Trio band dress in white play for a crowd in front of a tree and ocean.
Mele All Around

Members of Hawaiian music trio Pa‘ahana channel the music of their mentors through multi-influenced island melodies.

Text By
Kristen Nemoto Jay
Images By
AJ Feducia

It is brunch time at Halekulani’s House Without A Key, and the mood is bustling. Patrons fill the open-air dining area and conversations start to build. Band members from the group Pa‘ahana barely notice: House Without a Key is the home base where they perform every Tuesday and Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. They’re used to a good crowd. Even though they have the day off, Pa‘ahana can’t help themselves. They break into an acapella rendition of “Pua ‘Āhihi,” taught to them by the late Kahauanu Lake, a legendary local performer and founder of the Kahauanu Lake Trio. Doug Tolentino, Pa‘ahana’s founder and ‘ukulele player, leans in close to his cousin and double bass player Pakala Fernandes to listen for the tune, while Kaipo Kukahiko, who usually plays steel guitar, croons along.

Fellow diners hush and turn to the table that has suddenly sprung into a mellifluous three-part harmony. It’s a different setting for the trio, as they’re usually up on the restaurant stage, but the scenery is the same, especially the faces turned to their music. The trio’s voices flow into leo ki‘eki‘e, a distinctive Hawaiian falsetto. Smiles and smart phone cameras appear as the group transforms the Hawaiian lyrics into a honey-dipped, hushed lullaby.

When they conclude, each band member reminisces about learning Hawaiian music. Their recollections are complex, and each can name numerous artists and family members—whose musical lineages span decades—who taught them. Fernandes is a cousin of the late “Auntie” Irmgard Farden Aluli, a prolific composer of more than 200 Hawaiian songs. Fernandes lived throughout the mainland during his early adulthood years, performing in symphonies as a French horn player, until the late 1990s, when he moved home to O‘ahu and set out to return to his musical roots.

“When I was away, I’d listen to Kahauanu Lake and get homesick,” Fernandes says. “Doug is his protégé, so when I moved back home, [Doug], who was a well-established Hawaiian musician, took me under his wing, and we started singing together.”

Soon, Kukahiko, Tolentino’s then-cousin-in-law, joined the group. Kukahiko had learned steel guitar from famed performer Jerry Byrd, a former member of the Hiram Olsen Trio, and a regular performer at Halekulani’s House Without A Key. Together, they chose the name Pa‘ahana for their band, which translates to “hardworking.” Their talents and work ethics earned them a permanent timeslot at House Without A Key in December 2001.

While Tolentino’s repertoire of Hawaiian music experiences spanned more than 20 years by that point, he wanted to delve further into what he had learned from Lake. “[Lake] had taught me jazz,” he explains. In doing so, he infused Pa‘ahana’s music with Afro-jazz traits. His fellow members had no qualms about how this changed their sound. “To me, Hawaiian music is actually everything that we’ve been exposed to throughout the years,” Fernandes says.

The result of Pa‘ahana’s sound is various “syncopation of beats,” Tolentino says, and a “fluctuation of singing” style. The rich sounds from Fernandes’ double bass creates a balanced tune with their falsetto voices. Kukahiko’s steel guitar sets the mood for a nostalgic island-esque experience, gliding and expanding the notes as if there was no end to the song. Tolentino’s ‘ukulele completes the ensemble, strumming the same notes once taught to him by Lake. The ‘ukulele, once used as a supporting role in background music, was reintroduced by Lake as the lead instrument in a performance when he was a part of the Kahauanu Lake Trio.

“We would not be here today if it wasn’t for our ancestors’ gifts of music,” says Tolentino, who notes that this year marks the band’s 17th anniversary of performing at House Without A Key. “And we honor them by singing what we’ve learned.”

Pa‘ahana performs every Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Halekulani’s House Without A Key. Reservations are encouraged. For more information, visit halekulani.com or call 808-923-2311.

Share:
Trio band dress in white play for a crowd in front of a tree and ocean.

Pa‘ahana performs during sunset at House Without a Key.

Man playing the bass.

Pa‘ahana, which translates to “hardworking,” has been playing at House Without A Key since 2001.

Three men dressed in white play musical instruments.
4 members of a band dressed in white stand in front of a tree and ocean playing for an audience

“We would not be here today if it wasn’t for our ancestors’ gifts of music. And we honor them by singing what we’ve learned.”
—Doug Tolentino, member of Pa‘ahana

Man playing steel guitar

Musician Jeff Au Hoy accompanies the band on steel guitar.

