Hui ʻOhana

Hui ʻOhana (Hawaiian for "family group") was a traditional Hawaiian trio formed in 1972 by twin brothers Ledward and Nedward Kaʻapana together with their cousin Dennis Pavao. All three came from Kalapana, a village in the Puna district of Hawaiʻi Island. The group paired Ledward's slack-key guitar picking with the high falsetto vocal style known as leo kiʻekiʻe, anchored by Nedward's bass and baritone.

Their debut album, Young Hawaii Plays Old Hawaii, was recorded in a single day at Sounds of Hawaii on June 26, 1972, and released on Lehua Records. It revived older Hawaiian songs the members had grown up hearing. The trio followed with further albums including Hana Hou (1973), Ke Kolu (1974), From Kalapana to Waikiki (1975) and material recorded live at Sounds of Hawaii Studios. Some sources credit the group with 14 albums over its full run, including later reunion and compilation releases.

Hui ʻOhana recorded and performed together through the 1970s, disbanding in 1978, and is regarded as a contributor to the resurgence of traditional Hawaiian culture and music during the 1970s Hawaiian Renaissance. The group received the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 and was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame in 2009. After the group ended, Ledward Kaʻapana became an internationally touring slack-key artist and a 2011 National Heritage Fellow, Dennis Pavao gained renown as a solo falsetto singer until his death in 2002, and Nedward Kaʻapana continued as a musician until his death in 2015.