Ukuleles of Paradise is spreading ukulele aloha around the Paradise community! That’s right, during the summer months we’re meeting at Paradise Community Memorial Park for our occasional jamming sessions. This gives us a bit of “public” exposure and it’s a lot of fun to play as the sun sets (don’t forget your mosquito repellent!) against the backdrop of the pine trees. The days for the “Plunkin’ at the Park” sessions varies–contact me to find out the current schedule.
Who goes to Hayward (California) to play the ukulele? Thousands of us did on April 29—and if you weren’t there, you missed an event that’s as rich in Hawaiian culture as it is in four-string delights. Held at the Hayward Adult Learning Center, this year’s event was the 14th annual, making it the longest-running (and oldest!) ukulele festival on the mainland. This festival has a true ohana feel. While some of the out-of-the-auditorium jamming was definitely non-island oriented (Beatles, anyone? Petula Clark? John Denver?), the performers inside are members of the many Bay Area-based ukulele schools and clubs and their performance repertoire was almost entirely Hawaiian (including contemporary and hapa haole as well as some lovely old melodies that just made me sigh and want to collapse beneath a coconut palm). (Read on …)
I realized at our last meeting of Ukuleles of Paradise that a lot of folks have only a minimal knowledge of Hawaiian music. It’s just not something they’re familiar with or have heard much (if at all!). To help remedy that, I’ve written a very brief primer on the topic, “Learning About Hawaiian Music” and I have posted it in the Files section of this site. The article includes a (brief) summary of what you might hear in Hawaiian music as well as an abundance of links for online Hawaiian radio, vintage recordings, places to listen to/purchase Hawaiian music and even an online site where you listen to traditional songs and speak Hawaiian while you play along on your ukulele!
While you’re in that section of the site, you may want browse around and see what other files you might be interested in. I created most of these for members of the local ukulele group to help answer questions or as topics for a future meeting.