My 37th music compilation CD and first of 2020 features the humble ukulele. A 4-stringed instrument most often associated with Hawai’i, the ukulele can sound exotic and wonderful, particularly in the hands of these musicians:
- King Kukulele, also known as Denny Moynahan, a contemporary singer/songwriter and fantastic storyteller in today’s Tiki scene;
- ukexotic, a very new musical group who just released their debut Exotica album online;
- Herb “Ohta-San” Ohta, a traditional Hawai’ian musician who was featured on the original soundtrack at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort;
- Jake Shimabukuro, a modern Hawai’ian musician who takes the ukulele to some incredible and unexpected places;
- Israel Kamakawwo’ole, another classic Hawai’ian musician, who tragically passed away not long after his solo rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow mesmerized the world.
I was inspired to put this mix together after seeing Jake Shimabukuro in concert at the Musikfest Café in Bethlehem last month. I scoured my music collection for ukulele music and this is what I came up with. Here’s the playlist:
Thank you for the introduction to Ukexotic
Yay!