When Kapena takes the stage this evening at the Hawaii Theatre, Kelly “Kelly Boy” De Lima, founder and leader of the group for the past 32 years, will be living a dream come true.
Not only is he still playing music after all those years, but the group is now officially a family affair. The other full-time members of the group are his children — his son, multi-instrumentalist/record producer Kapena De Lima, and daughters Kalena and Lilo. Joining them on stage Friday will be his wife, the self-styled “momager” of the group, Leolani Naipo De Lima.
“This is the formal introduction of the family,” Kelly De Lima said during a visit to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newsroom. “In the old days I was traveling and touring with the boys and being away from my family. Today we travel and tour together, and I’m enjoying my life.
“We really believe in the stars aligning and everything being ready for us to move, so this is it, the formal introduction of the next generation.”
The concert also marks the official release of the new Kapena album, “Palena ‘Ole” (see review, sidebar) and the screening of music video versions of two songs from it.
“Hokule‘a Malama Honua,” written by De Lima, celebrates the circumnavigation of the earth by the famed Hawaiian voyaging canoe; the video includes footage shot during the journey. “When I Come Home,” written by Kapena De Lima and Kenneth Makuakane, is a contemporary hapa haole love song featuring Kalena.
“THE STORY OF KAPENA”
>> Where: Hawaii Theatre
>> When: 7 p.m. Friday
>> Admission: $15-$25; $75 VIP, includes pre-show meet-and-greet and copy of “Palena ‘Ole” CD
>> Info: 528-0506, hawaiitheatre.com
‘The Story of Kapena,” the theme for Friday’s show, will welcome audiences into the family-centric incarnation of Kapena while recapping the story of Kelly De Lima’s journey from young musician to father and bandleader.
“I’m enjoying the journey, I really am,” De Lima said. “My path has always been music, and my children just love it and we do it together. It’s awesome.”
The theme of Friday’s show is “The Story of Kapena,” and De Lima said he plans to tell “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” about the history of the group “and all the hardships I personally fell on during my career.”
Kapena opens new era with album ‘Palena ‘Ole’
“Palena ‘Ole” by Kapena (KDE KDE 7000)
With “Palena ‘Ole,” the group Kapena officially opens a new chapter in its 32-year history. The group is the five members of the De Lima family — founding member Kelly “Kelly Boy” De Lima, wife Leolani Naipo De Lima and their three children, Kapena, Kalena and Lilo De Lima.
In its early days as a trio — “Kelly Boy” plus Tiva and Timo Tatofi — Kapena was known as one of the pioneers of Jawaiian music; the trio’s remakes of “Whatcha Talking ’Bout” and “Red Red Wine” were perennial crowd-pleasers. That was Kapena in the 1980s. There’s no Jawaiian here — “Palena ‘Ole” contains smooth easy-listening Hawaiian, hapa haole and pop.
The most significant in terms of personal history is “Shells.” Leolani sang Lani Kai’s signature hit when she competed in Hot I-94’s Brown Bags to Stardom competition in 1980; she sings it here to a Martin Denny-style “exotica” arrangement.
Lilo gets the vocal spotlight on “Coquette,” a pop classic first recorded in 1928, with “Rocky” Holmes sitting in on clarinet. Kelly Boy shares his beautiful falsetto voice on “Ku‘u Lei Lahilani,” and Kalena stars on several others.
Lyrics, translations and additional information are included in the liner notes.
Visit kapena.com.
By “hardships” De Lima means drug addiction early in his career. Cocaine was everywhere, he said, and popular entertainers were never short of “friends” who were ready and willing to provide it. De Lima says he came close to losing everything — his marriage, family, home and career.
“At one point I thought it was over,” he said. “My wife wanted a divorce and took the kids to my mother-in-law’s. It was over. And I was so gone in my world on drugs that you just don’t care.
”It was definitely God that grabbed me by the neck — and the birth of Kalena Ku,” De Lima said.
When his daughter was born and De Lima held her in his arms, he began to think about all he had to lose.
“One or two months later I confessed everything — to my church, to my wife, and that’s it,” he said. “From there it was all because of my belief in God that I turned my whole life over.”
And so, several decades later, on stage with his wife and children on Friday , De Lima will be counting his blessings, “standing on stage with my family and sharing the story of Kapena.”
The history of the group goes back to 1985, when De Lima, who sang and played ukulele, founded Kapena, joining up with Timo Tatofi on guitar and Timo’s older brother, Tiva Tatofi, on bass to compete in Hot I-94’s Brown Bags to Stardom talent contest. The trio didn’t win Brown Bags, but the response they received launched them into full-time careers as musicians and recording artists.
For much of the 1990s Kapena performed as a quartet with Elton “Bruddah E” McKeague on drums; when McKeague retired for health reasons in 1998, he was replaced by Eddie Teo.
Hawaii got a preview of where the group was going in 2000 when Kapena De Lima made his public debut as a member of the group at the Hoku Awards, officially adding keyboards to the group’s live performances.
In that decade the group continued to evolve.
Tiva Tatofi left the group in 2001 to assume family responsibilities in Tonga, and Kainoa Delo joined as bassist.
Timo Tatofi left in 2005, and that was the end of the original ukulele-bass-guitar lineup.
When Kapena graduated from high school in 2006 and left the group to attend a mainland music conservatory, Kalena became the group’s keyboardist.
Eddie Teo left in 2008, and the group used fill-in drummers for a time.
In 2010 Kainoa Delo left, Lilo replaced him on bass and Kapena returned home to become the group’s drummer.
And with that the group became entirely family.
Looking forward, Kelly Boy says that he knows that whenever he decides to retire — and that won’t be for the foreseeable future — Kapena, Kalena and Lilo will carry on.
“They’re the next generation and I’m very proud of them,” he said.
“The kids have been carrying the name ‘Kapena’ on their shoulders,” De Lima said.
This presentation emphasizes that the group continues moving forward “from the old Kapena days,” as he terms them.
Looking further into the future, it’s even possible that another generation of De Limas could keep the group going for a third generation. Kapena De Lima’s son, Kapena-Uriah, is 5 — and he’s already taking piano lessons.
KAPENA TIMELINE
- 1985: Kapena is founded by Kelly “Kelly Boy” De Lima, Tivaini Tatofi and Teimoni Tatofi.
- 1986: Kapena releases its first CD, “Satisfaction Guaranteed,” recorded live at Sparky’s Lounge. The album is a finalist for most promising artist(s) at the 1987 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.
- 1988: Kapena’s second album, “Kapena,” wins Group of the Year and Contemporary Album of the Year at the 1988 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.
- 1991: Kapena headlines the first Birthday Bash.
- 2000: Kapena De Lima joins the group on keyboards. His first public performance is at the 2000 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.
- 2009: The De Lima family releases its first album, “Kupu A‘e,” as the De Lima Ohana.
- 2010: Kapena becomes a full family band with “Kelly Boy” De Lima as the bandleader, Kapena De Lima on drums, Lilo De Lima on bass and Kalena De Lima on keys.
- 2014: Two of the De Lima kids are finalists at the Na Hoku Hanohano. Lilo is a finalist for single of the year for “I Am a Queen.” Kapena wins contemporary album of the year with “Cast Your Cares.”
- 2015: “Kelly Boy” and the Tatofi brothers reunite to celebrate the group’s 30th anniversary with a final show together. They sell out the Waikiki Shell.
- 2017: Kapena releases “Palena ‘Ole,” featuring, for the first time, the next generation and legacy of Kapena — Kapena, Kalena and Lilo — at the Hawaii Theatre on Friday.
