Amy Hanaialii recently released her latest album, “Remember Napua.”
Amy Hanaialii recently released her latest album, “Remember Napua.”
For the album, Hanaialii chose each song as a tribute to her grandmother Napua Woodd, the biggest influence in her life as an entertainer. Woodd lived on her own land in an era in which she wasn’t allowed to speak Hawaiian or dance hula – it was illegal.
As an original Royal Hawaiian hula dancer, Woodd was asked to be one of the first set of entertainers to perform in the Hawaiian Room at the Lexington Hotel in 1939 with Uncle Ray Kinney. She choreographed the show for many years. Known for her comedy hula, she also starred in the famous “Hellzapoppin” on Broadway.
From New York, she toured across America to Hollywood. At Perry’s Studios, she became the quintessential choreographer for anything Hawaiian in the motion picture industry.
The songs in this collection are those she taught to her hula dancers.
Hanaialii, a singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur, remains Hawaii’s top-selling female vocalist of all time and has garnered 25 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards and five Grammy Award nominations.
Hanaialii has also played for sold out crowds in Europe, Japan, China, all across America and French Polynesia. On her 2009 album, “Friends and Family,” she performed a duet with country music legend Willie Nelson. She has also performed alongside artists such as Earth, Wind and Fire, Carlos Santana, Boz Scaggs, Diana Krall and Joe Crocker.