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home | buy ukulelia stuff | gary | email gary | suggestions | email craig | rss feed Saturday, February 28, 2004George Kia Genealogy Pages I recently stumbled across this wonderful site that Vicki DeLeo has built that includes some interesting information about her great-grandfather, George Kia Nahaolelua, one of the pioneering Hawaiians that introduced the 'ukulele to the mainland. Vicki has one page devoted to her great-grandparents, and one specifically to George Kia. Many of the images on Vicki's site are fairly high res images. Ukulelia readers will find the early (1907) ad of particular historical intererest.If you have family from Hawaii, be sure to check out her genealogy information; she's looking for help in filling in some pieces to the puzzle. (Mahalo, Vicki!) Discuss posted by Gary at 4:17 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Friday, February 27, 2004Free Hawaiian and Uke Borders Niele Hawaiian Girl Graphics has a whole slew of tropical-themed graphics for use on your personal web site. There are some nice 'ukulele-themed borders here. (Beware the pop-ups) Linkposted by Gary at 5:55 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Thursday, February 19, 2004Elmo Aardvark Perhaps some kind Ukulelia reader will clue me in, but I have no clue what this is all about. An apocryphal animated aardvark? In any event the music is swell. "Wild cartoon music for very smart eccentrics, written and produced by legendary Disney voice actor/composer Will Ryan." Check out some of the guest stars:. . . Elmo Aardvark himself, in thrilling vocal gymnastics, mind-boggling Gleehorn stylings and breath-taking prestidigital synchopations personally performed upon the legendary Kokomo Ukulele!There are three related CDs, including this one and this other one. As a tuba player, I especially like "The Moonlight, a Tuba and You". Link Discuss posted by Gary at 7:19 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! The Mysterious Heftones  Meet the Heftones, two bands in one--and more! There's The Fabulous Heftones, a Tin Pan Alley/Cliff Edwardseque duo and The Heftone Banjo Orchestra (featuring banjo ukes, natch, but with a suspiciously "cloned" look to the personnel...). And then (somewhat off topic, I'll admit, the Heftone String Bass. Actually a bass banjo. Weird, but it sounds cool.) Link Discussposted by Gary at 7:06 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! What is a Ukulele? Is it "the most unthreatening thing you can make out of wood"? "The puppy of the stringed instrument world"? Or "the king of the instruments"? Here's what Google thinks. Link Discussposted by Gary at 11:09 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Thorsten Hasenkamm's "Ukulele Girl" prints for sale  Illustrator Thorsten Hasenkamm is selling prints of this great acrylic painting of a Polynesian beauty plucking her ukulele. Linkposted by Mark Frauenfelder at 9:36 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Wednesday, February 18, 2004Backstory: Somewhere Over the Rainbow Here the fascinating backstory about how Buddah Iz recorded his now-famous version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World." Link Discussposted by Gary at 6:45 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Esera Tuaolo  Esera Tualo is a former professional football player from Hawaii. He's also a courageously out gay man with a beautiful family. Not to mention a talented musician. You may have seen him playing the ukulele in a recent TV commercial for Chili's Restaurant. Here's a link to Esera's website where you can download the commercial. Link Discussposted by Gary at 5:31 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Uke player needed in DC area William Goldman says: "We recently received a call from a client requesting a solo uke player for a 2-3 hr. house party event in the DC area (background music). It's either in March or April. Would youmind posting a notice on your home page with my contact info? Thanks." William Goldman
posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 7:59 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Tuesday, February 17, 2004Uke Fest West! At last, full information has been posted for Uke Fest West:""Uke Fest West" will be held in Santa Cruz, California, April 22nd, 23rd and 24th. This event is being planned, developed and presented through a collaboration of the Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz and The Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum. And is set to make a full weekend out of the Hayward Ukulele Festival which is on Sunday the 25th."You won't believe the amazing talent line up: Bill Tapia, Bryan Tolentino, Byron Yasui, Carmaig de Forest, Dan "Cool hand Uke" Scanlan, Daniel Ho (and special guest), Hiram Bell, Ian Whitcomb, James Hill, Janet Klein, "Jumpin" Jim Beloff, Joel "Ukulele Eck" Eckhaus, John King, Ka Ehu Kai, King Kukulele, Larry D, Lyle Ritz, Michelle "ukulele Lady" Kiba, Milan Nicksic, Oliver Brown, Ralph "King of the Ukulele" Shaw, Tiki King, Ukulele Dick, Tom "The Ukulele Man" Harker, Waste Of Aces.Altogether, 4 days of ukulele heaven! Oh, boy! Drop everything you're doing, call in sick, and head for Santa Cruz! Complete information is here at this link. Discuss posted by Gary at 6:45 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Elvis Costello at Grammys  Well, now you can add Elvis Costello to your list of rockers who are strumming. Here's a photo of Elvis performing "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" as part of the tribute to Sting as MusiCares Person of the Year presentation. There's a series of EC pix at the following link, but a subscription is required to download them. Anyone know what make uke Elvis is playing? Link Discussposted by Gary at 6:24 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Uke Players Win Grammys  Folk singer, music educator, and uke player Ella Jenkins won the 2004 Lifetime Acheivement Award at this year's Grammy's. Here's an article written by Cathy Fink, one half of a duo including Marcy Marxer. Marcy has produced the popular "Ukulele for Kids" video series (you'll find a link to the tapes in the blue column to the right). Cathy and Marcy also won a Grammy this year for Best Musical Album for Children, "Bon Appétit!"
