REVIEW BY JOHN BERGER / jberger@staradvertiser.com
‘RISE UP’
The Crossover Project (Ghost Docta Enterprise)
A powerful mele ku’e (song of resistance) and a hapa-haole song about a place named Wailua are two of the best numbers on this debut album by the Crossover Project. Two guys who go by the stage names Doc Ralston (saxophone) and Ghost (lead vocals, guitar) are the nucleus of a 13-person collective that includes two drummers, three keyboardists, four additional guitarists, several other musicians and a backup vocalist. Hawaii music scene veterans who read the production credits will recognize keyboardist Kirk Thompson as a founding member of Kalapana and drummer Rod Esteban as a longtime club and studio player.
The album’s title song is a raucous, hard-rocking mele ku’e. Ralston, Ghost and guitarist Larry “Yame” Low share the mic in calling on Hawaiians to “Rise up! Take back the land!…No one can own what they don’t understand!” It’s an effective and catchy slogan, and a worthy addition to the list of contemporary Hawaii protest songs.
Catchy and powerful though it is, “Rise Up” isn’t the song that opens the album. Nor is it the second. The first three songs serve to introduce Crossover Project as a local reggae group, albeit with more soul than most. The first song, “Jawaiian Guru,” expresses the feelings of a guy who doesn’t know whether he’s Hawaiian or not, but knows that he loves Jawaiian music. Ralston’s hot sax and the work of percussionist Johnny “Hot Rod” Porlas gives the song much more soul than is usually found in the genre.
A reggae-derivative remake of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” written by Prince and remembered by oldies fans as a 1990 hit by Sinead O’Connor, reinforces the feeling that the Crossover Project is a Jawaiian act. Be patient, give them some time to get into the song, and Ralston and Porlas again lead the group in coming up with is at least a respectable alternative to O’Connor’s hit.
No such luck though with the third song on the album. The Jawaiian remake of “About You” is the nadir of the project. First, because the song is one of Cecilio & Kapono’s biggest hits and no one can interpret the lyrics Cecilio Rodrigues wrote better than he does, and second, because almost any attempt to improve on the original arrangement is equally futile.
In theoretical terms, someone may be able to come up with something that stands comparison with the original, but this “one-size-fits- all” effort isn’t it. The gratuitous changes made in Rodrigues’ lyrics compound the faux pas.
From that point on things get much better. “Rise Up,” with its political message, is one of the bright spots. After it come several original songs that show the writers’ appreciation of the classic soul and funk music of James Brown, Tower of Power, Sly & the Family Stone and War.
Flute, Latin rhythms and hints of Caribbean steel guitar bring elements of other tropical cultures to “Wailua,” a hapa-haole place song written around the phase “Wailua, there’s so much to ya.” Are they singing about Wailua on Kauai or Wailua on the Big Island? Or maybe the old Wailua Mill in Waialua? For now all those places can claim it.
“Phone Sex Girls” adds a humorous interlude. A catchy funky groove propels a tale about a lonely guy and his emotional connection to a phone sex worker. It ends suddenly with the poor guy asking urgently, “How much is this costing me?”
Don’t overlook the jazzy remake of “Up from the Skies,” a relatively obscure Jimi Hendrix Experience tune from 1968 which sounds similar in intent to what Earth, Wind & Fire did with “Got to Get You into My Life” in the 1970s. It turns out to be a good idea and well executed.
“Rise Up” is available at Jelly’s and Hungry Ear. For information see www.ghostdocta.com