| Ledward Kaapana | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1948-08-25)August 25, 1948 (age 77) |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | String Instruments |
| Labels | Dancing Cat Records |
| Formerly of | Hui Ohana, Ikona |
| Website | ledkaapana |
Ledward Kaapana (born August 25, 1948) is aHawaiian musician, best known for playing in theslack key guitar style. In 2011, he received aNational Heritage Fellowship, the United States government's highest honor in thefolk andtraditional arts.[1] He also playssteel guitar,ukulele,autoharp, andbass guitar, and is a baritone andfalsetto vocalist. He receivedNa Hoku Hanohano Awards from theHawai'i Academy of Recording Arts (HARA), and has been nominated forGrammy Awards.
Born on August 25, 1948,[2] Led grew up in a musical family living in the small black sand bay village ofKalapana (mostly destroyed by the 1986 volcanic eruption ofKilauea), where he states there were few distractions. "We didn't have electricity, not television, not even much radio, so we entertained ourselves. You could go to any house and everybody was playing music." He was taught by his mother, Tina, and his uncle, the rarely recorded slack-key masterFred Punahoa.[3]
In his teens, Kaapana formed the musical group Hui 'Ohana (means "Family Group"), with his twin brother, Nedward Kaapana, and his cousin, falsetto-greatDennis Pavao. Hui 'Ohana released fourteen albums, each of which was a commercial and critical success.[3][4] Kaapana left the group eventually, and then released six albums as the leader of another trio, I Kona,[3] and performed with thePahinui Brothers,[citation needed] 'Aunty'Genoa Keawe,[3] David Chun,[citation needed] Barney Isaacs,[3] and Uncle Joe Keawe.[citation needed]
His first solo album,Lima Wela (means "Hot Hands"), was released in 1983; the album won theNa Hoku Hanohano (means "Honored Stars") Award for "Instrumental Album of the Year" in 1984.[5] He releasedSimply Slack Key in 1988, andLed Live in 1994 onDancing Cat Records. He has performed and recorded with acoustic lap-steel playerBob Brozman, and released several more albums on the Dancing Cat label from the late 1990s onward. One of the greatest living slack key masters, Ledward has deep roots in the older styles, using only index finger and thumb picks to combine traditional musical phrases, some modern influences, and spontaneous improvisation to create beautiful multipart arrangements that are simultaneously old and new.
Nashville greatChet Atkins was so impressed by Ledward's playing that he paid him the ultimate country music compliment by giving Ledward his guitar. Ledward has played at theSmithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., and made many tours of North America; his fans frequently refer to themselves as "Led Heads."
Kaapana ("Kah-ah-pah-nah") spells his name without using the modernʻokina marking that is used to indicate a glottal stop for the proper pronunciation of certain Hawaiian words. Kaapana has said that his family has always spelled it without anʻokina and he prefers the traditional spelling (not Kaʻapana.)
"Everything you play, every time you play, there's a mood, an energy. If you plug into it, the music just flows. Even in a simple song, there are so many different ways to play the melody, the rhythm, the harmony. It never stops if you stay open to it."[6]
He is one of the very few Hawaiian recording artists who has receivedNa Hoku Hanohano Awards from theHawai'i Academy of Recording Arts (HARA) for work as a member of three different recording entities—as a solo artist, as a member of Ledward Kaapana & I Kona, and as a member of Hui 'Ohana. As of 2010, four of his solo albums have receivedGrammy Award nominations in theBest Hawaiian Music Album category.[7][8]
Kaapana is a recipient of the 2011National Heritage Fellowship awarded by theNational Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.[9]
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