Hot off the heels of his historic second Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award (Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts), Patrick Landeza returns to his musical roots, this time with his sons, for his latest self-titled Patrick Landeza & Sons CD. This special performance celebrates the release of his twelfth album and features Landeza senior on slack key guitar and vocals, his hānai son Justin Firmeza on Hawaiian steel guitar, and Patrick Landeza, Jr. (PJ) on bass guitar. In addition, special guest, former Miss Universe and media personality Brook Mahealani Lee, the only Native Hawaiian to capture the Miss Universe crown, will take on MC duties and showcase her hula dance skills.
Choosing to release Patrick Landeza & Sons during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the public is invited to a celebration of Hawaiian music, hula, and aloha at Yoshi’s in Oakland on Thursday, May 12; 8 p.m.
A native Hawaiian who was born and raised in Berkeley, CA, to Hawaii-born parents, Landeza found his roots in the music shared with him by his mother. The songs that she taught him, many of which are on the new CD, were songs that she learned growing up in Hoʻolehua, Molokaʻi. Surrounded by music his entire life, he learned guitar as a teenager by observing his Uncles at backyard family gatherings. The music he grew up listening to had sparked an interest in the traditional art of slack-key, connecting Patrick with some of kī hōʻalu’s most legendary names: Cyril Pahinui, Raymond Kāne, George Kuo, and Dennis Kamakahi. Under their tutelage, the network of roots that his mother had carefully established grew and Patrick’s style of music became firmly rooted in slack-key. “When I learned from the masters in Hawai`i, they taught me that being a slack key musician isn’t just about the music,” Landeza explained. “It’s a tradition that uses storytelling as a means of sharing culture.” Engaging audiences across the continental U.S. and Hawai’i, Landeza has remained true to the traditions of the art form while composing themes of his heritage, cultural identity, and self-discovery.
Now as a father of five, it’s Landeza’s turn to follow in his mother’s and his mentor’s footsteps and share the songs of his heritage with the next generation, connecting them to their ancestors through the very roots that connected him. This new CD with two of his sons makes a grand statement, as it's a fresh take on old music. As his mom would say, “when they see the younger ones playing these old songs, they come back to life, the songs, the people, our culture.” By teaching these young men the songs he was taught, Landeza senior is ensuring that the legacy that he was entrusted with by his mother and those before him will live on.
In addition, Landeza has assembled some of his favorite tunes in this new CD offering, a collection that celebrates his commitment to mentor a new generation of musicians in the same traditions that were instilled in him. “Hawaiian music is dynamic, changing and evolving with the world around us. But through this creative process one must never lose sight of our roots, those ties that bind us to the foundation so carefully laid by those that came before us,” exclaimed Landeza.
As a veteran musician, composer, and producer, Landeza earned a Nā Hōkū Hanohano award from the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts (HARA) - the first musician from the mainland - for his 2013 “Slack Key Huaka’i,” which won for Best Slack Key Album of the Year. In 2021 he won his second Nā Hōkū for his ‘Far Away’ album and in 2019, Landeza won the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Ki Ho’alu Foundation Legacy Award, an honor that recognizes Hawaiian Slack Key music’s legacy in Hawaiian mele. He joins his mentors Dennis Kamakahi and the late Cyril Pahinui, in receiving this award.
Played from the heart and soul through the fingers and flowing with vivid tropical images, slack key (Hawaiian ki ho'alu) is truly one of the great acoustic guitar traditions of the world. In slack key, some of the strings are "slacked" from the standard guitar tuning, with the thumb playing the bass notes while the other fingers play the melody and improvise in a finger-picked style.