I Belli Di Waikiki (ITALY)
Tipi Da Spiaggia
(Hawiian, Rockabilly, Roots)
© Part Records 2004
Luky Linetti / Vocals, Steelguitar, Ukulele
Stefano Pagotto / Guiat, Ukulele
Paolino Pesce / Double Bass
Renato Ardizzoni / Drums, Percussions
This CD includes “Honolulu Rock &Roll” at its best, made by the italian combo I BELLI DI WAIKIKI !! After the big success of their 1st album “Aloha – Made in Hawaii” (also released on Part Records; being re-pressed at the moment), here is their 2nd album now. Pure party music with “caribean holiday feeling”…!!
Aloha malahini and wahine. Imagine the year 1958, imagine standing on the front bamboo bar and drinking some 'mai tai', maybe inside the 'Don the beachcomber' or the 'Kona Kai', surrounded by tiki idols, coloured flowers and people dressed in marvellous tropical clothes. The hula dancers have just begun to shake their hips because the hapa-haole band 'I belli di Waikiki' has started the luau!
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'It all began during the spring of 2001, with Hula dancers balancing to the sweet romantic sound of the steel guitar, the graceful sound of the waves and the poetic movement of the palm trees still spinning in my mind after my trip in 1994 to the islands, so I (Paolo Hommanavanui), my friend 'Luky Kekauna Linetti', Spillo (we played together in the rockabilly band 'Luky Linetti and The Thunderstorm') and Stefano Kealoha Pagotto and Renato Kokoe Ardizzoni, (replacing of Spillo on the drums) took this adventure, added some rocking influences to the Hawaiian music as many rock'n'roll singers of the 50's did, and kept the 'funny spirit' that we still had with the other bands, rediscovering the pictures of an exotic world painted in minds of many dreamers of the past and the present. An exotic world where most of the time reality fades away. From our repertoire, taken in part from some classics of the melodies of the islands like 'Sophisticated hula', 'Lani', 'Maui girl' and some better known like 'Hawaiian war chant', originally taken from the ancient Hawaiian chant, 'Tahu wahu waki', rearranged by the princess Leileohako; trying To keep the songs as original as possible, we used traditional instruments like ukulele, steel guitar, hawaiian double bass and drums.
The traditional set is combined with the tribute that many rock'n'roll singers and bands have dedicated to the islands, like Bill Haley and the Comets 'Me rock-a-hula', Moon Moolican 'Honolulu rock-a-rolla', Jimmy C Newman 'Bop-a-hula', not forgetting some of the classics that Elvis Presley sang in 'Blue Hawaii'!"
"Possibly the only four musicians on Italy's contemporary retro-greaser/rockabilly/ swing/rhythm & blues circuit with an overwhelming passion for post-WWII-era Hawaiian rock'n'roll tunes somehow find each other. They cast aside their current projects in order to spread their love of the Hawaiian sound. They endure various hardships including crappy jobs, general disinterest and the loss of one kindred soul, only to discover that THERE IS ANOTHER. Near the end of their rope, they discover a bizarre worldwide underground cadre of tiki-lifestyle enthusiasts that, while completely unable to make them rich and famous, at least strengthens their resolve to spend their free time playing the music they love all over the world.
Completely bored with the rest of the rockabilly and jump-blues resurgence trends captivating a portion of their homeland's hipsters, Paolo Mind, Luky 'Kekauna' Linetti, Stefano 'Kealoha' Pagotto and a drummer referred to only as Spillo wanted more. They found it in countless late-'50s Island-rock compilations and Elvis flicks. In early 2001, they ditched their other bands (one was reportedly called Peter Roast Beef & The Trippers) to build a shtick the likes of which most pomade-topped European roots-rock scenesters had never encountered. I Belli Di Waikiki backed it with tradition and talent.
Spillo was eventually replaced by current skinsman Renato 'Kokoe' Ardizzoni, but I Belli Di Waikiki's approach to creating an engaging hula-rock persona has remained intact from the band's origins. Their style deftly balances a serious love and reverence for the genre with a self-aware sense of humor that sets the tongue somewhere outside the teeth, but short of actually being in the cheek.
Anyone ready to accuse I Belli Di Waikiki of surfing an admittedly brilliant gimmick (they sing in Hawaiian, Italian and English) without the chops and knowledge to back it up should take a listen to their disc Aloha, and kindly shut up. Sonically, the quartet can hang with their heroes, melding traditional instrumentation like ukulele and steel guitar to a dynamic rhythm section of standup bass and drums played with brushes. While I Belli Di Waikiki is perfectly willing to work a good angle, they take the music quite seriously. It's an attitude that's served them well at festival dates, where the band has shared the stage with and earned the respect of bands of wildly varying styles.
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