Na Mele O Hawai'i

We're all winners when the Hawaiian Academy of Recording Arts selects the best of the best for the annual Na Hoku awards. Today we listen to just some of the winners of the 35th annual awards, concentrating on awards for traditional Hawaiian music, including Song of the Year (Na Vaqueros by Kuana Torres Kahele), Album of the Year (Kaunaloa by Kuana Torres Kahele), and Male Vocalist of the Year (yep, that would be Kuana Torres Kahele). No, it's not an all-Kuana show; plenty of other musicians are represented. Tune in to find out who won!

Flowers abound on the islands of Hawai'i, and so, naturally, do songs about flowers. Listen to this garland of songs about the "pua o Hawai'i", strung together for you by the likes of Cyril Pahinui, Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau, Darlene Ahuna, and others. Now go give someone you love a lei and encircle them with aloha!

Much of the world knows about Hawaiian music because of songs with titles like "My Little Grass Shack," "Hawaiian War Chant," and "Across the Sea." All are songs that Johnny Noble wrote, composed, or made popular, and represent a kind of music called "hapa haole (half Anglo)." This fun genre combines Hawaiian topics or themes with ragtime music sensibilities. Beginning with his first cowritten song, "Across the Sea" (1919), Johnny Noble contributed more than 100 songs to the genre, and was the first Hawaiian composer to be inducted into the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), in 1935. Listen in today to the wide range of topics and styles Johnny brought us.