What it is:A benefit for South, buy dinner if you like and consume it.
Very talented people play their songs on ukuleles in our honor,
we pass the hat.
Full menu available, drink specials benefit South.
Where it's at:
Satsko
245 Eldridge Street (Between Houston and Stanton)
NYC, 212-358-7773
When it is:
Tuesday May 26th, 7-9pm
Who's hosting:
Ted Gottfried and Jason Tagg, fathers (mothers?) of the Ukulele Cabaret!
Why you must attend:
It will be good.
Who's playing:
Carmen Borgia and Doug Skinner - doing some songs from the brand-new musical South.
David Hornbuckle - Songwriter, singer, author, Birmingham exile with a uke and an axe to grind, be it standards, originals, lo-fi, hi-fi, sheet music or the rest. A comprehensive artiste!
Jamie Scandal - The finest femme fatale ever to crush a ukulele to her breast, always fun, always sly. Has a dirty laugh, and is good at heart. If we're lucky she does the song about Leonardo DiCaprio. Having said that, it's impossible to choose a fave.
Sonic Uke - Jason and Ted will rock hard and perhaps even be rock hard. Grass skirts, lycra pants or both, who can predict what they will do?
Sweet Soubrette - Talented and sexy, the queen of the nylon string plays the most fetching tunes of her own devising. I love her yearning songs of hope and betrayal. Will you break her heart or will she break yours?
Reggie Wingnutz - Superior British invasion rock with a uke. I play a game where I try to recognize him after the show and usually lose.
Khabu Young Dog - The jazzy heart and soul of the ukulele, a brilliant arranger and conceiver of songs. His version of Row Your Boat is quite moving and I'm not kidding, even a little.
A few thoughts on the ukulele:
I've met people who feel the ukulele is a silly or trivial instrument, presumably because it is small. This is like saying a diamond is ugly because it is tiny. Some uke players develop a complex about this and project a negative outlook. Others revel in their difference and stride through the world, brave and proud. I'd like to cut through all of that to say simply that the ukulele, in the proper hands, is as lovely an instrument as can be had. It may convey beauty, victory, loss, transcendance, despair, joy, hunger, struggle, hilarity, and even silliness and triviality. Like a fine violin or a flute, it has the advantage of being easy to transport, and thus can be present for discreet duty at a variety of functions, from the triumphant to the tragic. I know these things because I've heard them all myself at various times, by some of these very players.
I use the ukulele here and there in South, it was one of the instruments that helped to shape the piece, even when it didn't end up in the final arrangement. Doug Skinner will be performing some of those tunes, and he is certainly among my favorite players, with a special talent for the articulate strum - he somehow gets definition from every string with each stroke of his hand - making the instrument feel magically larger and more intricate than one would imagine, which I take to be a fine outcome for any musical performance.
So if you're new to the uke, or if you're an old hand, come and check it out. Not because we need the money, though heaven knows we do, but because it will be a good night out.
