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Friday, April 29, 2011

UKULELE::The World's Friendliest Instrument



This weekend, we'll be celebrating at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which will be held on the campus of USC for the first time. I will be signing copies of Daniel Dixon's book at 1:00, on Sunday, May 1st. Booth #911.

This book was a labor of love for Daniel, who was a wonderful writer and historian and also a very gifted player. If you follow my blogs, you know that Daniel was the son of artist, Maynard Dixon and photographer, Dorothea Lange. A gifted writer, Daniel co-wrote my film, "Maynard Dixon Art and Spirit", which won the Spur Award in 2008, voted Best Documentary by the Western Writers of America.

Fortunately for all of us, Daniel turned in his manuscript for this delightful book shortly before he passed away. His wife, Dixie Dixon, and I worked with the publisher (Gibbs-Smith), to complete the book by adding images and hunting down a few people. I think that you will agree that the book is beautifully composed, giving the reader a wealth of knowledge about the history of the Ukulele, and profiles of some of the greatest players and makers of this sweet instrument. There are even chord charts and lots of Dixie Dixon's great photos of colorful sheet music and lots of great instruments. If you're in the area, please stop by the festival and introduce yourself. It not, check out the book. I think you'll like it.
Mahalo!

here's a video by elebega where you can hear Daniel speak a little about the ukulele.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxg-Qtq_wxI&feature=related