Kekahuna raised her niece Kamaile from age 8 at her oceanside Pa'ia home. Reichel was 14 when Kekahuna passed away, but remembers her vividly.

"We'd converge in Pa'ia every summer from all around the state because she willed it. We'd have these huge family gatherings at her behest," said Reichel. "She was a link to a time before my grandmother's time. And so her view of the world — how she spoke, how she did things, how she breathed, everything — was from another time.

"We were always in awe of that as young children."

Kamaile was her aunt's caregiver before Kekahuna's passing in 1978, and remained in the Pa'ia home until her own death in 2000.

"My grandmother was everything to our family," said Reichel. "She was our glue. She was our inspiration. She showed us love unconditionally, especially us grandchildren — whom she spoiled rotten.

"She would sit for hours in her chair on the beach, watching us swim and making sure nothing happened to us."

"You didn't really speak to Grandpa unless he spoke to you," said Reichel, chuckling. "In my whole lifetime, I maybe heard him speak maybe 20 sentences."

But looking through his grandfather's personal effects after his 1987 passing, Reichel discovered a revealing fact he'd never known: His grandfather had been a musician, too.

"He'd stopped playing probably in the late 1950s or early 1960s. But he had been one of the most renowned steel-guitar players on the island," said Reichel, who found pictures of his grandfather playing with orchestras throughout the Islands. "And it freaked me out because he played sitting.

"He'd be in the center and the band or the orchestra would be all around him. And that's what I do. It was really weird. And it wasn't until after his death that I made that connection. It was, like, 'OK, there it is!' "

Full of rich lyrical imagery and Reichel's always evocative vocalese, "Ke'alaokamaile" is akin to a journey through the singer's memories — leisurely-paced, your hand held by a warm and friendly guide telling stories.

The gorgeous "Ka Nohona Pili Kai" recalls Kamaile's Pa'ia home so vividly, one can almost taste sea spray. On "Lei Hana I Ka Makani Ualau'awa," Reichel revisits his days as a tour van driver cruising Maui's remote northeast coast. "Lahainaluna" pays tribute to his Hawaiian language alma mater. Other tracks were drawn from fond memories of grandmother, grandfather and "tutu" Kekahuna.

Released in late 2003, "Ke'alaokamaile" hit No. 1 on Billboard's world music chart, and remains a local best seller. Its title is a tribute to Reichel's grandmother Kamaile.

"The memory of someone is like a scent to me," said Reichel. "It's there. It affects you profoundly. But you can't see it and you can't touch it.

"And so ke'alaokamaile — 'the scent of maile' — is the memory of my grandmother. It is always there. It is always lingering."

Reichel hoped that listeners would identify with the important role kupuna may have played in the shaping of their own adult lives.

"They don't do it consciously. And you don't take it in consciously," said Reichel. "You get it just through being with them ... almost like osmosis.

"They lay the foundation of how to act, how to be, how to talk, how to walk. And I think it's like that in every family."

Reach Derek Paiva at 525-8005 or dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.