AUDIO REVIEW: Hoku Zuttermeister: `Aina Kupuna (Ancestral Land)

Kaleiola Records KR 001
(hokuzuttermeister.com)

The lulling wisdom and spirituality of Hawaiian music is secure in the hands of its many generations of devoted performers. The young Honolulu-based singer Hoku Zuttermeister is the great-grandson of Emily Kau`i Zuttermeister (1909-1994), who was recognized as a Living Treasure of Hawaii for her teaching of traditional song and dance, as encouraged by her American serviceman husband Karl Zuttermeister. Her descendant Hoku acutely expresses sacred delight in the flora and fauna of Hawaii in the title song of his new CD: "There is desire in my heart for the ancestral land." Singing in a gentle baritone and accompanying himself eloquently on guitar and ukulele with a discreet backup string ensemble, Zuttermeister makes us feel utterly soothed and entranced. His chants, like those of his ancestors, comprise a sacred art redolent with what Hawaiians call mana (supernatural spirituality).