• Genre: Hapa-haole, world music.

• Distinguishing notes: Jesse Colin Young has been a resident of Kona for nearly a decade. He also is a coffee farmer by trade — but his latest music is percolating. This folk and pop singer has been acclimated to our Island ways and shows his love for Hawai'i by finally putting out a credible CD that reflects his passion for things and themes local. The title tune, his own composition, nicely wraps up kupuna advice, includes local phrases and sentiments, and has enough of a tingle to become a hit. Young also does a succinct job with covers that include an Elvis Presley goldie ("Can't Help Falling in Love With You"), a medley of John Lennon and Marvin Gaye ("Imagine"/"What's Going On") and Fred Neill's "The Dolphin Song." Daring and different, too, is his adoption of "Hawai'i '78" and "White Sandy Beach," signatures of the late Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. For variety, there's "My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawai'i," "Maui Sunshine" (his creation) and "The Queen's Prayer."

• The outlook: Young is putting his imprint on his song choices, breathing life into the oldies, creating sparks with his new contributions.

• Our take: Young loves us ... shouldn't we return the gesture?

• Genre: Traditional Hawaiian.

• Distinguishing notes: This is classic hula stuff, like listening to yesteryear's 78-rpm discs ... without the scratchiness and distorted sound. Keaulana is an eighth-generation entertainer, schooled in the tradition of chants and Hawaiian dance, and he capitalizes on the pulsation and syncopation of old-time hula, performing classics from the pen of Mary Kawena Pukui and Maddy Lam ("Ka'iwa"), Johnny K. Almeida ("Holoholo Ka'a"), Bill Ali'iloa Lincoln ("Mauna Lahihahi") and Lena Machado ("Ma'ane'i Mai 'Oe"). There's a hapa-haole element, too, in Jack Pitman's "Aloha Week Hula," maintaining the hula expression. Lei Hulu members Joseph K. Keaulana Jr., Pahukoa Morse, Lanihuli Lee, Kilakila Ozawa and John Douglas Keaulana perform upright bass, guitar, piano, Hawaiian steel guitar and vibraphone for a blend that recalls simpler, gentler times. And yes, falsetto vocals get some prime-time showcase, too.

• The outlook: It's a treat to encounter an album that pays homage to a dying tradition.

• Our take: This is an appealing collection for hula pupils — and others who savor the songs from the past.