| Author |
 Topic  |
|
GUke
Lokahi
188 Posts |
 Posted - 07/17/2007 : 10:56:00 AM
|
James Hill was the third concert I attended at Michael DaSilva's ukulele shop. Plenty good has been said about James performance and workshop which I also attended. But I want to make note that the venue is one great place to see a concert. The uke shop and concert hall is one and the same. So while the musicans perform you're surounded by raw material, ukuleles in manufacturing process, and all the tools. It's great. Space is limited for the audience, but I think the place can hold about 50. So you know it's intimate. Mike has had many great ukulele performers, and although I lean towards Hawaiian music, James Hill ukulele music shows how much more the instrument is capable of. And kudos to Mike for helping to expose the non-Hawaiian. I've played and sung non-Hawaiian songs with my ukulele. But I've never heard an ukulele sound just like a koto, and I was blown away with how James use the ukulele as a percussive instrument when he played "one note samba". And then there was the three movement classical piece he wrote and performed. I enjoyed that equally as I enjoyed seeing Yo-Yo Ma performing the Bach solo movements on cello. I couldn't help but wonder how James would look like black tie performing as SF Davies Symphony Hall. But again, if you are in the area when Mike is hosting a workshop or concert definetly go. And if you are looking to have an ukulele made or even want to build one talk with Mike.
Aloha,
Guke |
Genaro
Should I? Itʻs only $, and where Iʻm going itʻll burn or melt. |
 |
|
|
Uncle Dave
Akahai
USA
58 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2007 : 1:15:51 PM
|
| Anybody remember that wine tasting blind test several years back when Hearty Burgundy by Gallo Brothers was voted gold by the majority of certified judges? It beat some very reputable and top performing imported vintages. Have all the ukers you name here perform in a blind test and none of you will be able to pick the best performance consistently. Maybe some of you old timers remember they did this on the beach next to the Niumalu Club in Waikiki (Now Hilton Hawaiian Village) between 1946 and 1950 on Friday nights before the kanikapila session. With all the pseudo contestants playing Martins and the same song no one could pick out anyone who stood out consistently. The professionals were just as likely to be beat out by one of the Kalia or Kaka'ako boys on any given night. All due respect to your opinion of pitting Jim against Jake but for what purpose does it serve? I'll take the old Krater Boys over them any day. |
|
|
|
da_joka
Lokahi
361 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2007 : 2:09:54 PM
|
I wen hea couple of James' recordings, and some good no him. Jake too. As fo da teaching stuff, take a look at dis star bulletin article.
http://starbulletin.com/2003/08/10/features/story1.html
James seems to be one good teacher/performer/composer. Jake is a great performer/composer and used to teach sometimes befo. I dunno if he does anymo (anyone know?). Not to bring somebody else into dis discussion, but I tink da attitude Jake and Bruce takes toward eachotdda explains alot about both of dem. |
If can, can. If no can, no can. |
|
|
|
hikabe
Lokahi
USA
358 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2007 : 5:09:13 PM
|
Uncle Dave has a point. I would rather hear my dad playing the uke over any other.
Anyway. James is very good and Troy is good fun. Troy was my role model for the uke, even though Ohta San defined for me the 'uke sound.' Troy was pushing the envelope before the other young ones emerged.
Hey Dominic... can't make Santa Cruz.. have fun...
|
Stay Tuned... |
|
|
|
Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2007 : 6:04:51 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by Retro
Different styles of playing. No need to make it a competition, as it's a treat to hear them live and on records, and aren't we lucky to have them both making music?
I think that's kinda what I said right at the beginning, no? I'd like to hear 'em all - Troy Fernandez is really good, too, his "Hawaiian Style `Ukulele" is one of my favorites. And no, Jake tours too much to have time for teaching anymore. |
|
|
|
noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2007 : 8:58:43 PM
|
| I guess you guys mean most current uke players. But my money is on Eddie Kamae and Moe Keale. As far as Hawaiian only kine sound. Others are good in their own genre. But when I was a kid Eddie Rino Gahuman was da bes I heard. He listen to one song one time and pau he get 'em note for note. |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
|
|
|
Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2007 : 10:17:36 AM
|
quote:
Originally posted by noeau
But my money is on Eddie Kamae
So glad he's still with us and still playing; got to meet him at Honey's back in January. Still talking with folks about bringing him (and some of his films) to Seattle someday.
So many young players credit him as their inspiration, too - Jake, Herb Jr., David Kamakahi... |
|
|
|
hikabe
Lokahi
USA
358 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2007 : 3:35:57 PM
|
A beginner learns the C chord. That is 1 skill. Then the F chord is another skill and the G chord is another skill. Now the player has 3 skills. As time goes by, more skills are acquired until the player has a couple thousand skills and goes to intermediate level. After 2 thousand more skills, the player reaches advanced level.
A player at that level is undeniably more skilled then the intermediate player. You can tell by the players ease to render more complex music. You may not like the piece being played but cannot deny the fact that the player is more skilled then the performer you prefer. This is what I am addressing when I compare the performers who are in the spot light in the uke world and are promoting themselves as such. Some have twice as much skills as others. They can also take criticism. I am not pitting players or fans against each other. I am just drawing the lines between them. I am not being rude, I just calls it like I sees it. Sorry I seem rude sometimes when I'm just clowning.
|
Stay Tuned... |
|
|
|
Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2007 : 4:40:10 PM
|
| There will always be great amateurs, who remain merely amateurs. Like professional soccer, the ukulele is known only to a unique group on the mainland (inland from California). To some extent there is a need for a "group" to create the phenomenon known as a "star". Ask yourself if the economic pheonomenon of Japan in the 1980s and the spare change that resulted has anything to do with creating the interest in the ukulele that produced the bigger names (of the so-called "third wave" of ukulele interest), with some influence that may be unique to the Pacific rim (including California). I'm not out of touch with popular culture in the midwest, and I can assure you that the names being mentioned here are on the lips of no one I know. I appreciate opportunities like the LA radio station interviews that permit me to learn more about the styles of popular ukulele performers. I suspect (though I may be wrong) that anyone who can claim to have come from a Hawaiian background, at this moment in time, like the Kiluau (SP?) Krater Boys would still have more cache' billed that way in Indiana than someone billed as a native of Iowa who happens the play the ukulele. (Of course, if he came from Indiana, it might be a different story...) I know, must be a big market for ukuleles here; you "betcha"! (I won't be opening an 'uku shop here anytime soon...) I keep thinking of Bill Tapia, and his story about meeting Louis Armstrong and being able to sit in with him during his show in Hawaii at a time when Jazz and Armstrong were both popular in the mainland, and close to the era when service men were bringing ukuleles home with them, both factors associating Tapia with an existing group that helped to create the well known ukulele performer (by the standard used here) in the eyes of the public. I'm sure there's no need for any personal or cultural afront relative to who is named as a "star". That term, it seems to me, has more to do with a link to a major distribution conduit than specific talent in most fields. I am inclined to judge the term "star" by how much positive impact a person has and is likely to have on others. As a result, I classify "Uncle Dave" as a star, and look forward to the positive impact his videos and upcoming book will have on this genre of music and the lives of those he touches through it! |
Thank you. |
|
|
|
hikabe
Lokahi
USA
358 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2007 : 02:38:16 AM
|
I have a few more skills than Uncle Dave, so thanks for the compliment. I'm a star now, but not too bright!
How did we get on this star thing. ...major distribution conduit??, what are you talking about??? |
Stay Tuned... |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
Topic Locked
