Blog

Here is a bit of a look back to some of the videos—especially of the early jazz variety—I made in 2020. Plus, there are two performances hidden in there that I recorded in mid-2019 that nooooooo one has seen until now. Look out for Al Schackman in those two numbers. He’s a guitarist that played… Continue reading Thirty minutes of ukulele jazz — plus two never before released performances

What do you do in the wintery depths of a global pandemic? Well, propose a creative collaboration with a perfect stranger living over 5000 miles away across a vast and endless ocean! This is the power of the internet and of course, the magnetizing, community-building power of the ukulele and of the music of the… Continue reading Pure joy with Charlotte Pelgen — Livin’ in the Sunlight, Lovin’ in the Moonlight

I am so excited to finally be offering ukulele tabs through my Patreon page. This video is meant to serve as a visual (and audio of course) learning aid. If you closely watch where my fingers go you can totally learn the tune just from this free video! But if seeing the tabs would be… Continue reading Livin’ in the Sunlight, Lovin’ in the Moonlight solo ukulele playthrough

A December gift for you: four new songs. They were all written around a century ago but I recorded them very recently. Hope you enjoy! <3 -s

What’ll I Do – a ukulele jazz cover of Irving Berlin’s sad and sweet breakup song. Notice that extra-special rarely performed first verse and even rarely-er ever performed second verse! I made this recording today and now my reward will be to eat ice cream for dinner. Let me know if you have played the… Continue reading What’ll I Do – 1924 Irving Berlin cover

Blue Christmas! I made tabs for this today, and am offering tabs publicly for the first time, my finest moment. ?✨ Please support me on Patreon at any level for access to the tabs. FYI 10% of Patreon earnings go to organizations that support BIPOC folx. ??✨

Yes this song and this ukulele may in fact be the same age. A perfect match! I fell in love with this song when I found a recording of Nellie McKay performing it. I’ve been working on a fairly straightforward little recording project involving some songs from around 1924 (some of you are may be… Continue reading April Showers – 1921 song on a 1920s uke

The Ink Spots! What a pleasure it is to listen to them. (especially when Ella Fitzgerald sits in with them, my favorite!) I love “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” — I originally learned it when I played it at a friend’s wedding — and it was so fun to revisit it… Continue reading I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire – Ink Spots cover on ukulele

Dream a Little Dream of Me: I wonder, have I stayed away from recording this song because Ella Fitzgerald sang it so well? I know her version best but the sweetest Doris Day is also among the many many singers of this song from 1931. In the spirit of honesty I’ll also claim that I… Continue reading Dream a Little Dream of Me – a 1931 ukulele cover

Farewell Angelina – a song written by Bob Dylan and covered by many greats including Joan Baez, but here my inspiration comes mainly from Danú’s version. I love Muireann Nic Amhloaibh’s singing. -s