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UPCOMING UKE SHOWS
FRIDAY, MARCH 31-SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 2012 at THE RENO UKULELE FESTIVAL performing on the Festival Stage and teaching workshops and playing with her husband, Craig Brandau too!
NEWS FLASH
Cali gets to "headline! Whoo-Whoo, that's exciting!!!
at
THE MIGHTY MO RIVERFRONT UKEFEST in CEDAR CREEK, MISSOURI (near St. Louis)
FRIDAY, July 20 through Sunday July 22, 2012.
She will teach ukulele workshops and headline the Saturday Night Show. Cali's husband, Craig Brandau, will join her for a few songs and teach a workshop too. Details to come...
THE CC STRUMMERS
Cali teaches and leads the CC STRUMMERS ukulele group at the Culver City Senior Center, CA, every Thursday morning from 10 to 11:00 A.M. The fee is $3.00 a class and you must be a member of the C.C. Senior Center. So are you 50 years or older? Then join up (for only ten bucks a year) and be part of this fun, interactive class where we play a really cool instrument and make new friends too. Email for details.
Check out the CC Strummers on YouTube.
CC Strummers at the very beginning, August 2010
JUST ADDED!
CC STRUMMERS
MEET ON MONDAYS TOO!!!
3:30 to 4:30 P.M.
ALSO AT THE CULVER CITY SENIOR CENTER.
We have turned the most recent Ukulele for Beginners into another on-going ukulele group. We will continue to learn new songs, chords and techniques and both classes will perform together. Players are encouraged to join us both Monday and Thursdays.
Email for details or call (310) 285-3506 and leave a message. We will offer another Beginners Class in early 2012.
Graduation!
2011 February/March Class
2011 February/March Class
UKULELE CONCERTS
AND STUFF...
Aloha Joe has put three of Cali's songs into rotation on his popular internet radio show that features island-flavored music. He plays an eclectic blend from jazz and reggae to pop and traditional stuff you don't hear on corporate radio stations. Aloha Joe is a radical dude who gives independent artists a forum for their music! Thanks A.J.
If you'd like to tune in and request one of my songs (Beautiful Beautiful Hanalei, Maui Nights, Princess Poo Pooley, Oo-Koo-Lay-Lay and Happy Ever After, No Such Ting) that would be SO cool!
Thanks to all of you!
My husband, Craig Brandau, pushes the ukulele envelope, playing beautiful, lush jazz arrangements that are sweet as honey.
Most of these exquisite arrangements are written by Craig's mentor, the eighty-something genius, Howard Heitmeyer. Howard is a monster guitar player, who thinks "in piano." A few years back, Craig coaxed him to write an arrangement for the ukulele and the rest is history. You just have to hear it to believe that four little strings can produce so much beautiful music. www.ukulelecraig.com
Here's a photo of Howard, Craig and me at Rainbow Garage where Howard recorded a song he wrote for Craig which is called "Craig's Waltz." It appears as a bonus track on Craig's album. Maybe "eighty" REALLY IS the new "sixty"!
My
new CD is fun and intimate and will put you in a very good mood! It was
also a nominee in the 2009 Hawaii Music Awards for Best Adult
Contemporary Album. I sing some great classics along with my own fun
originals and play a hot hot hot ukulele.
There are FIFTEEN SONGS! WOW!
1. Are You Having Any Fun? LISTEN
2. OO-KOO-LAY-LAY (original) LISTEN
3. True Love
4. Beautiful Beautiful Hanalei (original)
5. Soup Du Jour LISTEN
6. Happy Ever After? No Such Ting (original)
7. Beautiful Dreamer
8. Princess Poo-Poo-Ly
9. On Green Dolphin Street
10. Home is Where the Heart Is (original)
11. The Fishin' Hole -- The Andy Griffith T.V. Theme LISTEN
12. Maui Nights
13. Aren't You Glad You're You
15. Enjoy Yourself
16. Let Me Call You Sweetheart
You can order or download your own copy at CD Baby, iTunes,
Amazon and Cali's Store.
