Legendary singer's presence lives on CD

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

People can now remember the magic and manner of the late Israel Kamaka- wiwoëole on a new CD, which also includes a gallery of photos, a biography and more. Mountain Apple Co.

As he readied for Tuesday's release of the highly anticipated "Alone in IZ World," de Mello decided to give Kamakawiwo'ole an executive producer credit, feeling as though the late entertainer had been present in some intangible way.

"For a lot of reasons, it's been an extremely emotional experience for me to do this album," said de Mello, chief executive of the Mountain Apple Company and a friend of the late Hawaiian superstar. De Mello has been living and breathing Iz patter and music since November. Always on his mind was the promise he made to the entertainer, before Iz died, to take care of the Kamakawiwo'ole family.

Iz died at age 38 on June 26, 1997, of respiratory failure. With the new enhanced CD, complete with a photo gallery of the beloved entertainer, a biography, a screen saver and more, he lives again.

"I had taped hours and hours of Iz," de Mello said. "Listening back, it was all very painful but revealing. There were so many blemishes that normally would be taken out of any other recording session. ... We got stuff that only Iz could do ... and get away with. This is Iz for real."

Marlene Kamakawiwo'ole, Israel's widow, concurs. "The new album will make people really feel him and his music like never before. It's like he's right there in front of you ... I often yearn to feel my husband in the physical sense and I can't. But I can communicate with him spiritually, and this CD helps me — and others — do just that now."

Interest in Iz is high here, as always, but also across the country and even elsewhere, since his "What a Wonderful World/Over the Rainbow" received wide exposure nationally, in TV commercials and movie soundtracks. The song has kept the "Facing Future" CD at No. 1, 2 or 3 at local Borders stores for months, said Les Honda, area marketing manager for Borders Books & Music Hawai'i." They sell about 130 Iz CDs a week and have ordered heavily of the new release; the recording will also be in Borders' holiday catalogue nationally. Virgin and Musicland/Sam Goody stores nationwide also are expected to give the CD a boost.

What buyers will find is a very unconventional production.

Throughout the years during which they worked together, de Mello always had someone ready to press the red "record" button when Iz was in the studio, to catch "his jokes, his warm-ups, his slips ... they're all here," de Mello said. "You couldn't plan some of the things he said or did. You had to be ready." He wound up with 70 CDs worth of Iz talking, Iz chuckling, Iz sharing jokes, Iz warming up, Iz singing, even Iz breathing.

In addition, de Mello and Iz had an unusual way of working, with the producer sitting right in front of the artist in the studio, rather than locked in the control booth. In this way, de Mello said, "I had more direct contact with him. Sometimes, I would help him with chord structures; I think he rather liked it this way. So I got everything: Iz asking for water. Tuning up. Just being himself."

There usually were two mikes on, one for Iz's vocals, the other for his 'ukulele, both feeding into a digital recorder, creating more outtakes than takes. But the material became valuable "soundshots" of Iz at his unpredictable best. In addition, there were many incomplete songs, casual in-studio ramblings that captured Iz's essence. "Mona Lisa," the old Nat "King" Cole song released two weeks ago as a teaser, was such a one.

"We only had a minute and a half of the song," de Mello said. "Yet it was pure Iz. He was tired. He wanted to go over a few things. And 'Mona Lisa' was one of them. We were to record it the next day, but didn't. He had a monaural version, recorded at home on his ghetto blaster." De Mello used both pieces to create the cut, which sounds "first like an old recording, then as a studio thing."

Said Marlene Kamakawiwo'ole, "I think it's my very favorite because it's very sweet and smooth. I wish there were more of it ... but that's the point. We can appreciate what we have, however little." She is lucky, she says, to be be able to hear her loved one's voice at all after death.

Like de Mello, Marlene Kamakawiwo'ole said she has had numerous dreams of Iz; sometimes they'd dream of him on the same night.

She said she doesn't consider the posthumous CD as exploitative. The burst of fame after his death is allowing her late husband to realize a dream: "It's doing what he wanted to do in his life: get Hawaiian music on the map, on the Mainland. He always wanted to open the door for local music."

The CD is eery at times, with Iz audibly struggling for air (he was on oxygen constantly in his last few months). "When he got antsy in the studio, I would tell him to breathe, take four or five big breaths, and count off before doing the song," recalled de Mello.

De Mello was genuinely fearful about doing this CD alone; he always had Iz's input before.

"He'd be my wake-up call, at 6 a.m., and the conversation usually started with a joke," de Mello said. "And he'd be my last call at night, and we talked three or four times during the day. I wasn't sure how best I could organize this album without him, and as I sat and listened to some of the tracks, I'd sob and weep, at his talking, at his singing, at his incredible spirit. He really had the gift of communication."

Without that interaction, de Mello said, "I had to learn to react to spiritual energies I could not see; it was incredible when I got a call from Marlene in the morning and found out we were flying together."

In this new CD, de Mello said, "I think we were able to let you go into his head, hear him like he was; not just as a musician but as a person. The world sees him as a very large Hawaiian 'ukulele player. You get some of that, but you also get the feeling that he's one of the fastest men on the planet — quick with the wit and fast with the mouth. And just loaded with emotion and talent."