For decades Ledward Kaapana has ranked among Hawaii’s most pivotal musicians thanks to his command of slack key guitar. In the early 1970s he joined his twin brother Nedward and cousin Dennis Pavao to establish the group Hui 'Ohana, whose performances helped carry the slack key tradition onto international stages. After beginning a solo career in 1983, Kaapana earned further praise for his spontaneously shaped melodies and falsetto singing. The Honolulu Advertiser described him as “friendly, generous, self-effacing, a little kolohe (rascally) and a flat-out genius at just about any stringed instrument that can be fingerpicked.”
Kaapana entered the world on the southeastern coast of the Big Island beneath Kilauea volcano and spent his childhood without electricity, television, or telephone service. An uncle named Fred, who had learned slack key on his own, sparked the boy’s interest; Kaapana still employs the distinctive tunings said to have come to Fred through a series of dreams. He also absorbed influences from slack key masters Gabby Pahinui and Raymond Kane. His debut solo release, the 1983 album Lima Wela, brought his first major recognition when it captured the Na Hoku Hanohano award for Best Instrumental Album. In 1988 he appeared at the Smithsonian’s Festival of American Folklife, then spent 1990 to 1992 on tour with the National Council of Traditional Arts program Masters of the Steel String Guitar.
Kaapana’s partnerships span a broad musical spectrum. A 1997 live performance with steel-string guitarist Bob Brozman was issued as the video Kila Kila Meets Ki Ho'alu. The next year he issued Waltz of the Wind, featuring guest contributions from Brozman, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Alison Krauss, Sonny Landreth, Ricky Skaggs, and George Winston. After the 2000 album Black Sand he rejoined Brozman for In the Saddle. Two Grammy-nominated projects, 2005’s Kiho'alu: Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar and 2006’s Grand Master Slack Key Guitar, along with tracks on prominent slack key anthologies, widened his audience. Throughout the following decade he maintained a steady pace of releases, including the solo set The Legend in 2012, the autoharp-focused Jus' Cruzin' in 2014, and the ukulele recording Jus' Press, Vol. 2 in 2016. A greatest-hits collection on Jus Press Productions arrived in 2017. Kaapana also received a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship Award.