These great musicians play on my album:
Rick Cunha is producer, recording engineer and musician extraordinaire. He plays the Hawaiian steel guitar, Weissenborn steel guitar, Fender bass and shakers. He also sings harmony and wrote several of my vocal harmony parts. He channels the Andrew Sisters, I think. So many gifts, not the least of which is Rick's astounding patience, take after take after take.
Simeon Pillich brought his splendid 140 year-old upright bass to Rainbow Garage and we took good care of it and him. A song like "On Green Dolphin Street" is plain naked without a thump-thump-thumping bass line. Simeon is a great musician, a really nice guy and had us howling with laughter as he recounted one road story after another. It ain't easy traveling the world with a big ol' bass.
Debra Dobkin rolled in with a carload of cling-clangs, bang-bangs, congas, bongos, clickers, clackers, bells and simply amazing percussive technique. You may think it's easy to shake a tambourine, but when a pro does it, then it's done right. The woman grooves big time and has the best hair in Los Angeles. www.debradobkin.com
Craig Brandau, my sweetheart and husband, plays the Pono ukulele (with High G tuning) on my song, Maui Nights, with all his fancy F#6/9 chords and adds just the right musical touch to this song, which I wrote during our first trip ever to Hawaii. I can still smell the delicious plumeria from our lanai. www.ukulelecraig.com
What Do I Do? I sing lead and harmony vocals, play my Ko'olau Tenor Ukulele (along with Rick's Tahitian ukulele strung with fishing line on the song "Happy Ever After? No Such Ting"), keyboard, keyboard bass and I wrote five songs on this album.
Thank You...
Rick Cunha! Collaboration is alive and well at Rainbow Garage in Music City -- that would be Van Nuys, California.
And thanks to Simeon and Debra.
I love my Ko'olau Tenor
Ukulele and thank John Kitakis and the Ko'olau family on O'ahu for
making this extraordinary instrument that inspires me to be a better
musician. I am so proud to be an artist endorser for these talented artisans.
Jim and Liz Beloff are the patron saints of our ukulele heaven on earth. They love this
splendid little instrument and that affection rubs off on everything
they do. If it were up to Jim and Liz, everyone would play
the ukulele...and love it. Here's the dividend: I get to
sing "Soup Du Jour" on this album, a sizzling sexy song that Jim wrote
with Herb Ohta. It ain't about soup.
Thank you Craig for your enduring love, support and inspiration and for bringing "the love of uke" into our home.
Samuel of Larry's Music in Kapa'a showed me the "Kaua'i Strum," so I could bring a little bit of Aloha Spirit back to California. Thank you to all the musicians along the way who have shared their licks and tricks. As Bryan Tolentino says, "It's all about the music."
Wayne
Griffith, the longtime sound engineer at world famous McCabes Music
Store in Santa Monica, mastered my CD. He is a friend to "indie"
artists like myself because he doesn't charge an arm and a leg for this
vital service--of equalizing the sound on the album. And he does
great work. You sure don't want to turn up the volume for one cut
then have to turn it down for the next, do ya? He's a sweetheart.
WRG MASTERING (310) 322-2082
Thank you Biagio Cuomo for the great pictures he took in my father-in-law's backyard in Long Beach, California. He took 500 shots and that's why we like digital! I know both Biagio and Kelly Nielsen from my "piano bar" days. Kelly did the graphic design for my album and we both share a passion for hot pink against green. Maybe we'll start a new trend. KNBC Graphics rocks! www.knbcgraphics.com
Finally and with deep gratitude, thank you to my teachers and mentors (past and present) including Victor, Laura, Bill, Lily and my family and friends, who are the treasures in my life. To say "thank you" just scratches the surface...
There are FIFTEEN SONGS! WOW!
