5.28.2009
HONOLULU, OAHU, HAWAII - The summer just got hotter as Outrigger Enterprises Group sizzles it up with two popular free kamaaina concert series -- the bi-monthly Na Mele No Na Pua concert and the weekly Sunday Showcase music series.
Waikiki Beach Walk has become the new gathering place on Sunday afternoons as hundreds of locals and visitors alike congregate to be serenaded by various talented island musicians. Hosted by Jeff Apaka, the Sunday Showcase concert series offers scores of talented musicians from various genres, including Jazz, Hawaiian, Local Island Folk Songs, Contemporary and R & B. Weekly concerts are from 5-6 pm on the Plaza Stage at Waikiki Beach Walk.
The Na Mele No Na Pua Kamaaina Concert is held every other month on the Grand Lanai of the Embassy Suites-Waikiki Beach Walk starting at 4pm. On June 28, female vocalist and Na Hoku Hanohano award winner Natalie Ai Kamauu is the featured performer.
JUNE SUNDAY SHOWCASE
June 7 - Steve Lucas & Friends (Jazz)
Steve Lucas together with several other Jazz loving musicians will open June's Sunday Showcase weekly series. Lucas is an accomplished musician who has performed with some of Hawaii's best musicians as well as with wonderful mainland artists. His musical career started at an early age. He was merely fifteen years old when he became the band leader of a group named "Casuals of Waikiki." His group performed as the opening act for various concerts with the Tom Moffat Productions and K-Poi radio station. An accomplished guitarist, singer and entertainer, his career spans over 47 years. Lucas currently appears on the Pride of America cruise ship and other local venues.
June 14 - Halau Hula O Nawahine (Halau/Hawaiian)
This talented Hula Halau first graced the stage at Waikiki Beach Walk in March of this year. Halau Hula O Nawahine began in 1983 and the hula style comes from the late Aunty Bella Richards of Kailua where their hula lineage reaches to the island of Hawaii. This Halau is located in Kaneohe and Japan under the tutelage of Kumu Hula Marlene Nawahine Haili Kuraoka. The Halau actively continues to generously share their hula performances at venues across the State of Hawaii, Japan and the mainland.
June 21 - Waipuna and the Waipuna Dancers(Hawaiian)
Waipuna is an exciting collaboration of two talented individuals in Matt Sproat and Kale Hannahs. After many years on the Hawaiian music circuit, these two Kamehameha School graduates first performed together during a Japan tour in October 2007 with Kumu Hula Noelani Chang. Since then, they have performed together on many stages ranging from Waikiki to Japan. Sproat and Hannahs' eclectic musical background and similar tastes in music has led to the development of a unique sound that draws comparisons to their name, Waipuna, or spring water. Just like a mountain spring, this talented duo provides a new and refreshing sound that fills the senses and captures the mind.
June 28 - No Sunday Showcase
JUNE - NA MELE NO NA PUA CONCERT
June 28 - Na Mele No Na Pua Concert featuring Natalie Ai Kamauu, 4 pm
Na Hoku Hano Hano award winning artist-Female Vocalist of the year Natalie Ai Kamauu, is June's Na Mele No Na Pua featured performer. Daughter of Howard and Olana Ai, founders of one of the largest hula schools in Hawaii, Halau Hula Olana, Ms. Ai Kamauu has been an intricate part of the Halau as a dancer, musician, and vocalist. Her soulful image is reflected through her musical writing as she collaborates with her husband Iolani Kamauu in co-writing six of the titles on her newest album. Her voice soars effortlessly along melody lines, taking you to the places she sings about, introducing you to the people she honors, drawing you towards the perfumed flowers she loves. Aside from her musical abilities, Natalie Ai Kamauu accolades also include capturing the title of Miss Aloha Hula at The Merrie Monarch Hula Festival in 1990, co-creator of Keko Records LLC and Female Vocalist of the Year 2006 by The Hawaii Academy of Recording Artists.
JULY SUNDAY SHOWCASE
July 5 - Gordon Freitas & Local Folk (Hawaiian/Local Island Folk Songs)
Gordon Freitas & Local Folk previously performed back in April and return to Waikiki Beach Walk for a Hana Hou performance. Gordon Freitas, originally from Holualoa, Kona on the Big Island, is not only a proud native Hawaiian and a talented local songwriter, he is also a great storyteller and narrator through his ballads. His vivid and descriptive song lyrics paint portraits of island people and local culture. Gordon's music reflects a sincere joy in the spirit of aloha, and deep pleasure in sharing his island culture with the rest of the world. He can invariably be caught flying solo, in a duo or with close musical friends in a group he calls Local Folk. Gordon swings from traditional Hawaiian to classic folk and rock, but he loves bluegrass and welcomes any opportunity to kanikapila (play music)!
