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home | buy ukulelia stuff | gary | email gary | suggestions | email craig | rss feed Friday, December 31, 2004Happy Birthday, Tappy! We wish Bill Tapia a very, very happy birthday tomorrow (January 1, 2005): 97 years of proof that playing the uke makes you handsome, charming, and enduring.Much aloha to you, Bill! Link posted by Gary at 1:34 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Frisky Frolics Our latest find, courtesy of a review of a documentary film about the band in the East Bay Express. From the band's official bio:"The Frisky Frolics are a wily 5-piece, ukulele-driven outfit specializing in long-forgotten musical gems of the 1920-30’s. These self-described Tin Pan Alley Troubadours have lovingly mined through their 78 record collections and come up with a lively and varied set of songs, combining favorite familiar standards such as 'Louise' and 'Paper Moon', with obscure and novelty numbers like, 'Cake Eatin’ Man' and 'I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate'.Link posted by Gary at 1:07 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! And While We're Singing "Happy Birthday"... Happy 3rd B-day to these dudes.posted by Gary at 12:42 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Thursday, December 30, 2004News From the North Manitoba Hal sez:"Hi everyone!Link posted by Gary at 12:06 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Sweet Mama "T" Looks like Janet Klein might have some friendly East Coast competition. Meet Sweet Mama "T", aka Lauren Thompson. She and her Red Hot Sugar Babies are appearing tonight, December 30, 2004, at Tressa's Downtown Jazz and Blues in Asheville, NC. (Btw, one of the aforementioned Sugar Babies is noneother than Lin Llewellyn of Hula Cats fame.) Link posted by Gary at 11:47 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Monday, December 27, 2004What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? Playing and singing this Frank Loesser classic, perhaps?posted by Gary at 4:18 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Friday, December 24, 2004Merry Christmas! All of us here at Ukulelia wish you and your family the merriest of Christmasses. We hope that Santa drops a new uke in your stocking tonight...or at least a pitchpipe or new set of strings!If you're playing Santa this year, please be sure to let your uke-gift-recipient know about Ukulelia and the wealth of information about ukuleles freely-available on the Web. To quote the original Tiny Tim, "God bless us, every one". Peace, Mark Frauenfelder and Gary Peare posted by Gary at 11:46 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Thursday, December 23, 2004Ukulele Poo Na Na Manitoba Hal sez:"This will be the site of all the updates for the upcoming Great Canadian Ukulele Expo 2005 May 7, 2005. I will be posting new information about the expo, info about the ukulele circles at Sled Dog Music and notices about upcoming ukulele events in the Winnipeg area. Uke on everybody!"Link posted by Gary at 5:11 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Ukulele Disco Holiday Show Update Uke Jackson sez:"just thought to let you know that, while last night's streaming was a bust, jason tagg has posted clips from the midnight ukulele disco tv show on line... posted by Gary at 5:05 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Non-Profit Seeks Uke Donation Attention Colorado ukers: Spellbinders, a non-profit storytelling organization, is seeking the donation of ukulele this holiday season. Now you have an excuse to buy another one! Contact Al Dietsch locally at 922-1444 or via email. Linkposted by Gary at 9:59 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Tuesday, December 21, 2004Christmas Ukulele Disco Sonic Uker Jason sez:Link posted by Gary at 1:53 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Tim's 'Tonight' Nuptials Oops, we missed the 35th anniversary of Tiny Tim and Miss Vicki's wedding on the Tonight Show (December 17th)... Linkposted by Gary at 10:32 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Monday, December 20, 2004"Grow Old With You" One of the Web's best places to find uke arrangements, Ukulele Boogaloo has a nice version of Adam Sandler's "Grow Old With You" from "The Wedding Singer." LinkAlso, only one day left to enter the Uke Boog Sweepstakes! posted by Gary at 5:24 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Bill Robertson's Wife in the News "The Rock" behind "Rock that Uke": nice profile of Bill Robertson's wife, Claire Pomeroy, Dean of the UC Davis Medical School, in the Sacramento Bee today. Linkposted by Gary at 4:49 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Saturday, December 18, 2004Big Ed's Band Foundation![]() ![]() At 6' 3'' and 345 lbs., Edwin Mulitalo may literally be the biggest thing in ukedom since Bruddah Iz. The uke-playing Baltimore Ravens guard established Big Ed's Band Foundation, which supports instrumental music programs in the Baltimore area. Next Tuesday, Ed will be a guest performer at Dunbar High School's Annual Christmas Concert:
Be sure to check out the Photo section of the foundation's site for pix of Ed and his intrument of choice. Link posted by Gary at 10:58 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Friday, December 17, 2004Kalaka Ensemble This morning's amazing find? A Hungarian band with a serendipitously Hawaiian-sounding name. The Kalaka Ensemble sets poetry (by Hungarian poets as well as others) to folk arrangements. One of their records, Ukulele, has as its title track, a setting of the poem by Tibor Simko. (Although, what I'd like to learn is Hol a Nadragom?.) Link posted by Gary at 9:22 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Tuesday, December 14, 2004Uke Jackson and Friends Webcast Uke Jackson sez:
