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Born and raised in Hawaii, Daniel Ho has received five Grammy Awards for his work as a record producer and recording artist. There is probably someone somewhere who would look at being nominated for a sixth as just another day at the office. Ho isn’t that someone.
His 2022 Grammy finalist album, “East West Players Presents: Daniel Ho & Friends Live in Concert,” is a groundbreaker for at least three reasons.
It’s the first of his albums to be nominated in the best global music album category; it’s also his first live album. And his wife and business partner of 18 years, Lydia Miyashiro, who made her debut on the album playing bass, is also nominated for a Grammy. (Because the album is credited to “Daniel Ho & Friends,” all of the musicians who played the concert with him are up for individual awards.)
“I’ve always wanted to do a live album, but I never felt that my singing and playing were at a level that I would be happy with the results because it’s a one-shot deal, that’s how you sound,” Ho said recently, calling from his office in Los Angeles. “You can do a little bit after, mixing and things like that, but it wasn’t something that I thought I would be happy with.”
Then came the pandemic, and the shutdown, and a lot of time to think.
And then an invitation from the East West Players to play a concert at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Los Angeles. Ho decided that the time to go live had come.
“It’s the pandemic. I feel that life is precious. It’s finite. And there are things that I hope to accomplish, before I’m done here,” he said. “I’ve been working with Keali‘i (Ceballos) for, I don’t know, 12 or 15 years now, and he choreographed many of our shows together and he’s also an incredible vocalist, and most importantly, my wife, Lydia, who has been 18 years now working behind the scenes on everything.”
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Ho, Miyashiro and Ceballos were joined by Randy Drake and Kanani Toji when they played the show in November 2020. The multitalented Ho sings and performs on ukulele, slack key guitar, piano and bongolele (ukulele-shaped bongo) while Miyashiro plays bass and Ceballos provides vocals and dances hula. Drummer Drake and vocalist and hula dancer Toji round out the ensemble.
The album’s timing makes it important for a fourth reason.
“(The year) 2020 was my 30th year as a professional musician, and the album covers music from as far back as 1980 when I was in music school and started writing, to the present. It’s sort of everything that I love about music and shows the dimension of it all. To combine it all together with the energy of live performance in the theater, with people that I love so much. It all came together in this project.”
Ho, his friends and the music industry at large will learn the results today when the Recording Academy announces the winners in its current 86 awards categories. The biggest awards will be presented during the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, televised at 2 p.m. today on CBS (re-airs at 7 p.m.) and streamed live and on demand on Paramount+.
The winners in most categories will be announced prior to the start of the televised coverage during the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony with a different slate of performers and presenters. The premiere ceremony, which starts at 9:30 a.m. today, can be viewed at live.grammy.com.
Ho is no stranger to the winner’s podium. He and his label, Daniel Ho Creations, dominated the best Hawaiian music album category almost from its inception in 2005. Albums that he either co-produced or performed on won five years in a row. The winner in a sixth year was released by his label as a solo album by Tia Carrere; Carrere had previously won a Grammy for an album she and Ho had recorded as a duo.
The Hawaiian music category was one of the 31 categories that were eliminated in 2011 when the Recording Academy reduced the number of categories to 78 from 109. Hawaiian music was relegated to the newly created regional roots music category along with Cajun, zydeco, Native American and Canadian First Nations music, and anything else the decision-makers decided put there. Four other categories of roots music — Americana, blues, bluegrass and folk — continue to have separate award categories.
With three exceptions, Louisiana — home of Cajun and zydeco music — has owned the category ever since.
One exception was in 2020 when the winner was Ranky Tanky, a quintet that specializes in traditional Gullah music created by African slaves and their descendants in the American southeast.
The other two belong to Maui resident Kalani Pe‘a. He won the category for the first time with his debut album, “E Walea,” in 2017, and then with his second album, “No ‘Ane‘i,” in 2019.
With his third album, “Kau Ka Pe‘a,” nominated for a Grammy this year, Pe‘a is now three-for-three in making it to the ballot as a finalist. “Kau Ka Pe‘a” is the only Hawaii finalist in the regional roots music category this year; the other four albums represent musical traditions of Louisiana.
Pe‘a says that, win or not, he enjoys networking at the Grammys.
“I’m all about sharing,” Pe‘a said recently, calling from his home on Maui. “My mom taught me you’ll win some and you’ll lose some competitions, but always be a good person. So for me, I’m not nervous. I’m very grateful that I’m nominated for my junior album. Win or lose, I feel like it’s an automatic win for me and for other musicians that I build relationships with, because we’re still putting our music out there and we’re building relationships, building bridges as independent artists. I’m all about networking with independent artists. I just want to network with people. And I just want to have fun.”
Pe‘a also will be performing during the premiere ceremony and will evoke memories of the monarchy when he does so. Pe‘a and his husband/manager, Allan B. Cool (aka ABC), collaborated with local fashion designer and “Project Runway All Stars” runner-up Kini Zamora, Elly’s Formal Wear & Bridals on Maui and Maui Divers Jewelry to create an ensemble inspired by the formal portraits of King Kalakaua. The jacket and its accessories are designed around Pe‘a’s favorite color, purple.
Pe‘a says that he and Cool are “very transparent” about their goal of sharing his music with a global audience.
“We can bridge cultures with my R&B flair or my classical training, whether I’m singing Hawaiian or a classical aria. We believe that Hawaiian music can be implemented in various genres, and the foundation of my music is Hawaiian. I’m so grateful that I have had mentors in my life and teachers. Whatever I do, we recognize traditional (Hawaiian) music.”
Pe‘a will play his third annual “May Day Is Lei Day in Hawai‘i” show May 1 at the Hawaii Theatre Center. This year’s guests are Ho‘okena, Hoku Zuttermeister, Keilana, Hula Halau ‘O Kamuela and Mele Apana.
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WATCH IT
64th Annual Grammy Awards
>> Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas
>> When: 2 p.m. Sunday on CBS (re-airs at 7 p.m.)
>> Info: grammy.com
The premiere ceremony begins at 9:30 a.m. today on live.grammy.com.
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