Yes, it IS a Uke: NMC, but pretty awesome

[soliver]

I got sucked into the vacuous hole of YouTube the other day when I saw this video of Jame Hill, who is apparently a ukulele genius, doing stuff where he is a completely self sufficient one man band playing melody, chords and percussion all at once, I was not only in awe of his talent, but also of his showmanship and ability to play to the audience... very entertaining!!... I’ll share the highlights with the few that I found most awesome:

First one I saw was a version of MJ’s Billie Jean:


Next was Voodoo Child:


And finally a couple of fiddle tunes and an original; a BG Jam favorite is here within; Blackberry Blossom... I particularly like his original... the cellist accompanying him is his wife.


So yea,... it IS a Uke... enjoy.

[lukmanohnz]

Love this - thank you so much for posting. Ukulele was my first instrument back when I was 11 or 12 years old. Still have a couple, and still have a soft spot for them. This couple is wonderful, and show so much joy in their music.

[catmandu2]

https://youtu.be/RylxBtEM0sI

[Mark Gunter]

Wow.

You know, hearing young guitar slingers, mandolin players, ukelele players do the Hendrix bag is always cool, and his rendition is impressive, obviously a virtuoso - but that stuff is also just a bit of a novelty.

That last video of the couple doing the acoustic set was jaw-dropping fun. What a joy to watch and hear. Saving that vid for sure, great stuff.

[G7MOF]

Genius !!!

[Ted Eschliman]

He and his wife were in my town two weeks ago and did a workshop for our teachers and a concert at night. Great music and charming folks.

[soliver]

I was really impressed with the whole thing... even as a novelty I can tell that the guy has boat loads of talent, that came through in the little acoustic set in the last video; esp his original IMHO.

[Mark Gunter]

I was really impressed with the whole thing... even as a novelty I can tell that the guy has boat loads of talent, that came through in the little acoustic set in the last video; esp his original IMHO.

No doubt about his skill and musicality! I meant nothing negative by "novelty" - just that playing Hendrix on "unorthodox" instruments or even on guitar has become a bit of a novelty. The way he and his wife play together acoustically is an amazing display of music - and musical skill. Loved it.

[soliver]

Agreed!

[Ivan Kelsall]

I had a hard job figuring out exactly 'what was what' in the first 2 YT clips,but the 'Ukulele Sessions' was pure delight. He's a Uke version of one of my favourite Guitar 'stylists' - Andy McKee.

Thank you Spencer !!,
Ivan
Andy McKee - ''Drifting''.

[Charlieshafer]

James and Anne and fantastic. I want to post this video here just because it's too easy to dismiss whims a novelty act. I think in general that's a problem with the really great players; they get noted for technical prowess, and the music sometimes gets lost.

[Bob Clark]

All this cool ukulele music I'm hearing these days is almost enough to convince me I took up the wrong instrument. Almost, but not quite. Still, ukuleles have really come into their own. I love'em.

[Jess L.]

My first impression is that he's playing it like a clawhammer banjo. Thumb riding that string all the time. Which of course is going to naturally create some pretty good rhythmic effect.

[Mark Gunter]

Hey JL, if you listen to his talk at about 3:00 minutes in on soliver's third video in OP: "kind of a melodic, kind of clawhammer style"

Good eye

[Jess L.]

Hey JL, if you listen to his talk at about 3:00 minutes in on soliver's third video in OP: "kind of a melodic, kind of clawhammer style" ...

You're right, I hadn't noticed that. I have a bad habit of sometimes (okay, often) fast-forwarding through the parts of performances where people are talking, because I figure it's probably (a) small-talk banter unrelated to the music at hand, and/or (b) stuff I've already heard before. But in this case, I would have benefited from listening to the whole videos instead of skipping around like I did. I was in a bit of a hurry, if that's any excuse.