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Gods of Uke: The Influence of Ukulele-Jazz Pioneer Lyle Ritz, 1930–2017

Jazz ukulele pioneer Lyle Ritz’s 2 albums for Verve, How About Uke? (1958) and 50th State Jazz (1959), were hugely influential among a generation of Hawaiian ukulele players.... Read More...

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Learn to Play ‘Haele,’ a Hawaiian Ukulele Classic from Ernest Ka’ai

From the Spring 2017 issue of Ukulele | BY ADAM PERLMUTTEROur arrangement of "Haele" by Ernest Ka’ai, is presented as a companion to the Gods of Uke feature... Read More...

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Gods of Uke: Ernest Ka’ai, a Pioneering Ukulele Virtuoso, Composer, and Author

From the Spring 2017 issue of Ukulele | BY ADAM PERLMUTTER The 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco is generally regarded as the event... Read More...

Gods of Uke: Eddie Kamae Reinvigorated Hawaiian Culture and Helped Make the Ukulele a Global Phenomenon

For over 50 years Eddie Kamae was at the forefront of the Hawaiian renaissance as a traditional ukulele player, singer, composer, bandleader, producer, and more.... Read More...

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Gods of Uke: Ohta-San’s Cool Touch

From the Summer 2016 issue of Ukulele | BY AUDREY COLEMAN The opening moments of “Stardust” come in leisurely phrases, as if the musician is pausing to reflect... Read More...

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Gods of Uke: Roy Smeck Gives a Lesson to Remember

From the Fall 2014 issue of Ukulele | BY MARCY MARXER A visionary player on the ukulele, guitar, tenor banjo, and lap-steel guitar, the vaudeville performer Roy... Read More...

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Gods of Uke: ‘King’ Bennie Nawahi’s Lasting Legacy

From the Fall 2016 issue of Ukulele BY EDDIE SCHER | PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROBERT ARMSTRONG Robert Armstrong, the source for much of Bennie's biographical infor... Read More...

Gods of Uke: Jesse Kalima (Includes Video)

By Marcy MarxerThis article originally appeared in the Fall 2013 issue.Many years ago a friend gave me a cassette tape of a bunch of old recordings of 78-rp... Read More...

Goddess of Uke: May Singhi Breen, The Ukulele Lady

BY AUDREY COLEMAN In 1931 she took on the New York Musicians’ Union, threatening legal action if the organization would not include the ukulele in its list of ... Read More...

Gods of Uke: Remembering Bill Tapia

Bill Tapia influenced both the Golden Age of Ukulele and the uke revival They called him “Uncle Bill,” or “Tappy,” but to many he was known as “The Duke of Uke... Read More...