Yes dear readers, you may be aware that the George Formby Society holds a weekend convention in Blackpool four times a year, but tomorrow there will be a one-off one-day convention a little further up the north-west coast of England in Morecambe - at the beautiful old Winter Gardens... read all about it here...
I'll be going, with my lovely 1920's Gibson UB2! Will you? I won't be taking to the stage but I'll be joining in enthusiastically with the "thrash"... You don't need a banjo-uke though - just go! Free entry to this one! And discover what all the fuss is about....
Well, I've just posted how I didn't get to see Sarah Maisel at the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain last month - she went down a storm - LSH said she was really good! A stern critic... but here she is at Cairns, Australia - that gal's getting around! Great rendition of a great song. I've just learned this... rather simpler arrangement than this though... must get up that neck...
Sarah Maisel - Dream a Little Dream of Me .....enjoy!
Yes, I told you the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain was fantastic - and I still haven't finished giving you the details, have I...shame on me - but one of the great artists that I MISSED - because I was in one of James Hill's jazz workshops when she was on - was Sarah Maisel with her jazz set. Although I missed her, I did hear the rousing applause she got during and at the end of her set .... James actually had to pause his teaching until the applause died down! I remember it well... anyway, today I came across Sarah's own write-up about it all - from beginning to end. It's a great write-up, detailed and full of joy and enthusiasm - I tell you, the atmosphere throughout was tremendous.... you can read all about it on her blog, here, and do look at her photos, too - some great pics on there!
A ukulele itch usually takes the form of an intense urge to explore some hitherto unexplored area of ukulele playing - a different size of instrument, a different wood, a new or highly acclaimed make or uke builder. When it comes to wooden ukes I have been very restrained - I haven't bought one for exactly a year. I've bought banjo-ukes, but that's another matter! No, the last wooden uke I bought was a soprano, and I went for a Kiwaya KTS-4. It's Japanese, beautifully made and I love it; a Martin style O copy, it stands well against similar instruments. It gets equal play time with my concert uke, a Tanglewood laminate with a beautiful tone - and both are strung with Ken Middleton's Living Water 100% fluorocarbon strings. Simply beautiful, a bell-like chiming sound....
But - there's this itch now.... to explore electro-acoustic. And I was wondering whether my preference for concert and soprano sized ukes over the tenor still stands. So, a few weeks ago now, I phoned Mike, the ukulele friendly bloke at my favourite music shop to find out what electro-acoustics they had in stock? A Luna tenor and a Lani concert. And along I went to have a play. They know me up there - and they don't mind me strumming and picking away for an hour... I've bought four ukes in the last twelve months from them already, including a very nice vintage banjo-uke and a gift for a friend...
Well, eventually I was decided, about the tenor versus concert thing anyway... and I'm still more comfortable with the concert size. There isn't actually that much difference in the fret distances, but I found that I do still prefer a concert or soprano uke.
I told LSH.
A couple of days late, I was badly in need of cheering up. Now, my wonderful husband is not generally in favour of me increasing my little family of ukuleles - he just doesn't get it... they don't, do they? But he disappeared "to get petrol" and returned with the concert electro-acoustic he knew I'd been trying out in the shop. Well... I was overwhelmed, of course - what a lovely surprise, what a kind and thoughtful gift. The tears fell. And off we went for a couple of days away in the Lincolnshire countryside.
We stayed in Horncastle, an historic little town renowned as a centre for antique shops. Wandering around exploring on the first evening, we happened across a shop, the windows all barred - I peered inside - vintage guitars - everywhere. In rows, on the walls - and just in view of the window, one ukulele, a soprano. It had a fitting for an amp lead... an electro-acoustic uke! More than that I couldn't tell - but it looked like a spruce top. It looked interesting - very interesting.
Want to know what happened? I'll tell you... later... I promise!
Been practising... using my practice file... and I have managed to learn some of the things I listed a couple of months ago, so I can play them without a sheet in front of me. It feels good to have nailed a few targets - for example:-
Ukulelezaza's tab for the chord melody version of Mr Sandman, Twilight Time,
Til There Was You,
Dream a Little Dream of Me,
Whispering
and - C6 C#dim Dm7 G7 up the neck. (see post 21st January, 2013 for the tuition video by Marcy)
Time to look at a few new targets!
I haven't posted here for a week or two - life has been pretty hectic and I wanted to work hard on learning some pieces. I must say, though, I do appreciate you looking in, and I look forward to comments, though I can't promise to publish every single one, especially if there are links to stuff that doesn't really fit in my blog. And I've been feeling a bit subdued - you know how life is just like that sometimes? Sure you do... and LSH (Long-Suffering-Husband) and I have been out and about quite a bit lately; short breaks, taking advantage of the nice weather to see a bit more of the country... but I have had a strum almost every day, a little one or a long one, it's fine as long as long as I can play a uke for a while.