Link Discuss posted by Gary at 6:14 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Monday, February 16, 2004Melody and Chord arrangements for four songs, including Shiny Stockings Here are uke arrangements for four songs: A Night in Tunisia, Joy Spring, Midnight Cafe, and Shiny StockingsLink posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 2:33 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Sunday, February 15, 2004Beautiful "Sputnik" uke What's not to love about the concert-sized Sputnik ukulele? It's made by Earnest Instruments, so you know its top quality. (The guy who made them studied under Roy Smeck). It has a pickup, so you can plug it into an amp. I promised myself I wouldn't by anymore ukes -- I alread have four. Looks like I might have to break that promise. Linkposted by Mark Frauenfelder at 8:51 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Friday, February 13, 2004Sweetheart Songs What songs will you be stumming for your sweetie on Valentine's Day? Check in at the uketalk forum (above). Kiss and tell!posted by Gary at 6:14 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Happy Valentine's Day!  I heard through the grapevine that Elderly Instruments is seeing an uptick in ukulele sales in advance of Valentine's Day. Which is, of course, only natural. So, on behalf of Mark and our respective families, I wish you and yours a very happy Valentine's Day. (If my wife would play it, I'd get her one of Joseph Todaro's lovely "Sweetheart Ukuleles"!) Link Discussposted by Gary at 1:40 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Thursday, February 12, 2004Serious Ukuleles The Big Muffin Serious Band and the Serious Ukulele Ensemble are producers of quality ukulele music from the Waikato region of New Zealand."'We live in a world where all of the major earth shattering challenges have been faced and met. Everest has been conquered, the moon reached, the four minute mile left in tatters and the Pacific Ocean crossed solo by a man in a chilly bin lid. Given that there just isn't anything left for the rest of us to attempt, we've been forced to downsize and make more personal versions of these mammoth and unlikely tasks, to seek less obvious rewards. The challenge of making complex and listenable music with just 1.5m of nylon strings, 550 grammes of wood and glue and a musical scale of one-a-half octaves may not be dangerous or earth-shattering but it is just as unlikely."Some funny blokes with some seriously good music. Enjoy. Link Discuss posted by Gary at 7:16 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Wednesday, February 11, 2004Kiwi Kids to Get Ukes Article today (actually, it's tomorrow there!) in The New Zealand Herald about legendary steel guitar player Bill Sevesi's plan to make the uke a mainstay in local school music programs. Ukulelia Publisher Mark Frauenfelder lived in NZ with his family for a while last year. Coincidence? Link Discussposted by Gary at 6:38 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Bill Tapia at the Royal Hawaiian  Great article from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin about Bill's attendance at the recent Royal Hawaiian Hotel's anniversary."Already a musician with several professional years under his belt, Bill Tapia was 19 and playing banjo with Johnny Noble's band at the grand opening of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel three-quarters of a century ago. Friday, he was an honored guest at the hotel's birthday bash."Link Discuss posted by Gary at 6:29 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! San Francisco uke band: joe schmoe "Anchored by two ukuleles and a 70's-era analog synth, Joe Schmoe can maybe perhaps be somewhat arguably characterized as Ed's Redeeming Qualities meets The Velvet Underground, gets They Might Be Giants as its thesis advisor, and then borrows money from Flanders and Swann." With MP3s Linkposted by Mark Frauenfelder at 9:35 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Tuesday, February 10, 2004Win a Fluke from CBS! To promote its upcoming TV movie, "Raising Waylon," CBS is giving away actor Thomas Gibson's autographed Mookulele. (Gibson is perhaps best known as Greg in "Dharma & Greg.""In RAISING WAYLON, Thomas Gibson's character, Reg, plays the ukulele, and Gibson himself played while he relaxed on the set. He owns three of his own, all made by Jim Beloff at Flea Market Music and The Magic Fluke Company. "Enter here. Discuss posted by Gary at 5:41 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! John King's New CD  John King has released "Royal Hawaiian Music", featuring the compositions of King Kalakaua, Queen Liliuokalani, Princess Likelike, Prince Leleiohoku, Captain Henri Berger, and others. Here's an excerpt from the liner notes:
