The string section of an orchestra usually includes dozens of violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. For one night in November, the Michigan Philharmonic Orchestra will add a ukulele for a special concerto. “Jumpin’” Jim Beloff will be performing his piece Uke…
James Hill and Anne Janelle play three songs for our cameras on this Ukulele Session, including two old-time classics and an original written by James Hill.
Jake Shimabukuro Nashville Sessions (JS Records) Of course, like everyone else Jake Shimabukuro has relied on acoustic tones and high-fidelity recordings for prior studio albums, like the orchestral accompaniment of 2012’s Grand Ukulele or the sparse solo ukulele work on 2007’s…
The ambitious goal of this workshop is getting students ready to perform at a uke festival
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By Greg Olwell The ukulele has many cousins throughout the world. Since the ukulele evolved from the machête, a small instrument brought to Hawaii from the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira, there are many similar stringed instruments throughout the lands colonized by the…
By Craig Chee The 2nd annual Los Angeles International Ukulele Festival was a fun-filled celebration of the ukulele, held at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center, in Torrance, California, September 24. There were many more events this year including uke workshops,…
By Greg Olwell When Sara Watkins was recently touring in support of her latest solo album, Young In All the Wrong Ways (New West), the singer and fiddler from Nickel Creek showed up at our studio with a ukulele, an acoustic guitar, and…
There’s a long tradition of upcycling old cigar boxes into musical instruments. Over the decades, many homegrown builders have taken to making ukuleles, guitars, or just about anything else for strings with these lovely leftovers. While this is mostly been…
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By Greg Olwell Before he came by our studio to play three songs for our “Ukulele Sessions Presents” video series, I’d been hearing a lot about Azo Bell. More than just buzz on a forum or YouTube chatter, some of today’s top…
By Greg Olwell For her finale performance on America’s Got Talent, the wildly popular Grace VanderWaal played “Clay,” onstage September 13. Like last week’s performance, the 12-year-old singer-songwriter from Suffern, New York was backed by a cellist, percussionist, and pianist. Watching…