Mele All Around

Members of Hawaiian music trio Pa‘ahana channel the music of their mentors through multi-influenced island melodies.

Text By
Kristen Nemoto Jay
Images By
AJ Feducia

It is brunch time at Halekulani’s House Without A Key, and the mood is bustling. Patrons fill the open-air dining area and conversations start to build. Band members from the group Pa‘ahana barely notice: House Without a Key is the home base where they perform every Tuesday and Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. They’re used to a good crowd. Even though they have the day off, Pa‘ahana can’t help themselves. They break into an acapella rendition of “Pua ‘Āhihi,” taught to them by the late Kahauanu Lake, a legendary local performer and founder of the Kahauanu Lake Trio. Doug Tolentino, Pa‘ahana’s founder and ‘ukulele player, leans in close to his cousin and double bass player Pakala Fernandes to listen for the tune, while Kaipo Kukahiko, who usually plays steel guitar, croons along.

Fellow diners hush and turn to the table that has suddenly sprung into a mellifluous three-part harmony. It’s a different setting for the trio, as they’re usually up on the restaurant stage, but the scenery is the same, especially the faces turned to their music. The trio’s voices flow into leo ki‘eki‘e, a distinctive Hawaiian falsetto. Smiles and smart phone cameras appear as the group transforms the Hawaiian lyrics into a honey-dipped, hushed lullaby.

When they conclude, each band member reminisces about learning Hawaiian music. Their recollections are complex, and each can name numerous artists and family members—whose musical lineages span decades—who taught them. Fernandes is a cousin of the late “Auntie” Irmgard Farden Aluli, a prolific composer of more than 200 Hawaiian songs. Fernandes lived throughout the mainland during his early adulthood years, performing in symphonies as a French horn player, until the late 1990s, when he moved home to O‘ahu and set out to return to his musical roots.

“When I was away, I’d listen to Kahauanu Lake and get homesick,” Fernandes says. “Doug is his protégé, so when I moved back home, [Doug], who was a well-established Hawaiian musician, took me under his wing, and we started singing together.”

Soon, Kukahiko, Tolentino’s then-cousin-in-law, joined the group. Kukahiko had learned steel guitar from famed performer Jerry Byrd, a former member of the Hiram Olsen Trio, and a regular performer at Halekulani’s House Without A Key. Together, they chose the name Pa‘ahana for their band, which translates to “hardworking.” Their talents and work ethics earned them a permanent timeslot at House Without A Key in December 2001.

While Tolentino’s repertoire of Hawaiian music experiences spanned more than 20 years by that point, he wanted to delve further into what he had learned from Lake. “[Lake] had taught me jazz,” he explains. In doing so, he infused Pa‘ahana’s music with Afro-jazz traits. His fellow members had no qualms about how this changed their sound. “To me, Hawaiian music is actually everything that we’ve been exposed to throughout the years,” Fernandes says.

The result of Pa‘ahana’s sound is various “syncopation of beats,” Tolentino says, and a “fluctuation of singing” style. The rich sounds from Fernandes’ double bass creates a balanced tune with their falsetto voices. Kukahiko’s steel guitar sets the mood for a nostalgic island-esque experience, gliding and expanding the notes as if there was no end to the song. Tolentino’s ‘ukulele completes the ensemble, strumming the same notes once taught to him by Lake. The ‘ukulele, once used as a supporting role in background music, was reintroduced by Lake as the lead instrument in a performance when he was a part of the Kahauanu Lake Trio.

“We would not be here today if it wasn’t for our ancestors’ gifts of music,” says Tolentino, who notes that this year marks the band’s 17th anniversary of performing at House Without A Key. “And we honor them by singing what we’ve learned.”

Pa‘ahana performs every Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Halekulani’s House Without A Key. Reservations are encouraged. For more information, visit halekulani.com or call 808-923-2311.

Share:
Trio band dress in white play for a crowd in front of a tree and ocean.

Pa‘ahana performs during sunset at House Without a Key.

Man playing the bass.

Pa‘ahana, which translates to “hardworking,” has been playing at House Without A Key since 2001.

Three men dressed in white play musical instruments.
4 members of a band dressed in white stand in front of a tree and ocean playing for an audience

“We would not be here today if it wasn’t for our ancestors’ gifts of music. And we honor them by singing what we’ve learned.”
—Doug Tolentino, member of Pa‘ahana

Man playing steel guitar

Musician Jeff Au Hoy accompanies the band on steel guitar.

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