Western Ukion

Mike Bagwell of Chico, California turns the old Harold Teen mantra of "music self-played is happiness self made" into "is happiness well paid."

"First, I got a business card. Next—nothing. That’s all I needed—$56 on the credit card. I started handing the thing out all over town: “Chico Uke-O-Gram, bike-messenger service, 864-1604, Send your friend a song.” Very simple, and a picture of a uke on it. The reactions were mostly the same: There’s a 3.5-second delay as the brain struggles to compute Uke-O-Gram, then the “oh yeah” look of comprehension, then a comment, like “Cool!” or “I love it!”"

Link

HOT Martin News

Update: photos, specs and–ulp–prices here.

Received the following communique from Martin's PR agency by way of Michael Simmons:

Tomorrow at the big Musikmesse fair in Frankfurt, Martin Guitar is unveiling six new ukulele models. As Chris Martin IV says, “We are excited to bring these new ukulele models to the music community and to debut them in Frankfurt. We are in the midst of a new renaissance for ukuleles, and are confident our new models will meet this demand while upholding the quality and standards Martin owners have come to expect.”

The new models being unveiled include (per the Martin site):

• 2 Uke – features a solid mahogany body, solid East Indian rosewood fingerboard and newly-designed bridge, with an applied dovetail neck to body joint, black tusq nut and black compensated tusq saddle, friction peg tuners with white tuner button and a satin lacquer finish.Also includes grained ivory top binding, and beautiful hand inlayed black and white wood fiber rosette.
• 2 Concert Uke – features characteristics of the 2 Uke, but in concert size, and with black tusq nut and saddle, geared peg tuners and black tuner button.
• 2 Tenor Uke – features characteristics of the 2 Uke, but in tenor size, and with black tusq nut and saddle and a tie-block bridge.
• 2K Uke – includes solid flamed Hawaiian Koa top, back and sides in a satin lacquer finish, rosewood fingerboard and bridge, black tusq nut and compensated tusq saddle, friction peg tuners and white tuner button. Similar to the 2 Uke, this model includes grained ivory top binding, hand inlayed black and white wood fiber rosette.
• 2K Concert Uke – features characteristics of the 2K Uke, but in concert size with black tusq nut and saddle, geared peg tuners and black tuner button.
• 2K Tenor Uke – features characteristics of the 2K Uke, but in tenor size with black tusq nut and saddle, geared peg tuners, black tuner button and tie-block bridge.

The above ukes are all manufactured in Martin’s Nazareth factory, strung with Martin ukulele strings and feature a unique, pressed stamp at the back of the headstock.

Sounds like Martin's finally putting their game shoes on. It's about time!

For the full press release click here.

Artists Help Japan: Amy Crehore Ema

Buy Amy Crehore's cute little ema, and help Japan. Link

Help Steven Strauss Recover Stolen Ukes

From Steven Strauss, Bay Area bassist and ukulele musician. Some fargin bastage stole the following:

"A Martin 1K from the early thirties, a RISA solid electric soprano (low G with plenty of damage to pickup et al), a DaSilva James Hill Tenor (low G), a Harmony Baritone with a purple non-wound low string, a couple of amps"

More info and to report

Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt

I wish they'd make one of these in a ukulele version. Link

Micronesian Origin of 'Ukulele Re-Writes Uke History

Devoted Ukulelia readers will recall that back in October of last year, we reported that luxury retailer Neiman Marcus was selling gourd-backed ukuleles made by luthier Danny Ferrington in its famous Christmas Catalog. In our article, we made a snarky remark about Neiman Marcus's copywriter erroneously claiming that the ukulele was "created in the Hawaiian islands by Micronesian immigrants in the 1870s". Well, this morning, we are eating our words.

In an article submitted to the Hawaiian Journal of History, a very different story about the ukulele's origins is being told. According to the article's author, the ukulele did not originate with the Madeiran Machete, as had been previously thought, but from the Micronesian Ni’hi.

The Micronesian Ni'hi is a rhythmic instrument made from a dried gourd, and was originally strung with crude shark-gut strings. They were discovered in 1877 in a market in Palau by Egbert Marcus, younger brother of retail tycoon Herbert Marcus, while traveling on business, looking for exotic items for his brother’s Dallas store. Marcus was enchanted by the indigenous instrument and purchased several gross, intending to sell them at a significant markup upon his return to Dallas.

