Herb Ohta

Herb Ohta aka Ohta-san is an American Ukulele player born in 1934 in Hawaii who has recorded solo, as a group and with Andre Popp on the A&M Records label, which was co-owned by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. He is also known as "Ohta-san" in Japan and other Asian countries, which is a title of respect for the musician.

Biography Ohta was a boy when he was taught his first three chords on the ukulele by his mother. He entered an amateur contest at age 9 and won the $10 first prize. Three years later he met Eddie Kamae on the beach, at the time considered the best ukulele player in the world, and became his student. He graduated from Saint Louis School and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

He enlisted in the US Marine Corps and served ten years from 1953 to 1963. While stationed in Japan as an interpreter, Ohta made his first recordings and played a number of events. He was a guest on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1955.

Among Ohta-san's students was Roy Sakuma, who founded the Annual Hawaiian Ukulele Festival.

The first collaboration for Herb Ohta and Andre Popp was released in the US by A&M Records. The album entitled "Song For Anna", was released in 1973 and sold more than 6 million copies internationally. The ukulele became a blended and solo voice with the orchestrations that appealed to the romantic side of music. The album was followed by another titled "Feelings" in 1975. He has recorded numerous albums from traditional Hawaiian to Classical, Pop and other genres.

In 2001, Herb Ohta joined forces with Lyle Ritz and released an album titled Night of Ukulele Jazz Live at McCabe's. The two were considered top performers, but had managed to miss each other for decades, though both were familiar with the other's works. Both played Martin Ukuleles for the recording, Ohta playing a standard size, and Ritz a tenor, which he switched off with a tenor Ko'olau.

Discography Soul Time in Hawaii, 1966 Ohta-San's New Thing, 1968 Ohta-San's Pacific Potpourri, 1970 Song For Anna, 1973 - AUS #55 Feelings, 1975 The Wonderful World of the Ukulele, JVC, 2000 Night of Ukulele Jazz Live at McCabe's (Lyle Ritz & Herb Ohta), 2001 Bodysurfing, Roy Sakuma Productions, 2004 ASIN: B000GAPM52 Cool Touch- Ohta-San "Herb Ohta" Melodies Vol. 2 Bach: Ukulele Bach, 2010 Ukulele Legacy - Herb Ohta,Jr. & Ohta-San, 2012 The Strains of the Ohta-san's Ukulele SIDE A, 2015 The Strains of the Ohta-san's Ukulele SIDE B, 2015 Herb Ohta with Friends Images of Hawaii Vol. 1, 2015 Herb Ohta with Friends Images of Hawaii Vol. 2, 2015