Robert Cazimero Releases New CD, "Hula"

July 5, 2011 - PRLog -- HONOLULU - The Mountain Apple Company HAWAI’I proudly announces the release of "Hula," a new solo CD from the award-winning singer-songwriter and Kumu Hula Robert Cazimero.

"Hula" features a collection of Cazimero's favorite music for hula, spanning songs by Helen Desha Beamer and Robert Alex Anderson to the love song "Kealoha" to traditional songs. Available in-stores and online July 5, 2011, "Hula" includes 11 tracks that encompass music that resonates in our hearts and souls – and comes to life in hula. For more information, visit http://mountainapplecompany.com/robertcazimero.

Robert’s elegant voice is so distinctive that whether he performs on piano or with his brother Roland as The Brothers Cazimero, he is instantly recognized and people are compelled to listen. He has been a part of close to 40 full album projects, many considered classics in the history of Hawaiian music. Hula is always an integral part of his performances.

"In my life, I've been lucky enough to learn from the best; to dance on stage; to teach this remarkable art form and to be rewarded in both tangible and intangible ways for dedicating a big part of my life to hula," said Robert Cazimero. "I've been all the more lucky in that my career has been in music and I've been able to sing some of the most beautiful music that hula is danced to, as well as compose some hula mele (songs) that have been danced by many."

Robert Cazimero's "Hula" features these 11 tracks:
      
1.   "Keawaiki" (Helen Desha Beamer)
2.   "I Aloha Ia No `O Kanaio" (Nina Maxwell, Kenneth Makuakane, Roddy Lopez)
3.   "Kaläkaua" (Unknown/Traditional)
4.   "Hualälai" (Matilda Kauwe/Traditional)
5.   "Kealoha" (Lei Collins, Maddy Lam)
6.   "Lovely Hula Hands" (R. Alex Anderson)
7.   "Kimo Hula" (Helen D. Beamer)
8.   "Pua Lililehua" (Kahauanu Lake, Mary Pukui`i)  
9.   "Haole Hula" (R. Alex Anderson/Traditional)
10.   "Na`u Ho`okahi" (Robert Cazimero)
11.   "Lei No Ka`iulani" (John Edwards/Traditional)

About Robert Cazimero
For Hawaiians, coming of age in the 1970’s was a turbulent time, but for Robert Cazimero it was the time when he discovered himself and his life’s purpose: Hawaiian music and the art of hula.

This discovery has taken him on an amazing journey. While the journey was not without turbulence, his path became clear and he followed it to where he is today – at the top of his game in his music and certainly in the art of Hula.

Robert’s twin passions have always been inter-related. They are the threads that weave the intricate patterns that are Robert Cazimero. His musical talent was recognized at the age of three, followed quickly with piano lessons while still in elementary school where his quickness endeared him to his instructors while his ability to vary and improvise astounded them.

Robert’s secondary education required participation in the Kamehameha Schools’ Concert Glee Club and Hawaiian Ensemble. His knowledge of music deepened but more importantly, he came in contact with the person who would serve as his Kumu Hula (hula teacher), Maiki Aiu Lake and just at the right time for the Hawaiian cultural renaissance was blooming.

And so it came to be that at the height of the Hawaiian cultural renaissance, Robert Cazimero was learning the art of hula from one of the most respected masters of the dance form. Already known for changing the familiar sound of Hawaiian music, Aunty Maiki infused Robert with her vision of him starting an all male halau (hula school). Men dancing hula as a halau was something that had not happened in decades. She envisioned men dancing hula with pride and masculine grace and Robert soon shared this passionate image.

Over the ensuing decades Robert has realized Maiki’s dream again and again, dedicating his energy to the once vanishing tradition of male hula. With the knowledge passed on from Maiki coupled with his own talent and passion, Robert has inspired hundreds of men to carry on this magnificent art form and continues to lead Halau Na Kamalei, known as the only all male hula halau that exists in the world today.

Recording music has also played a vital part of Robert’s life journey. The popular success of the music he has made and participated in is recognized through dozens of awards, performances on the world’s most prestigious stages and the millions of albums that have been bought by people around the world.

Robert’s passion and talent have played a huge role in taking Hawaiian music and dance to diverse stages from Carnegie Hall, Wolftrap, Tokyo, and the Hollywood Bowl; his voice has graced the orchestra’s of the New York Pops, the LA Philharmonic, the Boston Pops and of course, the Honolulu Symphony. Hula is always an integral part of these shows as it is in all performances large and small of The Brothers Cazimero and whenever he performs a solo engagement.

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The Mountain Apple Company HAWAI’I is a multifaceted record label that also publishes, licenses, produces, and distributes scores of island music. The Mountain Apple Company HAWAI‘I provides talent management and consulting for many of Hawaii’s most successful entertainers in addition to providing innovative concert and talent promotion, stage design, and production. For more information, visit http://mountainapplecompany.com.