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Dennis Kamakahi: 'Ulili E

After WW2, Gabby Pahinui was instrumental, in making slack-key guitar popular. In the early-60s, he teamed up with The Sons Of Hawaii, and recorded their version of "'Ulili E."

In 1973, The Sons Of Hawaii brought in prolific songwriter (and future Grammy Award winner) Dennis Kamakahi.

In the mid-70s, Windham Hill Records was formed in Palo Alto, CA. It specialized in acoustic, folk, New Age music.

In 1983, Dancing Cat Records, based in Santa Cruz, was created to specialize in Hawaiian music, and was distributed by Windham Hill Records.



20 years ago, I went back to Honolulu, and loved seeing all of the plumeria trees lining the streets. I walked the few short blocks from my parents' place, to the Tower Records on Keeaumoku. It's now a huge Walgreen's.



Anyway, I discovered that Dennis Kamakahi was signed to Dancing Cats Records. His new album, 'Ohana, was popular. Even Costco carried it. This album includes his recording of "'Ulili E," this done with his son David, who plays ukulele. As with quite a few Dancing Cat titles, this is another excellent recording. It's even encoded with HDCD.

After I returned to San Francisco, I brought Kamakahi's 'Ohana to Menlo Park's Sound Perfection, and San Jose's The Analog Room, both of which had the ProAc Response One SC. The former used McIntosh electronics, while the latter had Anthem/Sonic Frontiers. "'Ulili E" sounded wonderful at both places, with TAR being a touch more "organic," or made by human hands.

Because Kamakahi's "'Ulili E" is a clean recording, it feels as fresh now, as it did in 1999. Where'd the time go?

-Lummy The Loch Monster


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Topic - Dennis Kamakahi: 'Ulili E - Luminator 16:44:53 03/17/19 (0)

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