Music Scene
Daniel Ho looks homeward from L.A.
By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Daniel Ho, based in Los Angeles, has his own record label and spends much of his working time in Honolulu. He'll perform with the Honolulu Symphony Pops this week as part of a series of Christmas concerts featuring Na Leo Pilimehana.
Na Leo Pilimehana and Daniel Ho With the Honolulu Symphony Pops 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Dec. 14 and 15 Blaisdell Concert Hall $15-$55 792-2000 |
Oh, sure, he misses the place. His family still lives in Kaimuki. Many of his friends are here. The spear-fishing and swimming are far better.
But for the self-confessed workaholic — Ho has produced 18 albums, mostly of his multi-instrumental work, since launching his own label in 1998 — business concerns are never too far behind.
"I'm trying to spend more time in Hawai'i and Japan doing promotions and marketing," said Ho, who recently inked a deal with Sony to distribute recordings from his label, Daniel Ho Creations, in Japan. "I think I've spent about half of my time in Hawai'i this year."
Most of it spread over several projects including, but not limited to, an instructional book and CD on contemporary slack-key guitar, an Oceanic Cable television concert special promoting his early 2001 "Finding My Way" disc, and a recently released all-'ukulele solo CD "Pineapple Mango." Ho ends his busy year opening for a trio of Na Leo Pilimehana Christmas concerts with the Honolulu Symphony Pops beginning Thursday.
In 1997, after seven years as keyboardist, producer and composer for nationally charting contemporary jazz group Kilauea, Ho turned much of his musical focus back to his island roots. Blending a lifelong fascination with Hawaiian slack-key guitar into his still-jazzy solo debut "Watercolors" in 1998, Ho followed the recording with an entire CD of solo slack-key guitar work, "The Voyage Home," later that year.
Ho's instrumental studio work since has included Hawaiian hymnal and standards discs with ki ho'alu master George Kahumoku Jr., 'ukulele albums with Roy Sakuma, and food- and art-related musical projects with chef Russell Siu and artist Wyland, respectively. A self-described "mediocre singer who is still learning," this year's "Finding My Way" was Ho's first full-length album of original lyric compositions, vocalized by Sachi Sato, Siena Lee, Lina Girl and former University of Hawai'i-Manoa Wahine volleyball star Andrea Gomez-Tukuafu (who'll perform with Ho at the Na Leo concerts).
"I'm mildly schizophrenic when it comes to music," said Ho, laughing. "Lately writing lyrics has fascinated me. As a writer you develop motives, themes and elements that tie a piece together. Those things all work when you're writing music, but it's much more specific and interesting to create with words because people understand exactly what you're saying whereas an instrumental piece can be interpreted in many different ways. When you write a lyric, it's kind of like, 'This is what I'm saying.'"
Ever the musical hyphenate, Ho will be wearing several Santa hats for his Christmas-themed Symphony Pops gig, taking on piano, slack-key guitar, percussion and even some background singing duties. "I'm going to do a little background for Andrea, I think, but just on one song," said Ho, a bit nervously, then confidently, "I'm also doing Bach's "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring" on the 'ukulele."
Ho will spend Christmas and New Year's here in Honolulu resting, eating and contemplating.
"I'm beginning to understand that my life probably needs a little more balance than the way I'm living it now," said Ho. "I live by myself and do this from the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep. Sometimes, two or three days go by without me hardly stepping foot outside my gate." He sighed, and laughed.
"The car just sits there."
