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Back on Maui for an extended engagement through August, HAPA’s Barry Flanagan is feeling excited about both playing here again and collaborating with new member Kapono Na’ili’ili.
This latest version of the acclaimed, multi-Na Hoku winning group is performing Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at the Maui Tropical Plantation’s Shell Theater in Waikapu, in conjunction with an optional a la carte tapas menu created by Mill House Executive Chef Jeff Scheer.
The plantation provides a lush setting to experience the group, like a taste of Hana in Waikapu, with the added bonus of a newly upgraded sound and lighting system in the theater, along with a historic train exhibit in the adjoining Mill House.
With the entry of Na’ili’ili, plus the addition of former Haula bassist Tarvin Makia and (Miss Hawaii USA 2006) hula dancer Radasha Ho’ohuli, HAPA feels dramatically rejuvenated.
“Kapono’s revitalized everything,” says Flanagan about his new musical partner. “He’s a godsend. He’s brought it back to where it started with that kind of energy. It’s so exciting.”
Known for his vocal and multi-instrumental talent, Na’ili’ili is a gifted musician, chanter and hula dancer. A graduate of the University of Hawaii with a Bachelor of Arts in Hawaiian language, in 2007 he won the Richard Ho’opi’i Falsetto Contest. Adept at both Hawaiian and contemporary music, he previously played with Ke Kauoha the Jazz Project, which specialized in traditional Hawaiian songs set to jazz arrangements, and sang with the award-winning, contemporary Hawaiian band Pali. Last year, he released his debut solo album, “Ala Iki.” It included a version of Queen Lili’uokalani’s “Sanoe” (which he sings in the plantation show), and songs by Johnny Almeida, Kainani Kahaunaele, Charles E. King and Lena Machado.
“I heard his version of ‘Sanoe,’ and I loved it,” Flanagan continues. “It’s been an amazing transition. When it comes time to hand it over to somebody, it will be him if he wants it. I plan on doing this as long as B.B. King and Willie Nelson, but bottom line is, this is who we would hand it over to.”
“It’s been a wonderful experience,” says Na’ili’ili, who joined HAPA in January. “I don’t think anybody would want to pass up the opportunity to be able to be on the stage with Hawaiian music icons and be part of the progression of Hawaiian music. The first album with Keli’i Kaneali’i, he had an amazing vocal talent, and Nathan Aweau was a master of instruments, and Ron Kuala’au had this nice mood and vocals, so to be in that same category is a little nerve-wracking, but I think I have something to bring to the table.”
He most definitely brings an exceptional talent to HAPA that complements Flanagan’s innovative artistry, and their mesmerizing, soaring harmonies are most evident during the Waikapu show on songs like “Haleakala.”
Presenting an overview of recording history from the beautiful “Lei Pikake” and “Haleakala Ku Hanohano” through gems from the HAPA’s “Maui” CD, they include local classics like Olomana’s “Ku’u Home O Kahalu’u,” which features Makia on lead vocals.
“Tarvin tours with us,” Flanagan explains. “I remember my first year on Maui, my teacher Jimmie Kaopuiki drove me to the InterContinental (now the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa) to hear Tarvin play kachi kachi borinquen, the Puerto Rican bass style that Hawaiians interjected into their music. So there’s a great Maui grounding with Tarvin and his beautiful voice. It’s a triumphant of energy between the three of us.”
Besides offering a sumptuous feast of Hawaiian music, they slip in a little Bob Marley with “Redemption Song” fused with a rocked-out version of “No Woman No Cry,” where Flanagan’s dazzling guitar playing echoed U2’s The Edge. And late in the show, Flanagan announced, “I used to play electric guitar,” before launching into an impressive tribute to the late B.B. King, with Na’ili’ili switching to a drum set for “The Thrill is Gone.”
Formed in 1983, HAPA swept the Na Hoku Awards in 1994 with its ground-breaking debut album, which featured such signature songs as “Lei Pikake” and “Ku’ulei Ku’uipo.”
