A very good week for ukulele performances. I usually try to restrict myself to four or five videos. Couldn’t do it this week.

Jake Shimabukuro is to release a new EP entitled My Life. The tracklist includes Over The Rainbow, In My Life, Going to California and Time After Time. Via Honalulu Advertiser. Pre-order on Amazon. La Blogotheque has a series of beautifully shot videos Daniella ‘Rio En Medio‘ Stech-Homsy singing and ukeing in the streets of Paris. […]

The nominees for the Mercury Music Prize were announced yesterday and, despite the lack of ukuleles, it’s a strong line-up. It’s the only event in the year I gamble (and lose) on and this year my money is on Bat For Lashes. Playing the harpsichord riff on the uke demonstrates just how useful the re-entrant […]

Beirut – Elephant Gun (Chords) Elephant Gun was annoying to work out as the original version is played on a uke tuned a semitone sharp (g#C#FA#). I decided to notate the chords as if the uke was in standard C-tuning. If you want to play along and don’t want to re-tune or use a capo, […]

Korobeiniki/Tetris Theme Duet (pdf) MIDIs: Duet, Ukulele 1, Ukulele 2 I think it’s safe to say that I’ve listened to this tune more than any other over the course of my life. Yet I didn’t even know what it was called until I started researching for this post. The tune is variously called Korobeiniki, Korobeyniki, […]

Thieves of Kailua (mp3) On The Waikiki (mp3) via Mill Pond Records Thieves of Kailua MySpace It’s a typical English summer; I’m up to my elbows in flood water. At times like this I grab my ukulele, close my eyes, put on some suitably tropical music and imagine I’m sat on a Hawaiian beach. My […]

12th Street Rag (Tab 1) 12th Street Rag (MIDI) 12th Street Rag has long been a uke favourite and it seems to be very popular at the moment. Gary at Ukulelia wants to learn the Lightnin’ Wells version (above) and a number of people wanting a simpler version on Ukulele Cosmos. So I decided to […]

The week’s best uke videos after the cut.

LA Daily News talks to Jim Beloff and Dan Sawyer about the ukulele’s gaining popularity. Is this the earliest photo of an ukulele? It is according to this great article by John King. The photo was taken by Lewis Carroll and features Alice (of Wonderland fame), on the left, and her sisters holding machetes – […]

Uke Hunt is two months old today – still not in full control of its faculties and gurgling incoherently. Like most blogs, the only person reading it was its mum. So you may have missed some of the early posts. Here’s a rundown of the eleven (yes, eleven) most popular posts so far: Julien Doré […]