In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in the humble ukulele beyond Hawaii’s shores. One of our acclaimed players, Herb Ohta Jr., just experienced this phenomenon as a headliner at the sixth Ukulele Festival of Great Britain in late June.
“It was crazy,” Ohta marvels. “I was telling people I love to play ukulele, but you guys are crazy. They don’t stop playing until they fall off their chairs. In the summer it doesn’t get dark till 10 o’clock at night and they’re sitting there playing constantly.”
The only Hawaiian musician on the British festival bill, which included performers from Japan, Canada, Denmark and France, Ohta taught two workshops and played before an audience of almost 2,000 ardent ukulele fans.
“It was standing room only,” he continues. “It was amazing to be a part of it, their enthusiasm. I was blown away.”
Back in the islands, the Na Hoku Award-winning musician will play Wednesday evening at George Kahumoku Jr.’s Masters of Hawaiian Music Slack Key Show in Napili.
The son of ukulele legend Ohta-San, Ohta has played ukulele since the age of 3, taught first by his grandmother.
“She taught me how to play ‘Happy Birthday,'” he recalls. “And coincidentally my grandma also taught my father his first song. I guess you could say my grandmother was very influential.”
A member of the Honolulu Boys Choir, the Honolulu Children’s Opera Chorus and the University High School Select Choir, like many in his generation, he only gravitated to Hawaiian music in his later teen years, preferring the contemporary songs of the time.
“I only started liking Hawaiian music when I was 17,” he notes. “I didn’t listen to Hawaiian music at all growing up. Back then it was disco and pop.”
During the “golden age” of Waikiki in the 1960s, his father was influential in spreading the ukulele’s popularity around the world. Teaming with French composer Andre Popp, he had a huge hit with the album “Song for Anna,” which sold 6 million copies internationally. He is recognized as the most prolific ukulele recording artist of the 20th century.
“Growing up, I knew he was great at what he was doing, but I never looked at him as a star,” says Ohta. “Learning from him and him being my father were two different things. It’s always been dad. Ukulele was always played around the house; it was always part of our lives.”
In 2013, father and son collaborated on the album “Ukulele Legacy,” revisiting 11 songs composed or co-written by Ohta-San.
“I originally recorded an album with him for Japan in 2004, but it wasn’t available outside of Japan,” Ohta explains. “Then I just wanted something for myself and I didn’t care if it sold or didn’t sell. So we decided to do something. I’ve been a guest musician on his albums, but we hardly ever play music together. Our schedules are very different. I still look at him as my teacher when it comes to ukulele.”
As the son of a legend, he took a while to develop his own style and voice on the ukulele.
“I had a rough point in my life in terms of worrying about what people thought, sometimes thinking, ‘Do people just want me to play my dad’s stuff?’ ” he reveals. “It was difficult for me to separate from my dad’s shadow.”
Besides his father, he was influenced by other ukulele greats.
“Eddie Kamae was my dad’s teacher and in my family we look at Eddie Kamae as God,” he says. “I also used to listen to ukulele players like Jesse Kalima, Lyle Ritz and Peter Moon.”
Along with recording with his dad, over the years Ohta has released a number of albums with other musicians including “E Ku’u One Hanau” in 2013 with Tony Conjugacion, “Hana” with Keoki Kahumoku and “2 to Three Feet” with Daniel Ho. He was also featured on “The Best of the Slack Key Show Volume 1” DVD and on “From Paradise” with Norton Buffalo and George Kahumoku Jr.
In 2014, he won a Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Ukulele Album of the Year for his lovely solo album, “Pure Ukulele.” Featuring mostly his original compositions, it was his first recording that didn’t include other musicians or instruments, just the sweet, pure sound of his ukulele playing. It included the charming instrumental “Napili Slack Key,” composed with Sterling Seaton during a sound check at one of Kahumoku’s Maui shows.
“There was no guitar or bass or percussion,” he explains. “Through the years, I’ve had many requests for a recording with just the ukulele. They wanted to hear what I was truly doing on the instrument. This was a first for me and was actually a challenge. I needed to play as clean as possible. It was just something different for me, and winning the Hoku was gratifying.”
His most recent recording, “Ukulele Friends,” released in April, features him playing with Bryan Tolentino. The duo covers classics ranging from “Wahine Holo Lio” and “Hawai’i Calls” to “Manuela Boy” and “Haunani Mine.”
Known for playing with such award-winning musicians as Aunty Genoa Keawe, Karen Keawehawai’i and Jerry Santos and Olomana, Tolentino first encountered Ohta in 1995, when Ohta was working at Harry’s Music Store in Honolulu. Becoming friends, a couple of years later they were jamming on a bench at Blaisdell Park and came up with the song “G Minor Fleas,” which was included on Ohta’s 2001 album, “Ukulele Dream.” A fan favorite, it also appears on the new album, this time with Jake Shimabukuro sitting in.
“Bryan and I have always talked about doing something together and I’m happy with the way it turned out,” Ohta says. “And it was really nice having Jake in the studio. Jake’s been a friend for a long time and he agreed to be part of it.”
When he’s not touring and performing, Ohta devotes time to helping students hone their ukulele skills.
“I started teaching for my dad when I was 9,” he says. “Then I started teaching on my own when I was 18.”
He continues to teach on Oahu at Sonny D’s Ukulele Shop and Harry’s Music Store. And he is also a favorite instructor at the annual Slack Key Guitar and Ukulele Workshop on Maui and has co-authored two ukulele instruction books with musician Ho.
Favoring a sweet “nahenahe” style on the ukulele, Ohta avoids using effects and peddles.
“My father said if you want your ukulele to sound like something else, play something else,” he reports.
And feeling that Hawaiian songs and ballads bring out the natural purist sounds of the instrument, Ohta says, “I think you can count on one hand the number of people who play instrumental Hawaiian music on ukulele. A lot of the younger generation play pop and contemporary as well, which is great, as it widens the market, but my love is Hawaiian.”
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A benefit dinner for Whale Trust Maui on Saturday will feature entertainment by John Cruz. The Grammy Award-winning musician recently completed a Rough Riders West Coast tour with Hawaiian music icons Henry Kapono and Brother Noland. Cruz is completing a new album, and from the track I heard it’s going to be another hit for him.
* The benefit will be held at Lumeria Maui, 1813 Baldwin Ave. in Makawao, and will run from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Singer Sierra Carrere and keyboardist Sal Godinez will open. Tickets are $125. All proceeds from the event will benefit Whale Trust Maui. For more information, visit www.whaletrust.org or call 572-5700.
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Heading to Hana on Aug. 22? You’ll catch the Hana Cultural Center’s free annual Ho’olaule’a from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event includes live music, hula performances, hands-on activities such as kapa and cordage demonstrations, a range of traditional Hawaiian games, storytelling, a petting zoo and vendor booths.
* For more information, call 248-8622.
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