Random Happening: Patrick Landeza Hawaiian Slack Key Guitarist Comes to Grand Annex

Landeza & Sons photo by Matthew Tominaga

Just off of his historic second Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award win (Hawai`i Academy of Recording Arts), Patrick Landeza heads to San Pedro’s Grand Annex with his new musical creation Patrick Landeza & Sons, his latest CD, Oct. 15. The group includes Patrick Landeza Jr., or “PJ,” on bass guitar and Justin Firmeza (Landeza’s “hānai” son: Hānai is a term used in the Hawaiian culture term that refers to the informal adoption of one person by another) on Hawaiian steel guitar and keyboard. It will be an evening celebrating Hawaiian music, hula and aloha.

A native Hawaiian who was born and raised in California to Hawai’i-born parents, Landeza found his roots in the music shared with him by his mother. The songs that she taught him, many of which are on his new release, she learned growing up in Hoʻolehua, Molokaʻi. Landeza learned guitar as a teenager by observing his uncles at backyard family gatherings. The music he grew up listening to had sparked an interest in the traditional art of slack-key, connecting Patrick with some of kī hōʻalu’s most legendary names: Cyril Pahinui, Raymond Kāne, George Kuo, and Dennis Kamakahi. Under their tutelage, the roots that his mother had established grew and Patrick’s style of music became rooted in slack key.

“When I learned from the masters in Hawai`i, they taught me that being a slack key musician isn’t just about the music,” said Landeza. “It’s a tradition that uses storytelling as a means of sharing culture.” 

Landeza has remained true to the traditions of the art form while composing themes of his heritage, cultural identity and self-discovery.

Now as a father of five, Landeza shares the songs of his heritage with the next generation, connecting them to their ancestors through the roots that connected him. This new CD with two of his sons is noteworthy, as it’s a fresh take on old music. Landeza’s mother has said,, “when they see the younger ones playing these old songs, they come back to life, the songs, the people, our culture.” 

Landeza has assembled some of his favorite tunes in this new CD offering. The collection celebrates his commitment to mentor a new generation of musicians in the same traditions that were instilled in him. “Hawaiian music is dynamic, changing and evolving with the world around us. But through this creative process one must never lose sight of our roots, those ties that bind us to the foundation so carefully laid by those that came before us,” Landeza said.

As a veteran musician, composer, and producer, Landeza earned a Nā Hōkū Hanohano award from the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts or HARA — the first musician from the mainland — for his 2013 Slack Key Huaka’i, which won for Best Slack Key Album of the Year. In 2021 he won his second Nā Hōkū for Far Away, and in 2019, Landeza won the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Ki Ho’alu Foundation Legacy Award, an honor that recognizes Hawaiian slack key music’s legacy in Hawaiian mele. He joins his mentors, Dennis Kamakahi and the late Cyril Pahinui, in receiving this award.

• Patrick Landeza: Slack key guitar, vocals
• Justin Firmeza: Hawaiian steel guitar
• Patrick Landeza Jr.: Bass guitar

Time:  8 p.m., Oct. 15

Cost: $23 to $132 

Details: https://grandvision.org/event/patrick-landeza-hawaiian-slack-key/ 

Venue: The Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th Street, San Pedro