T.J. Keanu Tario - Standing Above the Clouds

from Lōʻihi Records: Standing Above the Clouds was originally composed as the soundtrack to the award-winning documentary of the same name. The film traces intergenerational impacts through the mothers and daughters carrying on their sovereign struggle to defend the sacred Mauna Kea from desecration by foreign power.

In the summer of 2024 the score was re-shaped as stand-alone work. Sections were recomposed and rearranged. Gaylord Holomalia (recipient of the 2024 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Lifetime Achievement Award) recorded performances by Mana Quartet (strings), and Relle Reavis and Makaʻala Perry (vocals). The tracks were then edited and mixed by Dean Harada.

The result is a singular statement of the Hawaiian Avant Garde, in conversation with the film and deeply connected to the 'āina from which it flows.

At turns meditative, fierce and joyful, this collection gives voice to the deities who dwell in Mauna a Wākea’s summits and honors the Kiaʻi whose kuleana is to protect them.

The album closes with a mele to the mountain composed for the voice of Makaʻala Perry, Miss Aloha Hula finalist at the 2021 Merrie Monarch Festival.