ai Kamauu will go far in her musieal career - always with hula and 'ohana close by.