July 12 - Shining Star The Band (Contemporary/R&B)
Shining Star is a high energy and entertainment showcase band whose repertoire includes top 40 and dance music, plus some show stopping surprises. Shining Star performs regularly at various island venues including Waikiki Beach Walk's CW (Coconut Willy's) Club & Restaurant. Their solid rhythm sets the groove of the music from Swing, Latin, R&B, and Disco to the Top 40 hits of today.
July 19 (Special Time at 4:00 p.m.) Roland Chang & Bernard Kalua w/ Hula by Kehaulani
Roland Chang, Bernard Kalua and the lovely Kehaulani take a detour from their ongoing Hawaiian music gig at the Embassy Suites-Waikiki Beach Walk's Grand Lanai to grace the Plaza Stage for their rendition of rich, fun, melodic traditional Hawaiian songs. Roland is part of the Na Hoku Hanohano Award winning group Kanilau, as well as one of the founders of Halau Na Mamo O Ka`ala with Kumu Hula Tiare Noelani Chang. Musician/vocalist Bernard Kalua, a living treasure of Hawaiian music, brings years of experience as he sings some of his favorite tunes. Hula dancer Kehaulani, Kumu of Hula Halau O Kehaulani, will mesmerize you with her graceful hands and beautiful smile.
July 26 - (Special Time at 4:00 p.m.) Waipuna and the Waipuna Dancers (Hawaiian)
Hana Hou performance by Waipuna. Waipuna is an exciting collaboration of two talented individuals in Matt Sproat and Kale Hannahs. After many years on the Hawaiian music circuit, these two Kamehameha School graduates first performed together during a Japan tour in October 2007 with Kumu Hula Noelani Chang. Since then, they have performed together on many stages ranging from Waikiki to Japan. Sproat and Hannahs' eclectic musical background and similar taste in music has led to the development of a unique sound that draws comparisons to their name, Waipuna, or spring water. Just like a mountain spring, this talented duo provides a new and refreshing sound that fills the senses and captures the mind.
Valet parking for up to four hours is available for $6.00 at the Embassy Suites-Waikiki Beach Walk (201 Beachwalk) and the Wyndham Vacation Ownership-Waikiki Beach Walk (227 Lewers Street), with any same-day purchase from any Waikiki Beach Walk merchant.
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About Waikiki Beach Walk®
Outrigger Enterprises Group's Waikiki Beach Walk is the largest development project ever to be undertaken in Waikiki. The nearly 8‑acre area, bordered by Kalakaua Avenue, Lewers Street, Kalia Road, Beachwalk and Saratoga Road, has been completely rebuilt as a vibrant showcase and gathering place in the new Waikiki and features an outdoor entertainment plaza, an array of shops and restaurants and five new accommodation choices. With a design theme that celebrates Hawaii's voyaging and ocean heritage and an outdoor setting that takes advantage of the island's cooling trade winds and year-round excellent weather, Waikiki Beach Walk is the consummate expression of Hawaii today -- a place where people come to be enlivened with warm hospitality, a rich confluence of cultures, and nature's precious gifts from land and sea. For more information, visit www.waikikibeachwalk.com.
About Outrigger Enterprises Group
Outrigger Enterprises Group is one of the largest and fastest growing privately-held leisure lodging and hospitality companies in the Asia Pacific and Oceania regions and continues to expand its presence throughout the area.
A family-owned company with more than 60 years of hospitality experience, Outrigger runs a highly-successful, multi-branded line of hotels, condominiums and vacation resort properties, including Outrigger® Hotels & Resorts, OHANA® Hotels & Resorts, Outrigger Condominium Collection®, Embassy Suites®, Best Western® and Wyndham Vacation Ownership®. Currently, Outrigger operates and/or has under development 47 properties with close to 12,000 rooms located in Hawaii, Australia, Guam, Fiji, Palau, Bali and Phuket, Thailand. Outrigger Enterprises Group also operates and develops hotel properties and hospitality-related retail and real estate opportunities for partners in Hawaii, the Pacific, the mainland USA and Asia. For on-line information, log on at www.outriggerenterprisesgroup.com and www.outrigger.com.
*Embassy Suites is a registered trade mark of Hilton Hotels Corporation.
