Product Review

Hawaii's Golden Voice captures a set of previously unreleased recordings by legendary Hawaiian baritone Alfred Aholo Apaka. Sounding more like a classic pop vocalist from the '40s than a specifically Hawaiian artist, Apaka regardless is backed by a loungy version of Hawaiian music on this album, which is a combination of new and traditional songs. He sings in both Hawaiian and English here, and while listening it's easy to imagine his warm, smooth, syrupy voice washing over legions of stressed out post-war visitors in the Hawaiian tourist hotels where he got his start. Despite being a commercial success who many critics believed would eventually cross over into the mainstream completely and become a pop star, his career unfortunately ended fairly early, leaving few recordings, and thus making this one even more of a treasure. ~ Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide