The smiling leaders of the SUPA band
There are thousands of ukulele players in the Puget Sound region, and the Seattle Ukulele Players Association is the heavy hitter of all the song circles. I enjoy going to SUPA, but they only meet once a month on Sunday afternoons, way up in north Seattle. We are often busy then, plus they perform at big venues, like the Seattle Folk-life Festival.
"The Ukes" is a smaller song circle, just down the street at the West Seattle Senior Center. About 10 regulars play each Monday afternoon, and they welcomed the newcomer. (Not to sound morbid, but senior center groups are always looking for new blood.)
The Ukes also perform occasionally at nursing homes and such. Well, a musician must get her start somewhere, and tomorrow we entertain at the Senior Center luau party.
Hopefully those seniors drink a lot of Mai Tais.
A good finger-picker can make a ukulele sound sweet and poignant, but it can never be mournful like its distant four-string relative, the violin. The uke is basically just a happy strumming instrument that doesn't take itself too seriously, and neither should we. It is hard to be sad and play a ukulele. Senior luau, here I come.
There's no shortage of of hokey ukulele music. The Ukes play songs like Ja-Da, Sloop John B, Lemon Tree, Island Style, King of the Road, Leavin' on a Jet Plane, and so on. The only problem is these catchy tunes turn into the most annoying earworms.
I can't play all the obscure chords in the The Uke songbooks, so I just air strum those parts and no one seems to care. Unlike a symphony, in ukulele circles the strong players seem perfectly content carrying the weak ones along. And all ukulele players like to sing loudly and happily-- whether you can really sing or not, it makes no difference.
So I'm looking forward to my first performance with The Ukes tomorrow. Darn, I wish I'd kept that old Hawaiian shirt I had way back in the 90's.
Some Uke musicians at a recent Senior Center Performance
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