Sharing aloha.
That’s what Pineapple Jam did recently when they helped Paradise’s Craig Memorial Congregational Church celebrate its 134th birthday.
Fourteen of us—including a few who just learned to play earlier in the summer at our Ukuleles of Paradise meetings—provided the event’s Hawaiian-themed entertainment. We had six practices ahead of time (a lot for us) and it paid off with lots of smiling faces in the audience that night.
I was quite nervous about taking on “leading” the group. I can talk in front of people all day (and longer) but leading a group of players so that we started, ended and played together was a new skill I wasn’t sure I could handle. Plus, I’m definitely not a strong singer…
But we did it! Our set list was: Aloha Week Hula, Lovely Hula Hands, Little Grass Shack (I did the hula); Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Tiny Bubbles/Pearly Shells medley, On the Beach at Waikiki, Hukilau (an audience participation “let’s teach you to hula” song), Island Style and Aloha Oe.
We used CaliRose’s arrangement of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” because the original IZ version just wasn’t working for us but we still wanted to include the classic song. CaliRose, a performer, teacher and all-around great lady, leads the CC Strummers (from Culver City—get it, “CC Strummers”?) and I’d seen a YouTube of them playing the arrangement. Here’s how we got our little group up to speed playing it: I gave them the YouTube link of the CC Strummers. We listened many times. We listened to the IZ version many times. Then we tried it for ourselves. Over and over. And then one more time.
Frankly, our introductory “oooh-ing” was pretty tough. Quite bad, actually. Getting all 14 of us to “oooh” with the same breathing, sustain and tone was simply not going to happen. So, I’m the leader, right? I made an executive decision. We have Trish in our group; Trish is taking voice lessons at the local college where she teaches. Trish and her partner sing and play at local open mics. I decided to have Trish be the *only* one doing the “ooooh-ing” with all of us strumming the chords. We all joined in singing at “Somewhere” and we let Trish do the “oooh-ing” on the closing.
It worked! Hurray! Several folks came up to us after the program and said they’d always loved, “that song sung by the big Hawaiian guy.” So, we were even recognizable. Thank you, Cali, for your arrangement and the fun you gave to so many people through it.