I want to share a brief report on my first ukulele festival. It was exciting, exhausting, and wonderful in so many ways. My wife, Chris, and I have been playing a little less than a year. We came home from Oahu last October with our new love for ukulele and were very disappointed to see we had just missed the annual Los Angeles Ukulele Festival. We have been taking lessons playing for our teacher, and playing with/for one another, but we have never been part of an in-person ukulele group activity of any sort before. So this was a bit of a culture shock, but in a good way.
We didn't attend the Friday night luau meet and greet, but we did have dinner and a nice visit with @rainbow21. As he has been in both our exchanges here and via email, @rainbow21 was most gracious, helpful, and generous. We played a bit for one another and talked story and generally had a great time getting to know one another. He brought books and ukulele paraphernalia to donate at the festival, and we were lucky enough to get first crack at the books. I wanted the Abe Lagrimas Jazz book, and the Lute to Ukulele book, and Chris grabbed an Intro to Fingerstyle book.
On Saturday, we thought we were arriving early, but by 8:40 there was already a crowd. The location has a tremendous amount of parking since it is the lot for most of the Torrance Civic Center. The Torrance Arts Center has a large outer plaza surrounded by several buildings or halls, and then there is an inner plaza with a main stage. The outer plaza was the main marketplace with booths and tables. The inner plaza had a gate where you got your wristband for easy entry/exit after showing your paper or e-ticket. The inner plaza also had a few booths, but it was primarily seating (moveable outdoor chairs) for the main stage. There was also access to several building or meeting rooms from the inner plaza. We were hauling quite a bit: our two ukuleles, plus bags and backpacks with ukulele related stuff (printed downloads, music stand, tuner, ets.), and we also brought two ukuleles to donate. So we were just looking for a place to sit down and park.
As we walked into the inner plaza we noticed Kalei and Corey had an Anuenue booth right next to the main stage, and it was oozing with Moonbirds and Cedarbirds in different sizes. I may have even spotted a Koabird, not sure. Then there was the main stage which seemed extremely fluid. It was part sing-along and part performance, but artists where coming a going song by song. It was kind of amazing, like a realtime jam plus strum-along. Then as we were looking for a place to sit down, I noticed someone who looked like Kimo Hussey. I asked my wife (I am terrible at recognizing people), and she assured me it was Kimo--look at the smile! I'm not kidding, just seeing Kimo in person and my day was already made. As we stumbled further into the plaza we saw @rainbow21 waving us over to where he had saved a couple seats. David (@rainbow21) told me I to go play a Cedarbird and Moonbird before it got too crowded around the Anuenue booth. He watched our pile of stuff while we went over to say high to Corey and Kalei.
I tuned up a Cedarbird Concert and played it a little and then tried the Moonbird Concert, but frankly there was way too much going on for me to have any sense of how they sounded. Of course, they were beautiful and felt great in hand. As I turned from the booth, I almost bumped into Kimo, and I took the opportunity to introduce myself and thank him for all the terrific work he has done, both teaching and playing. He has been such an inspiration to us. We play his tracks endlessly and he is the main reason we both primarily play low-G. He he was there with his nephew, and he said it was strange, but kind of nice to be at a festival where he wasn't either performing or teaching or both. A bit star struck, we returned to our seats and enjoyed the stage performance. About that time the morning prize drawing was being held on stage, and we hadn't purchased any tickets for the drawing, so I circled the whole venue a couple times, finally finding the donation spot. I was amazed to see how populated the outer marketplace had become in just the last thirty minutes. Every spot for a booth or table was being set with everything from plate lunch and shave ice, to clothing and trinkets, to ukuleles and accessories of every shape and size imaginable.
The festival reminded me of a six ring circus, and that was not counting the marketplace. In the outer plaza a large hall had continuous beginner classes, with loaner ukuleles supplied. The beginner venue and outer marketplace were open to the public without ticket purchase. Different artists and teachers rotated through that beginner venue all day long. Then there was the main stage that featured performances and sing-along. And then there were four other meeting rooms or halls that featured workshops, sing/strum-along, and open mic. The first performance on the main stage was Sarah Maisel and Craig Chee. I decided to do a workshop instead, since I had just seen a live performance by Craig and Sarah last month. I did have some regrets when I looked out the window and saw that Kalei and Corey had spontaneously joined in. If I had one criticism of the festival, it was that I couldn't take it all in!
I have developed a number of ukulele relationships here on UU, and I was fortunate enough to meet several UUers at the event. Thanks to the initiative of @hands_on_lanzon, a group of UUers had arranged to meet during the festival Saturday morning. My wife and I were trying to organize a dinner and ukulele gathering at our place on Saturday night, but more on that later. Our meeting spot, suggested by @mitchchang was the Japanese Garden just off the outer plaza, and our meeting time was just after the Craig and Sarah performance. Below is a picture of the five of us, from left to right, @FatherMother, @ailevin, @rainbow21, @hands_on_lanzon, and @Ila.
