Rev. Robert Jones' New Old Zimnicki Uke

I really need to tell you all the story of my Zimnicki Reclaimed Wood ukulele, built by Detroit-area luthier Gary Zimnicki. In the meantime, here's a video of Detroit's own Rev. Robert Jones, a noted blues artist and storyteller playing the sister to my uke. Enjoy, and do check out Gary's work. 

Midnight Ukulele Disco Lives!

Back in the early days of the Third Wave there was Midnight Ukulele Disco. When the resurgence was gathering a head of steam, and when the ukulele was still a fringe instrument. Twenty-some (very) odd years ago Midnight Ukulele Disco introduced us to a new world of performers. Nice to see that the shows are archived on YouTube!

Midnight Ukulele Disco - YouTube

A New Find, From Oldsmar

My friend William asked me if this could be a photo of his dad playing the uke in 1920 at a picnic in Oldsmar, Florida. 

I said "It might be, but this is not your father's Oldsmar, Bill."

And in the truth-is-stranger-than-Gary's-humor category, it turns out Oldsmar was actually founded by auto magnate Ransom E. Olds. No word on whether REO played the uke himself. 

Here's the photo, from the State Library and Archives of Florida.

Four More Free Uke Tab Books from Uke Hunt

Have you run out of tunes whilst* sheltering in place?

Al Wood, impresario over at Uke Hunt, has released four more free ebooks.

• Songs of the 60s
• Gaming Theme Tunes
• Beatles on Uke
• US TV Themes

Link

(Al is a Brit, so I used this as an opportunity to say "whilst." Heh.)

10 Year Old Writes Epic BLM Anthem

Meet ten-year-old Naima Nascimento. According to this article in Rolling Stone, Naima "wrote a song to help her process her feelings about the recent deaths of innocent black people. 

"Nascimento’s mom, Sequoia Chappellet-Volpini, posted the video of her daughter singing and playing a ukulele on Instagram and Facebook in June and the video has gained nearly 1 million views on Facebook alone."

Simple, but moving. Video at the link.

Link

Cubby Doesn't Know Jake About Ukulele

As a kid growing up, Cubby O'Brien was my favorite Mouseketeer. He was a swell drummer and got to be paired with Karen all the time. Cubby's had a storied career as a professional percussionist, and here he is hanging out with Pismo. Cubby may not know who Jake Shimabukuro is, but he got to back up the Carpenters, so who cares?

Check out Pismo's video channel, too.

Laura Benanti, Broadway Uker

Broadway musical theatre star Laura Benanti has joined the advisory board of Ukulele Kids Club, a terrific non-profit that provides ukuleles to hospitalized children. Here's the story on Broadway World.

She's also has a UKC event coming up on August 1, 2020:

"On Saturday, August 1 at 6 PM EST, the latest Sunshine Concert will include Ms. Benanti and Ms. Epstein in discussion about the UKC and the #UKCBroadway program and announcing a special auction of a ukulele signed by Ms. Benanti. The Sunshine Concert series grew out of Ms. Benanti's wildly popular Sunshine Songs social media campaign as a way of sharing uplifting video performances with audiences that are more isolated and less active online, including seniors and hospitalized children. The Sunshine Concert on August 1 will be the sixth and final one of the current series."

Complete details of this and related events, here. 

In related news, Neal Chin, a wonderful ukulele teacher and player, will be holding an online workshop on Saturday August, 1, 202010:30 AM – 11:30 AM PDT. The workshop is free, with donations to Ukulele Kids Club welcome and appreciated. Here's a link to request tickets. Also, here's Neal's site.

Bartine Burkett

Buster Keaton was a big ukulele player. Here, Buster's leading lady, Bartine Burkett, plays a sweet pre-1920 Style 3 Martin in the 1921 short, The High Sign. She's pretty good. I'm trying to see if I can guess what tune she's playing. Find the scene at about 16:40 in this video. 

Who is That Masked Uker?

None other than the Ukulele Lady herself, May Singhi Breen.

During World War II, May served as the national director of Air Raid Precautions (ARP) for the American Women's Voluntary Services.

Here, from Popular Science magazine in 1942, is May wearing an emergency gas mask she fashioned out of a rubber bathing cap, fly swatters, and a powder puff box. (There's more to it, but those are the novel parts.) 

View the full article at this link. 

h/t Steve Nelson

Here's another image of May, in uniform, crafting the mask.

Remember: Wear your mask, and live to strum another day! Stay safe, friends.

Free Tab eBooks From Uke Hunt

Courtesy of Al Wood, five different eBooks featuring tablature arrangements in popular topics:

• Beeb (BBC) Themes
• Jazz Ukulele
• Queens of Pop
• UK Comedy Themes
• US Comedy Themes

Enjoy, and hats off to Al. Link

So You Got a Ukulele for Christmas...

Our friend Al Wood has posted his annual guide for new ukulele owners. So if you were lucky enough to get your first ukulele for Christmas (or Hanukkah!), download Al's swell guide over on Uke Hunt. Link

Uketropolis Gift Cards

James Hill dropped us a note to let us know that he's offering gift cards for the first time. They come in three different denominations, good for different learning programs on the swell new Uketropolis platform:

• Booster Uke (3 months)
• The Ukulele Way (3 months)
• The Ukulele Way (6 months)

Complete info on Uketropolis

A Monument to Peter DeRose

Peter DeRose, composer of classics like Deep Purple and A Marshmallow World, is perhaps best known to ukers as the sweetheart (and husband) of May Singhi Breen.

Ukester Brown posted a video of A Marshmallow World today (Ukester's songsheet is here), and I hadn't realized that it was a DeRose tune.

Anyway, a trip to Wikipedia turned up a photo of DeRose's grave. Take a peek and I think you'll see a special love token from May. Link

Christmas Tabs and Chords 2019

It's beginning to look a lot like...Christmas Tabs and Chords 2019

Elves or Inmates?

The article says they're inmates. But per the photo, they could be elves busy at work making your holiday uke...Link (via ABS-CBN-cbn News)