Cecilio & Kapono

Cecilio & Kapono are a Hawaiian music duo formed in 1973, comprising Henry Kapono Ka’aihue and Cecilio David Rodriguez, who have released 14 albums to date. The duo were formerly signed to the Columbia Records label.

CECILIO & KAPONO

The story began “with a harmony’s perfect blending” under a starry night on Oahu’s North Shore in February 1973. Then came 8 consecutive months of Sold Out shows 6 nights a week at Waikiki’s Legendary Rainbow Villa inevitably leading to a multi-album national recording contract with Columbia Records.

Henry Kapono Ka’aihue & Cecilio David Rodriguez were introduced by mutual friends. They played a couple of familiar songs and discovered almost instantly that something magical was happening. “That was the moment that everything happened. It was there the first time we sang,” Kapono recalled years later. It was the beginning of Cecilio & Kapono.

Cecilio Rodriguez, was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California where he received an extensive musical education. After forming a band and performing during high school and college, Cecilio moved to Los Angeles where he quickly advanced his musical career as a guitarist. From his first group "Unicorn" to Sonny Charles to Little Anthony and the Imperials, it quickly became apparent that Cecilio was destined to take center stage.

Although Native Hawaiian, Henry Kapono has had no formal musical training, he started singing at age 5 in a Children’s Church Choir. After his father taught him to play the ukulele, Kapono fell in love with the guitar and taught himself how to play by listening to the radio and records and watching other artists play. Kapono put him self through school on athletic scholarships and dreamed of a football career. As fate would have it, knee injuries led him to his true destiny on stage.

Their experiences were different, but their interest in music was the same. They both loved American folk and acoustic rock. Acoustic arrangements of hits by Stevie Wonder, Hall & Oates, Loggins & Messina, and Crosby Stills & Nash done the “C&K Way”,were part of their earliest repertoire and , as they added original material , their arrangements became known as the “C&K SOUND”. Almost from the inception, they were performing original compositions which became very unique musically because of the way they would both weave a counter melody to the existing one , thereby creating the harmony to the songs, unlike anything else anybody had heard before them and which became the model and inspiration for many young writers to come.

Cecilio & Kapono debuted in Waikiki with a brief gig at J.J.’s Café where Kapono had previously been playing a solo gig. Less than a month later they moved on to headline the Rainbow Villa, a funky little bar that continued to tear out pieces of the bar to accommodate more customers, until C&K quickly outgrew the venue.

Within months Columbia Records signed the duo to a multi-album contract and the rest is well documented history.

To date, Cecilio & Kapono are truly living a “Lifetime Party” and can be counted as one of the very few groups to maintain a musical relationship into their third decade with no signs of slowing down, and with the momentum continually building. They have released 14 albums, received scores of awards and are truly Hawaii’s most admired, loved and respected entertainers!Please contact Lezlee Ka’aihue at [e-mail] or at 808 599-4043 for more information on the living legends that are….. “Cecilio & Kapono”!

HENRY KAPONO KA'AIHUE, is of pure Hawaiian decent. He was born and raised on the island of Oahu in the small town of 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. 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 the highly regarded Punahou Academy in Honolulu 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, his appreciation of life and his love of all people.

Upon returning to Hawaii, Kapono (as he likes being called) began an eight year collaboration with Cecilio Rodriguez, forming the duo of CECILIO & KAPONO. Blending together their distinctive and individual talents, they gave contemporary and folk rock a new perspective. Within eight months Cecilio & Kapono had a three album recording contract with Columbia Records. "C&K" recorded eight albums together. Continually evolving, Kapono returned to his solo career in 1981 with the release of Kapono - Stand in the Light, and then created an incredibly broad range of musical expressions through 12 solo albums to date.

His repertoire of twenty-one albums resonate with many musical influences--Bob Marley, Loggins and Messina, Eric Clapton, and the Eagles can be detected in a musical phrase here, an intonation there, and an emphasis somewhere else. A collection of "feel good" original compositions. But the resulting musical tapestry is a unique blend of aloha with soul, set to island rhythms and is exclusively Kapono's. Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Dancing in the Moonlight" evoked a new meaning and catapulted Kapono right to the North Shore. This gentle, powerful musician transcends his Hawaiian heritage through his music. It is infused with his love for Hawaii

Henry Kapono Ka'aihue, the man and the artist, is quintessentially Hawaiian. The gentle, powerful yet shy man embodies the spirit of aloha. Kapono's music transcends his Hawaiian heritage which he loves so much. He has the gift that most great artists share: the ability to enable us to gaze upon their painting or ponder their work or listen to their music - and find new meaning and purpose in our own lives. Kapono touches the soul with the simple honesty of his lyrics and music, and the gift of an evocative, plaintive balladeer's voice that haunts you long after he leaves the stage. Kapono's sense of pride is strong as he passionately sings "Home in the Islands (2000)", a song he wrote at the request of the Hawaii Millennium Commission. It is featured on his album Evolution of Poi. In addition A Beautiful Hawaiian Day is his first published children’s book.

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.

http://www.dannycouchfanaddicts.com/Kapono.htmhttp://henrykapono.com/ckbio.asp