Critic's Review
Bob Tarte, All Music Guide
Though Kane made his first recording in 1961, Punahele is the only release to feature his acoustic guitar in a solo setting. A slowed-down ragtime tempo shapes the classic tear-jerker "Pua Sadina" ("I Never Will Forget") and the five-song seamless instrumental medley that follows kicks off with a lush snippet of Hawaiian country blues. Kane plays and sings with emotions thrown wide open, inflecting happy Polynesian cliches of lapping water and flawless sun with pangs of sadness for the era when traditional ways still ruled. As evocative as his soulful guitar playing is a rich baritone voice modulated by a beautiful falsetto.