posted by Gary at 9:50 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Monday, December 13, 2004Amber Nash Amber Nash, a uke musician, has a new site, with music and photos. Link posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 2:54 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! John King - Profile Bananaslug served up this nice little profile of classical uke virtuosos John King today. Linkposted by Gary at 12:50 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Saturday, December 11, 2004$22 Uke Kit Make a uke from this $22 kit. I might get one of these and give it a custom paint job. Link (Thanks, David!)UPDATE: Once you buy your kit, be sure to check out Dom's experience building his here. posted by Mark Frauenfelder at 10:12 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Friday, December 10, 2004Hanapepe Dream Taj Mahal has been touring around with his Hula Blues Band in support of his CD Hanapepe Dream. "All-Acoustic String Band Sound Features Taj's Signature Slack-Key Blend of the Blues and Pacific-Caribbean-Island music. The American release of Hanapepe Dream offers bonus video footage including live performances of The Calypsonians and The New Hula Blues. Stereophile wrote, "Taj Mahal's genius is in seeing the unlikely connections between disparate genres, and on My Creole Belle he seamlessly adapts Mississippi Hurt's country blues to a ukulele arrangement. The beautiful melody has a swaying, antique character in this ingenious setting.Check out the track samples at this link, especially Jimi's Along the Watchtower and Hurt's My Creole Belle. The latter seems to be Hurt's arrangement of this tune (chorus with lyrics is on index page 7). posted by Gary at 3:58 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Thursday, December 09, 2004Baby, It's Cold Outside In the charming holiday move Elf, ukulele sweetheart Zooey Deschanel croons "Baby, It's Cold Outside," which prompted me to think that this would make a swell uke duet. Here come the lyrics and chords. Linkposted by Gary at 2:56 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Mayes Ukes Check out the inventive (and patent pending!) compensated saddle on John Mayes's ukuleles. "The C, E, and A strings resting on a fully angled/compensated saddle the intonation will be spot on, but here is the best aspect. The G string will rest on either a forward or rear positioned, user moveable, small saddle to allow for correctly intonated high and low g tunings on one instrument. And since I’ve filed for a provisional patent you can only find this saddle design on Mayes Ukuleles. Now you can switch between high and low G tunings without sacrificing intonation."You have to look closely at the Features page on John's site to see how this works, but what an elegant solution! Tune it or die! Link posted by Gary at 2:33 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Tuesday, December 07, 2004Seven Degrees of Bill Robertson I'm a big fan of the Coen Brothers' and Sam Raimi's films. We were watching Miller's Crossing last night and as the credits rolled I caught a familiar name: Rock That Uke Daddy Bill Robertson, who, it turns out, has done voice work for several Coen and Raimi films.Let's hope that Bill's paean to the uke inspires Joel and Ethan to do for the ukulele what they did for Old Timey music with O Brother...! posted by Gary at 9:26 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Monday, December 06, 2004Or Maybe They Were Smokin' Mistletoe... Ah, it seems Santa's elves may have been nipping the eggnog again this year. And what to our wondering eyes do appear, but these amazing, one-of-a-kind beauties:A Jack Skellington Nightmare Before Christmas Camp Uke from Dave TalsmaExcuse me. I've got to revise my letter to Santa... posted by Gary at 2:38 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Bernard Viguie The New Yorker recently profiled Israeli-Dutch singer and songwriter Keren Ann. Apparently several of her tracks feature ukulele backing (what The New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones calls "the least depressing instrument known to man") provided by Bernard Viguie. (About the only thing I've been able to learn about Bernard is that he is primarily a left-handed bass player.) You can hear a brief clip of his playing on Spanish Song Bird on Keren Ann's CD Not Going Anywhere. If you know any more about Bernard, please drop me an email.posted by Gary at 2:20 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Petty Booka Tonight (12/6/04) If you're in or around the San Francisco Bay area, tonight is your last chance to catch the Petty Booka Christmas Show. The Japanese Uke-Pop duo will be appearing at Biscuits and Blues at 8:30. Old Puppy opens. Link (Thanks, Otto!)posted by Gary at 11:49 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Friday, December 03, 2004Jumpin' Flea Circus Players Here's a new uke club in Los Angeles that I know nothing about other than that they've got a great logo. (Of course, as a circus guy, I may be a bit biased...) Link posted by Gary at 9:33 AM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment!
Thursday, December 02, 2004Ukulele Christmas Music, 2004
If you know of any others, please drop me a note. Mele Kalikimaka! posted by Gary at 4:17 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! Stocking Stuff! Here's the perfect stocking stuffer for the Ukulele Ike fan on your "nice" list this year! Check out the whole line of Ukulele Ike Fan Club merch from the folks over at The 4th Peg. Link posted by Gary at 4:03 PM permalink 0 comments :: click here to comment! The Case for Holiday Generosity! Roy T. Cone is selling spiffy new uke cases on UkuleleWorld.com. Sez Roy:"Most uke cases look like they were designed by a Mortician. And the uke is a fun instrument and sticking it in a blaw looking case just don't seem right...."Shown at left is "The Islands" model. Also available is a blue denim model and the tres retro "Tin Pan Alley" model wrapped in hemp-colored canvas. All feature plush lining and would make a great holiday gift (no gift wrapping required!). Link (Scroll down) posted by Gary at 3:40 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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