Maile Serenaders – Evening in the Islands: Hawaiian Steel Guitar Instrumentals
Evening in the Islands is essentially a steel-guitar summit disguised under the studio group name “Maile Serenaders.”
Cut for Hula Records and later reissued on CD, it’s a compact 12-track set (about 35 minutes) of classic Hawaiian and hapa-haole material:
“I’ll Weave a Lei of Stars,”
“Hula Breeze,”
“Soft Green Seas,”
“White Ginger Blossoms,”
“Evening in the Islands,”
“Hana,”
“Hawaiian Wedding Song,”
“Pearly Shells,”
“Blue Hawaii,”
“Love Song of Kalua,” and
“Hawaii Calls,”
all sequenced as a smooth arc from dreamy to full-on nostalgia.¹
The real story is the personnel. The core of the record is a dual-steel lineup of Barney Isaacs and Eddie Pang, a pairing that steel players still point to as one of the more beautiful duet documents of the era.² In steel-guitar circles this is often described explicitly as a duets album by Isaacs and Pang, later issued on CD under the Maile Serenaders name for Hula.² Pang, an under-recorded house steeler for Tradewinds in the 1950s–60s, brings a lyrical but slightly more incisive, single-string style; Isaacs contributes that smooth, singing tone and impeccable intonation he was known for from Hawaii Callsand countless studio dates.² The two trade roles gracefully: one on melody, the other on harmonized lines, fills, and vamps, creating a woven texture that’s rich without ever sounding busy.
Backing them, the rhythm guitar work is handled by Gabby Pahinui and Sol Kamahele, which explains why the groove feels so unforced and “right” even when everything else is pristine.³ Their comping is understated but crucial: rolling, relaxed time, the kind of swing you only get from players who have lived with this repertoire for decades. Bass and any additional rhythm parts go uncredited in the usual way of mid-century Hawaiian studio projects, but whoever is there keeps the time soft around the edges, more hotel-lounge than metronome.
Sonically, it’s very much old-school Waikīkī: no reverb-drenched “exotica,” no fusion, just warm, close-miked steels up front over a small rhythm section. The arrangements stay concise, mostly in the three-minute range, so even though the mood is mellow the record never drags. As a listening experience, it works on two levels:
it’s the archetypal “evening on the lanai” sound, perfect background for a shop, gallery, or quiet dinner.
it’s a concentrated lesson in phrasing, vibrato, bar control, and duet arranging on non-pedal steel.
If you’re curating a rack that shows what Hawaiian steel can do without slipping into kitsch or tourist-music cliché, this one is a cornerstone: historically interesting, musically deep, and completely listenable from top to bottom.
¹ Album details (Hula Records; 12 tracks; 35-minute runtime; track listing) from label and retailer metadata.
² Identification of Evening in the Islands as a Barney Isaacs / Eddie Pang steel duets album, later issued as Maile Serenaders on Hula Records, from steel-guitar historical discussion.
³ Guitar credits listing Gabby Pahinui and Sol Kamahele as guitarists, and Barney Isaacs and Eddie Pang as steel guitarists, from discographic data.