Though we probably didn't spend more than fifteen or twenty minutes together in the garden, it was nice to meet and associate actual humans with the avatars. It was also very nice that throughout the day we would bump into one another in a workshop, or see one another at a performance. The festival itself was very welcoming and comfortable, but after the garden meeting, I felt was like we were attend with a small group of friends rather than as a couple.
My wife and I did some workshops together and some separately. I picked out a couple jazz and theory workshops, and she did more of the sing-along or strum-along. When we got back together, I could see how pumped up she was. Her sessions were with Lil Rev and Ukulenny, and the were both fantastic. She said they were both wonderful entertainers who really involved/engaged their audience. I was thrilled because, as I said earlier, we had never played with a group before, and she was concerned about her ability to keep up. However, she said the materials were well presented, the keys/chords were generally easy and familiar to her, and it really built her confidence. I think we will be participating with local groups much more after this experience.
It's hard to me to pick favorites, and I don't want to go on endlessly about every workshop or performance but here are a few of my Saturday highlights:
- Meeting Kimo
- Sarah Maisel's Intro to Jazz workshop; she is not only a talented musician, but a brilliant teacher
- Abe Lagrmas's Jazz Improv workshop; Abe provided an amazing roadmap that helped me understand how the chord changes in a jazz standard inform the scale/notes you use to improvise a melody line
- Abe's Trio Performance
- Getting string advice for my soprano from Kalei and Sarah
- Ukulenny somehow being everywhere at once and immensely entertaining
- Corey, Kalei, and Mika playing at the end of day
As I mentioned earlier, we were trying to arrange a get together on Saturday evening, but it was clear from the morning meeting that only a few folks were likely to attend. Frankly, by the end of the day we were so worn out, that we were a relieved that we had no takers for an after party. In the future if we do try anything like that it will be Friday night, not Saturday.
We attended Sunday as well. There was no outer plaza marketplace, and only a few booths in the inner plaza. There were only two venues, the main stage and one workshop area. The crowd was considerably smaller and the vibe was very different--more relaxed and low key. Thankfully, the good food and Kona coffee were still available. I got to do much more sing/strum-along with the main stage on Sunday, which I really enjoyed. The workshops that day did not have as much appeal for me on paper, but a funny thing happened during brunch. We went to get something to eat from the kitchen at the back of the room where Peter Luongo was teaching. We sat at the back of the room eating and were blown away by the last half of his course. After we ate, we stuck around to take his next workshop and it was both wonderful and shocking. He had us singing In the Mood in three part harmony a capella. If you haven't see the documentary The Mighty Uke, it is an interesting history, and it features Peter quite a bit. He is a teacher's teacher.
I can't wait for next year!
Alan
We didn't attend the Friday night luau meet and greet, but we did have dinner and a nice visit with @rainbow21. As he has been in both our exchanges here and via email, @rainbow21 was most gracious, helpful, and generous. We played a bit for one another and talked story and generally had a great time getting to know one another. He brought books and ukulele paraphernalia to donate at the festival, and we were lucky enough to get first crack at the books. I wanted the Abe Lagrimas Jazz book, and the Lute to Ukulele book, and Chris grabbed an Intro to Fingerstyle book.
On Saturday, we thought we were arriving early, but by 8:40 there was already a crowd. The location has a tremendous amount of parking since it is the lot for most of the Torrance Civic Center. The Torrance Arts Center has a large outer plaza surrounded by several buildings or halls, and then there is an inner plaza with a main stage. The outer plaza was the main marketplace with booths and tables. The inner plaza had a gate where you got your wristband for easy entry/exit after showing your paper or e-ticket. The inner plaza also had a few booths, but it was primarily seating (moveable outdoor chairs) for the main stage. There was also access to several building or meeting rooms from the inner plaza. We were hauling quite a bit: our two ukuleles, plus bags and backpacks with ukulele related stuff (printed downloads, music stand, tuner, ets.), and we also brought two ukuleles to donate. So we were just looking for a place to sit down and park.
As we walked into the inner plaza we noticed Kalei and Corey had an Anuenue booth right next to the main stage, and it was oozing with Moonbirds and Cedarbirds in different sizes. I may have even spotted a Koabird, not sure. Then there was the main stage which seemed extremely fluid. It was part sing-along and part performance, but artists where coming a going song by song. It was kind of amazing, like a realtime jam plus strum-along. Then as we were looking for a place to sit down, I noticed someone who looked like Kimo Hussey. I asked my wife (I am terrible at recognizing people), and she assured me it was Kimo--look at the smile! I'm not kidding, just seeing Kimo in person and my day was already made. As we stumbled further into the plaza we saw @rainbow21 waving us over to where he had saved a couple seats. David (@rainbow21) told me I to go play a Cedarbird and Moonbird before it got too crowded around the Anuenue booth. He watched our pile of stuff while we went over to say high to Corey and Kalei.
