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ABOUT
US
Ozzie Kotani
Intro:
In addition to being one of Hawaii’s
recognized practitioner of the folk art form ki ho`alu kika
(widely known as slack key guitar), Ozzie Kotani is
also a composer, recording artist, performer,
and instructor. In fact, he is well known for his teaching
having
brought hundreds of players into the folk art form via his book, Guitar Playing Hawaiian Style (a best
seller for Mel Bay Publishing, Inc.),
classes,
and workshops.
Musical Beginnings:
Born in 1956, Ozzie was raised in
Pauoa
Valley in Honolulu on the island of O`ahu. He heard music in his home
at an
early age – both his sisters played piano – and he began playing the
ukulele
during elementary school. His next musical instrument was the
Sousaphone, more
commonly known as the tuba, and he ended up playing and marching
through
intermediate and high school with it. In fact, it was in his senior
year when he first tried playing the music of the great slack key
artist Keola
Beamer.
Seized by an unexplainable drive to learn
this
style of guitar playing after Keola's music grabbed him, Ozzie took
evening classses at the University
of
Hawaii College of Continuing Education from his first teacher Peter
Medeiros in
1975. Soon after, he began studying with Sonny
Chillingworth, one of the greatest
slack key
artists of all time. Both were invaluable to his
development; Peter mentored and taught Kotani concepts and tunings
while Sonny
showed him songs and his superb guitar work in slack key.
Other influences for Ozzie (whom he
did
not study with) include Keola Beamer (whose music he first worked with
which resulted in his right hand technique), Peter
Moon (the
brilliant ukulele/slack key virtuoso who influenced Ozzie on his
aggressive
attack and phrasing), and all of the following who Ozzie listened to
and tried
to figure out and play along with: Gabby Pahinui, Atta Isaacs, Leonard
Kwan,
Raymond Kane, Ledward Kaapana,
Nelson Hiu, and
George Helm amongst others.
Kotani has also studied the music of
the early slack key artists
including Henry
Kaalekahi, Abraham Konanui, Tommy Blaisdell, George Nainoa, Alice
Namakelua,
William Namahoe, and others.
Classes, Lectures, and Workshops:
Ozzie first began teaching at Floyd's
of Hawaii followed by classes at the YBA of Honolulu. From 1986 through
1999, Ozzie offered
Slack Key Guitar Classes at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, College
of
Continuing Education. The classes presented were Beginning,
Intermediate,
Advanced, and Vintage non-credit courses. Ozzie also went on to start
the first
credited slack key guitar course which he handed to Medeiros upon his
departure
from the University.
“The classes always filled and I would
often expand the class from 15 to 20 individuals. This was a critical
period for me where I had to really develop
my
teaching skills. I gained a great deal of experience and an
education in the process.”
Kotani has also been involved in
numerous workshops and classes at venues including Harry's Music, Keola
Beamer's Aloha Camp, George Kahumoku's
Slack
Key Camp, Gryphons in Palo Alto, Ledward Kaapana's Slack Key Workshops,
Stanford University, and many other sites while traveling. He also
presented a slack key ukulele workshop at the annual Ukulele Guild
Conference
in 2006.
He has taught privately since 1978 and
continues to do so as time allows. One of Ozzie's top students, 16 year
old Daniel
Carvalho, was featured on National Public Radio’s aclaimed From
the
Top
program and
recently performed with Garrison Keillor’s A Prarie Home Companion. His most recent work has been in the
Hawaiian homestead area known as Papakolea. Ozzie arranged free classes
and
provided instruments and materials for a program under the Boys and
Girls Club
of Hawaii. His students have been videotaped for the DOE Public
Television
and have
performed at community events, libraries, and the annual Slack Key
Festivals in
Honolulu.
In 2000, Kotani published his slack
key
instructional book titled Guitar Playing
Hawaiian Style: Ki Ho`alu An Instructional Method for Slack Key Volume
One.
Now a "best seller" with Mel Bay Publishing, Inc., hundreds of
individuals have gotten a start playing slack key through this
resource. “I wanted to share my
teaching
method and used the hints for playing sections to be my voice. I am
still amazed at how it is still being used after
so many
years and it's a reassurance that I was on the right track,” says
Ozzie.
“Recently I have really focused on passing on the
tradition and
helping others learn songs and techniques. It's all about
showing how
unique slack key really is. ”
Recording Artist:
Ozzie's first experience in the studio
was as a back-up guitarist in a band for his teacher Sonny
Chillingworth on the
album Sonny, released in 1977. He recorded his first solo album, Classical Slack, in 1988. He followed up
his debut album with Kani Ki
Ho`alu
(The Sound of Slack Key) in 1995, E
Ho`ohiwahiwa
I
Ka Mo`i Wahine, To
Honor a Queen:
The Music of Lili`uokalani in
2002, and Paka
Ua (Raindrops) in 2005.
He has collaborated with Stanford
University Chair of Music Stephen
Sano
on two
recordings: A Taro Patch Christmas (all
songs played in the Taro Patch Tuning) and Omoide: Remembrance (a collection of
Japanese and
Okinawan songs).
His studio work for Japanese recording
projects includes slack key guitarist Yuki Alani Yamauchi's Hawai`i
Aloha and vocalist/kumu hula
Sandii's Sandii's Hawai`i 2nd and Sandii's Hawaiian
Xmas.
Ozzie has also accompanied vocalists
Joanie Komatsu, Anjani Thomas, Cheryl Bartlett, and Teresa Bright on
selections
from their recordings and is featured on numerous compilation CDs
including
releases under Dancing Cat Records, Orange Tree
Productions, and
Windham Hill.
His work was most recently featured on
the past two Hawaiian Grammy Winning Albums
–
the 2006 Masters of Slack Key Live from the Ritz-Carlton
and the 2007 release Legends of Slack Key Live from the
Ritz-Carlton.
Performances and Concerts:
Kotani has performed on the Mainland,
Spain, and Japan, as well as all around the Hawaiian Islands. He
performed the
first all instrumental solo concert at Stanford University in 1997. Ozzie continues to concertize his most
recent outings being
at Stanford University, the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua and the Atherton
Theatre at
Hawaii Public Radio.
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