Solo 'ukulele instrumentals written by Daniel Ho (Daniel Ho Creations) except Ahe Lau Makani by Queen Lili'uokalani. ___________________________________________________________________________

Song List:

1. Pala'ela'e (Bright as Sun) 3:23

2. Ho'okahi (In Solitude) 3:29

3. Ahe Lau Makani 2:42

4. Hana Malie (Quietly) 2:47

5. Polani (Pure) 3:19

6. Kulewa (Moving Like Clouds) 2:27

7. Ho'opa'ani (Playful) 3:20

8. Pule Nahenahe (Soft Prayer) 2:28

9. Ho'omaika'i (Grateful) 3:11

10. Holona (Sailing) 2:47

11. Ho'olana (Hopeful) 3:31

12. Ho'oipoipo (Romantic) 2:43

Click on link below for audio sample

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Daniel's Notes:

It's unclear to me why the passage of time seems to accelerate with age, but it surely does. I remember it felt like an eternity to graduate from kindergarten and enter the first grade. Each day after lunch, time almost stood still as I anxiously awaited the loud, but welcome ring of St. Patrick School's bell at 2:30 pm. Free at last! It was a short, three-block walk to our house, where we played with friends until Dad came home from work and took us to the beach.

Maybe it's the ever-accumulating, grown-up responsibilities that keep me squeezing minutes out of hours. Maybe it's a creative passion that doesn't know day from night. Either way, years fly by in what feels like days. I've come to realize that creativity has an inverse relationship to responsibility and I should pare life down to the absolute basics--minimizing cluttersome responsibilities to allow time and space for artistic endeavors. This has become an endless work in progress. Polani is a manifestation of this mindset. It was recorded on the simplest of instruments, one that defined my formative years in Hawai'i.

In November 2008, I pushed my paperwork aside and spent most of the month with my 'ukulele. I wrote and arranged these pieces between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am, and recorded them during the day. In my late-night musings, I developed an affinity for two intervals, half-steps and unisons. A half-step is one of the most dissonant intervals in music. However, it can be quite beautiful within the context of its surrounding harmony. I used this sonically dense interval in many of these pieces to enhance otherwise consonant chords. The harmonic opposite of a half-step is the unison, which is the most consonant musical interval. On an 'ukulele, unisons are produced by playing the same pitch on different strings (for example, the open A string and the 5th fret of the E string). Unisons provide smooth harmonic and melodic transitions because one of the notes, usually an open string, sustains as other musical elements change.

I used ostinatos (repeating musical figures) in the arrangements to create energy, counterpoint (inner lines moving independently of the melody) to add interest, and almost always chose extended chords (chords containing color tones to enrich the harmony) over basic triads. All songs are played fingerstyle to articulate the melody, harmony and bass parts independently.

In the end, this solo 'ukulele project wasn't all that simple. The music-making process is fairly involved, but the ultimate goal remains singular--to form an emotional connection with the audience. As it did for me, I hope these recordings offer a pleasant break from routine and reality. It took me back to those childhood days when I used to drive my family crazy playing the only song I knew, A Song for Anna, over and over again. There was no escaping me as I incessantly plucked about our little house in Kaimuki.

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Credits:

Daniel Ho - `ukulele, recording, mixing, mastering, graphic design

Lydia Miyashiro - photography

Doug Katsumoto - additional graphic design, `ukulele drawing

Daniel plays KoAloha `Ukuleles.

Record Label: Daniel Ho Creations

Release Date: April 2010

Catalog number: DHC 80065

UPC: 644718006529