As the 9th of Gabby Pahinui"s 10 children, Cyril hails from the first family of slack key. He"s known for his percussive sound, which he creates by dampening the strings with his right hand, but the jaunty, delicate melodies and improvisations he places between the beats are just as impressive. He can stretch out effortlessly from the traditional to the progressive, sometimes even in the same song, and he"s also one of the genre"s most emotive vocalists, particularly in the Hawaiian falsetto style. This solo album offers a strong mix of traditional and improvised-in-the-studio songs. --John Morthland