Ledward Kaapana - Black Sand

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Music reviews of Black Sand

Music Review: Ledward Kaapana and Black Sand
Rating: 5 Stars

Ledward Kaapana is so committed to music that he hones his genius by playing up to thirteen hours each day, alternating among several guitars and ukuleles, a banjo, a steel guitar, an autoharp, and probably anything else with strings. He plays his regular gigs at the Hawaiian Regent Hotel in Honolulu (Tuesdays from 6:00-9:00) and I Love Country Café in Mililani (Fridays and Saturdays whenever he doesn't have commitments on the mainland, Asia or Europe). Afterwards, he often drops in on other musicians and performs as a guest, gratis. With more than 60 album, CD, and/or video titles to his name, Led is a prolific musician. Although he is only 51, Led is a living treasure who has played music since he was five and performed professionally since he was nine. Ledward continually expands his horizons. In Waltz of the Wind (Dancing Cat, 38016, 1998) Led entered into a musical "discussion" among slack key, country, blue grass, and Cajun with some of the finest musicians of these non-Hawaiian types. In Hawai'i I Ka Pu'uwai (Leo Nui Productions, 1998), Led and his group Ikona played mostly Hawaiian music, but included a frenetic rendition of the surf song "Pipeline." In Black Sand, Led creates another musical dialogue, this time between slack key and classical guitar.

At least three themes unify this subtly spectacular CD: tribute to his musical mentors, tribute to places in Hawaii and other parts of Polynesia, and the yin and yang of destruction and creation.

These are some of the mentors honored. Uncles Fred Punahoa and Abraham Konanui Kalauli, along with Led's own parents, first trained him as a musician. Queen Lili'uokalani, as one of Hawai'i's greatest composers, serves as a mentor to all musicians. Sonny Chillingworth and Leonard Kwan preceded Ledward as slack key greats and shared their techniques with him. Kwan joins Led for a duet of "New 'Opihi Moemoe," Kwan's own composition. George Huddy lived in poverty but wrote some of the songs that helped Led's original group Hui Ohana become what we now recognize as the greatest Hawaiian group of all time. Musicians from Tahiti taught Ledward to expand his repertoire to include the music of all of Polynesia. And living musicians and composers Keith Haugen and Dennis Kamakahi are close friends with Led. Led honors his producer, George Winston on their guitar/piano duet. Finally, two hymns, "Kanaka Waiwai" and "O Maria" honor the ultimate Creator.

Haugen's "Mokupuni Nui" is the only vocal on the CD. Its lyrics could be alternate Hawaiian language liner notes. Its title means "The Big Island," the island of Hawai'i where Ledward was born and raised. The title cut, "Black Sand" honors the Kalapana region where Ledward spent his youth and teenage years. "Akaka Falls," with its water image, depicts an area of the island of Hawaii that remains lush and fertile. Other songs honor Mau'i, Kaua'i, the Windward coast of O'ahu, and Tahiti.

Connected to this honoring of places is the powerful theme of destruction and creation. Kaimu Black Sand Beach pictured on the CD cover is history, covered by tons of lava in the volcanic eruption that continues to this day. "Ninipo Ho'onipo" by Queen Lili'uokalani depicts this destruction in another way by referring to the myth of Madam Pele and Hopoe in which Madam Pele turns a captured maiden to stone. However, destruction is in reality part of creation. The other regions honored in Black Sand began as lava formations but are now such magnificent sites as Koke'e or Akaka Falls.

Akin to cosmic creation is musical creation. In addition to honoring his mentors and colleagues with their songs, Led includes two of his own creations. The title song "Black Sand" is a song that Led originally wrote for Na Leo Kano O Punahele, his first album after the break up of the Hui Ohana. "The Highway to Hana" is Ledward's most complex composition yet. In it Led, solo, both creates harmonic effects and a surprising, almost new age sound. This parallels other work Led has done with George Winston, such as his accompaniment of Kenny Loggins on a New Age song entitled "The Island" on the Windham Hill anthology Wood and Steel.

The flow of Black Sand emphasizes its variety. Led starts and ends with pure slack key songs. However, in between he ventures into a vocal and into classical and new age sounds. With fifteen songs and more than an hour of sweet music, Black Sand is a CD that gets richer and fuller with each hearing.

Description of Black Sand

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