Hilo’s own traditional Hawaiian music trio Na Palapalai is reunitiing for a special concert at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Palace Theater.
The show also will feature Justin Paredes, who won the title 2018 Master Keiki Hula at the Queen Lili‘uokalani Hula Festival.
Comprised of Kuana Torres Kahele, Kehau Tamure and Keao Costa, Na Palapalai has been one of the most popular Hawaiian groups since 1995, either as a trio or as a duo with Torres Kahele and Tamure.
Their latest, a 20-song, two-disc set released April 22, “Back to the Patch” isn’t available in stores, on iTunes or other popular online retailers like Amazon. Instead, members of Na Palapalai have partnered with about 30 local hula halau that are selling the CD, with 20 percent of the proceeds going to halau fundraising efforts.
“We want to give back to all the kumu, dancers and Hawaiian music fans that have stuck by us for all these years,” Torres Kahele said. “We invite halau from across Hawaii to participate and perform in these shows. We are excited to share the new music and hope it continues to unite and uplift the hula community in positive ways.”
Na Palapalai released “Makani ‘Olu‘olu” in 2002 to instant success and critical raves. Kuana’s original, “Ke Anu O Waimea,” is still the most popular hula song in Japan to this day. Almost two decades later, Na Palapalai has continued to maintain its popularity and has released seven albums to date.
Several have charted in the top five on the Billboard Top World Albums chart, and the group has won a large number of Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, including Group of the Year.
Doors open at 6 p.m. Advance tickets are $35 general admission, $35 side reserved and $45 center reserved., on sale now at the Palace box office.
General admission tickets are also available online via Eventbrite.
Admission is an additional $5 on the day of the show
Call 934-7010 for more information or stop by the Palace today or Friday during box office hours, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
