Daniel Ho, Tia Carrere and George Kahumoku Jr. will perform together Jan. 18 at the ProArts Playhouse. Courtesy photo/Bruce Forrester

Lauded by Ukulele Magazine as “one of the most prolific and successful musicians Hawaii has ever produced,” six-time Grammy winner Daniel Ho most recently released the brilliant album “Lōkahi – Colors in Harmony.”

Drawing inspiration from Bach’s 18th century choral work, Ho collaborated with Hālau Hula Keali’i o Nālani, led Kumu Hula Keali’i Ceballos from Maui, fusing Hawaiian music with global influences.

Opening on a glorious high note with the beautiful song, “Kū Kākou, Carry You On,” co-composed by lyricist Amy Kuʻuleialoha Stillman, Ho featured the combined choral vocals of the hālau joined by Grammy-nominated musician Nick Lee, who has worked with artists like Demi Lovato and Lil Nas X.

Among the other standout tracks, he teamed with Grammy-nominated Ugandan star Eddy Kenzo on the uplifting Afropop of “ʻUkulele Essanyu (Let Us Be Instruments of Joy and Love).”

“I have never done a choral album before,” Daniel Ho explains. “I wanted to do something with hula and Hawaiian music, and even the pop songs or more rhythmic songs have choral counterpoint. I am always trying to do something I’ve never done before. That’s sort of my goal artistically.

“I went to Saint Louis High School and studied music, and while I was working at Harry’s Music Store, Emmett Yoshioka was teaching me Bach’s 18th century harmony, which is Bach’s choral hymn writing. It’s always been the way that I write music. I love the way it moves harmonies. What choral writing is more like is you look for independent melodies, so everybody that sings, they’re singing their own melody. I’ve always written with it in my piano or ‘ukulele or guitar writing, but I’ve never just done a choral record.”

Other highlights include the sublime prayer “Pule No Malia, with the hālau’s Lilinoe Matsuura on lead vocals and Ho on piano. An accompanying video was shot with the choir at the Sherman Oaks Presbyterian Church.

“That song is so important to me,” says Ho, who is based in Los Angeles “‘Pule No Malia’ is basically Hail Mary, a prayer for Mary, because I went to St. Patrick’s (School) and Saint Louis, and I grew up Catholic.”

Grammy winning musician/actress Tia Carrere is among the artists who help elevate the memorable track “Colors In Harmony,” which encourages positivity, peace and inclusiveness. Sung in Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese and Tagalog, it was created with over 60 layered tracks, an amalgam of various instruments including taiko, shakuhachi, cello, slack key guitar and koto played by Hiroshima’s June Kurumoto.

“I wanted to write a song that promotes cultural unity,” he says. “L.A. has had its riots and Asian hate crimes. There’s a lot of division here, so I wanted to say that we can all through the arts, work side by side and feel good together and collaborate. I wrote four lines: Here we gather from afar. Hear our song of peace. Woven melodies we are. Living colors in harmony.”

Ho has collaborated with Hiroshima’s Kurumoto on a new recording project that pays tribute to the WWII Japanese-American 442nd regiment. “We just recorded a bunch of songs together for the Go For Broke organization,” he explains. “We filmed some videos and did some music with their veterans. They sang ‘America the Beautiful’ with us and ‘God Bless America.'”

His love of pursuing adventurous projects previously took him to Mongolia where he recorded the album, “Between the Sky & Prairie,” in 2016 and became enamored with the sound of the traditional Mongolian doshpuluur, a long-necked Tuvan Lute.

“It was one of the most special world music collaborations I’ve worked on,” he says. “I’ve visited Mongolia a few times. I took my tiny tenor ukulele and played with five different Mongolian tribes. They have the doshpuluur and tovshuur, three-stringed fretless instruments. I had my four-string ‘ukulele, and I thought, ‘Why don’t I have a three-string instrument?’ It makes so much musical sense. So I came home and took off one of the strings on my ‘ukulele, and then I started recording that way with my strumming parts.”

Collaborating with master classical guitar luthier Pepe Romero Jr., they designed the three-string ʻEkolu Tiny Tenor. “It is my favorite instrument,” says Ho. “For someone who wants to enjoy the joy of making music for the first time, it’s the easiest instrument to play.”

Ho will bring his Tiny Tenor to Maui for a concert with Tia Carrere and Uncle George Kahumoku Jr. on Jan. 18 at the ProArts Playhouse.

He has known Carrere since their school days on Oahu.

“She went to Sacred Hearts and we’ve been playing together since I was 14 years old,” he says. “Saint Louis School had a jazz band, and she came and sang with the jazz band. Her voice was just as beautiful as it is today.”

Teaming with Ho, Carrere won Grammy Awards for her albums, “Huana Ke Aloha” and “Ikena.” The Kalihi-born singer was also nominated for Grammy Awards for “Hawaiiana” and “He Nani.”

Bestowed with six Grammy wins and 12 Grammy nominations, Ho has recorded 14 albums with Maui’s Uncle George.

“Around 1998, Uncle George was going to do a California tour with slack key master Ray Kane, and couldn’t do the tour,” he recalls. “A mutual friend suggested why don’t you ask Daniel Ho to do it? I had just released my first the slack key album, and nobody would play with me because I was, until that point, a contemporary jazz pianist with (the band) Kilauea. Like, who’s this guy? He taught me Hawaiian music on stage and he took me under his wing. I will always love him for taking me by the hand and trusting me.”

When Ho launched his own record label, Kahumoku approached him. “Uncle George said, ‘I’ve been wanting to record this album of Hawaiian hymns for 10 years and nobody will let me do it.’ We recorded ‘Hymns of Hawaii’ and it won a Hōkū Award.”

He remembers a memorable gig in Ka’anapali last year with the veteran Hawaiian musician.

“He was all set up, and I sat down with my ‘ukulele. Without stopping for a single break, we played for three hours straight, and anything he could think of from ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’ and ‘Hi’ilawe’ to ‘Mustang Sally.’ He said, ‘I’m having so much fun just jamming.’ He’s always worked in hotels and knows all kinds of songs. But as a slack key performer, when he goes on tour, he doesn’t do things like that.”

The trio of Carrere, Ho and Kahumoku released “Live on Tour,” which was nominated for a Hōkū for Island Music Album in 2024. It included beautiful versions of “Me Ke Aloha Pumehana” and “Aloha ʻOe.”

Looking forward to teaming again, Ho says, “It’s like family. We have such a long history together, and we just get together and play songs and have fun on stage. We just have a ball.”

Ho, Carrere and Kahumoku Jr. perform at 5 p.m. Jan. 18 at the ProArts Playhouse. Tickets range from $35 to $65 at ProArtsMaui.org.