THE eight piece Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (UOGB) is having fun. Established in 1985 when one member got tired of toting his Hammond organ around and opted for the ukulele – a four string small guitar – this ensemble has long sold out gigs in Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, the Royal Albert Hall.
UOGB is now set for Limerick, coming to University Concert Hall on Friday July 26 for the first time. It’s part of a short tour that sees them play from Dublin to Waterford.
What can we expect?
“We came out of Leeds in the late eighties on the back of new wave punk,” explains musician/ singer Will Grove-White. “I was the youngest when I joined aged 16 in 1989 and the line up has remained exactly the same ever since.
“The orchestra is like hobby you can’t get rid of”, he laughs. “The whole idea of calling an eight piece an orchestra is ridiculous, just as the idea of a ukulele and an orchestra is incompatible. Singing is a great part of the band and the idea is that all music is up for re-interpretation by the instrument. We play ’80s new wave, classical, punk, jazz, some Shirley Bassey”.
Grove-White says the ukulele [known to some of us only after Marilyn Monroe’s attachment in ‘Some Like it Hot’] is often described as a bonsai guitar. It originated in Portugal and the four string miniature is “very portable and comes in bass, baritone, soprano” and “even very small sizes reflecting the size of a fridge magnet.
“It offers a surprising variety of tones from the lowest bass to the highest key of the piano”.
Those rich tones, combined with eight voices singing harmonies, creates the inimitable sound and sense of mischief attached to the unique Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.
One night only at UCH on Friday July 26 at 8pm, www.uch.ie to book.
