Songs with an asterisk* are included in the 'Ukulele Songbook, also available as a PDF+MP3 download.

1. On A Gentle Island Breeze* (2:27)
2. In Hoi Yan featuring Ilid Kaolo (3:13) 
3. Bicycle Holiday* (3:04)
4. Call of Passage featuring Hao-en Wu (2:13)
5. A Song of Perpetual Gratitude featuring Mei Chuan Sang (3:59)
6. Pua Kea Waltz (White Flower Waltz)* (1:49)
7. Rukai Love Song featuring Kuo-hsiung Lee (Dakanow) (4:13)
8. Amis Rondo* (4:10)
9. The Warship Song featuring Cheng-fa Fong & Ming-long Kou (3:03)
10. Aloha Naruwan featuring Hsiu-chen Lai (Senayan) (2:23)
11. Ocean (3:38)
12. Indigenous Echoes (5:53)

Wind Music International has extensively archived the music of Taiwanese aboriginal tribes. The goal of this collaboration is to reverently present this rich cultural tradition in a new light by pairing it with the Hawaiian sounds of slack key guitar, 'ukulele, and piano by multiple GRAMMY Award-winning artist and producer, Daniel Ho.

Liner Notes - EXTENSIVE BOOKLET STYLE liner notes measure 7.75” x 7.75”

Liner notes include cultural and musical background on each song.

Also included: sheet music in tablature and notation for four new solo ‘ukulele compositions...

• On a Gentle Island Breeze
• Bicycle Holiday
• Pua Kea Waltz (White Flower Waltz)
• Amis Rondo
• Sheet music in tablature and notation for the ‘ukulele duet arrangement of the Taiwanese contemporary folk song "Ocean.”

Album Review by John Berger (Island Mele column at www.honolulupulse.com)

...imaginative and impressively packaged album...

Ho teamed up with a Taiwan-based record label to record aboriginal Taiwanese melodies using ukulele, slack-key guitar or piano.  Seven Taiwan-based singers add their voices to Ho’s instrumental arrangements on various selections.  The contrast between the vocal performance of male singer Hao-en Wu and the familiar sound of slack-key guitar on a song titled “Call of Passage” is particularly vivid.

Most of the Taiwanese melodies are from songs about traditional activities such as hunting and traveling.  Others speak of romance.  The one nontraditional song is of relatively recent origin.

“The Warship Song” dates from the era when Japan replaced China as the colonial occupier of Taiwan; Ho describes it in his liner notes booklet as a song indigenous musicians performed when they “greeted Japanese warships” that were returning to harbor.

The set list includes instrumentals Ho composed after visiting Taiwan in 2012.  Ho’s final composition, “Indigenous Echos,” brings together motifs from the Taiwanese melodies heard earlier.

Ho completes this precedent-setting project with a booklet that contains his slack-key and ukulele tunings, detailed descriptions of the arrangements, cultural information on Taiwan’s indigenous people, and notes on the career accomplishments of the singers.

Ho’s work here [is an] important step forward.

Daniel Ho: ‘ukulele, piano, slack key guitar, recording (except vocals), mixing, mastering, music producer
Aboriginal Vocals Produced by Judy Chin-tai Wu
Aboriginal Vocals Recording:
Ching-tang Ho/Trend Music Recording Studio, Taipei
Chih-wei Tseng/Ai-sian Recording Studio, Taitung
Chin-han Wei/Harley Music Recording Studio, Pingtung
Producers: Chin-tsung Yang, Judy Chin-tai Wu, and Su-ying Yu
Project Coordinator: Patricia Chuang Greene
Liner Notes: Lydia Miyashiro-Ho and Su-ying Yu
Photography: Lydia Miyashiro-Ho
Graphic Design: Hui-chen Huang and Szu-wei Cheng, Keystone Design Co.
Graphic Design Assistant: Ming-yu Tsai

Daniel Ho endorses YAMAHA guitars and KoAloha ‘ukuleles

Release date: September 25, 2012

hi-res album cover