‘Calling all ukes’ — Celebration honors historic instrument
Ben Ahn taps his flip-flop rhythmically against the stool. His eyes are closed, and he belts out smooth lyrics. One hand glides up and down along frets of the ukulele, while the other picks at the four soft strings. His hand taps against the wood, giving the tune a melodic, thumping beat.
It sounds like the soundtrack to any Hawaiian vacation, but for Ahn, these are the sounds of his Hawaiian homeland that he has turned into a musical career.
Since moving to the Bay Area in 2013, Ahn has immersed himself in the ukulele and local music scene. He will share his talents as host, emcee and performer at the Uke-A-Thon, an opening-day event at the Centennial Celebration of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
To Ahn, it is fitting that the ukulele be honored.
“Knowing it was something that took place 100 years ago, I think it makes perfect sense,” he said. As a native Hawaiian, participating in a Feb. 21 event in San Francisco “sounded like a match made in heaven.”
The original Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915 is credited with introducing the small, four-stringed instrument into mainstream music in the U.S. The Uke-A-Thon will celebrate that heritage with musical performances, as well as an educational portion, where the crowds will learn how PPIE helped make the ukulele gain popularity.
The idea for the Uke-A-Thon came from Jan Berckefeldt, Executive Director of the Maybeck Foundation. She doesn’t play ukulele, but she says the Hawaiian pavilion became one of the most popular areas for people to enjoy music and the ukulele.
“The craze today astounds me,” Berckefeldt said, of the ukulele’s new popularity.
Pronounced “oo-ku-lay-lay,” the ukulele has four strings and a short neck and is known for being a friendly instrument that’s easy for most people to pick up and play.
“Aside from it being engraved in my veins, it’s a pretty disarming instrument,” Ahn said.
He once heard the ukulele described perfectly like this: “When you bring a guitar to a party, people expect you to be good; when you bring a ukulele, they expect you to be fun.”
Berckefeldt and Hiram Kaailau Bell, a master uke instructor and performer, want people to see just how fun the ukulele is to play. Bell will play at this event, which honors Polynesian and San Francisco history and is important in the ukulele world.
“Because of the exposition, just about everyone started playing,” Bell said. “It started a movement in the ukulele following on the mainland.”
Rather than have the focus of the event be solely on star performers, Berckefeldt hopes the focus will be on community.
“For us, this is a way to bring community together through music,” Berckefeldt said. “We want to make it about people, family, kids coming together and playing music.”
Everyone is encouraged to pack their ukuleles — whether they know how to play them or not — and participate in an audiencewide play-along. Bell, who teaches ukulele, will give a mini workshop before the group performance to show how to hold a ukulele and how to play a few notes.
Once everyone gets the notes down, the group can perform one of his favorite Hawaiian songs. The solo part is easy, so Bell is confident everyone will be able to pick it up and strum as a massive group.