Joseph Kekuku Steel Guitar Fest welcomes ukulele artists

NOTE: according to the organizer, there is NO 2006 festival on October 8th. The 2006 date on this page was a typo. We have no information on any 2006 event. -Admin

The Joseph Kekuku Steel Guitar Festival will be in the historic Baker Theater in Dover NJ on October 8, 2005.

If you're looking for a festival-style ukulele event in the greater metropolitan NY region, this one could be it until NY Uke Fest in April

You can attend the Hawaiian style feast (luau) beforehand, to be held in the ballroom of the historic Baker Theater, followed by an evening of enchanting music. The tix for dinner and concert are $25. For concert only, it's $10.

All the proceeds go to purchasing a suitable grave monument for Jospeh Kekuku, who is buried in Dover not far from the theater. The really hard core will be at a graveside ceremony at 4pm. Steel guitarist Mike Esposito and Uke Jackson will be playing at that part of the festival, as well as at the evening concert. Joseph Kekuku is generally credited with the invention of the Hawaiian style slide guitar.

Here's a line up:

The Moonlighters –A Hawaiian style band playing music of the 20’s and 30’s and original tunes. They have beautiful singing and musicianship on ukulele, guitar steel guitar, and bass. Mike Neer plays the steel guitar with them. Mastering the early swing jazz from the 1920s and 1930s, their delightful, almost giddy sound is infectiously pleasing and lighthearted. With sweet, birdsong female vocals leading the way, their fun, well-versed mix of country-western swing, dixieland, early jazz, gypsy jazz and vaudeville-feeling cabaret is hard to resist. They are very popular in N.Y.C. This is their first N.J. appearance, other than an appearance on the Flaming Ukulele Radio Hour. Their CD’s will be on sale in the lobby area.
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Lenny Kaye and The Delaware Water Gap Ukelele Guild, featuring Mike "Felix the Cat" Kuehn on lead ukulele. Lenny Kaye is well known in the rock world as pop singer Patti Smith’s guitar player. For over 25-years Kaye collaborated with Patti Smith on a wide variety of musical and art projects. Kaye became the lead guitarist for “The Patti Smith Group” and helped establish itself as an influential force on the seventies rock scene. They made four albums during the decade and received a considerable amount of critical acclaim. Lenny has also played with a number of other bands, including those of Eugene Chadbourne and Jim Carroll. In addition to working with Suzanne Vega, he had done production work for Kristin Hersh.
Born and bred in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Kaye initially recorded as a solo artist under the name of Link Cromwell. In 1986, he returned to Rutgers University (earned his bachelors degree in 1969, and eventually his masters degree in history) to teach an American Studies course entitled "Rock Music and American Culture." The course broke registration office records, and was a remarkably well-formed and thoughtful critical survey of rock history. And if all that weren't impressive enough, Lenny has been a talented rock critic for many years, writing for such magazines as Rolling Stone and Creem.
Presently, Kaye plays on Patti's new album Gone Again and is a member of the group that backs her up in concert. He also recently finished the project of writing Waylon Jennings' autobiography. Welcome Lenny Kaye & company to the Baker stage.
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Uke Jackson-Uke Jackson is an entertainer and media personality. His ˜Flaming Ukulele Radio Hour” the planet’s only all-ukulele music radio show, has listeners everywhere tuning in regularly. Locally, the “Flaming Ukulele Radio Hour” is broadcast on WNTI 91.9 FM public radio from Centenary College, in Hackettstown, NJ. He is also a regular musical guest on MUD TV in Manhattan. As a recording artist, he was recognized for his unique efforts, combining spoken word and music, during the 1990s. His River Tales were heard on hundreds of public radio stations throughout the English-speaking world. Among the accolades, the American Library Association named him one of the top 10 recording artists in the United States. Earlier in his career, he achieved moderate success as a playwright, screenwriter and journalist, under a different name, all the while playing music on the side in New York City, accompanying the late jazz legend Don Cherry and world-renowned sound artist Charlie Morrow, among others. In addition to his media efforts these days, Uke Jackson is collaborating on a musical for the stage with rock star and fellow uke nut Greg Hawkes, keyboard player of “The Cars.” Titled Ukulele 2079 it’s scheduled for first performances in New York in April 2006. Uke Jackson is also the driving force behind the “NY Uke Fest 2006”.
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Miss Ewa’s Hawaiian Trio-"Miss Ewa's Hawaiian Trio" is made up of Ewa Noskowicz on ukulele, Peter Kohman on National tri cone round neck rhythm guitar, and Chris Davis on National tri cone Hawaiian style guitar. The trio has performed at Joe's Pub in NYC several times, The South Street Seaport, The Hawaii Cultural Foundation as well as many luaus and pool parties in Connecticut where Chris lives. The group has also played on the CD for the Mel Bay book "The Art of Hawaiian Steel Guitar Vol. #2" which will be available very soon.
Ewa plays only vintage Martin ukuleles and has an extensive collection of interesting ukes . Chris Davis plays a National tri cone in the old Sol Hoopii style and has appeared on several CD's (Wishbone Ash, Terrence Martin, Evy Mayer, Dan Bonis). Chris co-authored the book "The Art of Hawaiian Steel Guitar,Vol.#2" with Stacy Phillips. This book explains how to play some of the hot solos of Sol Hoopii , Benny Nawahi, and other players from the 20's and 30's. Peter Kohman has authored many articles on vintage guitars for various magazines and has played in many groups based in New York. He currently works at Retro Fret Guitars, a vintage guitar store in Brooklyn. It is a real pleasure to have Miss Ewa’s Hawaiian Trio on the Baker Theater’s historic stage.
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Larry Cutrone - Larry offers eight different theme shows and plays all kinds of music, He is a professional playwright and has appeared on radio and television (including The Joe Franklin Show) and offers an upbeat and interactive performance with his audience. His music ranges from Dixieland, Country and Western to the Island’s music and Ukulele Sing-a-longs. He also offers several comedy acts with his ukulele that have left audiences laughing for days. Some credits include: Recordings with legendary record producer Wayne Stierle - Opened for Rodney Dangerfield at his club for a season

• Star and head comedy writer of “Manhattan Alive” TV show - Host & comedy writer of “The Country Cousins” radio show - his radio show was admitted into the NJ AM Radio History Museum - Wrote weekly comedy column for the “Garden State Nitelife” - Wrote the Screenplay for “The Pat Galo Story” - Golly Records releases his album “Mandolino Mio.” Larry will be making history at this historic Baker Theater.
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[ Edited by: hanford_lemoore - removed dates at organizer's request - 2006-09-17 17:14 ]

An article by Pat in a back Issue of Aloha dream raises some interesting points,
one of which is, If Joseph Kekuku picked up a bolt from a railway track
and discovered the 'slide' way of playing guitar, how did he do that in
the early to mid 1880's, when the railroad only came to Oahu on
November 16th 1889 ?