John Bianchi original, "Going Back To My Dreams"

It's so long since John Bianchi posted a uke video that I really was afraid that perhaps he wasn't playing any more - too busy blowing his trumpet with a band! Well, clarinet and saxophone, actually! Multi-talented! So to see this video of John singing one of his original songs with his vintage Martin was a lovely and very welcome surprise. And it's a corker of a song! I enjoyed it so much, I watched it twice over right away.



Watch it here on Youtube....

John excels at the songs of the 20's, 30's and 40's, he plays these songs so well and his voice is perfectly suited - I've been posting his videos on here for as long as I've been writing this blog - very nearly four years! His playing, on banjo-uke as well as wooden uke, has been an inspiration to me from the word "go".

Now of course - this is an original song which takes its style from and pays great tribute to those old songs from way-back-when.... and you know what? I think it's every bit as good. It deserves to be played all over the place! I do believe he has a few more like this in the pipe-line - and I can't wait to hear them!

That band.... The Buck And A Quarter Quartet.... next time you're in New York!

("Genre: Traditional jazz and classic pop from the teens, 20s and 30s...and a few vintage-themed originals..")

The Holiday Creep by John Bianchi - original song!

It's funny, I'd been thinking, these last couple of days, that we hadn't seen a new video by John Bianchi of New York for quite a little while - it even went through my mind that maybe he wasn't playing ukulele so much these days, there are other instruments, after all.... then this morning this popped up. And I have to share it while the holiday season is still with us. What a joy! It's his original song, written last year... boy, would I be proud if I had written this! Full of wit. Please enjoy - The Holiday Creep, by John Bianchi, one of my very, very favourite singers and players - and songwriters!



Played on Ohana Vita-uke.

Ain't She Sweet, John Bianchi on Prince Wong's Martin ukulele...

Neglect - it won't do. I've never left my blog this long before.... just been so busy, busy.... but I had to share this. John Bianchi (Greenwich Village, New York) has such an individual and inspired way with these old tunes, and I swear he just gets better and better.... I'll shut up, and leave you to just listen!

Ain't She Sweet, by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen, published 1927 - that makes the song the same age as my Gibson UB2 banjo-uke....

Guaranteed to cheer a blue day, and raise a big smile! John Bianchi's a Bad, Bad Man....

You know, I feature John Bianchi a lot on my blog, simply because he is just an ace performer - and although I posted one of his videos only very recently, I make no apologies for posting this one today. I was having a very blue day the other day, and watched this - and was soon beaming from ear to ear. And I just had to watch it again, for another dose of the smile medicine! It's such a fun song....

John writes - "Here's a tune also commonly known as "I'm a Bad, Bad Man". Played by Cliff Edwards in the 1942 Tim Holt western "Bandit Ranger", the tune was written by cowboy guitarist Ray Whitely and Fred Rose. This was recorded this morning during alternate side of the street parking - where we were forced to move the car thanks to yet another movie shoot, this time for Law & Order SVU. If the Mayor's Office of Film and Television reads this: please make these and others shoot in another neighborhood for a change. Three film shoots in one week is TOO DAMN MANY!"

I think that's a vintage Martin soprano he's strumming so well there......

John Bianchi is Blue Turning Grey Over You.... on Ohana Vita-uke

Here's one of my very favourite uke songsters braving the sweltering temperatures of Manhattan to sing and play in his car and avoid getting a parking ticket - at least I think that's what it's all about! And this is how good an Ohana CKP-70 Vita-uke sounds when played by someone of John's calibre... the tune is an 1929 Fats Waller number, lyrics by Andy Razaf.

John Bianchi does these old 20's and 30's songs so well, so effortlessly - his sound is so right, I could listen to this stuff all day! If you like it too, why not subscribe to John's Youtube channel! Just watch the video on Youtube, sign in and click "subscribe"....

And look out at the end of this one for Peter Bogdanovich walking onto a location shoot for his movie, filming outside John's house!

