Creating a signature sound
New York City musician appearing here at ukulele fest embraced the challenge of learning the instrument
Paul Hemmings dresses like Fred Rogers. His softspoken manner suggests an academic. He’s a little shy. But when he picks up his tenor ukulele, all bets are off.
On stage, Mr. Hemmings is intense, driven and focused as he fuses elements of modern jazz, free improvisation and American roots music into his signature sound. By crossing those musical boundaries, his style and approach to music suggest the chops of American jazz guitarist Jim Hall. But he’s just as comfortable in the classroom, where he’s known for presenting indepth material in an approachable manner.
Mr. Hemmings, a thinking man’s ukulele artist, comes to Pittsburgh next weekend both as a teacher and a musician.
At Steel City Ukuleles Second Annual UketoberFEST on Saturday, Mr. Hemmings will present two workshops that illustrate the process and mechanics of jazz. In the evening, he will headline a concert including original jazz tunes and improv performing with uke bassist Gaku Takanashi. He will be joined by other guest artists including singer/songwriter Syke Zentz. Both the workshops and the concert will be held at the Wilkins School Community Center in Regent Square and are open to the public.
Mr. Hemmings started his professional musical life as a jazz guitar player. But even with good album reviews, he began to favor the ukulele. “I love that bright, organic, warm and focused sound you can get out of a good ukulele,” he says. “And that has everything to do with why I’ve chosen to focus my music around it. The instrument’s limited range has forced me to be more creative in terms of doing more with less, which I think has helped me get closer to the elusive goal of finding my own sound.”
Based in Manhattan, he performs regularly as leader of The Paul Hemmings Uketet. The ukulele-bassdrum team interprets his own compositions and renditions of modern standards. Mr. Hemmings is most at home in small Manhattan jazz clubs and, lately, the Rockefeller Center’s Rainbow Room. And although his is a familiar face on the international ukulele festival circuit, he thinks the shows are two different animals.
“The jazz scene in general takes itself a lot more seriously than the ukulele scene does,” Mr. Hemmings says. “The people who attend ukulele festivals are people who are mostly interested in leaning how to play the instrument for themselves — it is after all “the instrument of the people,” right? And I really like that about the ukulele festival crowds. But I’m not sure how many of those same people have a taste for jazz and improvised music in particular, though. In jazz clubs on the other hand, you can usually take it for granted that your audience is pretty well-acquainted with the style and approach to the music, so I feel like that allows for a little more room to experiment.”