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 Artist:
Cecilio
& Kapono
CD:
30 Years of Friends
Category:
Island Contemporary
Label:
C&K Records
The
C & K story
began under a starry night on
Oahu
’s
North
Shore
in February 1973. While on a break from
touring with “Little Anthony and the
Imperials,” Cecilio
Rodriguez flew to
Hawaii
to meet Henry Kapono
who had a very similar style to his own and
with whom, it was thought, he could form a
group. All the components were there:
breathing, intonation, blend, and their own
individual guitar styles, each complementing
the other in a magical way. At that moment,
the duo, “Cecilio
& Kapono,”
was born. They went on to become one of the
top duos to come out of
Hawaii
. It was only a matter of time before they
came to the attention of Columbia Records
and were soon signed to a multi-album deal.
They recorded albums entitled, Cecilio
& Kapono,
Elua, and The Nightmusic, all
of which became top-selling albums. Their
third album alone garnered
five
prestigious Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. Henry Kapono
Ka’aihue, was born and raised in Kapahulu,
located just outside
Waikiki
. Christened Kapono
by his mother, it is the Hawaiian word for
righteous. His family surroundings provided
the early musical influence that directed
him into his present career. He is a
humanitarian, a prolific award winning
songwriter, an accomplished actor and has
produced numerous albums, video works and
concerts. Henry started singing in a choir
and the first instrument he learned to play
was the ukulele, followed by the acoustic
guitar, which he learned to play by
listening to the radio and records. His
natural athletic abilities earned him full
scholarships
to
Punahou
Academy
and later, the
University
of
Hawaii
. He began his professional career as a
young solo performer, singing and playing
the guitar in a small folk club in
Waikiki
. This led to a short stint playing rock
with a local island group called Pakalolo.
The group played the islands and toured the
far-east, where he chose to spend the next
two years in
Vietnam
entertaining the troops. This experience
profoundly affected his music and his
appreciation of life.
Cecilio
Rodriguez was born and raised in
Santa Barbara
,
California
where he received the majority of his
musical education. After forming a band and
performing during high school and college, Cecilio
moved to
Los Angeles
to advance his musical career. There, he had
a fateful meeting with Anthony Gourdine of
“Little Anthony and the Imperials,” and
soon after was traveling with them as their
guitarist and musical director. It soon
became apparent to Anthony that Cecilio
was much more than a guitarist on stage, and
so began a long line of performances as the
opening act for “Little Anthony and the
Imperials.”
Cecilio
has made a mark of his own as a charming,
personable and talented performer who can
take you from gales of laughter with his
great sense of humor, to tears with his
beautiful love songs. Cecilio
has two solo CD releases to his credit: Maybe
Tonight released in 1983 and Storybook,
Then …and Now released in 1995.
Today,
the C & K story
lives on and has truly become a “Lifetime
Party” as they kicked-off the 30 Years of
Friends celebration this past summer with
three back to back sold out concerts at Kapono’s
at Aloha Tower Marketplace, which were
recorded live for this outstanding CD.
Sample
Shots:
-
Friends
-
You
and Me
c.2003
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