{"id":12545,"date":"2022-03-03T16:50:23","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T15:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=163415"},"modified":"2022-03-03T17:11:40","modified_gmt":"2022-03-03T16:11:40","slug":"6-famous-ukulele-players-and-ensembles","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/6-famous-ukulele-players-and-ensembles\/","title":{"rendered":"6 famous ukulele players and ensembles"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By BBC Music Magazine\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 03 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

There\u2019s no denying that the ukulele<\/a> brings a smile to many faces and is loved by scores of famous musicians and celebrities, from Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison to 1930s singer-songwriter George Formby and modern-day Taylor Swift.<\/h3>\n
And the ukulele has breached many different music genres, from folk to classical, pop to country.<\/p>\n
Here are some of its most celebrated players<\/p>\n
Famous ukulele players<\/h2>\n
Jake Shimabukuro<\/span><\/h3>\n\n<p class=\""p2"\"><span class=\""s1"\">The Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele, Jake Shimabukuro is a fifth-generation Japanese-American who found fame with his rendition of George Harrison\u2019s \u2018While my Guitar Gently Weeps\u2019. He discovered the ukulele aged four and is known for his virtuoso performances that blend different styles.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\""p1"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Israel Kamakawiwo\u2019ole<\/span><\/h3>\n<iframe title=\""????\" israel=\"\" kamakawiwo=\"\" the=\"\" rainbow=\"\" a=\"\" wonderful=\"\" world=\"\" medley=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""150"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Z26BvHOD_sg?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p class=\""p2"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Kamakawiwo\u2019ole\u2019s rendition of \u2018Somewhere Over the Rainbow\u2019 brought him to public attention after his death in 1997. The track was used in films and TV ads, but it\u2019s the traditional Hawaiian tracks that make his album <i>Facing Future<\/i> essential listening.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\""p1"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Eddie Kamae<\/span><\/h3>\n<iframe title=\""Eddie\" kamae=\"\" those=\"\" who=\"\" came=\"\" before=\"\" dvd=\"\" preview=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pleNtUKh3kI?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p class=\""p2"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Hawaiian Kamae discovered his island\u2019s traditional music through the ukulele. His first love was the Latin music he heard on the radio, but the ukulele allowed him to discover his musical calling. You can hear him play with slack-key guitarist Gabby Pahinui on the album <i>Sons of Hawaii<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\""p1"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Debashish Bhattacharya<\/span><\/h3>\n<iframe title=\""Debashish\" bhattacharya=\"\" introducing=\"\" anandi=\"\" slide=\"\" guitar=\"\" ukulele=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Uh2I6mW-h5I?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p class=\""p2"\"><span class=\""s1"\">The ukulele can appear in strange places, here in the midst of traditional Indian music played on a range of slide guitars. \u2018Slide ukulele frees me and my listeners to a place where cultural, regional and traditional barriers don\u2019t exist,\u2019 says Debashish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\""p1"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain<\/span><\/h3>\n<iframe title=\""The\" ukulele=\"\" orchestra=\"\" of=\"\" great=\"\" britain=\"\" the=\"\" good=\"\" bad=\"\" and=\"\" ugly=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pLgJ7pk0X-s?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p class=\""p2"\"><span class=\""s1"\">You\u2019ll find a host of their music online, but their album <i>Top Notch<\/i> is probably the best introduction to their eclectic and entertaining mix of classical, punk, jazz and disco \u2013 though nowhere near as good as seeing them play live. You can find their side project, <i>Lutes \u2018n\u2019 Ukes<\/i>, on YouTube.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\""p1"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Joe Brown\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<iframe title=\""Joe\" brown=\"\" i=\"\" see=\"\" you=\"\" in=\"\" my=\"\" dreams=\"\" live=\"\" liverpool=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1MSFxR11LOI?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<p class=\""p3"\"><span class=\""s1"\">A contemporary of George Harrison, Joe Brown (right) shared his love of the ukulele and played the song \u2018I\u2019ll See You in my Dreams\u2019 at Harrison\u2019s memorial service. Brown is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and <i>The Ukulele Album<\/i> includes that track as well as \u2018Pinball Wizard\u2019, \u2018Ace of Spades\u2019 and ELO\u2019s \u2018Mr Blue Sky\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By BBC Music Magazine Published: Thursday, 03 March 2022 at 12:00 am There\u2019s no denying that the ukulele brings a smile to many faces and is loved by scores of famous musicians and celebrities, from Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison to 1930s singer-songwriter George Formby and modern-day Taylor Swift. And the ukulele has breached […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":12546,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/6-famous-ukulele-players-and-ensembles-scaled.jpg",2560,1708,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/6-famous-ukulele-players-and-ensembles-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/6-famous-ukulele-players-and-ensembles-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/6-famous-ukulele-players-and-ensembles-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/6-famous-ukulele-players-and-ensembles-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/6-famous-ukulele-players-and-ensembles-1536x1025.jpg",1536,1025,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/6-famous-ukulele-players-and-ensembles-2048x1366.jpg",2048,1366,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By BBC Music Magazine Published: Thursday, 03 March 2022 at 12:00 am There\u2019s no denying that the ukulele brings a smile to many faces and is loved by scores of famous musicians and celebrities, from Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison to 1930s singer-songwriter George Formby and modern-day Taylor Swift. And the ukulele has breached…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/12545"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}