Where is the Hawaiian music in Waikiki?

The music of Hawaii sets Hawaii apart from countless other tropical visitor destinations, but it can be hard to find a place to hear it. Many locations feature music, including Hawaiian music, but contemporary performers and musicians who blend contemporary, Caribbean and Hawaiian styles predominate.

And so, when word leaked out last fall that George Kuo, Aaron Mahi and Martin Pahinui were no longer being booked at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, after 18 years at the location, and that the hotel had also ended the Keawe Ohana’s long-running weekly gig by the third-floor pool, flags went up. It doesn’t get much more “Hawaiian” than Kuo, Mahi and Pahinui — a soft-spoken master slack-key guitarist, a former bandmaster of the Royal Hawaiian Band and the youngest son of Gabby Pahinui, respectively. The Keawe Ohana, founded by Hawaiian falsetto legend Genoa Keawe, had been poolside each Thursday in various combinations since 1994.

For Hawaii residents who thought they’d have forever to go into Waikiki and the Marriott to support Hawaiian music, time had run out.

The good news is that it is still possible to hear Hawaiian music — traditional and contemporary alike — in Waikiki. Locations including the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Outrigger hotel venues and the Halekulani continue their years-long commitment to the music of the islands.

“I could not imagine living in Hawaii, running a hotel and not having Hawaiian entertainers,” says Ulrich Krauer, general manager of the Halekulani. “We are an international hotel, but the Hawaiian musicians add so much. We have different bands and hula dancers all week for locals and hotel guests, and even visitors from other hotels.”

Krauer expanded Halekulani’s Hawaiian music schedule last year with Kama‘aina Tuesday luncheons at the House Without a Key. The luncheons, a revival of a popular event from the bungalow days in the 1960s and 1970s, include Hawaiian music.

The hotel, which traces its roots back to 1907, has good reason to include Hawaiian music in its hospitality, as Hawaiian culture has long been intertwined with its traditions. It existed for decades as a collection of island-style bungalows around a central building, and became the Halekulani in 1917. The hotel, purchased by a Japanese company in 1981, opened in its current configuration in 1984, picking up where the old hotel left off in presenting Hawaiian and hapa haole music.

“I felt it was a great tradition, and it actually helped business,” Krauer said. “There’s quite an international crowd, and what I see is that a lot of locals come here when they have guests from out of town.”

Steel guitarist Alan Akaka, a veteran of the Waikiki music scene and a member of the Keawe Ohana, says one of the changes over the years has been that groups have been shrinking: Where it was once common to see quartets including a stand-up bass player or steel guitarist, that has become less prevalent over the years.

“Back then you would see trios, then it started being duos,” Akaka said. (A longtime exception was Genoa Keawe during her tenure at the Marriott; Keawe worked with three other musicians.)

The Marriott informed Akaka in October that the musical lineup at the hotel would change. “I told them, ‘You folks have to do what you have to do, but it’s sad because there’s a lot of people who know where to find Hawaiian music on a Thursday night,’” Akaka said.

“There are still places in Waikiki that have Hawaiian music, but there aren’t many with steel guitar.”

The changes at the Marriott have brought younger musicians into the spotlight, providing a mix of Hawaiian, ‘island-style’ and contemporary music. Marriott management declined to give a comment on its decision to end its traditional Hawaiian music stagings. A spokeswoman said the hotel will debut a new “bourbon bar” concept, along with a weekly musical series, later in the year.

Hawaiian music is more than “an added amenity” at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, said Debi Bishop, the resort’s managing director.

“It’s an important part of the Hawaii experience that we truly want to share with our visitors,” she said. “The music helps visitors connect with our culture, our history.”

The history of the Hilton Hawaiian Village goes back to 1955, when it was opened by industrialist-developer Henry J. Kaiser as Kaiser’s Hawaiian Village Hotel. Alfred Apaka was the hotel’s headliner until his death in 1960. Two decades later Don Ho headlined the Hilton Hawaiian Village Dome from 1981 to 1991.

Jerry Santos is not a Waikiki showroom entertainer in the tradition of Apaka or Ho, but he is very much a “draw” for the hotel, Bishop says. Recently he has been drawing even more listeners, after a move from the hotel’s Paradise Lounge inside the Rainbow Tower to the Tapa Bar.

“Passing guests who had never heard him before started sitting in and now are fans. He connects with our guests in a way no one else can,” Bishop said. “He appeals to both visitors and residents on so many levels. Repeat visitors know Jerry is performing every weekend and seek him out. Guests may see him for the first time on a Friday and return the next day to hear his music again. He’s that special.”

Santos has been playing at the hotel for 24 years and was a featured performer at the Moana Surfrider (formerly the Sheraton Moana Surfrider) for 10 years before that.

