Who da Guy? - by S. Au

A tourist wrote, “I never thought I would be so fortunate to run across such a musical find just from taking a stroll in busy-busy Oahu. Thank-you for opening my eyes and ears and heart and mind and soul. I've already purchased a couple of copies of Ukulele Jazz for my loved ones back home in the DC area. I hope that this album will not only inspire other artists to follow your genius, precision and sheer amazement, but that the world of jazz will remember to look in the Land of Paradise for yet another answer to what music is all about.” …Sort of sums it up Benny Chong doesn't it?

Ben Chong is a product of our public school system, Kailua to be exact. In fact, I ran across a guy at who knew Benny in high school. He shared that you would never see Benny anywhere without his ‘ukulele. I don't know what kind of student he was but I can tell you this guy has Smarts. Without the benefit music theory, he discovered chord patterns, inversions, scales and most impressive of all his unique Ben Chong Spread Chord Grips to get just the perfect voicing. As a youngster he would try to move different notes of a chord to different positions on the fretboard to get just the right sound. Being small (I can't imagine him small) he couldn't reach certain spreads so he would take a pencil in his mouth to press notes he could reach. All this he did on his own…that's the kind of Smarts he possesses. As he got older, he was involved with musical groups playing both the guitar and ‘ukulele. He even did vocal arrangement for the nationally known Ali'is. They had such sweet harmonies and Benny had a lot to do with their distinctive sound. What he would do is play the song on his ‘ukulele as a chord melody and assign each note of the chord to a vocalist to achieve that tight harmonic sound. He's a genius!

Ben has been surrounded by music all his life. Many of his relatives are professional musicians, his father-in-law wrote musical scores for famous Hollywood movies, his closest friends are musicians. However, don't get the impression that he is a one dimensional guy. He has a keen “tako eye” and quite the fisherman. Want to talk This Old House type skills? He has it all. He has even built himself a Hana Lima kine tenor uke...well almost. He still has to glue on his bridge. Next time you see him ask him if he's glued on his bridge yet. If enough people ask, he might actually get around to doing it.

In spite of all his talent and skills, if you ask him what he is proudest of and cherish the most in life, he will say without hesitation his family. Not only does he end his phone calls with his beautiful daughters with, “I love you.” he does it very comfortably with his adult son as well. He is class personified.

What that tourist was referring to in the open paragraph was Benny's new CD, ‘Ukulele Jazz. If you haven't heard it yet, do yourself a favor. You'll then understand why the tourist said what he did. To hear a sampling, visit www.ukulelejazz.com .

As a closing note, if you ever want to suck up to him to get a few hints just buy him some roast pork from Nam Fong in China Town. He can't resist the stuff.