Golden Hawaiian Hits – vintage recording by Duke Kamoku and his Islanders [CD]

Ancient Hawaiian music consisted almost entirely of chants before Christian missionaries brought harmonic patterns to the islands with their religious music. The hymn-like qualities of songs like “Aloha Oe” can be seen to reflect this religious influence. The modern-traditional music of the Islands retains the original character but has evolved in this and other ways – also incorporating the music of Samoa, Tahiti and all of Polynesia, with their syncopated drum rhythms and guttural vocalizing. Duke Kamoku and his Islanders encapsulate the passion and poignancy of authentic, traditional Hawaiian music mounted instrumentally in what was, at the time of recording in the early 1969s, the modern frame. The ancient olapa beats are played by the uke; the tom-tom effect is created by the steel guitar and string bass. Superimposed are modern figures played by the guitar. The spectacular sound that results is a contrapuntal mélange; a dramatic music experience that will transport you on the wings of a melody to the paradise of the Pacific. -edited from original liner notes by Ira Cook, KMPC Hollywood