I, and many UK ukers, have been at a bit of a loss since the demise of The Ukulele Shop. But it looks like the Southern Ukulele Store is stocking up nicely with ukuleles from Kala, Ohana, Eleuke and Lanikai. Although the high end, Hawaiian makers obviously still don’t our funny foreign money. They don’t have much of an eBay feedback rating yet so I may have to test purchase a new ukulele. Damn! The Spruce top Kala looks quite tempting.
Looks like eBay might be cracking down on annoying sellers who use ‘Martin 5K’ to attract eyeballs. This O.M. Tibbs ukulele, despite being a long way removed from a Martin 5K and having ‘L@@@@K’ in the title, is still worth a glance.
An Aaron Keim made Beansprout ukulele made from a salvaged train trestle and cast-off bits of porch.
This is how I should be spending my summer.
The photographer called her the ‘Hawaiian Butterfly’. The eBay seller was less kind.
Square Pegs, Round Holes is a ukulele compilation album put together by Barnkicker Steve in aid of the American Aspergers Association. It includes tracks from Tripping Lily, James Hill, John King and plenty more. You can buy the digital version on Dig Station and the CD version on CD Baby.
Best friend of the blog, Jenny Flame has designed a ukulele t-shirt.
I think Snake Suspenderz, led by the legendary Howlin’ Hobbit, are a great act. They have some jazzy touches that make their songs interesting but they never stray far away from a hook. And Daisy Fraser, from the A Few Loose Scales EP is one of my favourites.
I’m not quite sure on some of the lyrics. But, by the looks of it, neither is Hobbit.
Great day, lovely people, excellent ukulele acts : a day to remember !
This post would be without end if I were to tell the 11-hour-long story of the Paris Uke Fest. But here are some highlights which I’d like to share.
Early arrival :
I wouldn’t miss a minute of the Paris Ukulele Fest after waiting 14 months to meet other ukulele players !
At 1:00 pm there was still plenty of room in the Bellevilloise. It made it easy to meet people, test all the ukuleles on display, chat with the Juste Cordes Team, with Ken Middleton and his Ohanas, and admire Sylvain‘s unusual handmade ukuleles.
I then got to put faces on pseudos seen on forums. The room was diffusing a soft ukulele chatter, people trying out each other’s ukes. The atmosphere was very laid back and international so I felt immediately at home.
Workshops :
In a room which had a temperature close to a sauna’s, a first workshop was led by Tim Sweeney who tried to convince our group that playing with a guitar pick had more impact on listeners than standard playing using fingers.
This was followed by a great strumming course by Ukulelezaza. Great feel to hear a group of people strumming ukuleles with muted strings. It felt like a percussion band. Combining all the techniques ukulelezaza explained was rather challenging and my Fluke didn’t really wish to remain silent and persisted making itself heard every now and then …
The Film : Rock that Uke
Weird is what best summarizes it. A portrait of over the edge American ukulele players. I’m not sure if the heat is to blame but I missed the point entirely. But here is what clever people such as writer, director and producer Ethan Coen said about it : “A rollicking anagnorisis of Ukulele Truth“. Sure… whatever…
The Open Mic session :
In a very casual atmosphere, courageous people went up on stage and displayed their talents in many different styles.
The concerts :
Since a lot of people were about to doze off because of the heat, it was time for a lively ukulele act. The Ukulele Boyz from the South West of France stormed the room in their cliché Hawaiian outfits and played covers of well-known French and Spanish songs, slightly altering original lyrics.
Tricity Vogue and the Sugarsnap Sisters then made sure we kept the energy gathered after the performance of the Ukulele Boyz with a brilliant set of songs and lovely vocal harmonies which I thoroughly enjoyed.
To prevent us from being over cheerful after the previous performances, Kelli Rae Powell reminded us that “There’s nothing bad that can’ t get worse”…
Fortunately, Ukulelezaza and the Red Cats followed to display all the techniques he had showed us earlier on and distract us from our dark thoughts.
Time then for the raffle with Lionel drawing the lucky tickets. The first Prize, a Pete Howlett tenor uke, caused complete amazement to its winner who couldn’t believe his luck.
If there was a background chatter in the room, it ceased when Patti Plinko and her Boy started playing.
This was a really raw and excellent performance which left many of us enthralled. From whispers to roars Patti really looked like a playful lioness with her lion Boy at her side. There was such a complicity between the two of them, intense stares defying each other to play faster… I had heard a few of her songs on her MySpace but it was nothing like seeing her live.
My absolute favourite act of the evening.
The last concert was Swedish Elvira Bira The concept of punk ukulele with a yellow Makala and a tuba is quite original (she was without her band so her father played the tuba to give her a bass sound) and Elvira certainly had a voice.
This brings us to the end of the Paris Uke Fest and I am already looking forward to next year’s. You should be too.
End of Paris Uke Fest - All artists
This post wouldn’t be complete without a video of the concerts, so here it is.
Bob Brozman is a huge musical hero of mine. So when I noticed he was promoting his ukulele workshops in California, I leapt at the chance to throw a few questions his way.
Ukulele Spaghetti was the tune that made me realise what the ukulele was capable of. When did you first become aware of the ukulele? And when did you first realise what it was capable of?
I had been playing guitar since 1960, started uke when I was around 20 years old in the early 70s. First really became aware of uke via Ukulele Ike, collecting 78s in junk shops. As soon as I started playing it, I realized it has all the musical potential for virtuosity that all stringed instruments have!
