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Slack Key Guitar Volume 2

Various Artists
1 disc

1. Celtic Summer - Bryan Kessler
2. Punahele - Sonny Lim
3. Nai'o - Randy Lorenzo
4. Kahealani - Jeff Peterson
5. Circle Song - Keoki Kahumoku
6. Anuhea's Song - Sonny Lim
7. Julia's Whisper - Charles Michael Brotman
8. Keiki Slack Key - John Keawe
9. Kanaka Nova - Charlie Recaido
10. BO's Night - John Cruz
11. Hamakua Hale - Ken Emerson
12. Noe Noe Uakea - Keoki Kahumoku
13. Paniolo Medley - Ken Emerson
14. Kiholo Moon - Charles Michael Brotman
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 4017
Credits

Producer
Engineer
Although record in Hawaii, Slack Key Guitar Volume 2 isn't, for the most part, hardcore native slack-key playing. That's quite apparent from the first cut, the pretty "Celtic Summer" from Bryan Kessler. It's certainly attractive enough, but short on the Island sentiment. Sonny Lim corrects that by covering "Punahele," by the great Raymond Kane (one of two Kane tunes on the disc), and the set really takes off once Keoki Kahumoku gets to "Circle Song." The second half of the album fares better than the first, with more consistency of tone, although the ten artists presented here show their individual flourishes, with Ken Emerson's "Paniolo Medley" a standout. Slack-key guitar music, by its normal laid-back nature, is easy on the ear, a gentle, soothing sound. But at the same time, it's impossible not to think of this as being closer to the Windham Hill spectrum of guitar work than that put out by a label such as Dancing Cat. In other words, at times it veers more toward new age. Listenable and excellently played, it just needs that little bit more. ~ Chris Nickson
Critic Reviews

Entertainment Weekly (No. 809, p.73) - "[This] pleasant, if somewhat sleepy, compilation...brings together weepy cowboy melodies and breezy island rhythms." - Grade: B