I mean to do another post on the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain, held in Cheltenham last month. It's just a while coming, sorry! As I say, a I'm bit subdued and lacking in the necessary oooomph. Life can't be rosy all the time. And sometimes it's distinctly a darker colour altogether. Time for a cup of tea and a strum - in the summerhouse..... yes...... see you again soon, I promise!
The Ukulele Festival of Great Britain, June 2013, Cheltenham.... reigns as one of the best Ukafrolics of all so far, and likely to remain up there for some time, methinks... because it was simply FABULOUS.
It all started with the Friday evening welcome and get-together at the Exmouth Arms... this was the first big ukulele festival I had been to, and didn't know quite what to expect... I had thought this part of the proceedings would be in a big room... it would have to have been a very big room, if everyone turned up..... but no, as we reached the pub, having walked half-way across Cheltenham to find it, the fun was already starting to take place, outside in the beer garden and under a marquee. We were very early. But many were there before us.
The first person I spotted was Barry Maz, of Got a Ukulele blog, with his little party of N'Ukers... strategically well-placed opposite the entrance, so as not to miss anyone coming in... clever, that... we hadn't met before, but were great pals in no time. One by one, other familiar faces and ukey pals were spotted. Ale bought, seats found, tee-shirt purchased... and already, little groups were strumming and singing. What to do, but to get up and join in. I had only taken one uke, my Kiwaya soprano, but a lot of people had several ukes with them, including banjoleles. There were ukes and people everywhere, everywhere the sound of strumming, and soon there were no seats left... a few more songs from the Big Busk Songbook..... a blues jam with Barry and the N'Ukes....
They said James Hill would be there... and eventually I spotted him - a ukulele hero indeed - if you've been asleep up a corner somewhere, just look on YouTube for his version of Billie-Jean, and be amazed.... I was introduced to him... oh, my.... I told him how I'd booked tickets and a place on one of his workshops the minute they'd gone on sale in November - he is SO nice, so pleasant and unassuming. I was hugely impressed. I'd have loved to have taken a photo but it seemed so.... crass. So I didn't. I should have - he would not have minded, I know.... but my evening was made, I had met my idol, and many more lovely people besides.
The longest day of the year, and the weather had kept a friendly countenance for us but eventually the dusk began to fall and so did the temperature... it had been a long day, we had a fair walk to do back to our hotel, and the Saturday promised to be simply magnificent. It was. I still smile just to remember it..... I'll tell you all about it next time. Don't go too far, now!
The answer has to be..... yes.... oh most certainly it was..... I've just got back, although the fun continues today.... I have to be out again in ten minutes, leaving on a four day girlie break with my oldest friends.... but it will be with my head full of the fun and sounds of the last couple of days.
I can tell you - for a run down, get over to Got a Ukulele blog..... Barry Maz (lovely bloke) is not steam-driven like me, and seems to have kept up blog-wise with the fun. (And LSH and I can actually be seen on his first photo, from Friday night at the Exmouth Arms.... I'm just strumming along with the song of the moment. LSH enjoying the general ambience....)
I'll post some pics and share my thoughts..... next week. Sorry. My poor Long-Suffering Husband is poised this minute to take me to join my mates, who started their holiday this morning - while I was uke-busking in Cheltenham with 340 other joyful souls......
Well - the GFS has surely never seen "Formby" done quite like this! Johnny Foodstamp and his lovely young wife made the trip over from Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday especially to attend the George Formby Society Convention. They flew in at 8.30 am and brought the Nashville sunshine with them. They saw Blackpool under blue skies with a blue sea, with people enjoying the beach, just as Blackpool should be.
In spite of the overnight flight and the jet-lag, Johnny was up for making the most of every minute with the Formby fans and star players, and he did.... the fun went on for those with strong enough constitutions well into the early hours! Johnny was made as welcome as the lovely weather he'd brought with him. The above performance of the George Formby numbers "She's Got Two of Everything" and "Under The Blasted Oak" was on the Saturday afternoon concert. Suited and booted for the occasion, you would never have known that he'd been travelling all night without a wink of sleep! Thanks to Pauline Aitken for the video! On Sunday, Johnny gave us "The Dumber They Come, the Better I Like 'Em", a deliciously un-PC Eddie Kantor number from the 1920's. John Bianchi did a lovely Youtube of this song last year... (see blogpost here 7th June 2012) and I'm sure Johnny Foodstamp's version from Sunday will be video'd and up for viewing soon.
