Biography:

Danny “Kaniela” Kaleikini (October 10, 1937 – January 6, 2023) was an American singer, musical artist, and entertainer. Best known for his long-term residency at the Kahala Hilton in Hawaii, where he performed for 28 years, Kaleikini is often called “The Ambassador of Aloha“. During his career of more than 50 years in show business, he was the opening act for Paul Anka at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas,^[1] and performed alongside Sammy Davis Jr., Wayne Newton, Dolly Parton, Phyllis McGuire, and Don Ho.^[2] A baritone who sang Hawaiian songs and played the nose flute, Kaleikini gained international recognition for promoting Hawaiian music, language, and culture.^[3]

Early life and education

Kaleikini was born on October 10, 1937.^[4] He grew up in Papakolea in Honolulu,^[5] as one of nine children.^[3] He was of Native Hawaiian, Chinese, Korean, Irish, and Italian descent.^[5] His father, Danny Kaleikini Sr., was in the Hawaii National Guard,^[6] and worked for the City and County of Honolulu as a refuse worker.^[5][7] His mother Margie worked as a cocktail waitress at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.^[6][7] Kaleikini was bilingual in English and Hawaiian, and grew up learning to speak the Hawaiian language from his mother and grandfather.^[8]

At the age of five, he earned money by selling copies of The Honolulu Advertiser with his brother.^[9][7] On Fridays, after shining shoes in Chinatown, Kaleikini and his brother went to jam sessions with Jesse Kalima and Thousand Pounds of Melody, where they learned to sing and perform.^[10][2]

Kaleikini went to Royal Elementary School, where he played in the bell choir.^[11] As a student at Kawananakoa Intermediate, he played the trumpet and drums,^[11] and was elected student body president after running against Robert Kihune and others.^[7] Kaleikini attended Roosevelt High School,^[5] where he sang in the choir and performed in a 16-piece orchestra.^[7] His high school classmates included Ron Jacobs and Wesley Park, who later became his business manager.^[7] He attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa on a music scholarship,^[5] and majored in music education.^[12]

Career

During his first year at University of Hawaiʻi, Kaleikini had a part-time job at the Waikiki Sands.^[11][6] At the Sands, he was discovered by bandleader Ray Kinney, who encouraged him to sing for tips while working as a busboy.^[6][13] Kinney became a mentor to Kaleikini, who also learned from entertainer Leinaala Ignacio.^[6][10][14] After six months, Kaleikini moved with Kinney to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel,^[11] where he was hired full-time by performer Haunani Kahalewai.^[3]

Hilton Hawaiian Village

Kaleikini’s first major break was at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where he performed for seven years.^[11][2] There, he was mentored by Hilo Hattie, who taught him to emcee in standard English rather than in Pidgin.^[6] He started working in the luau shows, and eventually became the headliner at the Tapa Room after the death of Alfred Apaka,^[10] performing together with hula dancer and singer Lani Custino.^[15] In July 1961, a review in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin called Kaleikini “a charming shaker” who “has the correct shakes as he shows his versatility in doing the Hawaiian and Tahitian hulas.”^[15]

Residency at the Kahala Hilton

In 1967, Kaleikini landed his show as the headline entertainer at the Hala Terrace at the Kahala Hilton, the first successful show outside Waikiki.^[2] His first five-year contract, negotiated by his manager Wesley Park, guaranteed income of $1.5 million.^[7] Over time, it became a “must-see” show attended by United States presidents, foreign dignitaries, and Hollywood celebrities.^[10] Kaleikini continued the residency at the Kahala Hilton for 28 years.^[8]

The show opened on April 26, 1967,^[12] and was twice nightly except for Tuesdays.^[11] In addition to Kaleikini, it featured a female vocalist, Penny Silva, three dancers, and five musicians led by Jimmy Kaopuiki.^[11] At first, Kahala was virtually unknown as a destination for tourists or for locals.^[7][6] Kaleikini was actively involved in promoting the show, taking a hula dancer and a ukulele player to Waikiki to perform songs during the day to build interest.^[6]

A review in 1971 called it a “family show” with friendly and “clean” jokes that “would not make it in Waikiki”.^[5] The show highlighted the cultures of both Hawaii and Tahiti.^[5] Kaleikini sang and danced with the moonlit Pacific Ocean as his backdrop, and mingled, and joked with the audience, calling on his friends to perform.^[5] A “comic linguist”,^[16] Kaleikini typically opened the show with a multi-lingual greeting,^[7] and spoke Japanese to the Japanese tourists.^[5] He also played the rare Hawaiian nose flute,^[17][8] which took him five years to master.^[18] Billboard magazine reported that Kaleikini performed eight tunes during an hour set,^[19] including traditional Hawaiian and hapa haole “songs of Hawaii” written by pop artists,^[3] with hints of country music.^[19] The show’s success was often attributed to Kaleikini’s warmth and ability to charm the audience.^[17] By 1972, it was known as the “best-drawing Hawaiian show in the islands”.^[20] Over the years, the show became more international in flavor, in response to more diverse audiences from around the world.^[19]

By 1974, he had the longest-running mainroom revue, having started his eighth year in the same locale.^[21] Over 10,000 performances later, on April 27, 1987, Kaleikini celebrated his 20th anniversary at the Hilton with a two-hour show.^[22] In 1988, Governor John Waihee officially declared Danny Kaleikini as “Hawaii’s Ambassador of Aloha”.^[4]

Kaleikini retired from the Kahala Hilton on December 31, 1994,^[8] when the hotel was sold.^[10] His long run at the Hala Terrace of the Kahala Hilton earned him a nomination in the Guinness Book of World Records.^[8][23] In 2022, the Kahala Hotel & Resort honored him by renaming its front drive to Danny Kaleikini Square.^[24]

Credits:

Wikipedia