Ties in 29th Annual Hawaiian Grammys


AsianWeek Staff Report, Jun 16, 2006

HONOLULU — History was made in the Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom as the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts announced ties in two categories of the 29th Annual Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.

Holunape and Kaumakaiwa Lopaka Kanaka'ole tied for top honors in the Hawaiian Language Performance category, while two teams of engineers won in that category. Hokus for engineering went to Wendell Ching and Tommy Hall for Maui, and Gaylord Holomalia and Kapono Beamer won for Slack Key Dreams of the Ponomoe by the Beamer Brothers.

Maui by Hapa won three more awards, including album of the year, contemporary Hawaiian album of the year and graphics (Solomon Enos, Barry Flanagan and Scott Johnson).

It was a big night for Nathan Aweau, who won two awards — Male Vocalist of the Year and Jazz Album of the Year for Bass Etude — as a solo artist, and two more as a member of Hapa.

“My main instrument has always been the bass guitar, and this [album] is something that has been on the back burner for a long time,” Aweau said.

Aweau’s success was as close as any artist came to “sweeping” the awards. Aweau beat nationally recognized entertainer Jack Johnson for Male Vocalist, but Hapa lost to Holunape for Group of the Year for He ‘Olu, even as Holunape lost to Aaron J. Sala in the Most Promising Artist category.

Perennially popular Jake Shimabukuro won Favorite Entertainer. “I’m just glad to be here,” Shimabukuro said, “because last year, I was out of town. The performance at the Hokus is the one I get most nervous about every year.”

Jack Johnson’s In Between Dreams won Rock Album of the Year. Johnson also took home a Hoku for Song of the Year, “Good People.”

“[My parents are] the ones that really inspired me,” Johnson said. “When I wasn’t sounding so good, they were saying I sounded great. … So thanks for encouraging me to keep doing it.”

Jerry Santos, who won the Moe Keale “Aloha Is” Award for Community Service, said Keale taught him that “taking the time to care about the people around us is a good thing.”

Other noteworthy awards included Kamahiwa: Kealii Reichel Collection One for Anthology Album of the Year, while the Compilation Album of the Year was Aloha Festivals Hawaiian Falsetto Contest Winners, Vol. 6.

Welo by Kaumakaiwa Lopaka Kanakaole earned Hawaiian Album of the Year, and Feel the Spirit by Na Leo claimed the Contemporary Album of the Year Hoku.

The Hoku for Instrumental Album of the Year went to Ki Ho ‘Alu Hawaiian Slack Key by Ledward Kaapana.

Lifetime achievement awards went to Palani Vaughan, George Naope, Leila Hohu Kiaha, Dick Jensen and Ohta-San.

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