Benny Chong
The ʻukulele was Benny Chong's first instrument, and his love of jazz — which began in the 1950s — led him to develop an unprecedented playing style. After a long career playing guitar and acting as Don Ho's musical director, Chong returned to the ʻukulele. His appearance on the Hawaiʻi Public Television special "The Art of Solo Ukulele" brought him immediate recognition as a jazz ʻukulele virtuoso and led to a concert tour and CD. More recordings soon followed, including the Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning ʻUkulele Jazz (Live in Concert, Hilo Hawaiʻi). Benny Chong's unique jazz stylings on the ʻukulele have captivated audiences and stunned and inspired ʻukulele players around the world.
Benny Chong grew up surrounded by music. As a small child he drifted to sleep listening to Hawaiian music drifting over from the hotel next door. When Benny was ten, his parents gave him a ʻukulele. He learned the basics on the beach in Kailua, watching older boys pass an instrument around and asking endless questions. As a teenager he spent hours with records by jazz giants — but it was his uncles' suggestion to listen to Lyle Ritz's How About Uke? that changed everything. Chong taught himself to play every song on the album note for note.
Chong's first paying gig came at fifteen, playing ʻukulele with a small trio. He soon shifted to bass, then taught himself guitar from an instruction book, drawing on his ʻukulele foundation. After graduating from Kailua High School in 1961, he and four musician friends enlisted together in the Air Force, where they formed a group called the Aliis and were assigned to special services duty. They spent their enlistment playing at officers' clubs across the country, and along the way Chong appeared on Arthur Godfrey's television program, even getting to play the Godfreyʻs own instrument.
When their service ended in 1964, Don Ho invited the Aliis to join his show — and they accepted. The result was one of the most successful Waikiki showbands of the era, blending Hawaiian music, pop, and light rock with comedy and audience participation. The Aliis eventually struck out on their own and performed to enthusiastic audiences for twenty years before disbanding. Even while playing professionally as a guitarist, Chong continued to map the 'ukulele fingerboard on his own and experiment with harmonic intervals far apart on the fretboard, often requiring the unorthodox use of his left thumb. After his career with the Aliis, Chong became known as full-time 'ukulele artist beginning with a 1999 reunion gig with Don Ho in Honolulu. His improvisational skills, profound understanding of the harmonic structure of a song and ability to play unexpected chord progressions without sacrificing the original melody sent jaws dropping.
A turning point came in 2000, when Chong was asked to join the concert series "The Art of Solo Ukulele" — stepping in at the personal request of Lyle Ritz, the very player who had inspired him decades earlier. Performing alongside Jake Shimabukuro, Byron Yasui, and Gordon Mark, Chong toured the Hawaiian Islands and appeared in the television broadcast of the series. The experience deepened his friendship with Yasui, a gifted player and Professor of Music at the University of Hawaiʻi, who helped Chong develop his knowledge of standard notation and formal harmony. The two have been playing jazz together ever since.
In 2005 Chong established himself as a solo artist for the first time in his career with the release of his first full-length CD, Jazz Ukulele, to much acclaim in 2005. In 2012 he won a Hoku award for Jazz Album of the Year for his CD, “Ukulele Jazz: Live in Concert at Hilo, Hawaii.” Byron Yasui accompanied him on bass on the album. Fittingly, Byron And Benny were inducted into the ʻUkulele Hall of Fame together on June 12th, 2026, at the International ʻUkulele Festival of Hawaiʻi.