The Avi and Indio duo blend elements of Latin jazz, Mediterranean, classical and flamenco styles. Courtesy photo

Two exceptional Maui guitarists, Avi Ronen and Indio Kuali’i, will team for a concert at the ProArts Playhouse on July 12 performing as Avi and Indio and as the Red Dirt trio with bassist Jason Ganis.

With their vibrant fusion of genres, blending elements of Latin jazz, Mediterranean, classical, and flamenco styles, the duo promises an exciting opening capped by a mighty rocking finale with the trio.

“Avi and I have had our acoustic guitar duo for many years,” said Kuali’i. “During COVID a lot of musical acts took a little hiatus, and we recently started to get together again. We also had for many years, the Red Dirt trio. Most of the music is Avi’s kind of fusion rock. He’s on electric guitar and I get on drums. The night will open with our acoustic, original acoustic stuff, inspired by the whole ‘Friday Night in San Francisco,’ with John McLaughlin, Paco De Lucia and Al DiMeola.”

In 1980, jazz fusion legends McLaughlin and DiMeola teamed with flamenco master De Lucia for an extraordinary acoustic guitar summit immortalized in the recording, “Friday Night in San Francisco.”

This groundbreaking collaboration later inspired Willie K to form Lima Wela with Ronen and Joe Cano. This brilliant acoustic trio drew from their cross-cultural meld, fusing Willie K’s Hawaiian heritage with Cano’s Mexican roots and Ronen’s Israeli tradition into what they termed a Pacific Mediterranean sound.

When Cano left the group, “Willie was like, ‘Who can we get to fill Joe’s shoes?'” Kuali’i recalled. “And Avi was, ‘Let’s get Indio.’ Then me and Avi started playing off and on for several years.”

Both Ronen and Kuali’i moved to Maui in the mid-90s. Ronen became acclaimed for crafting custom guitars and ukuleles at Lahaina Custom Guitars, and playing lead with Willie K for years. Then he was devastated by the Lahiana fire, losing his home and prized instruments, along with treasured recordings of his time with Willie K.

Ronen’s single releases include the bluesy rocking “Common Ground,” the fiery “Tft,” and the evocative instrumental “Prayers.”

Playing music since his earliest days, Kuali’i became enamored with flamenco guitar. Courtesy photo

Kuali’i was a principal musician at the acclaimed ‘Ulalena production at the former Maui Theatre in Lahaina. Opening for Willie K with Ronen at some Mulligans on the Blue shows, he would sometimes play drums and percussion with the Maui legend.

“Willie was such a musical force,” he marveled. “Playing with him was always on the seat of your pants. He was 110% like every time he played. It was really hard when he got sick. Avi’s still really torn up about it because they were very close.”

Playing music since his earliest days, Kuali’i became enamored with flamenco guitar. “I was studying jazz as a drummer in college in Santa Rosa, and hanging out with all these amazing jazz players,” he recalled. “Then a friend turned me on to the ‘Friday Night in San Francisco’ album. When I heard Paco, I was like, ‘I want to play like that.’ I traveled to Spain in 2000 and spent four months there, hanging out with a lot of really great players. I kind of transitioned into the flamenco world, and had a little bit more of a vocabulary than some of the flamenco players because of the education that I’d had. I would hear, ‘That’s not flamenco. You’re adding too much color,’ which later ended up being the way now of modern flamenco. Paco hanging out with Chick Corea and jazz players, he evolved into that. Now when you listen to modern flamenco, they’ve pulled from this very sophisticated harmonic kind of thing, structures that weren’t there to begin with. I love the art form. Where it’s evolved to is just incredible.”

Playing Friday evenings with Dr. Nat & Rio Ritmo at Paia’s Heritage Hall, he helped produce Mishka’s latest album and tours with the Maui-based reggae star. He released the album, “Karma,” with Ronen in 2013, and more recently, as a solo artist, the chill album, “Love Dreams,” which is “kind of like R&B experimental,” he notes.

Currently working on a new recording project called “Foundation,” he said, “most of that stuff that I write lyrically has to do with trying to perpetuate the idea of just loving one another. So this album, ‘Foundation,’ is basically the foundation of love. If we could operate from this, create this foundation, this is the prize, and ultimately the theme of the album.”

Red Dirt and Indio and Avi will perform at 7:30 p.m. July 12 at the ProArts Playhouse. Tickets are $15 to $30 at ProArtsMaui.org. The duo will open for the Al Di Meola Electric Band at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on Sept. 6.