Link Discuss posted by Gary at 1:12 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! The Scholarly 'Uke  John King and Jim Tranquada's article "A New History of the Origins and Development of the ‘Ukulele, 1838–1915" was published in The Hawaiian Journal of History, Volume 37 (2003). You can order the issue at the Hawaiian Historical Society's site here. Discussposted by Gary at 1:05 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Monday, February 09, 2004"Two Ton" Tessie O'Shea From the BBC, here's a video clip of Tessie O'Shea singing her signature tune and playing the banjo uke. Link Discussposted by Gary at 12:50 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Friday, February 06, 2004Ukulele Man! Meet Tom Harker, aka Ukulele Man. Some fun tunes here. I especially like "Pee Wee, Where Have You Gone?" Did somebody say "wish"? Link Discussposted by Gary at 2:08 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Jake Pitches Hawaii in Japan  Jake Shimabukaro is the new spokesman in the Hawaii Visitors Bureau's highly successful campaign to attract visitors from Japan. Here is a link to the Bureau's Japanese site, but the pix of Jake and his custom Kamaka Tenor require no translation. There's a short Quicktime movie in English on this page, and more Jake at the My Favorite Hawaii section Link Discussposted by Gary at 10:16 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Wednesday, February 04, 2004Uke Trek! Vaughn Armstrong, the only actor who has played 11 characters in the StarTrek series, is also a ukulele player, and performs regularly at fan conventions. And that's probably him playing the sound clip on his site. Here is a link to a fan site with pix of him playing the banjo uke. Link Discuss posted by Gary at 7:02 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! BBC report on uke fever Tony Penultimate of the Ukulele Orchestra in England sez: "There was a feature on the Today programme (BBC Radio) about growing interest in the uke here and in the States."It has been said ... that the ukulele is a sort of bull s**t detector, in that it will find out whether a tune is worth its salt or not. If you can play it on the ukulele then it's a good tune. The site has a link to a RealAudio stream of the report. Link Discuss posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:47 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Tuesday, February 03, 2004Joe Brown's "I'll See You In My Dreams" Dominic "Dominator" Pieranunzio has worked out an arrangement based on the "Concert for George" DVD. Can't wait to try it. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for this and other great ukulele tabs. Link Discussposted by Gary at 5:57 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Pohaku Ukuleles Pohaku Ukuleles in Berkeley, CA sells new and used ukuleles. I especially like the Betty Boop uke they sell. It makes me want to paint my ukes. Linkposted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:06 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! March 2004 Acoustic Guitar Magazine Ukemeister Jim Beloff wrote to let us know that:"...there is a really nice. featurette by Michael Simmons on the uke in the current March issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine. The piece is called "Forever Uke" and is a review of the new edition of my history book plus a look at some of the latest uke stars including Daniel Ho, Jake S. and Petty Booka."As of this post, there is no link to the article online, and Jim pointed out that our earlier post (below) actually links to the much earlier, 1998 article. If and when the article is posted online, we'll blog it. In the meantime, I guess you'll have to brave the weather and go out and pick up the dead tree edition. Link Discuss posted by Gary at 9:12 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Monday, February 02, 2004Mystery Bob's Ukulele Singers "A story of toil, tragedy, suffering, sacrifice and ice cream." A legend, or a band? Who knows? But the downloads are cool. Link Discussposted by Gary at 6:29 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! uke uke a go! go! For your happy uke life! Lots of unique ukes from the Japanese uke scene. Are you ready to rock? Link Discussposted by Gary at 5:56 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Tiny Ukers  Bill Robertson's delightful collection of animated gifs of your favorite ukers will be found under the RTU Extras section of the "Rock That Uke" site.Please note: Bill kindly requests that you not create links directly to the images on the site: "If you would like to use any of these graphics, please feel free to do so, but help us out by capturing and storing them on your own FTP space rather than directly linking to the image here. The Tiny Ukers' diminutive size makes them perfect for forum IDs and because their KBs are small, it seems like a harmless drain. But the Tiny Ukers' popularity since being uploaded has been stunning, and the effect, data transfer-wise, has been not unlike a ferocious and devastating stampede of lemmings. Ah, the awesome power of the tiny!"Mesmerizing! Link Discuss posted by Gary at 2:45 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
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UKE MUSIC BOOKS Ian Whitcomb Songbook Arranged for Ukulele and Easy Keyboard
Jumpin' Jim's Ukulele Tips 'n' Tunes Jumpin' Jim's Ukulele Favorites Jumpin' Jim's Ukulele Beach Party Jumpin' Jim's Ukulele Masters: Lyle Ritz Jumpin' Jim's Ukulele Masters: Lyle Ritz Solos : 15 Chord Solos Arranged by the Ukulele Jazz Master Jumpin' Jim's Ukulele Masters: Herb Ohta Jiminy Kokopo's Ukulele Sing and Strum Fun Book UKE HISTORY BOOKS The Ukulele: A Visual History, by Jim Beloff UKE VIDEOS Bob Brosman's Ukulele Tunes and Techniques: Hawiian and American Styles UKE CDS Cliff Edwards: Singin' in the Rain FAVORITE UKE SITES UKE DISCUSSION BOARDS UKULELE SOFTWARE UKULELE MAKERS UKULELE INFORMATION UKULELE DEALERS UKULELE INSTRUCTION UKULELE PEOPLE UKULELE MUSIC AND HAWAIIANA |
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