Brudda Bu's Ukelele Heaven

Brudda Bu's Ukulele Heaven

"The ukulele is a symbol of innocent merriment." Paradise of the Pacific, 1917.

Aloha! You've made it to Ukulele Heaven, where we will talk story about the marvels and merits of that unique Hawaiian 4 stringed wonder. We'll discuss it's history, including the history of Martin and Kamaka ukuleles, we'll even take a tour of the Kamaka Factory (cool!), we'll talk about the great ukulele players, look at some really gorgeous ukuleles, and I'll suggest a few of my favorite CDs. Please look at our different web pages, including a new page about todays ukulele makers and Hawaiian ukulele makers of yesteryear. Sit back and take your rubbah slippahs off, put on some ukulele music (maybe some Brudda IZ, Uncle Eddie, Aunty Genoa, Troy, Ukulele Ike or "The Wizard of the Strings"), and ho'omanawanui (take it easy). My name is Brudda Bu, e komo mai (welcome) to Ukulele Heaven.

The Royal Hawaiian Ukulele Band
Northern California Ukulele Festival, April 29, 2001
Photo by Sandy Goya
The ukulele has found it's way into the hearts of American music lovers for over 80 years, since it was first seen on the U.S. mainland at the 1915 Pan Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Many musical instrument companies, both in Hawaii and on the mainland, have made ukuleles. Some of the most beautiful can be found here...

And now for a little history lesson...
When the Ravenscrag arrived in Honolulu on the afternoon of August 23, 1879, it was carrying 419 Portuguese immigrants from the island of Madeira to work in the sugar cane fields. It had been a long and hard journey of over 4 months and some 15,000 miles. In celebration of their arrival, Joao Fernandes borrowed his friend's braguinha amd started playing folks songs from his native land on the wharf. To the amazed Hawaiians watching, his fast moving fingers looked like ukulele, or "jumping fleas"....more history here

To be politically correct...
We all know "ukulele" is a Hawaiian word. The usual way us mainlanders say the word is "you-ka-LAI-lee". The correct pronunciation is actually "oo-koo-LEH-leh". Some people (like me) often shorten the word to "uke", but the purists even frown at this. But it doesn't really matter. As long as you strum your ukulele and have a good time, that's all that really is important.

A little bit about myself...Several years ago I went to Hawaii for the first time and fell in love with the people, the land, and the music. I decided to pick up a ukulele (I had never played a musical instrument before) and before you could say "okole maluna", I was strumming away. I started collecting old ukuleles and now I have a small collection, some of which you can see here. I play in an ukulele band in Berkeley, The Royal Hawaiian Ukulele Band. How did I get the name "Brudda Bu"? It was Brudda IZ Kamakawiwo'ole who gave that name several years ago and it stuck.

This is yours truly with the late, great Bradda Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and his band, Gaylord Ho'omalia, Analu Aina, Mike Muldoon and Cuzzin Mel Amina.

Wow, check out these walls of ukes!!

Please take a look at my other web pages...

History of the Ukulele
History of the Ukulele...Part II
Ukulele Makers of Today....New!!
The Great Ukulele Players
Some Gorgeous Ukuleles
More Gorgeous Ukuleles
Hawaiian Ukulele Makers of Yesteryear...New!!
History of Martin Ukuleles
History of Martin Ukuleles...Part II
History of Kamaka Ukuleles
A Tour of Kamaka Hawaii, Inc.
My Ukulele Buddies
Great Ukulele Music
The Sons of Hawaii & Eddie Kamae
Bradda IZ
Ukulele Ike
And a whole lotta of uke links HERE

Please email Brudda Bu with any questions.