THE MANY VOICES OF UKE Ukulele Day explores only a few of the sounds, styles and songs of the ukulele renaissance. Jazz, blues, barbershop harmonies, island beats, swing and latin are represented. The ukulele versatility is endless with only a taste of the instrument’s mellow capabilities in an ensemble, as accompaniment or a solo instrumental role. Bill Tapia, the “Duke of Uke” is the world’s oldest performing musician. At 101 his skills are still legendary. His renditions of the instrumental standards displays the uke’s adaptation to jazz, swing and latin beats. He is joined by Miguel Mendiola on bass. The barbershop guys, Jim Glasgow and Jim Throgmorton, come from a life-long addiction to barbershop harmonies. When they adopted a twin baritone ukulele accompaniment, their unique sound emerged. John McDonald and Valerie Ford performed together at various festivals in Southern California and Hawaii. The merged their efforts into a vintage blues set which brings back many memorable songs. They are joined by Cathy Laurie and Mario Rossi on bass and keyboard. Valerie Ford is not only a performer, but a song writer with many outstanding pieces to her credit. Her modern Island songs are all original and contemporary. She wrote the title song, “Ukulele Day” especially for this album; its theme is the album’s keynote. Her backup is John McDonald and Mario Rossi. These offerings celebrate today’s ukulele in it’s breath and depth. The ukulele is comfortable everywhere. Enjoy!