Ozzie Kotani

Ozzie Kotani, a guitarist and slack-key guitar player, was born in 1956 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He began playing the ukulele in fourth grade but developed an interest in kī hō‘alu, or Hawaiian slack key guitar, during high school after hearing Keola Beamer on the radio. In 1975, Kotani enrolled in Peter Medeiros' slack key guitar class at the University of Hawaii Continuing Education program and later studied privately with Sonny Chillingworth. He returned to teach at the university in 1986. His debut album Classical Slack was released in 1988, followed by Kani Ki Ho'alu in 1995. Kotani is known for his use of nylon string guitars and a distinctive playing style that includes atypical chord progressions and thumb rolls.

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