Pretty much every one of the Windward Choral Society’s concerts has included at least one piece accompanied by the ukulele. Hey, it’s Hawaii. Isn’t there an ongoing argument in the legislature about proclaiming it as the official state instrument (wait…an argument…in politics…say it ain’t so)? These days many (most) know that it was actually brought here from Portugal by sailors. Space was evidently at a premium and guitars are pretty big (“Rodrigo…dude… that’s NEVER gonna fit in the overhead bin”) so a small guitar-like instrument called a machete became the strumming choice. The Hawaiians adapted it and, lucky for us, King Kalākaua really liked it and made it part of the royal musical world.
Parents with kids in school can tell you what an “uku” is (ick) thus the “jumping flea” translation of the word “ukulele”, but there are those who insist it means “the gift that came from here”. Beats me who’s right, but one of those doesn’t itch, if you know what I mean (and I think you do).
So what is it with this magical little thing? It showed up over the years in jazz and country music, Arthur Godfrey’s show and even went into the hands of the totally weird Tiny Tim (another one of those people that make me think “why was he famous”?). It’s one of those things that explodes on the scene, fades away and >blam<, it’s back. Huge in the 40’s, quiet in the 60’s. Resurgence in the 70’s, gone in the 80’s (I just can’t see one of the Van Halen-esque “hair bands” with a uke…or Gene Simmons either, for that matter). The 90’s roll in and Iz makes the leap across the ocean with “Over the Rainbow” and it’s back again. It’s like agave, it blooms every 10 years (although I suspect agave might bloom more often if we didn’t keep hacking it up to make tequila; we’ll never know and I promise to do my part to keep it a mystery). This time, however, the fade-into-oblivion doesn’t seem to be happening. Part of it is the legacy of Iz and the pure joy that his voice and the uke combined to create. The other thing that has placed a 4-stringed anchor in the limelight is YouTube.
But wait a second…four strings and somewhere around fourteen usable frets? That’s only 56 places to put your finger. Seems a bit limiting. Happily, it’s not and people continue to take the little beastie to new and wonderful places. Did you know that there’s a Ukulele Orchestra? In Great Britain. No, really, there is. Depending on where you are in the world you can hear bluegrass, blues, classical, there really are no boundaries. Because the uke is so small and the frets are so small, a talented player can stretch his fingers to places you just can’t reach on a guitar, giving it its own little world to own and explore.
Here in Hawaii, Jake Shimabukuro is pretty much a household name and has managed to take his crazy talent around the world (several times). The uke now has an official ambassador so I suspect it’s here to stay. It seems that every few months he does/invents/plays something that makes you think, “On a uke? Seriously?”. On his recent “Peace, Love, Ukulele” he swung the pendulum from Leanord Cohen’s “Hallelujah” to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Ridiculous, mind-blowing, awesome.
Speaking of Jake, here’s the video that started it all nine years ago. I still remember when a friend of mine sent me the link. I was stunned. (When I went to get this I noted that this has been viewed just under 14 MILLION times. Yikes.)
The punch line? He didn’t know it had been posted. Hilarious.
(And between you and me, I think he’s an alien.)
I suspect the Windward Choral Society will find one of those little 4-string wonders at all of its shows, and wouldn’t have it any other way.