We never took the ukelele seriously until now. The Hawaiians do and always did; in fact, the ukulele is part of the culture. Maybe you haven’t heard of Israel ‘Izzy’ Kamakawiwo’Ole. The big man passed away in 1997 but this medley of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’/ ‘What a Wonderful World’ will last forever and give you a glimpse of his gentle soul. His version of this song was used in ‘Meet Joe Black’ (Brad Pitt/Anthony Hopkins) and on the hit show ‘Glee’ Season One Finale, as well as in ‘Scrubs’, ‘Cold Case’, “South Pacific’, ‘Charmed’ and countless others.
Bruno Mars skyrocketed to fame and now we all know him in a big way. Bruno, born Peter Rodriguez, Jr. grew up in Hawaii, the son of a nightclub musician. He played out with his Dad since he was a little boy. Ukelele factored into this musical upbringing. When you hear ‘The Lazy Song’ you get the best of Bruno and his ukulele. His crew is pretty funny, so try not to laugh….
Caitlin Claessens is from Canada, but now lives in New York City. She plays in the subway, streetcorner alcoves, and clubs when she can. She sings like an angel and plays (guess what?) THE UKELELE!! Here is Caitlin doing a ‘cover’ of Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’. She may be somewhere in a subway near you….
These kids do an incredible version of ‘Hotel California’ by The Eagles. I can hear Joe Walsh blazing that mournful lead solo that we all know and love! Tell me this does not make you want to run right out and buy a ukulele?!?!?! They say the song was written about the high life in Los Angeles. I say these boys capture the essence and beauty of what touches us emotionally about the song, yes?
Jake ShimaBukuro and Charles Yang are both critically acclaimed artists in their own right. Jake does Queen’s, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ with a vengeance. Here he is with Charles doing George Harrison’s/Beatles song ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. Amazing stuff.
‘Tonight You Belong To Me’ has been recorded over the years by The Lennon Sisters, Zooey DesChanel, and Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters in the movie ‘The Jerk’. The song was written by Billy Rose and Lee David. Zahida, Sara, and Julia do one of the best versions ever and are each as cute as a button. Zahida was voted ‘The Next Big Thing’ some years back.
Great Britain gives us ‘The Ukelele Orchestra’ doing the theme song by Ennio Morricone, from the ‘spaghetti western’ starring Clint Eastwood, ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’…. and I cannot help but laugh and like it all at once. You will too.
