Harry B. will share the music of the late-great Linda Dela Cruz, Hawai‘i’s Canary, on Territorial Airwaves the week of March 23 – 29.

Linda Dela Cruz, “Hawai‘i’s Canary,” died at her home in Pana‘ewa yesterday. A member of the famed Halekulani Girls trio, she was honored in 2003 by the Hawai’i Academy of Recording Arts with a Na Hoku Hanohano Lifetime Achievement Award. More info is available in this Honolulu Advertiser feature.

Some of my friends, family and even students are surprise to find out that I am on MySpace. One of the big reasons why I am is that has allowed me to find some really excellent music that I may not have otherwise heard, and to rediscover musicians who no longer get radio play (at least for their latest work), but are still making great music.

One of the former is Malea McGuinness. I can’t even remember how I found her MySpace site, but she is a really gifted singer. Maybe it was just her name that caught my eye . You can hear her cut, “Sweet Light”, playing in my profile right now. I will periodically change up the music on my profile and find someone that you probably have never heard before and feature them here.

One of the latter, that is, musicians who most people haven’t heard from in a while, is David Pack. David is probably best known as the lead singer and composer with the group Ambrosia from back in the 80s, but has been a prolific composer, producer and recording artist since then. I was thrilled to rediscover his music; his voice is still amazing. I haven’t found much in the way of Hawaiian music that I didn’t already know about, but there are some Hawai‘i-based acts doing more contemporary music, like Mighty J (Mailani Makainai, Tiki Suan, and Jenn “JRoQ” Wright). They are also doing an interesting vidcast on their website.

An “Evening of Hawaiian Falsetto” will feature Steven Espaniola and Bobo “Kalae” Miles `Akauhoku on Friday, March 30 at Bocci’s Cellar, 140 Encinal St, Santa Cruz. Tickets $12 advance/$15 at the door. Dinner is available. Call 831-428-7546 for more info.

I’m somewhat sad but more relieved to announce that I will be discontinuing the Nahenahe.net podcast. I don’t know if I should call it “discontinuing” or not. I may do an occasional podcast for a very specific reason, however, creating a podcast on a regular schedule is challenging and occasionally I feel like I am doing it just for the sake of doing it, rather than for passion or to address something specific I want to talk about in the industry. I’ll probably put together one last ‘cast, maybe even two, but after that podcasts will be sporadic at best. For those of you who have new releases out or are putting releases out soon – this is your last chance to get it played in one of my podcasts. Email me soon (use the contact form in the right hand column). I’ll probably do it/them in the next week or two (or three, or…)

I’d like to say mahalo to everyone who has ever tuned in to the podcast, and those that endured the transition to a Hawaiian language-only format. A special mahalo to all of the artists who allowed me to feature their music. It was a great ride, but like most, had to come to an end sometime.

Both John Berger and Wayne Harada feature highly complimentary reviews of Cody Pueo Pata’s new release, He Aloha. I have a copy myself and am very impressed – his growth as an artist is quite evident. Check his MySpace page for more information and upcoming performances. He will be performing at Borders Ward this Saturday, March 3 at 8pm.

Kenneth has turned into quite the geek. He is doing a monthly newsletter which can be downloaded from his website, and he also made one of the songs from his CD, Manu Po‘ouli, available as a free download on his MySpace site. Go get it, and don’t forget to leave a comment for him. His newsletter explains the significance of the song to him and his relationship with his late father. I didn’t write it with that intent, but it is touching that he made the connection between the two. For those that don’t know the story, the po‘ouli bird was a native species from east Maui which is now believed to be extinct. Naturalists tried their best to help the species survive against the encroachment of man, introduced animals and diseases, but the last known po‘ouli died in captivity while these people searched in vain for a mate for it just a few years ago. Auē! Kenneth captured the emotion beautifully in the recording, and I hope you enjoy it.

For folks on Hawai‘i island, Kenneth will be talking and performing for my Polynesian music class at Campus Center room 301 (above the UH-Hilo cafeteria) at 2PM tomorrow (Friday, March 2). Feel free to join us if you like.