CD Reviews: Del Beazley and Leokane Pryor & Friends

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Del Beazley

All for One

(Mountain Apple Co.)

Noted composer and musician Del Beazley is back with his first solo album in nine years. The collection of religious and devotional songs includes Hawaiian-language hymns taken from the KawaiaHao hymnal, such as “Rock of Ages” and “Blessed Assurance,” as well as multiple verses from the Book of Psalms. You don’t have to be Christian to enjoy well-crafted cuts such as “O Iehova Kou Kahu Hipa”—Beazley’s as tight as ever.

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Leokane Pryor & Friends

Home Malanai

(Naupaka Productions)

This album, Pryor’s second, is a grab bag of old standards and new compositions, several written with the help of Charles Kaupu and Kaliko Trapp. The real showstopper, though, is Pryor himself. Man, what a voice. His smooth falsetto manages to hit some of the same pleasure centers as the late, great Dennis Pavao’s voice, especially when combined with the lush production of these songs. Recommended.