The Brisbane BUMS

A nice short piece about folks enjoying music in a participatory manner in Australia (h/t to Alex Ruthmann, who sent this in forever ago). Great to see people enjoying the uke around the globe:

http://www.weekendnotes.com/brisbane-ukulele-musicians-society-bums/?alink=1

Suggestions for songs are sent in by members of B.U.M.S., and then each song is led by a couple of competent musicians up on stage, who sing, coach, and project the chords and notes for the songs on a screen. Those joining in range from experienced musicians to raw beginners, and from the grey-haired to the very young. I also saw a rogue double-bass that had turned up and was allowed to join in, no questions asked.

Ukulele day!

What an amazing day! Jake visited Polly’s students, taught a song, performed, answered questions, and listened as 300 students played their hand painted ukes.

Wow, just wow!

The project will eventually be part of a documentary being filmed about Jake, but the gallery below captures some of the spirit of the day. Congrats to everyone involved for such inspiring work!

Jake Shimabukuro & Yuke’s Ukes

Tomorrow I’ll be hanging out with Polly Yukevich and her 300 students, each of whom has made and hand painted his or her own ukulele. Jake Shimabukuro will Skype in and share some music, and we’ll have a huge singalong.

Does it get any better than this?

Polly’s blog: http://yukesukes.com/2012/06/02/remembering-why/

Here’s a shot of some of the ukes (from the post).

Interspecies hootenanny

Joe at a birthday jam, with a little help from his friend.