Chris Mann's Review of Aaron Aranita's CD "One Day"

August 14th 2002

…Aaron Aranita and Eastbound’s One Day on Sugartown Records. Hawaiian composer and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Aranita has assembled fourteen original compositions. The CD has a good mix of vocal and instrumental tracks and I prefer the tracks where Aranita’s soprano sax piano and gorgeous flute get a chance to shine.

My favourite vocal though is the smoky I’ll Say Goodbye featuring Harve Thompson. The acoustic piano/bass/drums backing is classy and Aranita’s sax solo is very soulful. It’s timeless stuff.

Among the instrumentals, the bluesy Urbanity stands out, as does the tribute to Brazilian guitarist Toninho Horta, simply entitled Toninho. That flute and Randall Yamamoto’s funky bass could make you think of Dave Valentin’s tropical and jazzy outings.


Rejoicing is a 100-miles-per hour drums and bass workout. Rogerio Araujo is the man with the sticks and he’s a monster! Kaila Novicki provides a vocal backing reminiscent of Flora Purim.

The uplifting Elima is the album’s best showcase for the high-voltage sound of guitarist Robert Shinoda. His sound is full on – any Yoshiaki Masuo fans out there?

Original songwriter, tasteful pianist and adventurous saxophonist – Aaron Aranita is all of these things. I’ll publicly apologise to him for having taken so long to write about his CD – with a bit of luck, the next one will follow soon…

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