And as for the June convention in general ... I can only say that it was one of the very best. I could never have hoped to see so many of my named ukulele heroes on one stage all in one day... just listen to who was there!
Johnny Foodstamp all the way from Nashville as I've said; Matthew J Richards, Mike Warren, Alan Yates, George Elmes was over from Ireland and gave us Limehouse Blues and lovely renditions of some of his short original pieces for soprano uke, Andy Eastwood managed to make the convention on both days even though he's very busy on the professional stage, and even.... wait for it... Ken Middleton. Yes, that's right, Ken Middleton, who came along to see what all the fuss is really about. He gave us a beautiful performance on stage of "I'll Fly Away" and "Try a Little Tenderness", jammed outside in the sunshine with George Elmes, and left with an inkling of what the GFS is all about, even if we didn't exactly manage to make a Formby fan of him! So glad you made it, Ken, and it was lovely to meet you in person at last!
Unfortunately, Ken had to leave before the 9.00 pm Sunday concert, and missed some highlights which I know he would have enjoyed... particularly Andy Eastwood playing Chopin on his soprano wooden uke. Absolutely breathtaking. Add Alan Yates on solo electric guitar with "Apache"; "I'll See You in My Dreams" beautifully performed and sung by Caroline Robson ... once more at the GFS I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Add in all the lovely performances by the wonderfully skilled split-strokers young and old, and the all-inclusive and well-named "thrash"... you know, there are just a few who just "don't get it"... but I get it... and I just love it.
More later. Thanks for dropping by... I have to go and massage my face. I've got face-ache because I still haven't stopped smiling....
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!
I make no apologies for posting Peter Moss again. Peter Pollard of the George Formby Society has just posted this video on YouTube of Peter playing an instrumental medley of well-loved classics on wooden uke at a 1993 GFS convention - and he writes,
"This was a brilliant performance from Peter, probably the best example of playing the wooden uke that I personally have seen on the GFS stage."
How wonderful was that! Twenty years ago this year - thank goodness Peter Pollard has long been recording these wonderful performances for posterity....and I wonder how long we shall have to wait before Peter Moss graces the stage at a GFS convention again. The next one is this weekend, 8th-9th June at the Imperial Hotel, North Shore, Blackpool... Matthew J Richards will be there, Mike Warren will be there, Andy Eastwood will be there! The friends I mentioned yesterday will be there, and many more stalwarts and newbies... and happily, I will be there to watch and listen to it all, but unfortunately for us, Peter Moss will not be there... if my memory serves me right, he'll be playing to packed houses in Nova Scotia. Apologies to all if my memory has let me down on that!
The medley Peter is playing - I can't nail the name of the first tune, which is definitely Spanish... but the second is Liebestraume by Liszt, and the third is popularly known as the Can-Can, from the light operetta Orpheus in the Underworld, by Offenbach.
Welcome back to the world of the wooden uke, Peter.... you've been away for far too long!
George Elmes is a great player. I've featured him on here before. This time, his version of Limehouse Blues, with triples and split-strokes..... Limehouse Blues was written in 1922 and made famous by Gertrude Lawrence - read more here
He's a also a big Formby fan - and he's making it over from Ireland to the George Formby Society Convention in Blackpool next weekend, 8th-9th June! I know he'll be made very welcome - as will Johnny Foodstamp of Nashville, another devotee from further afield, indeed from rather further away. In March we welcomed Ukulelezaza, Remco Houtman-Janssen, who made the trip over from Belgium and set the place alight with his fabulous instrumentals. Every fan of Formby or at least his style of playing has to make that pilgrimage sometime! And we will be there again, LSH and I... our fifth convention in a row.
But back to George. George Elmes, that is! Read more about his music and his ukes and meet his idols here, on his own blog....
I love bluegrass played on ukulele... so I had to share this. Ken often plays bluegrass clawhammer style, but this time decided to play finger-style. Any style is fine by me... Ken has such a laid-back, relaxed and relaxing style of playing - I always feel soothed and smoothed down after listening to him play! Nice to hear Lorenzo, (Ukulollo) too.. love that tee-shirt - I want one... Ukulele Underground?
Ken writes... "Lorenzo (Ukulollo) and I sitting high on the old walls of Lucca, Italy.
We are playing an old bluegrass banjo tune called "Snowdrop". It was apparently first recorded by Kirk and Sam McGee in the 1930's."
About to go away on a break to discover exciting tropical parts, I steeled myself to ask LSH (Long-Suffering-Husband) "Er... Love, do you mind if I take my little blue uke away with us?" and to my astonishment, he didn't mind at all... so with great care and precision, Little Blue Uke was packed into my case.
