Don't snicker, but ukulele is back

Chicago Tribune

June 23, 2007

The simpleton's guitar. The poor man's banjo. Four strings. No respect.

But the stigma attached to the ukulele, long derided as the black sheep of the string family, is beginning to fade. Thousands of miles from the tropical shores of Hawaii, the ukulele is having its moment in the sun.

The inaugural Chicagoland Ukulele Jam Festival on Saturday in west suburban Maywood is believed to be the first in the area, once a hub of the ukulele industry, where blues and jazz festivals traditionally serve as bookends to summer.

The event, featuring lessons and performances by ukulele players from across the country, joins a growing list of celebrations honoring an instrument associated more with comedy than melody. There are at least 10 ukulele festivals scheduled in North America this year.

The Maywood festival, at the Legal Grounds Coffee House at 1300 Maybrook Square, comes at the cusp of what experts are calling a 'ukulele renaissance,' which can be attributed to various theories.

For one, the Internet has allowed enthusiasts to organize communities of fellow 'ukers.' A search on YouTube returns more than 5,000 video postings of ukulele performances, many by Jake Shimabukuro, who is widely considered the Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele, who opened for Jimmy Buffett at Wrigley Field in 2005 with 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'

'There were many, many more people into the uke than anyone realized, but they didn't communicate with each other until the Internet came along,' said Jumpin' Jim Beloff, who maintains the popular ukulele Web site Fleamarketmusic.com, which lists 67 registered ukulele players in Illinois.

And, of course, the novelty factor remains strong.

'It's small and cute and so people automatically gravitate to that,' said Terry Truhart, 39, who recently founded a Chicago ukulele club. 'What people don't realize is that you can play all the same music on it -- country, pop, rock 'n' roll.'

But the ukulele remained the subject of snickers until one song changed everything.

Many ukulele enthusiasts credit the instrument's newfound popularity to the release of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World' by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. The rendition by the late Hawaiian performer went platinum in 2005, garnering fame on the movie soundtracks to 'Finding Forrester' and 'Meet Joe Black.'

'So many people have been touched by the innocence and simple beauty of that song,' said Beloff, author of numerous ukulele songbooks. 'It's kind of a tonic for people who have been exposed to very tightly produced, over-orchestrated popular music.'

The blended cover of Judy Garland and Louis Armstrong hits inspired Truhart to pick up the ukulele, and he immediately found joy strumming 'the happiest instrument you'll ever find.'

But the growing demand has also led to a global shortage of ukuleles, Truhart said. Manufacturers are struggling to keep up, causing music shops in Great Britain to tell customers that ukulele orders can take several months longer than expected, he said.

'You can't get a lot of low-end ukuleles right now because demand is so high,' Truhart said. High-end ukuleles, especially those made with koa, a native Hawaiian wood, can cost more than $1,000. An acceptable beginner's ukulele costs about $40, although some people turn up dust-covered ukuleles while cleaning the attics of older relatives, he said.

The world ukulele (pronounced Oo-koo-LAY-LAY, not 'Yoo-ka-LAY-LEE') is Hawaiian for 'jumping flea,' referring to the speed of a player's fingers on the strings. During the late 19th Century, Portuguese workers introduced the ukulele to Hawaii, where they played the instrument while working in the sugar cane fields, said Fred Fallin, a ukulele historian and Chicago native who will perform at the Maywood festival.

In the early 20th Century, when the ukulele was at its peak, Chicago was its largest manufacturer, home to four companies that crafted 95 percent of ukuleles made outside of Hawaii, Beloff said. In 1916, Sears, Roebuck and Co., looking to corner the ukulele market, bought The Harmony Co., the leading ukulele manufacturer at the time. Now the only Chicago firm that remains, Lyon & Healy, manufactures only harps, Fallin said.

'Chicago played such a big role in the early waves of ukulele popularity that it seems appropriate for it to finally have its own festival,' Beloff said.

Experts say the ukulele gained interest again during the 1940s as the preferred instrument of Arthur Godfrey, host of a popular radio and television show. But it had fallen out of favor until recently, and ukulele enthusiasts blame the late Tiny Tim, an eccentric ukulele performer popular in the 1960s, for its decline.

Tim, with his long, disheveled hair and white makeup, was a damaging face for the ukulele movement, said Kimo Hussey, 63, a ukulele player from Hawaii who will perform at the Maywood festival.

'The fact that Tiny Tim was using the uke was an unfortunate association,' Hussey said.

And yet the ukulele was also an inspiration to many rock 'n' roll legends. Neil Young began playing the ukulele at age 8 before switching to guitar. Former Beatle George Harrison was said to have traveled with two ukuleles on tour.

Now the instrument has found an unlikely ambassador for young audiences as millions of children tune in to the uke-strumming SpongeBob SquarePants.

The ukulele has begun to diversify in recent years, offering electric and acoustic versions ranging from soprano to baritone with four, six and eight strings. But the ukulele's biggest draw may still be its simplicity, allowing beginners to learn a few chords and songs within minutes, Truhart said.

'It empowers people in such a wonderful way,' he said. 'It's like they find their voice, and once they find their voice, you can't take that away from them. All their worldly troubles seem to disappear.'

But near the site of this weekend's festival sits the Maywood Courthouse, where worldly troubles are heard and freedoms are revoked. The serenade of the ukulele could present a unique contrast.

'Learning to play the ukulele,' Truhart said, 'is a liberating experience.'

---------- gfsmith@tribune.com - - - If you go Chicagoland Ukulele Jam Festival Where: Legal Grounds Coffee House, 1300 Maybrook Square in Maywood When: Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Performances by ukulele musicians, workshops and luau-style food and drink

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