Two local CDs offer fresh spiritual sounds
Reviewed by Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald
Psalms for Healing, by Wesley Taira, produced by Wesley Taira
Though their melodies have long been long lost to modern ears, the powerful words of the Psalms have been an inspiration and challenge to centuries of musicians, both obscure and renowned, anxious to bring them back to melodic life.
Wesley Taira, a long-time Hawaii liturgical music minister and the youth choir director at Resurrection of the Lord Parish in Waipio, has risen to that challenge in his sensitive debut CD, “Psalms for Healing.”
In a generous 52 minutes of music, Taira pulls together the simple elements of a nylon string guitar, flute, electronic keyboard, vocal harmonies and his own clear, articulate voice to create 14 gentle musical mediations on 13 Psalms and one Gospel passage.
A clean, folk-inspired finger-picked classical guitar, played by Taira, provides the rhythm and foundation for most of the songs. Alex Briguglio’s floating, fluttering flute playing gives the pieces an airy spiritual lightness.
Keyboard player Ricky Gilbert takes full advantage of his instrument’s digital capabilities, adding the lush sounds of strings, rich woodwinds and horns, in addition to bells and other effects.
The sweet, crisp background harmonies of Letitia Rodrigues and Taira’s daughter Clare are the perfect complement to Taira’s warm tenor.
Flowing water is a sub-theme to this production, serving as visual background to his CD package art and an aural backdrop for several of the numbers.
In his liner notes, Taira offers his music “for the purpose of reflection and responding to God’s word.”
He urges the listener to “use these Psalms for your meditation and devotions to facilitate your prayer time with God. May you find healing in His Presence.”
His pieces are perfect for that purpose.
We would add that many of the numbers, with their melodic easy-to-follow choruses and simply-constructed verses, are also ideal for use as responsorial Psalms in liturgy.
Standouts are “Create In Me a Clean Heart — Psalm 51,” “The Lord Is My Shepherd — Psalm 23,” and “If Today You Hear His Voice — Psalm 95.”
The liner notes also offer a reflection for each song and a prayer for healing.
“Psalms for Healing” is available at Logos Bookstore at 1024 Queen Street in Honolulu, Agape Shoppe at 39 Maluniu Avenue in Kailua, or by calling Wesley Taira at 782-6885.
“Gratia Plena,” by Gratia Plena, Madskill Productions
Chances are you’ve heard many of the songs on “Gratia Plena,” a CD by musicians from Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Honolulu, but never in the way they have presented them.
Gratia Plena — Lauren Kam-Felipe, Arvin Lucio, Felix Secretaria and Mike Felipe — offers a collection of 11 songs written for church, but reinterpreted as jazz-tinged, easy listening popular numbers. And that’s not a bad thing, because these skillful musicians treat each composition with care and prayerful respect.
The result is wondrous.
The CD opens with the Sebastian Temple standard “Prayer of St. Francis.” Gratia Plena transforms the sing-songy original into a Brazilian bossa nova number accompanied by a nylon-stringed rhythm guitar and a cool bass counterpoint.
“I Will Be With You,” a James E. Moore composition, could be any typical piano-based pop love ballad except the lyrics, “I really love you,” are God’s.
A lead Irish pennywhistle on “Many and Great,” composed by Ricky Manalo, gives the song an ethereal and mystical Asian sound.
The group’s rendition of “I Have Loved You,” by Michael Joncas, adopts sweet intersecting harmonies you’ve probably never heard when the song is sung at Mass.
Kam-Felipe’s honeyed voice does most of the heavy lifting on this CD, carrying most of the songs. She is supported vocally by Secretaria and Lucio.
The songs are sparingly and expertly arranged. Lucio’s guitar and bass is prevalent throughout. He and Felipe also play piano and keyboards. The arrangements, oddly but effectively, use no percussion.
The liner notes, by Sts. Peter and Paul pastor Jesuit Father David Travers, say that the CD is a “tribute to our faith, our church, our parishioners and our priests,” in particular, the late Msgr. Roy Peters who served the parish for many years.
The album’s triumph is the final number, Dan Kantor’s “Ave Maria,” an acappella version of the Hail Mary. Exquisitely weaving English and Latin in cascading and overlapping voices, the result is Gregorian chant meets Manhattan Transfer. It is simply gorgeous. “Gratia plena” — “full of grace” — indeed.
Gratia Plena may be bought at Sts. Peter and Paul Church. Call 941-0675.