With a dozen hastily chosen song sheets, I was prepared, all ready to find a quiet corner in the hotel gardens or on the beach for a little strum - and to introduce the ukulele to the uninitiated of Cuba.
The streets of old Havana are full of live music, played by small groups of musicians... the bars and restaurants resound to the Latin dance rhythms of rumba, samba, cha cha and salsa... I've always enjoyed those rhythms - now I've been completely seduced by them.
The band above were wonderful, their music full of joy - would we like to buy a CD? of course - and we did. Songs new to us, and some very familiar - La Bamba, Guantanamera, Besame Mucho, Quizas, Quizas, Quizas; The rumbas, oh, the rumbas...
One highlight of our stay in Havana was a visit to the famous Buenavista Social Club, playing at the Cafe Taberna... we, shame on us, had never heard of this. Those musicians play music all their own - traditional Cuban music (son) fused with Latin jazz - we've never heard anything quite like it, and probably never will again... (Read their bio on Rolling Stone here...
There were about ten musicians playing, and singers - clearly very famous singers, highly revered by those in the know... oh how I wish we had taken a video camera on this holiday. Why didn't we? Why oh why?
So I have searched YouTube, and found this, Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo of the Buenavista Social Club, recording Quizas, Quizas, Quizas. Composed by Cuban songwriter Osvaldo Farrés, this rendition is breathtakingly beautiful... I don't think I have ever seen or heard such a deeply moving rendition of a song. Please watch, listen and enjoy...
I can't follow that, not in this post. So, more next time... and I'll tell of how I discovered a new fretted instrument, and introduced two wonderful Cuban musicians to the ukulele! And if you like those Latin strains too, the good news is - I've found some music for the uke!
Hi! And thanks for dropping in! Sorry I've not been around; I've been away on holiday to tropical parts, and I can't wait to tell you all about it - and I could not resist taking a uke with me, I must add - but more of that later. It's a beautiful day here in England, somewhat rare over the last twelve months or more, and I don't want to miss it sitting here inside hammering away on my PC.... so for now, here's a quote worth sharing. It's not exclusively "ukulele" - but the cap fits, so to speak. I just read it on a great website I recently discovered. Mote of that later, too....
Here it is... when it comes to being a better player, to achieving mastery over your instrument...
“There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.” ~Beverly Sills
Yes... sorry about that, but we are all in the same boat, plugging away at the practice!
In my last post I told you about the new ukulele that Pete Howlett is building in Wales for Peter Moss…. now let me tell you about Peter Moss himself.
The fact is that Peter Moss, a Lancashire lad, has been pretty well-known in the fretted instruments community around Toronto and Halifax, Nova Scotia since 1989, when he was tracked down by Mel Collie and asked to cross the Atlantic to attend the first Toronto meeting of FIGA, the Fretted Instruments Guild. Since then, he has built up quite a following over there, having been back to Toronto three times and to Halifax Nova Scotia six times, and has a sell-out gig coming up in June, but he has not been so well-known here on his home patch for a little while. It’s his banjo-ukulele playing that has them all sitting up and taking notice in Canada…
Well… in February this year, Peter’s wife bought him a wooden ukulele for his birthday. That was an inspired gift… it was not his first wooden uke, but truth to tell, he had not played one for many years… oh yes, he had had one before….. and fellow uke addicts will not be surprised to hear that upon picking up and playing his new ukulele, an old flame was instantly rekindled in his heart – a passion for the wooden ukulele. He started a YouTube channel and made some videos – wooden uke and banjolele. When I saw them I was pretty impressed by his dazzling playing. Now, the name and ukulele playing of Peter Moss were completely new to me, but it quickly became clear that his name was already very well known to the ukulele and banjolele cognoscenti over here….. and I was very curious!
Well, I have been able to have a chat with Peter and I can tell now you more – as promised.
Peter has not been away from making music in the UK, but he has been concentrating on guitar and saxophone for some time. Life’s twists and turns had steered him away from his first love, the ukulele – but thanks to his wife and that birthday uke, Peter is back.
He has been telling me his story….
It began with another birthday ukulele. His father, who played Spanish guitar, bought him a wooden uke for his eighth birthday, and taught him to play it. Peter took to it like a duck to water. By the time he was ten and a half, he was a competent strummer and had already won a local talent competition hosted by the Manchester Evening News. He also had a little show set with his sister Wendy. In those days the Formby songs were considered too risqué for children to sing, so their Dad taught them the old Tin Pan Alley songs like Baby Face, Five Foot Two, Who’s Sorry Now… becoming a young member of the George Formby Society, Peter learned the split-stroke and other Formby strums and was rapidly increasing his skills and repertoire.
