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The album that we’ve eagerly been waiting for over a year to be released is finally out! Keith Nakaganeku & Calabash’s “Hawaiian Jazz done Asian Style” was a hot seller at this year’s Okinawan Festival with the singer on hand to personalize your copy of the album with an autograph (the image of the album for this post has my name on it :D). For a debut album, it’s quite polished and features a very interesting (but not surprising knowing Keith’s eclectic taste in music) mix of Hawaiian, Japanese, and Okinawan (of course) music. My current favorite track on the album is the Hawaiian language “Ke Lana Nei”—inspired by BEGIN’s “Umi no Uta” (which is also on the album and features a duet with HIGA Eishou).

Keith & Calabash took the stage on Sunday (9/3) at the Festival and their set literally blew the audience away prompting calls for a “hana hou” (encore). I wouldn’t be exaggerating by saying that copies of his album flew off the table after the performance and I believe he was able to sellout of them as the last sound of the sanshin twanged into the afternoon sun. According to Keith (via the album’s liner notes), it was at the 2004 Okinawan Festival at Kapiolani Park where he first came into contact with BEGIN and through that meeting was given the green light to record “Umi no Uta” for the album:

The members of the Japanese super group “Begin” wrote it [Umi no Uta] and after they heard us [Keith & Calabash] perform at the Okinawan festival in Kapiolani park, they graciously allowed me to record their song for the CD.

Now back to the album. As I mentioned above, it’s pretty slick for a debut and the CD’s packaging (cover, booklet, liner notes) is very well-done with beautiful pictures, interesting information on Keith & Calabash’s history, and the ever-important inclusion of Keith’s explanation behind his choice of songs on the album. I also applaud him for including English-translated lyrics for “Umi no Uta” and “Ke Lana Nei”. I think the album is also the first outside of Japan to feature the Ichigo Ichie, a hybrid of a guitar and sanshin that was produced by BEGIN and manufactured by K. Yairi.

The album is currently not on the web (for streaming or sale) but it’ll most likely find itself on Keith’s website: www.calabashtheband.com soon (we hope). If you’re interested in picking up a copy, email me and I’ll get you in contact with him. I’ll update this post (or create a new one) as soon as I receive word of places to purchase the album.

I’ve known and performed Okinawan music with Keith for several years and have always been in awe at his talent as a singer of Hawaiian music (not to mention Okinawan classical music too). The album is definitely his and Calabash’s dream project come true, but it’s also a dream for the Okinawan performing arts community in Hawaii to see one of its own release an item of good quality—whether that be a CD or DVD—with the hope that it’ll bring interest of Okinawa’s rich culture to our younger generation. Expect to see future album releases from other groups in the community (mine included) to follow Keith’s lead.