"There is a light in this world, a healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter."
"Doctors can heal the body, but it is music that uplifts the spirit." -Mother Teresa
Breathtaking view of Hanalei Bay on Kauai's north shore.
Photo: Art Umezu
Aloha!
Music of Kauai is proud to announce the release of 'Kauai..An Everlasting Beauty' music CD featuring a collection of recordings of songs from 1993-2013 with a cast of Kauai Stars including late Doric 'Kaleo' Yaris and late Robbie Kaholokula. The CD is a special musical tribute dedicated to Kauai's Living Treasure recipients, Walter 'Freckles' and Mokihana 'Moki Smith, owners of Smith Boat Tours on the sacred and historic Wailua River since 1946. For 75 years, Smith Boats have employed hundreds of musicians and hula dancers to perform on the boat tours and at the famous Fern Grotto as well as at Smith Family Garden Luau at Wailua Marina State Park.
Please visit MUSICOFKAUAI.COM to order your copy. Limited supplies through February 2022.
Kauai..An Everlasting Beauty will take back in time to the days of gentle and innocent ways of life in Hawaii nei.
Me kealoha pumehana,
Music of Kauai since 1981
'Longing to be heard'
Wailua,Kauai
ALOHA FROM THE PRODUCER
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Aloha!
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‘Kauai..An Everlasting Beauty’ is a special CD which was planned 7 years ago. I promised singer & kumu hula, Doric Kaleo Yaris and musician/producer, Robbie Kaholokula that songs from Doric’s “Hawaiian Nights” album which was recorded and released in 1993 on a cassette tape will be released one day on a CD and digital format.
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Robbie arranged my songs for Doric which was recorded at Robbie’s Pua Olena Studio in Kapaa. I’ve known Doric since he was a Waimea High School music standout and Robbie since he played with Na Kaholokula in the mid-1980s. I’ve had the pleasure and honor to travel with Doric and Robbie to Japan to showcase their musical talents. Doric passed away in 2014 and Robbie in 2016.
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In the summer of 2021, that ‘one day’ finally came when I found time and resource to start production of this CD but I had a major obstacle. I couldn’t find the original master so I had to transfer the music from an old cassette tape to a digital format! The tape was worn out and very difficult to listen to. Fortunately, a friend in Las Vegas was able to ‘salvage’ the recording with his audio-engineering skills for Doric’s 5 songs on the CD.
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Kahanu Smith’s two songs; Kamika Smith and Robbie’s song were also recorded at Pua Olena Studio in 1999 but were saved on a digital format. Daphne Sanchez recorded Mokihana when she was 16 and originally released on her debut CD in 2009 with only guitar and bass accompaniment. For this CD, the music was arranged by guitarist, Bryan Kessler of Na Hoku Hanohano winning, Hawaiian Style Band. Wailua by Mele Glovasa was recorded at a makeshift home setting by Berto Genovia in 2013. Kumu hula Troy Hinano Lazaro recites oli as an intro to the opening song, Kauai Forever by Doric Yaris, Lazaro’s kumu hula.
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Freckles and Moki Smith and the Smith ohana have always been kind and gracious to this wayfaring stranger to Kauai from Honolulu via Tokyo and my wife, Michiru for more than 35 years. I am truly blessed and honored to produce this CD so it may help perpetuate the legacy of Smith Boat Tours for malihini and kama’aina and we can experience Kauai’s true hospitality, beauty and aloha.
Me kealoha pumehana,
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Art Umezu, Music of Kauai Est. 1981
PO BOX 3763 Lihue, HI. 96766
MUSICOFKAUAI.COM
MUSIC OF KAUAI Est. 1981
Island songs longing to be heard
Music of Kauai is a record label and music production company established in 1981 by island musician, composer and producer, Art Umezu who arrived on Kauai in 1975 by way of Honolulu and Tokyo. He has written more than 80 songs which were recorded on CD and cassette albums by many Kauai musicians including Mandy Thronas; late Robbie Kaholokula, Doric Yaris, Bob Meyer; Michael Young and Boogie Bugarin; Maila Gibson; Stacie Taniguchi; Bobby Rumion; Hank Curtis; Nani Marston; Abra and Koki Cummings; Leahi; Island Son; Kirby Keough; The New Generation; Rose Alayvilla; Daphne Sanchez; Christine Valenzuela; Norman Kaawa Solomon; Kirby Keough; Chico Edralin; Connie Kissinger; Kalani Dabin; Loke Tabian; Cindy Jackson; Mike Lingaton; Jack Viohl; Nick Castillo; Kahanu and Kamika Smith; Marielle Yano; Sean Finney; Jack Viohl; Jonathan Obiano; Laverne Corpuz; Tanja Dee; Sheila Nakayama; Preeta Carlson; A Pua Ting featuring ukulele virtuoso, Aldrine Guerrero; Rhoda Libre; Mele Glovasa; Micah Viluan; Kealoha Takahashi; Rising Generation; Kauai late Bob Meyer; Kauai Chorale; Kapaa High School choir; Waimea High School singers as well as former Kauai mayors, Maryanne Kusaka and Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. and more.
In 1986, he produced a cassette album, “This Is Kauai’ for Japan’s top Hawaiian pop group, Danny Iida and Paradise King, known as backup band for singer, Kyu Sakamoto of ‘Sukiyaki’ fame. The song is the opening number for Smith’s Tropical Paradise Luau and Show in Wailua. In 1989, he was commissioned to write, “The Caring Touch” for Wilcox Memorial Hospital’s 60th anniversary celebration. In 1992, he composed, “Aloha To The World”, a post-Hurricane Iniki anthem which was recorded by 11 Kauai singers and 40+ high school choir members and raised $38,000 for 6 non-profit organizations helping with hurricane recovery efforts. His song, “Color The World With Love” was featured in Sanrio’s ‘Adventures in Paradise’ show starring Hello Kitty at Hawaii Theater in Honolulu in 1998. "Color The World With Love" was adopted by Wilox Elementary School for its May Day Program in 2000 and 2014.
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Since 1981, Music of Kauai is committed to record and preserve Kauai’s special musical talents for future generations to listen and enjoy.
Music of Kauai PO Box 3763 Lihue, HI. 96766 musicofkauai@gmail.com
Kauai, Hawaii’s Garden Isle is a tropical paradise well-known as location for many Hollywood films and TV movies since 1950s including ‘Bird of Paradise’; ‘South Pacific’ with Mitzi Gaynor; Elvis Presley’s ‘Blue Hawaii’; ‘Donovan’s Reef’ starring John Wayne; Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’ ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’; ‘Thorn Birds’; ‘Jurassic Park’ 1, 2, 3; ‘Jurassic World’; ‘Outbreak’; Roger Corman’s ‘Supergator’; Ben Stiller’s ‘Tropic Thunder’; ‘Avatar’; ‘Just Go With It’ starring Jennifer Aniston; ‘Soul Surfer’, biopic about Kauai surfer, Bethany Hamilton; ‘The Descendants’ with George Clooney; ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides starring Johnny Depp; Japanese movie, ‘Hanalei Bay’, written by Haruki Murakami, starring actress, Yoh Yoshida.
Famous scenic sites:
Fern Grotto
Mount Waialeale
Waimea Canyon
Spouting Horn
Kalapaki Bay
Nawiliwli Harbor
Hanalei Bay
Poipu Beach
Polihale State Park
Old Koloa town
Lydgate Park
Salt Pond Park
Kalalau Valley
Kilauea Lighthouse
Haena State Park