His father had taught him all he knew, and wisely introduced Peter to other skilled players.
One very influential person was Ray Bernard, a founder member of the newly formed George Formby Society. Ray played melody … Lady of Spain, Rubinstein’s Melody in F…. and Peter was fascinated. From that moment he was committed to this style of playing. Then George Graham, the banjo repair man for Shep’s Banjo Boys lent Peter a recording by Roy Smeck. And by ear, from that record, Peter learned to play Roy Smeck. Virtuoso stuff indeed. From playing around the chords and picking out melody finger-style, Peter taught himself chord melody playing and improvisation. He was not yet thirteen.
In 1973, when Peter Moss was still only 12, there came a significant milestone in his musical journey. Peter had been working on a banjo-ukulele version on the William Tell Overture, no less… with galloping triples, finger-picking and a great crescendo… he played it in the annual competition of the Northern Branch of the BMG – British Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar Federation, in Wythenshawe - it went down a storm – and he won. Later that year, he played it in the Southern Branch competition, and won that, too. Peter was the first person to work out the William Tell Overture of banjo-uke, and he was still only 12 and a half. It’s still played as a show piece by gifted players.
1973 ended with a TV appearance for the young Peter Moss, playing with his sister Wendy in the Christmas Special of Junior Showtime, playing old-time banjo-uke favourites like Somebody Stole My Girl.
It’s great to see Peter Moss back on the ukulele-banjolele scene here at home, where he is picking up new fans all over the place.
If you want to catch up with him, coming up – places world-wide to catch up with the great playing of Peter Moss!
The Light of the Morning - original instrumental by Eugeneukulele,
(Jon Duncan) featured on this blog many times before....
Jon used to have a great YouTube channel under his name eugeneukulele... then suddenly on day, adjusting his settings, he lost the whole thing. If you have tried to look at his videos via this blog lately, that's why you find them gone. His great website was also lost. BUT - the good news is, he has a new one! Check it out here - there's lots of interesting stuff on there - Jon's choice of videos, info on the ukes he likes - go and look!
He has a new YouTube channel now, under the name butterflybandito, and he has been uploading his old videos to it. There are 97 on there to date! Do check it out.... Jon is great songster, musician and ukulele player, and one of the very nicest people to get to know, in the way one does across this planet with the internet.... I do plan to check through here to replace all the dead video links with live ones to Jon's new channel, just give me time!
This new instrumental is so aptly named, don't you think? The Light of the Morning... where Jon is, that's autumn light... and it's there, isn't it, in the music... beautiful.
For "improvers" like me, there's so much to be learned just from watching fantastic players like Jon. I love the way he combines fingerpicking with different strumming techniques, and chord-melody style.... I've watched this twice already. And in The Light of the Morning , to hear it is a particular joy!
Thanks for sharing it with us, Jon. I hope the rest of the day is as good as the beginning...
PS - "You're the Cream in my Coffee", posted 9th May 2012 - replaced now with live video! One down - quite a few to go!
"I had a nice ukulele experience today. I visited a friend who lives halfway up a mountain overlooking a valley of orange and lemon trees stretching across to the mountains opposite and I took 'Bob' my Martin 2 with me to see what he'd sound like ringing out across the great expanse and it was really, really lovely. The sound just seemed to float out and the tone was gorgeous. I almost know what Julie Andrews felt like at the start of The Sound of Music now. Next time I'll have to take a banjo-uke, or maybe the whole collection to give them all a try."
So - that's why Peter Moss was visiting the renowned ukulele luthier Pete Howlett at his workshop in Wales - Pete is building him a new performance signature ukulele ... and, courtesy Of Peter Moss, here it is in the first stages of build.
The body is English cherry and the neck is alder. My dream exactly - a perfectly-crafted Pete Howlett ukulele made of beautiful English woods.... the fingerboard is ebony and the inlay is green marble-type. What a beauty that is going to be. And in the hands of a virtuoso player like Peter Moss, it will sing like the angels..... we just have to be patient and wait a while until it's finished to hear it.
Do check out Peter Moss's YouTube channel, and Pete Howlett's website - see my previous post for links!
And coming up - more info on this great ukulele and banjolele player....
My last post was in praise of Pete Howlett ukuleles.... and I recently shared a video by the renowned British player Peter Moss. Well, Peter Moss decided to pay a visit to Pete Howlett's workshop in Wales... and here is the resulting combination - Peter Moss plays a sizzling solo on one of Pete Howlett's tenors.
