Entrevistas

1. Living in Hawaii after Pearl Harbor

2. Mother taught him how to play the ukulele

3. Inspired to play ukulele after hearing Eddie Kamae

4. How he got on the All-Navy show on Ed Sullivan

5. Friend convinced him to make a record

6. Number 1 Hit "Sushi"

7. Playing 3 shows a night in Waikiki

8. "Song for Anna"

9. Performing in Japan

Ohta,Herb

(n. 1934) Tocador de Ukulele do Havaí

Inspired to play ukulele after hearing Eddie Kamae

Then I met Eddie Kamae when I was twelve years old. He was like late teens, like about nineteen. And the amazing thing is, he played for me in this coffee shop, and I was shocked that the ukulele could sound that good. To play all that…those intricate and difficult thing.

He did a lot of things, like playing double picking. [plays ukulele] So I bugged him every weekend, after we were there, didn’t have school, to play for me. He didn’t actually say, do this, do that, do this. You know, he played for me, and by watching, I learned more.

All these things, he started, like Latin music. [plays ukulele]

So in the end, I ended up sounding like him, you know, his style. He told me, you better find your own way of playing, you know, style, because copying somebody isn’t such a great thing, you know. But like anything else, you have to do that in the beginning, I guess. Copy somebody, you know, who you admire or something.

So he took me under his, you know, under his arm, and he really gave me a chance to learn, you know.

Havaí música instrumentos musicais músicos ukulele Estados Unidos da América

Data: August 2012

Localização Geográfica: Hawai`i, US

Entrevistado: John Esaki

País: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Entrevistados

78 anos de idade, Herb Ohta é conhecido pelos fãs de ukulele no Japão e em todo o mundo como "Ohta-san". Ohta-san é um tocador mestre de ukulele que aprendeu a tocar o instrumento com sua mãe no período pré-Segunda Guerra Mundial, em Honolulu. Ele desempenhou um papel importante na popularização do ukulele nas décadas de 60 e 70, ampliando o repertório do instrumento para além de canções havaianas, incluindo pop internacional e jazz. Em sua entrevista, Ohta-san vividamente demonstra sua revolução estilística tocando trechos de músicas que foram importantes para sua carreira. (Junho de 2014)