Today had the sad news that Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, has died at the age of 76. One of the best-selling musical artists of all time, she was the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Aretha was also a civil rights activist, being a symbol of black pride & women’s liberation.
None of the ukulele tracks of her numbers could get anywhere close to her great voice, so I’ve picked an instrumental of Gerald Ross playing the Bacharach & David tune, I Say A Little Prayer:
It was that Hollesley time of year again, but sunny Suffolk was a mix of joy and sadness as it was to be the last year at this site. Still it didn’t dampen the spirits, the revelry or uke playing.
Hollesley 2016 – Phil Doleman, Rufus & others playing Enjoy Yourself (filmed by almuzo):
Stu Fuchs (aka Stukulele / Ukulele Dojo) is doing a new series of beginners’ videos, starting with the basics & progressing as he teaches his latest class. He says these are for anyone who wants a refresher or check to see if they need to get out of any bad habits they’ve picked up whilst playing. This first one covers strumming; keeping rhythm; accenting the backbeat; fretting chords without too much tension; & a simple strumalong to Jamaica Farewell. In Week Two he introduces 3/4 time & plays a long-distance duet with you of Amazing Grace.
There are also plenty of other interesting items & tutorials on his website, at all levels, so do have a look round.
If you like listening to or playing the uke, if you like meeting fun-loving, friendly and knowledgeable people, all in the heart of the beautiful Suffolk countryside, then Hollesley Ukulele Jamboree was the place to be. Read the rest of this entry »
Kevin’s has dug out an excellent three numbers for us to try in April. We’ll be playing them as a group on Tue 31 March & Tue 7 April, as people seem to need a little longer than a week to practice & it worked well this month playing everything on two weeks. Read the rest of this entry »
This month’s tunes have been chosen by Ed. He’s picked three songs that he thinks would work well in the group & says let’s give it a try & see what comes out the other end.
As before, the versions of the songs we’ll be using are in the PLUC Box for members (and have been emailed to our newer attendees). Do practice these at home & be ready to play them as a group on Tue 3 March. We’ll then vote upon the one that works the best so we can rehearse it more fully over the coming months. Read the rest of this entry »
When we were playing After You’ve Gone this week, Rufus mentioned that he’d recorded a version in his garden with Alli, founder of Ukulele Cosmos. It seems a fitting song to post here on St Skeletor’s Day:
