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Henry Kapono, Malani Bilyeu and Gaylord Holomalia will be joined on stage in Los Angeles this week by Johnny Valentine, Alx Kawakami, Blayne Asing and 2017 Grammy nominee Kalani Pe‘a when “We Are Friends: A Lifetime Party of ’70s Music” opens at the Grammy Museum on Wednesday.
This is the second year in a row the Grammy Museum, a 30,000-square-foot space within the L.A. Live entertainment district near the University of Southern California, has partnered with the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts to produce an exhibit focused on Hawaiian music. The museum unveiled a newly built 20-foot display case dedicated to Hawaiian slack-key guitar in 2016, which included a number of instruments along with album covers, concert posters, archival photos and signature performance attire from Gabby Pahinui, Dennis Kamakahi and Ledward Kaapana.
For 2017, “We Are Friends” will turn back the clock to a time when bands like Country Comfort, Olomana, Kalapana and The Sunday Manoa were in their prime. Along with a new batch of archival photos, press kits and promotional fliers, the display case will feature the guitar Cyril Pahinui used while recording with his Sandwich Isle Band and his father’s Gabby Pahinui Hawaiian Band alongside one he used while playing with the Peter Moon Band.
In addition, a significant portion of the fourth-floor exhibit will focus on the success of Cecilio & Kapono, displaying items such as the 1978 Na Hoku Hanohano Award the duo received for “Night Music,” a program from their 1976 concert at Aloha Stadium. and the suitcase C&K tour manager Johnny Isara used while on the road. Kapono’s Grammy nomination medal and certificate for his 2006 solo album, “The Wild Hawaiian,” will also be part of the exhibit.
The exhibit runs through April 2 and will be transported to Honolulu and expanded before reopening April 16 at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.
‘WE ARE FRIENDS: A LIFETIME PARTY OF ’70S MUSIC’
With Henry Kapono, Johnny Valentine, Alx Kawakami, Blayne Asing, Malani Bilyeu, Galord Holomalia and Kalani Pe‘a
>> Where: The Grammy Museum at L.A. Live, Los Angeles
>> When: 8 p.m. Wednesday
>> Cost: $35
>> Info: axs.com, melemei.com
>> Note: A free public dedication of the new exhibition will take place at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the museum
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