Nalani Choy of Na Leo Pilimehana entertains students at Waialua Elementary School. Photo by Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
By Burl Burlingame
Star-Bulletin
Then they had the gall to record a song about the value of friendship, which mentioned God, and when seniors picked it as a musical coda to high-school graduation last year, DOE bureaucrats bleated in fear and used one part of the Constitution to suppress another.
Now Na Leo Pilimehana has recorded a song - "Flying With Angels" - that comforts people during dark and rocky times. Radical, yeah? The song and album and their performance of it has earned them four Na Hoku Hanohano nominations. And the ladies have announced what amounts to a musical manifesto: they believe that music is:
Na Leo - they've essentially dropped the Pilimehana after being signed by Sony last week - believe so strongly in this message that they're organizing an "Angels of Music" outreach program: musicians and those in the music industry mentoring interested kids.
"People have been telling us they're inspired by 'Flying With Angels,' that it's helped get them through difficult times, like a loved one passing away," said Angela Morales, the brunette Na Leo member, and the one who's taken this concept on as a personal mission.
"It's made us think about the power that music has, how it can play a positive role in your life, about how it can help heal. How can we harness that? If one song can inspire one person, what can music do for a whole community?"
Na Leo contacted other musicians and those in the music business and asked if they'd be interested in volunteering time for some kind of mentoring program. To their surprise, virtually everyone said yes.
The first effort was a basic career-shadowing, in which a student was paired with an artist to observe first-hand the real life of a musician. For instance, Robi Kahakalau was paired with a sixth-grader from Anuenue School, and there were mutual surprises. The girl tagged along to the singer's Hawaiian-language class at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, where
Kahakalau discovered the little girl was more fluent in Hawaiian than most college students, and the sixth-grader discovered that even a big-time talent like Kahakalau has to do homework, too.
"Our goal is to create more programs and projects and workshops that use the kind of power music has to improve our communities," Morales said. "Anything from career-shadowing to - hmmm - providing companionship for the elderly. Music is a number-one language around the world, and it inspires. Kids need to be inspired."
Reaction from the Department of Education has been positive so far, although Na Leo admits the project is still pretty much "in the networking phase."
What: Na Hoku Hanohano awards
When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow
Where: Sheraton Waikiki Hotel
Cost: $80; no-host cocktail reception begins at 4 p.m.; dinner is at 6.
Call: 922-4422
On TV: 7:30 p.m. on K5
During a visit to Waianae High School, Choy was impressed by the extreme politeness and attentiveness of the students. "Waianae's got a reputation as a tough school, but I saw none of that. We thought there was going to be 30 kids in the class, and soon there were more than 90! We had to lock the doors!" Choy said. "Nobody made a sound, and they all paid attention. They were great!"
While music has the power to heal, it can be misused, Choy feels.
"There's so much negativity in many songs today. They get people to buy into that garbage, and it's really just about musicians not taking responsibility for their work," she said.
After the Waianae class, Choy met a teacher who had been listening through the door, and the teacher was weeping. "Her nephew had died a few months before, and 'Flying With Angels' helped her get through the grief," Choy said. "She just wanted us to know."
"Angels" was written by Lehua Kalima, the third brunette member of Ka Leo. "Just close your eyes and sleep, I understand/
You'll fly with angels, above us all/And I'll be here to catch you if you fall," the song muses, and listeners each have their own interpretation.
Kalima herself has no idea where the words came from.
"Some songs just come in your ear, in one huge block, already written, it seems," Kalima said. "Sometimes, it'll come while I'm driving, and I'm scrambling to find a paper towel or something to write it all down."
She's happy that her song has provided comfort to many, and is looking forward to getting Angels of Music off the ground.
"Sometimes, there will be kids who aren't that academically inclined, but there's so much more to a person than academics," said Kalima, still a student herself. "Kids need a sense of identity, and music can help provide that.
"But we don't want anyone to copy us. Angels of Music isn't about becoming little Na Leo Pilimehanas. It's, like, what do you want to do, and how you can focus to get ahead. It's more of a hand-holding thing than a pushing thing."