Archives: Personal

There were no ukuleles waiting under the Christmas tree for me yesterday morning (since I hadn’t asked Santa for any there were no surprises there), but there were three delightful ukulele ornaments from Santa Claus on the piney boughs to delight me.

Perched on a sturdy branch (sturdy because this is one is hefty in weight) is a resin ornament featuring a barefoot Santa playing an ukulele. The chord he’s playing isn’t like any I’ve seen before (picture an A string with fingers down on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth frets—I guess he’s playing an Eb single note really) but he’s blissfully contented as he sits beneath a palm tree bedecked with a star (and a candy cane) and sitting beside a Hawaiian thatched-grass hut. Maker: Island Heritage.

Jake Shimabukuro (with the accent on the “bu” part, if you’re curious), performed at Chico’s Laxson auditorium last night to a very appreciative crowd and I was on hand for the fun. I’ve been fortunate enough to hear most of the ukulele “greats” in live performances, but I’d never attended a concert by Jake (I also don’t have Herb Ohta on my “heard live” yet list—but maybe someday!). Before I set out for the drive down the hill to Chico I checked with friends on the Flea Market Music Board about what I should expect and, without exception, everyone who’d met him before commented not only about the great show he’d be sure to put on, but also about Jake’s humility and warmth with his fans. Frankly, I took that with a grain of salt—I mean, this guy is talented beyond imagine, he tours worldwide and he’s just, well, “famous.” How warm could he really be toward a total stranger (but, admittedly, a fellow ukulele enthusiast)?

As an attendee at 15 ukulele festivals and workshops in the past few years (from Rhode Island to the Big Island), I can guarantee that, if you play ukulele—no matter what level player you are—the Southern California Ukulele Festival should be a “don’t miss it” event on your lifetime list.What follows is a lengthy account (to make *you* want to attend an ukulele festival, too!); if you’d rather just skip to the album of photos, click HERE! Note: There are more photos in the album than I’ve included on this page so browse around—I can’t figure out how to get captions in the album so you’ll have to look at the name of the .jpg when you’ve opened it and read “who” is in the photo up in the URL bar.