I want to strengthen people’s uke skills in addition to teaching about how blues, jazz and swing tunes work. We will look at the various right hand techniques of strumming and picking, with a view towards getting more variety and contrast in the sound of your playing. Also we will quickly see how chords shapes relate to each other, and how to use chords to begin soloing and improvising. We will look at standard chord inversions, and also the “slack key” approach of using only 2 fingers to get all majors and minors in any key! Lots of playing in class, and I plan on observing everyone carefully to assure comfort and comprehension!
What are your top ukulele playing tips?
Getting maximum variety with a minimum of effort! Learn to play the same song several ways with different chord voicings and strum/pick patterns.
What are the biggest mistakes you see ukulele players make?
Not believing their own ears, most uke players are better than they think! Perhaps also, not looking hard enough for patterns and similarities all over the fingerboard.
You’ve described the charango as a “Bolivian super ukulele”. What makes it such a special instrument?
The charangos is a 5 course, ten-string cousin of the uke. The double stringing, the octave string pair, and the extra pair of strings provide all sorts of opportunities for expansion, especially if you already play uke. The volume and tone of these is incredible and exotic. Easy to transfer uke skills to charangos.
Many of your collaborations have been with musicians from islands: Papua New Guinea, Okinawa, Réunion and Hawaii. Is there something special that happens to music on islands?
Absolutely! Musical instruments and ideas, not always 100% perfectly expressed and understood, arrive on islands from distant places and cultures, percolate in isolation on the island, then emerge as new hybrid music. That plus the strength of nature so evident on islands makes for wonderful new music. Hawaii was one of the first “laboratories” for this phenomenon.
I’ve heard you talk about the exciting things that happen when a culture first comes into contact with fretted instruments. But it seems like the entrie world is singing Britney songs. Are there any parts of the world where exciting new music is being made right now?
Access to instruments in the third world can be very limited, so there are still places where music is being discovered, re-shaped and created. The poorer the country, the richer the music, in general, also the greater function music has in daily social life. Britney-type commercialism takes us far away from the original reasons for music, but it has not penetrated everywhere!
What can we expect to hear from you in the future?
More crazy music, more beautiful music, I don’t plan on quitting anytime soon!
Entirely selfish question. When doing a ukulele workshop in the UK?
Will be doing a guitar workshop in November 2009, but no uke plans at the moment, unless duty calls…..
Bob’s ukulele workshops will be taking place in Ben Lomond, CA on July 25th and 26th and August 1st and 2nd. You can find out more and register on his website. And you can contact him with a barrage of requests for ukulele workshops in the UK here.
I have no idea, but I’m glad Eleanor manages to put up with him because this song is a little gem. The uke part is lovely. It reminds me of Romanza and is entertaining enough to be played just by itself.
Last but not least is the band’s singer/songwriter/uker/costumier Eleanor.
What made you first buy a uke?
I was at a Herman Dune gig at quite a big venue in Brighton and halfway through their set they put down the electric guitars and bass and stepped away from the microphones, I think the drummer probably went and had a cup of tea or something, and the guy with the long beard sang a little song on this tiny little guitar completely acoustically and everyone in the gig was silent, it was pretty full, and we all leant forward to try and hear what he was singing and I thought.. ‘I want people to feel like this when we’re playing!’. So at the end of the gig I went and asked him what his tiny guitar was called..
What are the biggest differences between the songs you write and the songs Jimmy writes? Do you ever write together?
I think it’s quite easy to tell which songs are mine and which songs are Jimmy’s as Jimmy writes all the ones with shouting and swearing and I write the sweet girly ones – I’d love to be radical and say it was the other way round but it’s not! Actually Jimmy writes a lot of sweet songs too and I have one song that’s not on the album about the twins ‘Mary-Kate and Ashley’ which is probably filthier than anything Jimmy’s ever written.. I think some of the best songs we have are where Jimmy’s written his part and I’ve written my part and so there’s a real contrast between the two styles within the same song.
The look is a big part of The Bobby McGee’s. How did that come about?
Me and Jimmy both love dressing up. One of our favourite hobbies is rooting around in charity shops together looking for vintage treasures, and when we were first playing together I used to alter and customise vintage clothes for us to perform in. Then I got carried away and started a little fashion label called ‘Dig For Victory!‘ which is dedicated to making fun clothes from peoples old curtains and duvet covers – you find the most amazing fabrics there. The make-up extends the joy of dressing up, of putting on a different suit and feeling like a different character, and it means that the audience can see from the minute we step on stage what we are about. I also think that if you’re performing on stage you have to make some kind of decision about what to wear and why not give the audience a visual treat to go with the music? Also it distracts from my poor ukulele playing!
Do you come from a musical family?
Kind of. My dad has a very good ear for music and when I was little I used to think that my grandad could play any piece of music on any musical instrument in the world! Then I remember as a teenager playing Tori Amos songs to him on the piano and he couldn’t get the rhythm- it was very disillusioning. He has a real passion for classical music though and music has always been around in my family, as I hope it is in most families, and some of the music my parents listen to which I teased them about as a teenager I’ve grown up to love.
Which three songs does everyone need to hear?
‘1,2,3 steps to happiness’ by Myrtle because it’s about how to be happy and everyone should have a go at that, ‘Cowboys’ by Charles Latham because he is a wonderful songwriter and anything by MJ Hibbet because he plays uke and all his songs make me smile.
I might have gone a bit overboard with the Madeline Ava videos this week. But I couldn’t help it. She’s such an outstanding songwriter. And I had to celebrate the fact she has a new website where you can download her stuff.
Also this week is Francois Peglau, Ukulele Bartt ripping up some LuVaBe, Dominator jamming with Brittni, hand-farting and plenty more. Read the rest of this entry »
