Sit back, relax and enjoy the sounds of Maui when the Hawaiian band Hapa performs in town.
Hapa plays 7:30 p.m. April 3 at the Kentwood High School Performing Arts Center, 25800 164th Ave. S.E., in Covington.
The band mixes ancient chants, ballads of Portuguese fishermen and Spanish cowboys and the melodies of early missionary choirs with the movement of the hula dance and the sounds of slack-key guitar.
“They’re a fairly well-known name in the Hawaiian music world,” said Ronda Billerbeck, the city of Kent cultural programs manager who lines up the acts for the Spotlight Series. “We’ve had a number of Hawaiian music shows over the years and always have had a positive feedback from the audience.”
Barry Flanagan started Hapa in 1983, just a few years after he moved to Hawaii from New Jersey to study the art of Kiho Alu, or slack-key guitar, and Haku Mele, Hawaiian poetic-song composing, according to Hapa’s Web site at www.hapa.com. Flanagan ended up staying in Maui.
Flanagan said in a text message to the Kent Reporter that he was too busy on tour and did not have time for a phone interview to talk about Hapa or the concert.
Billerbeck said she heard a lot of positive comments about the sound of Hapa from music fans at other Hawaiian shows in Kent and from agents, so she decided to book the group.
“We don’t do Hawaiian music shows every year but we try to have them every other year or so,” Billerbeck said. “We’ve had slack key guitar players before but we were looking for something a little different.”
Hapa is expected to provide fans with a new sound.
“What’s new and interesting about them is that most of our Hawaiian music has been very traditional but they have more pop mixed in with the traditional chants and hula,” Billerbeck said. “They also dip into other music. They are more like folk acoustic rock. That makes them new and fresh.”
The New York Times wrote in a 2007 review that “Hapa draws from a wellspring of Polynesian traditions, but with a sure-footed pop sensibility.”
Flanagan is a composer and performer. He has composed several of Hawaii’s most popular and cherished songs, according to the Hapa Web site. That list includes the classic Hawaiian love song, “Lei Pikake.”
The word hapa means half in the Hawaiian language but also is used to describe a person of mixed descent in Hawaiian Pidgin.
Nathan Aweau and hula dancer Malia Ann Kawailananalie Petersen join Flanagan on stage.
Aweau joined the group about seven years ago. He worked for 15 years as musical director for legendary Hawaiian icon Don Ho. Aweau is known for his singing as well as his rhythmic guitar playing.
Petersen was named Miss Aloha Hula 2002 for her dancing abilities.
Ticket sales for Hapa are going well.
“We are at about 60 to 65 percent sold now,” Billerbeck said Tuesday. “But we still have plenty of good seats left.”
Hapa finished up an East Coast tour Wednesday and heads to concerts in California and Oregon before coming to Kent.
If you go
What: Hapa, Hawaiian music concert
When: 7:30 p.m. April 3
Where: Kentwood High Performing Arts Center, Covington
Cost: $28 for general, $26 ages 55 and older, $20 ages 25 and younger
Tickets: www.kentarts.com or call 253-856-5051
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