May 18, 2017
Time: 8pm
Venue: Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse
Address: 2020 Addison Street
Zipcode: 94704
State: CA
Phone: (510) 644-2020

The month of May being Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, tonight we are proud to celebrate the official release of Patrick Landeza’s new book, “From the Island of Berkeley,” along with his new CD, “Ho`mana`o, nominated for the prestigious 2017 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award!

 

“The Freight and Salvage is my home….” –Patrick Landeza

When Patrick Landeza became the first mainland-based artist to win the Nā Hōkū Hanohano award in 2013, he told the audience, “Being born and raised on the mainland never made me any less Hawaiian.” Having initially learned how to play slack key guitar from family, Landeza later apprenticed with slack key legend, Raymond Kāne, and was mentored by slack key masters such as Cyril Pahinui, George Kuo, and Dennis Kamakahi. Landeza is a well-respected slack key instructor and has taught classes and at music camps nationwide, as well as had his lessons published in Acoustic Guitar Magazine. After successful forays into radio, catering, and concert production, Landeza is beginning to focus his attention on future generations. In 2013 he authored a children’s book, “Danny’s Hawaiian Journey,” and has partnered with schools and youth groups to provide cultural education through ukulele lessons in his grade school classes. Landeza’s efforts and enthusiasm have not gone unrecognized. Aside from a Nā Hōkū Hanohano award, he also became the youngest recipient of the Kapalakiko Aloha Spirit award at the age of 34. In 2011 he won the Hawaiian Music Award, and in 2012 he shared his music and aloha spirit with an appreciative audience at Carnegie Hall.

Landeza also has a successful clothing line called “Aloha Everywhere” along with his fruit jam company, “Kanikapila Jams,” and jewelry line, “Patrick Landeza Designs,” featuring hand crafted earrings and bracelets. He is proudly in his 19th year of education and teaches at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, CA.

Joining Patrick this evening from Hawaii is the rising star of Hawaiian music and Slack Key guitar Aja Gample. Already a hit on the slack key circuit, Aja’s sweet vocals and slack key are a added treat to the evening’s festivities!

 

About the book:

Hawaiian slack key guitarist Patrick Landeza says, “I’m not a writer, I’m a storyteller.” In his memoirs From The Island of Berkeley, his storytelling gives readers a glimpse of what it was like to learn the art of slack key guitar from some of the masters of the genre– Raymond Kāne, Dennis Kamakahi, Cyril Pahinui, and George Kuo. In the process of learning slack key, Landeza connected with his cultural roots and laid to rest the insecurities that were implanted in his mind by people who questioned his Hawaiian identity because he was not born in Hawai`i. From The Island of Berkeley is an entertaining and moving insight to the struggles and triumphs of one of today’s leading Hawaiian slack key guitarists who just happened to be born on the other side of the Pacific.