I tuned up a Cedarbird Concert and played it a little and then tried the Moonbird Concert, but frankly there was way too much going on for me to have any sense of how they sounded. Of course, they were beautiful and felt great in hand. As I turned from the booth, I almost bumped into Kimo, and I took the opportunity to introduce myself and thank him for all the terrific work he has done, both teaching and playing. He has been such an inspiration to us. We play his tracks endlessly and he is the main reason we both primarily play low-G. He he was there with his nephew, and he said it was strange, but kind of nice to be at a festival where he wasn't either performing or teaching or both. A bit star struck, we returned to our seats and enjoyed the stage performance. About that time the morning prize drawing was being held on stage, and we hadn't purchased any tickets for the drawing, so I circled the whole venue a couple times, finally finding the donation spot. I was amazed to see how populated the outer marketplace had become in just the last thirty minutes. Every spot for a booth or table was being set with everything from plate lunch and shave ice, to clothing and trinkets, to ukuleles and accessories of every shape and size imaginable.
The festival reminded me of a six ring circus, and that was not counting the marketplace. In the outer plaza a large hall had continuous beginner classes, with loaner ukuleles supplied. The beginner venue and outer marketplace were open to the public without ticket purchase. Different artists and teachers rotated through that beginner venue all day long. Then there was the main stage that featured performances and sing-along. And then there were four other meeting rooms or halls that featured workshops, sing/strum-along, and open mic. The first performance on the main stage was Sarah Maisel and Craig Chee. I decided to do a workshop instead, since I had just seen a live performance by Craig and Sarah last month. I did have some regrets when I looked out the window and saw that Kalei and Corey had spontaneously joined in. If I had one criticism of the festival, it was that I couldn't take it all in!
I have developed a number of ukulele relationships here on UU, and I was fortunate enough to meet several UUers at the event. Thanks to the initiative of @hands_on_lanzon, a group of UUers had arranged to meet during the festival Saturday morning. My wife and I were trying to organize a dinner and ukulele gathering at our place on Saturday night, but more on that later. Our meeting spot, suggested by @mitchchang was the Japanese Garden just off the outer plaza, and our meeting time was just after the Craig and Sarah performance. Below is a picture of the five of us, from left to right, @FatherMother, @ailevin, @rainbow21, @hands_on_lanzon, and @Ila.
Though we probably didn't spend more than fifteen or twenty minutes together in the garden, it was nice to meet and associate actual humans with the avatars. It was also very nice that throughout the day we would bump into one another in a workshop, or see one another at a performance. The festival itself was very welcoming and comfortable, but after the garden meeting, I felt was like we were attend with a small group of friends rather than as a couple.
My wife and I did some workshops together and some separately. I picked out a couple jazz and theory workshops, and she did more of the sing-along or strum-along. When we got back together, I could see how pumped up she was. Her sessions were with Lil Rev and Ukulenny, and the were both fantastic. She said they were both wonderful entertainers who really involved/engaged their audience. I was thrilled because, as I said earlier, we had never played with a group before, and she was concerned about her ability to keep up. However, she said the materials were well presented, the keys/chords were generally easy and familiar to her, and it really built her confidence. I think we will be participating with local groups much more after this experience.
It's hard to me to pick favorites, and I don't want to go on endlessly about every workshop or performance but here are a few of my Saturday highlights:
- Meeting Kimo
- Sarah Maisel's Intro to Jazz workshop; she is not only a talented musician, but a brilliant teacher
- Abe Lagrmas's Jazz Improv workshop; Abe provided an amazing roadmap that helped me understand how the chord changes in a jazz standard inform the scale/notes you use to improvise a melody line
- Abe's Trio Performance
- Getting string advice for my soprano from Kalei and Sarah
- Ukulenny somehow being everywhere at once and immensely entertaining
- Corey, Kalei, and Mika playing at the end of day
As I mentioned earlier, we were trying to arrange a get together on Saturday evening, but it was clear from the morning meeting that only a few folks were likely to attend. Frankly, by the end of the day we were so worn out, that we were a relieved that we had no takers for an after party. In the future if we do try anything like that it will be Friday night, not Saturday.
We attended Sunday as well. There was no outer plaza marketplace, and only a few booths in the inner plaza. There were only two venues, the main stage and one workshop area. The crowd was considerably smaller and the vibe was very different--more relaxed and low key. Thankfully, the good food and Kona coffee were still available. I got to do much more sing/strum-along with the main stage on Sunday, which I really enjoyed. The workshops that day did not have as much appeal for me on paper, but a funny thing happened during brunch. We went to get something to eat from the kitchen at the back of the room where Peter Luongo was teaching. We sat at the back of the room eating and were blown away by the last half of his course. After we ate, we stuck around to take his next workshop and it was both wonderful and shocking. He had us singing In the Mood in three part harmony a capella. If you haven't see the documentary The Mighty Uke, it is an interesting history, and it features Peter quite a bit. He is a teacher's teacher.
I can't wait for next year!
Alan
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it was great meeting everyone and seeing the familiar faces around during the weekend. I enjoyed catching up with folks to ask about workshops or performances that I missed... which as you said, can be a lot!