Psst, by the way - playing like this is far from effortless of course - it takes time, commitment, and practice, practice, practice.... and there's no better way of enjoying yourself with all your clothes on. Apart from going to a good uke festival that is! So I'm off to practise my uke some more.... now where's that practice file gone..... :D

John Bianchi, with "I'll Follow You" ...

Here's my very favourite uke player and singer, John Bianchi of New York... I could watch his videos all day long! Lovely playing, and what a voice.... that voice is reminiscent of Al Bowlly... you'd have to be in your 80's or 90's to actually remember Al Bowlly; he was a very popular singer during the 30's and 40's - killed by a land mine during the war. But he was my Mum's favourite singer, and when I heard his voice singing those lovely old songs, he became one of mine. And John Bianchi has that rare Al Bowlly sound, without a doubt!

This is what he says about this, his latest video...

"Here's my take on 1932's song "I'll Follow You", by Fred Alhert and Roy Turk. The song was recorded by Bing Crosby that year and was also a hit for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. The lyrics, outside the context of the lovely melody, read like a stalker's manifesto. Still, I have always liked the tune.

Recorded in the car this morning on an alternate side of the street parking day and played on my 1960s Martin 0. It was a hairy parking day - moments before I shot this, a guy stole a space two cars in front of me and caused utter havoc; it pays not to get upset on mornings like these..."


And that's surely a cool delivery of that lovely song. Drooltastic.....

To see the other videos of John's that I have posted on this blog, just find his name on the tag-cloud at the foot of the page! Thanks for dropping by!

Ukulelehunt video of the year contest

Back in June (2012,) I posted a video of one of my very favourite performers, John Bianchi, performing a wonderfully un-PC song from the 20's called "The Dumber They Come, the Better I Like 'Em" - and it has now been nominated for the Ukulelehunt Video of the Year Award. Check it out, it's all here. But he needs your votes, folks! There are six videos in the shortlist, and they're all pretty good, in various ways. You can check them all out on the voting page of Ukehunt. As in the usual run of things, bands and trios have a advantage because they have more people to canvass support - but John B is a sole performer here, and he really needs your vote!

So - please get over there to Ukehunt and do the deed!

"By Special Permission of the Copyright Owners I Love You" - John Bianchi...

In my little corner of the UK, there are several degrees of frost, and there's fog... morning tea in bed, and an extra five minutes under the duvet... or ten.

Then I watch John Bianchi in New York, playing his uke first thing in the morning, in his car, at the side of the road, doing what he has to do to comply with parking restrictions... and I feel at least a little sheepish.

As a lover of 20's and 30's Tin Pan Alley music, I always enjoy John's singing and playing, and he never, but never disappoints. Please share the gem he has come up with this time.... sitting in his car in wintry New York...

He introduces the song in this wise...

"Here's one of the tens of thousands of tunes from the first part of the last century that pretty much no one living has ever heard. From the Broadway flop, "The Gang's All Here" - which starred Ted Healy (of Ted Healy and His Three Stooges - later shortened by giving Ted his walking papers), this 1931 tune is played on a rock-like Cordoba uke that has a nice THICK top, so I don't mind playing it in the 34F temperature of Monday morning."



Wonderful... if 20's and 30's music is a tiny bandwagon to be on - well I, for one, am up there on it with John B. And oh, to be able to play like that...

"Georgia On My Mind" - John Bianchi on ukulele

When you're feeling low, there's nothing like music to soothe the mind... many would reach for alcohol, but for me it has to be music, and this rendition of "Georgia On My Mind" (Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell, 1930) by John Bianchi on his vintage Martin ukulele is just perfect, like warm sunshine on the soul.

His playing here is just sublime, to my mind, and his voice is perfect for these great songs from the 20's and 30's. He is so talented, so accomplished, he really should be a big star. How many times have I said that now? My very favourite uke and banjo-uke performer, without a doubt.

Please enjoy....then pop over to his blog, The Ukaholic.

Oh - and Happy New Year! Thanks for dropping by.....

