(Photos and Videos below)
New videos added!!! (Oct. 3, 2005)
The Flea was kept up past his bedtime for this one. Ukulele Noir Six was held on September
24th at the usual venue, The Skybar in Somerville, MA. Eight uke acts were rocking the bar from 8:30 PM to about 12:30
AM.
Davis Sweet opened the show, as usual, this time accompanied by August Waters on guitar and Morgan (Davis'
son) on percussion. The set began with a few Hawaiian numbers Pearly Shells, Blue Hawaii, and When Hilo Hattie Does
the Hilo Hop. They then moved on to some pretty jazz standards including Satin Doll, Georgia on My Mind
and also Django Reinhardt's Swing Guitars (or Swing Ukes). Perhaps in honor of Fat Domino being
discovered safe in New Orleans, they finished with What's the Reason I'm Pleasin' You? Very pretty set.
Next up was
Melvern Taylor and the Fabulous Meltones .....and fabulous they were.
The
Flea wants to hear much more from this act and is now anxiously awaiting their next CD. Check out the
video of
Sleepy Eyes below for yourself. You'll be very happy you did. Everything else they did was just
as nice. On a scale of 12 frets Mel earns a 12!
http://www.melverntaylor.com/home.html
Rick Russo was next. Always a crowd favorite, Rick didn't fail to live up to his reputation as
"
The Ukulele Crooner."
The Flea was particularly pleased to hear two old favorites,
Kamalani and
My Yellow Ginger Lei included in Rick's set. Rick was then joined by Sob Sister Renee and Mark
"
Jazz Ukes" for two more numbers.
http://www.jazzukes.com/crooner/friends.html
After the swooning girls were cleaned off the floor from Rick's performance,
Craig Robertson and the Sob Sisters
took the stage. Always a fun act, they led with
Eight Foot Two Solid Blue. Also included were
The
Hypnotist and
Hard Hearted Hannah....a nice treatment to a great old song.
http://www.robertsonstudio.com/ ,
Next was
Dave Wasser (of
The Bag End Boys). Dave included a little "
Iz"
and was later accompanied by his wife Sue Abbotson. In a great departure from the
Bag End sound, Dave and Sue
did some ukulele bluegrass. The audience was treated to some very nice harmonies.
http://homepage.mac.com/dwasser/bolger/index.html
The Founder of Ukulele Consciousness,
Rober Wheeler, was next. We were all smiles when He
performed
Drive by
The Cars. It was a treat for all of us but perhaps mostly for Greg Hawkes,
keyboardist for
The Cars, who was in the audience. Greg ran over quickly to The Founder as soon as He left
the stage.
The Flea wasn't sure if Greg was going to punch Him out for stealing
the song or perhaps demand a royalty check. You can find out the answer in a photo below. You can find The Founder's
wrtitings at:
http://rockthatuke.com/main.htm
Next up was
Tom Harker and His Prodigal Sons. This seven piece band took up the entire stage.
Included were a guitar, electric bass, accordian, drums, harmonica, various horns, and even a ukulele. They performed original material
(although
The Flea may have heard a similar song titled
This Little Piggy as a small child.......but
it was great to hear it by a seven piece band instead of by Fisher Price) They come from Ohio and you can sample their
songs on the website.
http://ukuleleman.net/
Tim Mann then took the stage. Tim has a sweet voice and does some very sweet songs. This
time Tim was theoretically solo as Greg Hawkes, his usual uke-companion did not think he was going to be able to make the
show. Fortune intervened though and Greg not only was able to attend, but also joined in with Tim for a few numbers.
Craig Robertson also joined in for the final song.
Mark Jazz Ukes Occhionero managed to hang on to his coveted last-man-in-the-line-up
position. MarkO found some especially delightful chords for this night, extra-especially on I'm Beginning to See
the Light. He was joined by his lovely wife, Andrea, for a classy and romantic version of Something Stupid.
They finished with a kiss. As Andrea left the stage, Greg Hawkes entered, although a bit hesitant to stand next
to MarkO until he promised Greg that he would not kiss him after their song. The Flea
refuses to divulge how good MarkO is at keeping promises.
Well, the biggest treat of the night was saved to the very end.....the Ukulele Noir traditional end of the night jam.
Everyone that performed got up onto a very crowded stage and led by Dave Wasser, performed
Iko Iko in a smashing
tribute to New Orleans where Dave was first introduced to the ukulele. This was a truly special moment that,
if we are lucky, you might be able to enjoy in the future on Midnight Ukulele Disco
http://www.ukuleledisco.com/ ....as Jason Tagg was spotted there with his instrument of choice.....a video camera.
-The Flea
