HANAMA’ULU – E Kanakapila Kakou is back and thriving for six Monday nights of Hawaiian music sessions, plus a sixth Monday gig, all loaded with talent.
EKK, as an enduring and endearing audience calls it, is now in its 38th year, attracting local fans as well as visitors from all over the world.
EKK events are happening the next six Mondays starting tomorrow, March 21, through April 25, from 6-8:30 p.m., with ukulele practice, conversational history, and tons of music and hula . Tickets are required for all events.
Kicking off the season in Kaua’i Beach Resort’s Jasmine Ballroom is Natalie Ai Kamau’u, six-time winner of the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, Hawaii’s premier music awards and the equivalent of the Grammy Awards. Nominated for the 2016 Grammy Awards and Miss Aloha Hula 1990, she shares the stage with her husband, guitarist Iolani Kamau’u.
And who knows who else might take the stage.
Natalie Ai Kamau’u delights audiences with her powerful vocal performances that are simultaneously smooth, soaring, effortless and accompanied by memorable storytelling. Take, for example, the song she wrote, “Natalie Noelani,” her Hawaiian name which she interprets as “misty paradise.”
It’s also the title of her sixth album, recorded during Hawai’i’s COVID shutdown and released on February 22. Her husband sings her the love song on the album, and we should hear it at this gathering.
This poster for the image of forever young – with three grandchildren, please – comes from a family of musicians, and what that means to the public is generations of Hawaiian culture shared with an aloha abundant.
KBR will offer food and beverages for purchase.
Doors open at 5 p.m. for each session, and if you want to learn how to play and sing a Hawaiian song, then enter the Jasmine Ballroom, bringing an instrument (or not) to learn a song for you to perform as a group later In the evening. .
A connected event takes place at the same location on a seventh Monday, May 30. It’s a concert hosted by a legend in his own right, none other than Makana!
Session artists:
• March 21: Natalie and I’olani Kamau’u and ‘ohana;
• March 28: Michael Pili Pang and Halau Hula Ka No’eau Hula Academy;
• April 4: Led Kaapana with Jesse Gregorio;
• April 11: Kupaoa and Ke Ala Aumoe Hula Dancers;
• April 18: ‘O’iwi – John Mahi, Bronson Aiwohi, DJ Yaris;
• April 25: Community Hula Night with Malie Foundation — Learn hula and watch more!
• May 30: “Legacy of Our Legends”, hosted by Makana.
Children under 12 are admitted free for the first six sessions only.
• Info 245-2733 or [email protected]