They followed up with another stunningly original recording, “In the Name of Love,” which included covers of Santana’s evocative instrumental “Europa” and Santo & Johnny’s surf hit “Sleepwalk,” both featured in the Mill House show.
Hoku triumphs continued in 2006, when the group won Album of the Year and Contemporary Hawaiian Album of the Year for the superb “Maui.”
With acclaimed musician Aweau joining HAPA, the duo created its most adventurous and stylistically diverse recording. “Maui” included unique slack-key instrumentals like “Slacking Off,” a stunning interpretation of the Brothers Cazimero’s “Haleakala,” which has become a standard in their shows, and a stirring cover of New Zealand-based band Te Vaka’s “Papa’e,” sung in Tokelauan, which they also played at the Mill House.
Since then, HAPA has released a handful of what Flanagan calls “living room” CDs, basic recordings meant for marketing at their concerts. One of these, “Kulia I Ka Nu’u,” was just released in Japan. It includes a brilliant version of Dennis Kamakahi’s classic “Kokee.” This song will be featured on a new crowd-funded, studio-quality album that HAPA will release later this year.
“We’re writing songs together for an album probably out in November,” says Flanagan. “We’re collaborating with some of the greatest haku mele song writers. We want the Hawaiian songs to be some of the most musical stuff we’ve ever done. It will be our first serious studio record in 11 years. We’re working with a genius producer/musician Imua Garza, and it will probably be eight originals and four covers, two being bonus tracks of Dennis Kamakahi classics. We want to pay tribute to him. If it wasn’t for me hearing Dennis Kamakahi’s songs, I don’t think there would have been a HAPA. There never would have been a ‘Lei Pikake,’ and the attention to Hawaiian language without him.”
Enthused about being back playing on Maui, Flanagan notes, “This is where it all started. I wouldn’t have a career or anything if it wasn’t for this island and how it nurtured me. When I’m over here, I revisit the years of my early 20s when I was driving all over the island for gigs and studying as much as I could. When our first CD came out, I remember Kiope Raymond saying, ‘This is like a thesis of a haole boy comes to Hawaii.’ In a way it was the truth.”
“I really want this room (Mill House) to be our home base,” he concludes. “It’s really great to be here. I love the vibe and want a home on Maui for the band; this is where we belong.”
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The Na Hoku Ho show planned for Friday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center has been postponed. A new date will be announced soon. The concert will feature a number of 2015 Na Hoku Award winners.
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In conjunction with master guitar classes taught by classical guitar virtuoso Benjamin Verdery, a series of concerts with guest artists and student guitarists continues at 3 p.m. Friday at the University of Hawaii Maui College Science Building lecture theater, with a free concert presented by Ian O’Sullivan, Christopher Mallett and Aaron Cardenas.
At 2 p.m. Sunday at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Keokea, Cardenas, Mallett, Liz Faure and John Olson will perform a free concert featuring music by Verdery, Brouwer, Torroba, Brahms, Pasieczny, DeBlasio and others.
And free student concerts will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Lahaina Jodo Mission, and at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Keawala’i Congregational Church in Makena. Class participants will present solo performances and pieces for guitar orchestra composed and conducted by Grammy-winning guitarist Andrew York, Verdery and O’Sullivan.
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Jazz fans can look forward to watching a doc by Maui filmmaker Kenny Martinez Burgmaier on the first annual Oahu Jazz & Blues Festival broadcast from 3 to 4 p.m. July 25 on KITV4. Artists featured include Les McCann, Donald Harrison, John Cruz, Brother Noland, Paula Fuga and Benny Uyetake.
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Coming up, the fifth annual Maui Jazz & Blues Festival will be Sept. 10 to 13 at the Royal Lahaina Resort in Kaanapali and the Four Seasons Resort at Wailea. Musicians on the bill include Russell Malone, Strunz & Farah and Donald Harrison.