POP MUSIC REVIEW : Cecilio & Kapono Still Less Than a Dynamic Duo

Cecilio & Kapono come from a long but not distinguished line of ampersand bands that emerged in the early 1970s serving up innocuous, harmony-sweetened folk-pop.

Among them were Seals & Crofts, Brewer & Shipley and Batdorf & Rodney--acts that had about as much staying power as that other noted duo of the time, Nixon & Agnew.

But Cecilio & Kapono continue to have a performing life, if not wide renown, after 15 years together. In Southern California, the Hawaii-based partners still have a following that gives them a foothold for periodic concert visits to the mainland. The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, where they opened a two-night stand Saturday, is one of Cecilio & Kapono’s strongest bastions. In their early show Saturday, the guitar-playing duo and their keyboard accompanist, Marty Echito, received a fond welcome from fans who eagerly sang along with songs dating back more than a decade.

The evening was a happy return for this pocket of loyalists. But it did not uncover new-found value in the debased stylistic coin that Cecilio & Kapono trade in--a lightweight devaluation of Simon & Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Despite their geographical base, and Henry (Kapono) Kaaihue’s Hawaiian ancestry, the duo’s music had nothing to do with traditional Hawaiian sources.

Cecilio & Kapono are respectable craftsman, and early in the 90-minute set it seemed possible that they might keep the show interesting with the charm of prettily entwined voices and guitars.

They opened with impressive harmonizing on Stevie Wonder’s plaintive ballad “All in Love Is Fair,” but that unusually downbeat leadoff tune turned out to be the most dynamic and emotional number of the show. The songs that followed were breezy and pleasant enough, especially the catchy “Lifetime Party.” But in the next attempt at a stark tone, Stephen Stills’ “4 + 20,” Kapono didn’t come close to bringing out the song’s inner demons.

After that, the show collapsed into shtick, courtesy of Cecilio Rodriguez, who led the audience in an interminable left-versus-right, boys-versus-girls, who-can-sing-the-loudest competition on Kenny Loggins’ “Danny’s Song.” Any chance to put the set back on course was sidetracked as Cecilio & Kapono moved right on with a silly genre excursion, playing country, blues and reggae-style snippets of their own song, “About You.” But all of those still proved better than the soggy ballad that materialized when they finally played it straight.

The finale, “Friends,” summed up what Cecilio & Kapono are about. It was a hypersentimental sing-along, suitable for campfires and ski lodges, where it might go well with mulled wine.