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Join San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and its nonprofit partner, the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association for a free virtual concert of maritime songs!

Hot off the heels of his historic second Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award (Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts), Patrick Landeza returns to his musical roots, this time with his sons. This special performance celebrates the release of his twelfth album and features Landeza senior on slack keyguitar and vocals, his hānai son Justin Firmeza on Hawaiian steel guitar, and Patrick Landeza, Jr. (PJ) on bass guitar.

A native Hawaiian who was born and raised in Berkeley, CA, to Hawaii-born parents, Landeza found his roots in the music shared with him by his mother. The songs that she taught him, many of which are on the new CD, were songs that she learned growing up in Hoʻolehua, Molokaʻi. Surrounded by music his entire life, he learned guitar as a teenager by observing his Uncles at backyard family gatherings. The music he grew up listening to had sparked an interest in the traditional art of slack-key, connecting Patrick with some of kī hōʻalu’s most legendary names: Cyril Pahinui, RaymondKāne, George Kuo, and Dennis Kamakahi. Under their tutelage, the network of roots that his mother had carefully established grew and Patrick’s style of music became firmly rooted in slack-key. “When I learned from the masters in Hawai`i, they taught me that being a slack key musician isn’t just about the music,” Landeza explained. “It’s a tradition that uses storytelling as a means of sharing culture.” Engaging audiences across the continental U.S. and Hawai’i, Landeza has remained true to the traditions of the art form while composing themes of his heritage, cultural identity, and self-discovery.

Now as a father of five, it’s Landeza’s turn to follow in his mother’s and his mentor’s footsteps and share the songs of his heritage with the next generation, connecting them to their ancestors through the very roots that connected him.

As his mom would say, “when they see the younger ones playing these old songs, they come back to life, the songs, the people, our culture.”By teaching these young men the songs he was taught, Landeza senior is ensuring that the legacy that he was entrusted with by his mother and those before him will live on.