Hawaii Dreamin'

Late in the winter, I find myself drawn to music of the tropics. I tend to alternate locales. Last winter it was Caribbean, particularly steel drum bands, so, 2009 is a Hawaiian year. New, for me, this year are the hula DVDs and the Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (affectionately known as Iz) CD. I've heard the CD before, borrowed from the library, but I like it so much that I bought my own copy.

This is the album with the "Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World" medley. It's an amazing piece. He sings it with full awareness of the tough times in life while expressing all the optimism and hope of a Hawaiian rainbow -- a beautiful song given the current situation. According to the Wikipedia article on Iz, at least two large 2009 New Year celebrations featured this song, so I'm not the only one to think that this is a song of our times.