Moore Bettah uke in action, with Led Kaapana driving

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Fran Guidry

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Led's touring NorCal and I'm opening. In between shows I'm shooting videos of the master at work. Here's one of Led playing his Moore Bettah uke doing "Na Lei O Hawai`i" also known as "Song of the Islands."



Led does several uke numbers at each show, if you're in Sacramento tonight you can catch us at Harlow's.

Fran
 
Thank you so much for posting this. Led, as always, was superb and your accompaniment was perfect for the piece. Oh, and thanks to Chuck for making the uke.
 
Wonderful! I really enjoyed that. And, did anybody else notice that Led's bling matched the Moore Bettah bling? Nicely coordinated :)
 
Other then the playing.....which was beautiful by both of you, anybody notice Led's strap. It is the very same colour as his tee shirt, that is serious bling and wardrobe coordination. I wonder how many different coloured straps he has ;) The man's got style
 
bonesoup said:
That was great! Beautiful uke. What does the fretboard say? Love Led's and your playing too. Good luck with the tour. Wish I could be there.
Click to expand...

The inlay on the fretboard says "Jus' Press". It was the title of an album he did in 1985 and is based on advice given when he was learning to play:

Ledward Kaapana often reports “When I was young my uncle Fred [Punahoa] told me you can play slack key in Standard tuning. He said, ‘It’s easy, jus’ press the right strings.’ ‘Jus’ press’ was something he would always tell us when we’d ask him a question. One time when we were playing I asked him, ‘Uncle Fred, what key is this?’ He told me, ‘Boy, no worry what key, jus’ press.'” Led learned by watching and doing what Uncle Fred did.

You can see pictures of the instrument if you scroll halfway down on Chuck's Gallery 2 page. http://www.moorebettahukes.com/GALLERY-2.html
 
geetee said:
Thank you so much for posting this. Led, as always, was superb and your accompaniment was perfect for the piece. Oh, and thanks to Chuck for making the uke.
Click to expand...

It's hard to express how wonderful that uke really is. I was impressed the first time I saw it, but I never expected Led to make it his "road" uke. It turned out to be so excellent that he can't bear to leave it at home.

Fran
 
bonesoup said:
That was great! Beautiful uke. What does the fretboard say? Love Led's and your playing too. Good luck with the tour. Wish I could be there.
Click to expand...

The fretboard is inlayed with Led's trademark "Jus' Press" - he tells the story that when he would ask his uncle Fred Punahoa how to do some tricky musical maneuver the answer was always "Jus' press." Ahhh, sorry, should have read to the end of the thread before I started replying. More complete version of the story preceded mine thanks to geetee.

Fran
 
Last edited:
DownUpDave said:
Other then the playing.....which was beautiful by both of you, anybody notice Led's strap. It is the very same colour as his tee shirt, that is serious bling and wardrobe coordination. I wonder how many different coloured straps he has ;) The man's got style
Click to expand...

These days all his straps are red, to match his boots! The match to the t-shirt was really an accident, though (grin).

Fran
 
The uke, the maker, and the player are humbling. A real-life uke "dream team"
 
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