Is there enough jazz ukulele?
This EP is the latest step in my quest to promote ukulele as a distinctive voice in new jazz, with five new compositions.
It all started when I bought a cheap ukulele for a wild camping trip - I fell in love with it and was amazed at how well it records and how expressive it can be. I think of the ukulele as an underdog because it's often under-rated. After trying out uke based pieces in several jazz idioms I thought of the album "Guitar forms" by Kenny Burrell and had the idea of attempting something similar on ukulele; the plan is to release three EPs this year and this is the first.
Track 1 "Plucking the underdog" features interplay between tenor ukulele and banjo. The tune is an altered blues inspired by Charles Mingus. The percussion is also played on ukulele.
Track 2 "One thing" is based on a roadtrip across Africa by my friend and ace photographer Paul Close; along the way he took portraits of people he met and asked each of them "What is the one thing that would make your life better?"The lyrics are based on their responses. Orchestra Baobab are a favourite of mine and this music owes a lot to them. You can hear the contrast between the Kala soprano uke in the left channel and the Flight tenor uke on the right.
Track 3 "West Pennine Winter" was written for Paul Mansell's "The ukulele sessions" and evokes the big skies of the West Pennine Moors under snow. Everything is played on a Flight tenor ukulele, including electronic sounds and percussion.
Track 4 "Piglets" is a crazy fusion of Gypsy jazz and electropop, written as a celebration of "pannage", the Autumn tradition where piglets are set free in the New Forest to eat acorns.
Track 5 "Uke-o-tronics" explores the electronic ukulele with 18 different electronic treatments, one riff and one ukulele