Kalapana: Still Going

The band that helped define a generation of local music is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an upcoming concert beneath the moon and stars at Tom Moffatt Waikīkī Shell.

Few bands helped inspire a generation of local artists and shape contemporary Hawaiian music more than the outfit known as Kalapana, which brought pleasing harmonies along with a pop-rock-jazz-funk sensibility to listeners’ ears.

Particularly in the 1970s, the band churned out timeless songs like nobody’s business — from the soaring, ethereal majesty of Naturally and the romantic bossa-pop feel of Nightbird to the lively chord progression and easily singable chorus of The Hurt.

Yet despite its immense popularity, Kalapana was once surprisingly unaware of just how revered it was beyond Hawaiʻi’s shores.  ...