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

Stairway to Heaven

When I was in my late teens to early twenties, playing Stairway to Heaven in a guitar store was guaranteed to result in a swift invitation to vacate the premises. Now Curt Sheller provides an opportunity for ukulelists to learn the quick way to the door. For low-G ukes.
Link

(Kidding. Thanks, Curt!)

Uke Jam at Lamorinda Music

I'll be leading a Uke Jam at Lamorinda Music in Lafayette, CA Saturday, March 12 from 2-4. We focus on newbie skills from 2-3 and beginner to intermediate stuff in from 2-4. Hope to see you there. Link

Aloha, Kahauanu Lake

Hawaiian mele and ukulele master Kahauanu Lake died last Sunday at the age of 79. John Berger has a nice tribute here in the Star-Advertiser. Here's an earlier profile of Uncle K, also by Berger.

Uncle K was a man of many accomplishments, and will be remembered by many as the composer (with Mary Kawena Pukui) of Pua Lililehua for his wife Ma'iki.

"The lililehua is the red sage brush flower (salvia coccinea). It is also the name of the wind and rain in Palolo Valley, and the name of a maiden who resided in the valley that was courted by a mo`o." Link

An excellent and simple ukulele arrangement of Pua Lililehua was recently tabbed and posted by Al Wood on Uke Hunt. You'll want to also watch this video of John King performing his version, which has been tabbed by whetu and posted on the Ukulele Underground forum.

Mahalo and aloha, Kahauana Lake.

Ha`ina mai ka puana

E ka pua lili lehua

A he `ipo ho`ohenoheno

E ho`ohihi ai no ka mana`o


This story is told for you

O sage blossom

A cherished sweetheart

That attracts the mind

Ian Whitcomb & Harry Warren - Home in Pasadena

Ron Hale stumbled across this. Ian Whitcomb and Harry Warren (yes, the Harry Warren) singing Warren's Home in Pasadena in 1972. Link