1. Are You Having Any Fun? LISTEN
2. OO-KOO-LAY-LAY (original) LISTEN
3. True Love
4. Beautiful Beautiful Hanalei (original)
5. Soup Du Jour LISTEN
6. Happy Ever After? No Such Ting (original)
7. Beautiful Dreamer
8. Princess Poo-Poo-Ly
9. On Green Dolphin Street
10. Home is Where the Heart Is (original)
11. The Fishin' Hole -- The Andy Griffith T.V. Theme LISTEN
12. Maui Nights
13. Aren't You Glad You're You
15. Enjoy Yourself
16. Let Me Call You Sweetheart
You can order or download your own copy at CD Baby, iTunes,
Amazon and Cali's Store.
These great musicians play on my album:
Rick Cunha is producer, recording engineer and musician extraordinaire. He plays the Hawaiian steel guitar, Weissenborn steel guitar, Fender bass and shakers. He also sings harmony and wrote several of my vocal harmony parts. He channels the Andrew Sisters, I think. So many gifts, not the least of which is Rick's astounding patience, take after take after take.
Simeon Pillich brought his splendid 140 year-old upright bass to Rainbow Garage and we took good care of it and him. A song like "On Green Dolphin Street" is plain naked without a thump-thump-thumping bass line. Simeon is a great musician, a really nice guy and had us howling with laughter as he recounted one road story after another. It ain't easy traveling the world with a big ol' bass.
Debra Dobkin rolled in with a carload of cling-clangs, bang-bangs, congas, bongos, clickers, clackers, bells and simply amazing percussive technique. You may think it's easy to shake a tambourine, but when a pro does it, then it's done right. The woman grooves big time and has the best hair in Los Angeles. www.debradobkin.com
Craig Brandau, my sweetheart and husband, plays the Pono ukulele (with High G tuning) on my song, Maui Nights, with all his fancy F#6/9 chords and adds just the right musical touch to this song, which I wrote during our first trip ever to Hawaii. I can still smell the delicious plumeria from our lanai. www.ukulelecraig.com
What Do I Do? I sing lead and harmony vocals, play my Ko'olau Tenor Ukulele (along with Rick's Tahitian ukulele strung with fishing line on the song "Happy Ever After? No Such Ting"), keyboard, keyboard bass and I wrote five songs on this album.
Thank You...
Rick Cunha! Collaboration is alive and well at Rainbow Garage in Music City -- that would be Van Nuys, California.
And thanks to Simeon and Debra.
I love my Ko'olau Tenor
Ukulele and thank John Kitakis and the Ko'olau family on O'ahu for
making this extraordinary instrument that inspires me to be a better
musician. I am so proud to be an artist endorser for these talented artisans. Jim and Liz Beloff are the patron saints of our ukulele heaven on earth. They love this
splendid little instrument and that affection rubs off on everything
they do. If it were up to Jim and Liz, everyone would play
the ukulele...and love it. Here's the dividend: I get to
sing "Soup Du Jour" on this album, a sizzling sexy song that Jim wrote
with Herb Ohta. It ain't about soup. Thank you Craig for your enduring love, support and inspiration and for bringing "the love of uke" into our home.
Samuel of Larry's Music in Kapa'a showed me the "Kaua'i Strum," so I could bring a little bit of Aloha Spirit back to California. Thank you to all the musicians along the way who have shared their licks and tricks. As Bryan Tolentino says, "It's all about the music."
Wayne
Griffith, the longtime sound engineer at world famous McCabes Music
Store in Santa Monica, mastered my CD. He is a friend to "indie"
artists like myself because he doesn't charge an arm and a leg for this
vital service--of equalizing the sound on the album. And he does
great work. You sure don't want to turn up the volume for one cut
then have to turn it down for the next, do ya? He's a sweetheart.
WRG MASTERING (310) 322-2082
Thank you Biagio Cuomo for the great pictures he took in my father-in-law's backyard in Long Beach, California. He took 500 shots and that's why we like digital! I know both Biagio and Kelly Nielsen from my "piano bar" days. Kelly did the graphic design for my album and we both share a passion for hot pink against green. Maybe we'll start a new trend. KNBC Graphics rocks! www.knbcgraphics.com
Finally and with deep gratitude, thank you to my teachers and mentors (past and present) including Victor, Laura, Bill, Lily and my family and friends, who are the treasures in my life. To say "thank you" just scratches the surface...