“To have that kind of longevity in a changing Waikiki is something I’m very grateful for,” Santos said.

In general terms, Santos says, the important thing about Hawaiian music’s presence in Waikiki is that it “provides a sense of connection for people who desire it.”

“Over the years that I’ve been there, people come and not only enjoy the music, but they meet other people, they meet local people. There’s a sense of community,” he said. Repeat visitors to Hawaii might plan a vacation around musical evenings.

Islanders who have been away also value the music. “For our local people — if somebody comes home from the mainland or from wherever they may have traveled — we’re the kind of venue that people come for those kinds of evenings with their friends,” Santos said. “That’s been a real joy for me.”

Island residents will come to Waikiki to hear Hawaiian music, if it is convenient for them, he notes — locals are repeat patrons at the Hilton, with its parking garage a short walk from the Tapa Bar.

“One thing about being in the same place for a very long time is that people know where to find me,” he said. “A nice thing about the Hilton is that they have given me a home base. They don’t try to tell me how to play or what to play. They allow me to be authentic in what I do.”

The Outrigger hotels in Waikiki also have a long tradition of featuring Hawaiian music and Hawaiian culture. Duke’s Waikiki, facing the ocean inside the Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort, includes Hawaiian music along with other popular genres. Visitors might get their first taste of contemporary Hawaiian music from Hoku Award winners Maunalua on Fridays or experience the cosmopolitan repertoire of Henry Kapono on Sunday afternoons. Kapono has recorded and released an album of his work recorded live at Duke’s.

Contemporary Hawaiian musicians such as Mike Kaawa, Kawika Kahiapo, Weldon Kekauoha, Sean Na‘auao, Ho‘okena and Kamakakehau Fernandez are featured nightly at the Kani Ka Pila Grille in the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort.

The Outrigger hotels are part of a sprawling Asia-Pacific chain of properties, owned for nearly 70 years by members of the Kelley family. In November it was announced that the holdings would be sold to Denver-based KSL Capital Partners LLC, which once owned the Grand Wailea resort on Maui. The transfer included an expectation that current employees and approaches, including the emphasis on Hawaiian music, would continue.

Clyde Min, general manager of the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort and the Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort, says the hotels’ Hawaiian-music format benefits visitors, Hawaiian musicians and the larger community alike.

“It shares the culture with our guests who are looking for this experience, and at the same time it ensures perpetuation of Hawaiian culture through its music, by encouraging the younger musicians who are part of the group that we invite to perform at Kani Ka Pila,” he said. “We share our Hawaiian culture also with our local residents. Preserving Hawaiian culture is a mutual benefit for the community.”

Hawaii born and raised, Min spent most of his career outside Hawaii. Hawaiian music — a collection of vinyl albums, then CDs and then everything on a single electronic device — has been his continuing link to the islands, he said, so he recognizes its power.

Hilton Hawaiian Village spokeswoman Bishop says visitors also make that connection.

“Visitors look for Hawaiian music to enjoy while they’re here. Hawaii is really the only state in the United States that can boast about its own genre of music, and we really do feel visitors appreciate that,” she said. “The music helps visitors connect with our culture and our history.”

Places to be

>> The House Without a Key at the Halekulani has been an oasis of traditional Hawaiian music for decades. A traditional Hawaiian trio performs there nightly, accompanied by hula. Visit halekulani.com or call 923-2311.

>> Kani Ka Pila Grille at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort has a rotating schedule of contemporary Hawaiian singers and musicians nightly, 6 to 9 p.m. Cyril Pahinui, long a featured weekly musician at the poolside stage, helped name the site, referencing Hawaiian musicians habit of outdoor jam sessions, or kanikapila. See a full calendar at outrigger.com/events/music/kani-ka-pila-grille or call 924-4990.

>> The Hilton Hawaiian Village hosts Jerry Santos multi-Hoku Award winner and 2008 recipient of the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the trio Olomana, 7:45 to 10:45 p.m. Fridays and 8 to 11 p.m. Saturdays at the resorts Tapa Bar. Henry Kapono plays Hawaiian and contemporary music, 4 to 6 p.m. Saturdays at the Tropics Bar & Grill. See the music calendar at hiltonhawaiianvillage.com. 949-4321

>> Dukes Waikiki at the Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort has live entertainment, 4 to 6 p.m. daily. Fans of contemporary Hawaiian music should check Fridays to see whether Maunalua is playing, as the trio will be today; Henry Kapono is scheduled to be there Sunday, as he is on most Sunday afternoons. Most Mondays and Tuesdays, hear Mike Kaawa and Haumea Warrington. Visit dukeswaikiki.com or call 922-2268.