Photo of Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole

Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole

Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole Radio

General Info

  • Genre: Acoustic / Hawaiian / Pop

    Location HONOLULU, Hawaii, Un

    Profile Views: 466477

    Last Login: 2/28/2011

    Member Since 7/16/2007

    Website izhawaii.com

    Record Label Mountain Apple Company • HAWAI'I

    Type of Label Indie

  • Bio

    I (Jon de Mello, Israel's producer) grew up in the heart of Waikiki. Lewers Street to be exact. In 1959, James Michener was tapping out his blockbuster novel, Hawai‘i , next door, while my father, Jack de Mello, was marrying the classic music of the islands with symphony orchestras from London to Japan. Hawai‘i was about to become a state and Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole was about to be born. Fast forward to the 1990s. When Israel and I got together, he was in his thirties, and Hawai’i had become part of the big world. All his life, IZ had been making his own kind of Hawaiian music. He played a simple instrument, the ‘ukulele, just four strings, and he was happy to play three-chord songs in just two keys, C and G–what you could call “barefoot music.” There came a time when he wanted more. He had matured, and he wanted to connect musically with the world. He looked at me and said: “Put shoes on me.” We recorded five albums together before he died in 1997–different kinds of new shoes for IZ. A few years ago, listening to the music we had made, it came to me that I could hear him singing with a full orchestra–a rich sound, with depth, leaving space for his iconic voice. It worked like a charm. His song is alive. IZ had a message, and it is in his music. He wanted a human community without boundaries, where people everywhere took care of each other. That was his Wonderful World. “Dis music,” he said, “is feelings dat goin’ las’ fo’eva.”.

  • Members

  • Influences

  • Sounds Like

Stream

  1. Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole

    NEW! Together in IZ World Fan Map! Check out fan stories/pics from around the world and add yourself to the map! https://t.co/tIf7Q80r

  2. Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole

    HAPPY 53RD BIRTHDAY TO IZ!! :) Get "IZ: Voice of the People" for $5! Today ONLY! http://t.co/tTNClFmz More details at: http://t.co/HyAapoTH

    Rusty liked this.

  3. Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole

    Another great fan video, The Piano Guys' instrumental cover of "Over the Rainbow"! http://t.co/xTQy9PB1 More IZ videos: http://t.co/XX10C0mR

  4. Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole

    Rare video of IZ performing almost 20 years ago with Roland Cazimero, Henry Kapono, and Cyril Pahinui! http://t.co/rnK31efg

  5. Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole

    Any artists out there? Here's a video of a fan who did a digital painting of IZ! http://t.co/GUZKMjnh Show us your IZ artwork!

Videos

IZ swimming

00:07 | 2803 plays | Dec 11 2007

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