Ozzie Kotani is a slack-key guitar player and a well-respected teacher, arranger, solo performer and accompanist.
Dancing Cat Bio Kotani was born in 1956 in Honolulu, Hawaii in the neighborhood of Pauoa. He learned how to play the 'ukulele in fourth grade, but his interest in kī hō‘alu, or Hawaiian

slack key guitar Slack-key guitar (from Hawaiian ''kī hōalu'', which means "loosen the uningkey") is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii after Portuguese cowboys introduced Spanish guitars there in the late 19th century. The Hawaiia ...

, was sparked in high school when he heard

Keola Beamer Keola Beamer (born Keolamaikalani Breckenridge Beamer February 18, 1951) is a Hawaiian slack-key guitar player, best known as the composer of "Honolulu City Lights" and an innovative musician who fused Hawaiian roots and contemporary music. Keola ...

on the radio. In 1975, Kotani enrolled in Peter Medeiros' slack key guitar class at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

Continuing Education program. In 1976, Kotani began to study privately with slack key legend

Sonny Chillingworth Edwin Bradfield Liloa Chillingworth, Jr., known as Sonny Chillingworth, (July 14, 1932 – August 24, 1994) was an American guitarist and singer. Widely influential in Hawaiian music, he played slack-key guitar and is widely regarded as one of the ...

. Kotani returned to the University of Hawai'i program in 1986 to teach and pass on his knowledge of the Hawaiian slack key style to others. Kotani recorded his first album, ''Classical Slack'', in 1988. Kotani followed up his debut with ''Kani Kī hō‘alu'' in 1995, ''To Honor a Queen: The Music of Lili'uokalani'' in 2002, ''Paka Ua (Raindrops)'' in 2005, and ''Hō'ihi (Respect)'' in 2008. Teaming with Dennis Ladd in 2000, Kotani published his first instruction book on slack key guitar titled ''Guitar Playing Hawaiian Style: Kī Hō‘alu, An Instrumental Method For Slack Key Volume One''. He followed up in 2007 with an instructional DVD titled ''Guitar Playing Hawaiian Style with Ozzie Kotani: Kī Hō‘alu Vol. 1'' and in 2009 with ''Guitar Playing Hawaiian Style with Ozzie Kotani: Kī Hō‘alu Vol. 2''. Kotani is known for his use of the nylon string guitar, a vocalizing approach to ballads, his use of atypical chord progressions, rolls played with the thumb and three fingers and a stand-up bass-type sound on the low strings on the first and third beats of the measure. Ozzie also taught private lessons during the 2000s and worked at the Bishop Museum. For Steel String guitars, Ozzie uses a vintage Martin, and a Presentation series Taylor guitar.

Notes

External links

Kihoalu.org Artist Profile

Ozzie's DVD Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotani, Ozzie Slack-key guitarists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)