John King
John King was the world's foremost classical ʻukulele virtuoso. Whether performing pieces written by J.S. Bach, Ernest Kaai, or John Philip Sousa, King's impeccable technique produced music from the ʻukulele the likes of which had never been heard before. King shared his music and technique through recordings, concerts, workshops, and collections of his arrangements. Additionally, John King was the world's most knowledgeable expert on ʻukulele history. His research on the instrument's roots in Madeira and its development in Hawaiʻi led to him authoring numerous scholarly works on the instrument, culminating in the definitive The ʻUkulele: A History, which he coauthored with Jim Tranquada.
John King was born in 1953 and became one of the most singular figures in ʻukulele history, combining world-class performance with deep scholarly research. His classical guitar training gave him the technical foundation to approach the ʻukulele as a serious concert instrument, and his performances demonstrated beyond any doubt that the ʻukulele was fully capable of rendering the complete classical repertoire with musical authority.
King's research into the ʻukulele's origins was meticulous and groundbreaking. He traced the instrument's roots from the Renaissance lute tradition through the Madeiran machete and into its transformation in Hawaiʻi, uncovering primary sources and making connections that had previously gone unnoticed. His work changed how scholars and enthusiasts understood the instrument's history and elevated the ʻukulele's status as a subject worthy of serious musicological study.
He shared his music and technique through recordings, concerts, and workshops, and produced collections of his arrangements that opened the classical repertoire to ʻukulele players everywhere. His arrangements of Bach, Sousa, and early Hawaiian masters gave players a path to the instrument's full expressive potential.
John King died in 2009 at the age of 55, but his recordings, arrangements, and research continue to influence the ʻukulele world profoundly. In 2012, two different books co-authored by King were published. The Martin Ukulele: The Little Instrument that Helped Create a Guitar Giant (Hal Leonard, 2012) was co-authored by Tom Walsh and tells the history of the ukuleles made by Martin Guitar Company. The other book, The ʻUkulele: A History (University of Hawaii Press, 2012), was co-authored by Jim Tranquada. It remains the definitive scholarly work on the ʻukulele.