Kimo Artis, Jerome Koko and Hanale Kaʻanapu will perform Dec. 6 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Courtesy photo

Performing with the Mākaha Sons for 48 years, founding member Jerome Koko remembers when he first encountered Hawaiian legend Israel “Iz” Kamakawiwoʻole in 1975.

“Me and Moon (Kauakahi) was paddling for the Makaha Canoe Club and we just got off practice,” Koko recalls. “I made my way back to the trail, how we used to go back to the house in Makaha Beach, and I had seen this gentleman playing music, sitting down with his ukulele. I introduced myself and he introduced himself as Israel. So I say, ‘Hey, we have a backyard group if you wanted to come over and chime in.’ The next day we went over to meet his family right across the street. That’s when we met Skippy (Kamakawiwoʻole) and the mom, dad and the sisters, and the rest is history.”

Releasing their first album, “No Kristo,” in 1976 as the Mākaha Sons of Ni’ihau, as they were then known, founding musicians Jerome Koko, Louis “Moon” Kauakahi, Israel and Skippy Kamakawiwoʻole, and Sam Gray were dedicated to perpetuating traditional Hawaiian music.

“We were looking at Gabby (Pahinui), Sons of Hawaii, Peter Moon, and all these guys,” Koko says. “When we started, we used to mimic Sons of Hawaii. But it changed along the way when the reggae music started to get really involved in Hawaiian music. That was back in 1982. Our music changed. We were doing like 70% reggae and 30% traditional Hawaiian music. Somewhere along the line, we had a meeting after one of the performances. Hey, we got to change up everything, and then we made a big vice versa. If we came into this business doing traditional Hawaiian music, this is what we’re going to aim for. Iz loved the reggae. He always set the pace for us, and we just followed along and backed him up. Then we turned it right around, so it was like 90% traditional Hawaiian music, and 10% a little Bob Marley song here and there.”

One of our most esteemed groups and the longest running in Hawaii still performing today, the Mākaha Sons are multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano award winners, including a Lifetime Achievement Award.

“It feels good,” he says about their longevity and status. “You’re up in the leader pack now. It’s such a blessing getting moved to this far. There was a lot of talk when we were young. ‘This group, they’re never going to make it.’ Oh well, we’ll keep trucking along, and almost 50 years later, still kind of in the mix of the Hawaiian music and the Hawaiian Renaissance. It’s been wonderful.”

The group currently features Koko on vocals and 12-string guitar, Kimo Artis on vocals and electric bass, and Hanale Kaʻanapu on vocals and six-string guitar.

“Kimo has been with me since 2014,” says Koko. “Hanale, my guitar player now, he’s been with me right smack dab when the pandemic started. We did our first performance together at the Palace Theater in Hilo, February 2020. Then when March came around, that was it. The pandemic hit.”

Collaborating with Grammy-winning producer Daniel Ho, Koko has released two solo albums, “Mākaha Sons Memoirs,” which featured songs the Sons performed but never

recorded, and “The Mākaha Sons’ Jerome Koko.”

“Daniel called me one day and said, ‘Uncle, I want to do a CD with Mākaha Sons, myself, Moon and my brother John,'” he explains. “Then my brother started to feel ill, and he passed. Then, when Uncle Moon retired in 2014, I had the decision to go solo, keep the legacy going. I did two solos with him, but the dream was always to keep the legacy going.”

In 2022, the Sons released the EP “It’s Christmas, All Over the World” including covers of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “White Christmas.”

“We did one back in 2006, myself, Moon and my brother, John,” he notes. “There was no Christmas stuff after that. When we started this new group, Christmas stuff was getting popular and everybody was getting sad because of the pandemic, so we just did an EP with six songs.”

The Sons are coming to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center for a Christmas show on Dec. 6.

“It’s going to be a Hawaiian Christmas concert,” he says. “We’ll do both Hawaiian and Christmas stuff. We’re finishing our newest CD and we’ll do a couple of songs from the new CD. We’ll probably release it early next year.”

The Mākaha Sons will present “‘Tis the Season” at the MACC’s McCoy Studio Theater at 7 p.m. Dec. 6. Tickets are $45, $55 and $75, plus applicable fees, at mauiarts.org.