John Bianchi, "It Had To Be You" - Alternate Side of the Street Video

A truly wonderful version by John Bianchi of the 1924 song by Isham Jones (music) and Gus Kahn (lyrics). I just adore what John does with these old songs.... here he has done a really great chord melody on his Ohana Vita-Uke; it's a musical education just watching how he picks that melody out of those jazzy chords.....and once again, his voice is just perfect for these old songs.

Look here for the low-down on the lyrics to this song - they are all about being in love with a less-than-perfect and domineering partner... quite a change from the idea of the beloved as a faultless angel.

Also by Isham Jones and Gus Kahn - I'll See You in My Dreams.

(Published for educational purposes, all rights reserved.)

"Out of Nowhere", here's John Bianchi...

All John Bianchi's videos are good, but every now and then he does one that just blows me away... and this is such. John plays so well, but he also has a great voice, and a voice that's so well suited to these old songs... this one, girls, will just make you melt! Having had to gather myself up from a small melted heap on the floor, I can guarantee it!

Here he is, straight from a street in Manhattan! He writes...

Here's a version of "Out of Nowhere" played in my Saturn this morning on 11th street and University Place in Manhattan - an alternate side of the street parking day. Written in 1931 by Johnny Green (music) and Edward Heyman (lyrics), it became Bing Crosby's #1 selling hit for many years. OK, I'm trying not to sound like Bing here, but his ghost keeps creeping into my vocal, hopefully not in a bad way.

Played on a 1960s Martin Style 0 standard uke, I'm reminded that the chords in this song were borrowed/stolen by Alexander Courage for the theme song of a certain 1960's classic sci-fi series. See if, upon listening, you can possibly guess which one... ;)

"It's a Grand and Healthy Life" on Banjo Uke - John Bianchi

As the Olympic Games begin in London after a truly amazing opening ceremony last night, this George Formby number just has to be the best song for today! A Grand and Healthy Life, indeed...very sporty, a little saucy, and as ever, John Bianchi pulls it off with his own brand of New York panache, making those split-strokes look totally effortless - even sitting in his car in 100 degrees of heat...

Here are the words:

IT'S A GRAND AND HEALTHY LIFE

Some chaps like a game of tennis, some like boating on the sea.
Some are fond of cricket or a ball they want to kick it
But there's only one sport that appeals to me.

I love to hike, that's what I like, Ee! but it's a grand and healthy life.
I tramp a mile, then sit a while
A bumblebee there in the grass comes and stings me on my elbow.
Down comes the rain and I get wet through,
I can’t blow my nose because it's already blue
I catch a chill, and feel so ill. Ee! but it's a grand and healthy life.

I love to hike, that's what I like, Ee! but it's a grand and healthy life.
While tramping back, the night was black,
My girl tripped into a ditch I said, "you are a clumsy bounder."
She shouted help! I thought I'd begin
Pulling her out but she kept pulling me in
The ditch was high, we drank it dry, Ee! but it's a grand and healthy life.

I love to hike that's what I like, Ee! but it's a grand and healthy life.
My girl and me, sat neath a tree
A great big blackbird with its claws came and tore off my girl's jumper
When she got home she heard mother shout
You haven't come home the same as when you went out
She hung her head and blushing said, Ee! but it's a grand and healthy life

(all rights reserved)


Go and enjoy those Games now...

Or.... take a look at John Bianchi's excellent blog, The Ukaholic ...

"The Dumber They Come" on Banjo Ukulele - John Bianchi

First thing tomorrow morning, LSH (Long-Suffering-Husband) and I are off to the seaside - to Blackpool, to be precise. I don't actually like Blackpool, and we haven't been for years, not since the children were small - so why are we going? We are going to the June meeting of the GFS - the George Formby Society, at the Imperial Hotel, and just like a little kid, I am SO excited!

The strumming skills displayed by John in the little number above, should show you just why I'm packing up my little 1920's Slingerland model 18 and going to join the other banjo-uke nuts for the weekend. Because I want to play like him.

