Wayne Harada - "Ho'okena filled weekend concerts with gems"
As the season's final Hana Hou! concert, it was the best, with Manu Boyd's informed narrative preceding most songs, punctuated with periodic solo hula by Nani Dudoit and ensemble dances from Halau Na Kamalei, Halau o ke 'A'ali'i Ku Makani and Ka Pa Hula o Kauanoe o Wa'ahila.
Wayne Harada - "Ho'okena: 'Cool' with the moonlighting"
Little-known fact: Glen Smith of Ho'okena performs on three of the five nominated CDs — including his group's "Cool Elevation" — in the Hawaiian music Grammy Award to be announced Sunday.
Manu Boyd leans back in his chair in a 12th-floor downtown Honolulu office and stares toward Diamond Head. The public information officer for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs seems to have something serious on his mind.
Wanda A. Adams' interview with Manu before Merrie Monarch 2003
This is Manu Boyd at the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival: on camera explaining the hidden meaning of a song or the style of a chant, rushing to the microphone to join the other members of Ho'okena to play for a Miss Aloha Hula contestant, scurrying around backstage with his director in his earpiece — "We need an interview, who ya got? Who ya got? Who ya got?" And after all that, hitting the beer and pupu with his pals and rising to do it all again.
John Berger's interview with Manu about 'Aha Mele IV and Ho'okena
LittBoyd will wear two of those three hats this weekend when Ho'okena joins the halau in 'Aha Mele IV, a fund-raising concert to support the halau's cultural and educational activities.
The four members of the multi-Hoku Award-winning group were contemplating the start of their second decade together while enjoying a light dinner at a Ward Centre restaurant. It's been 10 years and four beautifully crafted albums since they debuted (as Kipona Leo Hawai'i) in a Hawaiian-language song contest. A spirited rendition of Lot Keawe's kaona-rich song, "Ho‘okena," helped power them to victory and inspired the name change.
The arrangements evoke memories of the Brothers Cazimero but the distinctive voices definitely belong to Ho'okena as the Hoku Award-winning group returns with its fifth album.
Wayne Harada's review of Ho'okena's appearance on "Na Mele: Traditions in Hawaiian Song"
Ho‘okena, the Hawaiian ensemble known for its authentic and harmonic Hawaiian sounds, launches Hawaii Public Television’s second season tonight of the popular “Na Mele: Traditions in Hawaiian Song” series.
Derek Paiva's article about Ho'okena's appearance in The Hawai'i Theatre's Hana Hou! Series
The series is very supportive of Hawaiian music," says Boyd. "We live in a time when there are a lot of outside influences and distractions as far as the music goes that kind of take people away from the essence of what our island heritage is all about. The Hana Hou! series, because it focuses on groups that do a lot of Hawaiian language music, gives a chance for the music to be seen in the premiere venue in Hawai'i."
Dudoit's only "regular" stint is with Ho'okena, the popular vocal fivesome featured in the next Hana Hou evening of Hawaiiana Friday at Hawai'i Theatre. But that's because of 'ohana.
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