On his ill-fated return trip, Marcus stopped in Hawai’i. Little is yet known of his stay, but it seems that he presented King David Kalakaua with one of the Ni’hi, presumably as a token of gratitude. After departing Hawaii in early 1878, his ship, the Fumiste, was lost at sea, and no further word of its passengers and crew is extant.

Now is when the Ravenscrag and its Madeiran passengers enters the story. Students of ukulele history will know that the Ravenscrag arrived in Hawaii in 1879, bringing with it future ukulele builders Joao Fernandes, Augusto Dias, Jose do Espirito Santo and Manuel Nunes. After arriving in Hawaii, Nunes and the others encountered Hawaiians playing Ni'hi, which had by then become wildly popular.

Nunes apparently unimpressed, derided the crude instrument, stating that it appeared to made out of a "big pea". (Linguists are now speculating that he called it a foder ervilha, or f***ing pea, which was reported in the contemporary journals as the more polite "jumping pea". A typesetting error in the Honolulu Star rendered it "jumping flea", and hence ukulele.)

The rest of the ukulele's history continues along its more familiar path from there, with Nunes, et al, reinventing the Ni'hi (now ukulele) along the lines of their traditional Madeiran instruments. As for Egbert Marcus, the story of his travels eventually reached his brother Herbert on a visit to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, which featured Hawaiian musicians playing the ukulele, and regaling visitors with stories of the "Ni'hi Man" Marcus who first brought the diminutive instrument to their shores. Link to full story here.

Portsmouth Pupils Plunk

Your moment of plucky plangency. Watch

NoCal Ukulele Festival April 3

After a year hiatus, the Ukulele Festival of Northern California returns, this year at a new venue.

It's primarily a Hawaiian music event, but ukulele players of all stripes will find kindred spirits there. Al Dodge and Robert Armstrong usually make the scene, as do the Sundodgers and assorted camp followers. (That would include yours truly.)

Sunday, April 3, 2011
Chabot College Performing Arts Center
25555 Hesperian Blvd.
Hayward, CA 94545
10am to 5:30pm
$10

Ukulele Festival Site

Gary's Uke Jams Make the News

I've been leading informal ukulele classes at Lamorinda Music for several months now. Local reporter Janice De Jesus has written a nice piece in the Contra Costa Times today. (This is the first time that I've turned up in my own news feed. Woot!)

And in case you're curious, my old Ringling roommate with the uke is Michael Goudeau, and Tuba Heatherton taught me my first song ("I Like Bananas").

Link

Eddie Vedder: Ukulele Songs CD

Eddie has a new CD scheduled for release on May 31st. It's reported to be titled Ukulele Songs. Vedder has released a video of one of the tracks, "You're True," and you can listen to two more tracks from the CD ("Longing to Belong" and "Satellite") here.

Do the Funky Pidgin

Meet Family Dinner:

"Chew on this: equal parts hip-hop, Latin, and ska, with crunchy bits of ukulele and country twang, stewed to perfection in a broth of straight funk. You’re now listening to Family Dinner.

Original core members Joel Spiral (lead vocals and ukulele), Reggie Padilla (piano and saxophone), and Alfredo Rivera (tenor saxophone) actually met at a family dinner. They almost immediately recognized each other’s passion for music and had started a band by the time the dessert plates were being scraped clean."

Check out tracks from their new self-titled CD release here. "No Ack" features ukulele front and center. Honolulu Magazine has a nice feature article about the band in its March Issue.

Link

Senior Uke Club, 1926

Looks like the Senior Ukulele Club at George Westinghouse High School was pretty popular. Link

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here's an oldie but goodie that you can use to busk for free green beer on the 17th. Play it really well, and you can trade up for Guinness.

The sheet music for O'Brien is Tryin' to Learn to Talk Hawaiian is here. You can listen to a 1916 Edison Recording at the UCSB Cylinder Preservation page here.

Chords and lyrics come courtesy of Brian Hefferan, who you can hear perform his inimitable version here.

The Short Happy Life of George Formby

George Formby died 50 years ago this month, only 71 days after his domineering wife, Beryl, gave him the best Christmas present of his life by dying the previous December 25th.

Frigid. Domineering. Self-centered. Director Monty Banks seems to have summed her up nicely when he noted:

‘The only time you’ll get me directing anything where that f*****g Formby woman is concerned will be when she is playing the murder victim and the scene is for real.’

Link

Outpour of Support from Hawaii to Japan

Kudos to Jake Shimabukuro for holding a charity concert on the beach at Waikiki to benefit the Japan relief effort. Maybe you or your ukulele club could do the same. Link