John uses three Formby-type strums in this funny but naughty little song - (this is from 1920; remember - "the past is another country, they do things differently there".....) the split stroke, the fan and the triple. And thumb strums. Please, please, look at John's own blog, "The Ukaholic" read all about the song, the Gibson vintage banjolele he's playing, and be educated in the wonders of the banjo-uke, on earlier posts. It's a great blog and I've learned a helluva lot from it.

I learned a sneaking regard for skilled banjolele players when I was a weekly attendee at the best folk club in the midlands in the late 60's, the Jug O'Punch, in Digbeth, Birmingham. I've already done a post about the chap who used to take the floor from time to time and wow the earnest folkies with George Formby numbers on his banjo ukulele. "A hero who shall remain nameless" - because I can't remember his name. He was just an ordinary Joe who would happily do a spot, and show a hall full of young people who wanted to hear traditional folk and protest songs why George Formby had been such a great star.

Well, John Bianchi of New York, in my humble opinion, is no ordinary Joe. I have to nail my colours to the mast here; I am a fan. Boy, can he play. And he has a good voice. And he knows how to put a song across.

He should be A STAR!

Watch the video again -

I rest my case.

Now if you'll excuse me I have a little case to pack... "With my little ukulele in my hand", Blackpool here I come!

"I'm Sure of Everything But You" on Ukulele - John Bianchi

John is definitely on a roll. I had to post this one; his performance is simply sublime.

These songs from the 20's and 30's have a poignancy all their own, I find... and this song is particularly poignant. There is something of post-war heart-ache and dark days of the depression, whilst at the same time there's a dogged, rueful cheeriness about it. It hits the spot for me! John's delivery is, to my mind, masterful.

John writes "Here's a sentimental tune from 1932 that was a big hit - largely forgotten now. Everybody recorded it, from Annette Hanshaw to Nick Lucas - and May Singhi Breen had a hit with her husband Peter De Rose. This played on my Ohana CKP-70, which is a truly great instrument for the price!"

Enjoy...the perfect relaxation for a sultry summer day...

"Somebody's Lonely" on Prince Wong's Ukulele

Here's one of my ukulele heroes, John Bianchi, giving his own highly accomplished take of "Somebody's Lonely" on his ebay bargain Martin Style 2 soprano uke, believed to have belonged to Prince Wong.

I've listened to this four times already, it just blows me away... the tune is a new one to me - it's so pretty, so catchy, and so beautifully played by John. I'm going to be really studying this video for playing tips! "Somebody's Lonely" was written by Benny Davis and Joe Gold in 1926 and it sounds wonderful on this little vintage Martin ukulele.

John's own blog, "The Ukaholic", is always full of interesting pics and well-written information on the ukulele and banjolele. Look here for lots more on his Prince Wong Martin Style 2.

Here Come the Old Songs - with John Bianchi

I've said before how I love the old songs; they've survived down the years because they were crafted by song-writers who knew how to grab the listener with a melody, a chord progression and the right set of lyrics. The ukulele revival seems to have gone hand in hand with a resurgence of interest in the old songs. After all, the uke was hugely popular in the years between the two world wars.

Another Ukulele Hero of mine is John Bianchi of New York. He is another ace banjo-ukulele player, and he particularly loves the old songs of the 1920's. On this video he's playing his vintage Slingerland, singing an old Al Bowlly number called "My Canary has Circles Under his Eyes". It's a catchy number, full of fun, and really conjures up the atmosphere of the years between the wars. Al Bowlly was a hugely popular singer in those years - he had a wonderfully sweet voice. I heard of him through my mother; he was her favourite singer, she used to swoon over his voice. You'll know it as the one singing "Goodnight Sweetheart." I'd never heard "My Canary has Circles..." before, but John has a lovely voice too, to add to his talents, and does a great rendition. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!



John, thanks for the help you gave me on my Slingerland banjo-uke. You are a kind banjolele hero!