Why Abe Lagrimas is in my top three!

lambchop

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As far as I am concerned, Abe Lagrimas Jr. is one of the best ukulele artists today, right up there with Jake and Brittni Paiva. Check out the Ko'olau video that I just found and forward to 2:00 into it and listen (and at 2:12 see) a wonderful impromtu jazz solo by Abe and you may end up agreeing with me, if you do not already. Oh, and, yes, I one day want a Ko'olau ukulele and, no, I do not work for them nor am I Abe's press agent - just a giant fan!

 
Sorry, I have to disagree - Abe is not "up there" with Jake and Brittni....he is WAY past them!! No comparison. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bosYulBnqmo

He is amazing - he is such a master of jazz it is scary, quite frankly - just got his Ukulele Vibes album and it just blew me away. What I meant by the top three in addition to the fact that I do sicnerely love the music of all three, is more in terms of the noteriety they get, and I just don't feel Abe gets as much as he desrves - that said, Jake's playing is never in question - he has his heart and soul in every piece he does (his current version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" is just stunning, and I am not even a fan of the original) and Brittni's "Four Strings" album, while not as complex as Jake's work, is a masterpiece of excellent writing and her playing is some of the clearest I have ever heard, so I am sticking with them as my top three - I love them all. But, yes, I do agree that in breadth of jazz knowledge and being able to do songs that harken to all eras of jazz, Abe is the master of the genre and one of the best players of our time. I guess I should throw James Hill in here and make it a Top Four, perhaps, but Abe, Jake and Brittni are the one's I love most!
 
Aloha Lambchop, I definitely agree that he'e a great jazz player, his composition is awesome. Especialy loved his rendition of " Days of wine and roses " 5:00 in the clip. My brother was a jazz drummer in Hawaii in the late 50's -70's. I used to go to most of his rehersals to watch and learn. I was to young to go to the shows. They played all over Waikiki. Anyway, Abe's playing reminded me of a great jazz guitarist named Benny Dumlao. Even the sound of his uke sounded like a Gibson Jazz guitar. Boy what memories, met all the greats at that time, Don Ho, Al Lopaka, Loyal Gardner, Sam Kapu, etc.,etc. MAHALO.....BO...
 
More proof - I still cite this as the greatest ukulele video of all time:

 
Wow, Abe is simply amazing! I also agree that Jake, Brittni and James are super talented too! As for my personal taste in pure listening enjoyment, my favorite is Herb Ohta, Jr.
 
Wow, his youtube page says he started playing ukulele in 2003. That means he's been playing for only 7 years. Holy cow.

I'm depressed now. :p
 
Wow, Abe is simply amazing! I also agree that Jake, Brittni and James are super talented too! As for my personal taste in pure listening enjoyment, my favorite is Herb Ohta, Jr.

Oh, you are reminding me of all the great players I have left out. Mike
 
I just bought Dimensions because of this thread. Thanks!
 
Lambchop, a couple things: Abe is the man! and that uke sounds incredible! Thanks for the introduction.
DAP
 
Simply amazing...a master after only 7 years...he's been given a gift

________________________________________________________________________
Kamaka Tenor 6 string
Kamaka Tenor 8 string
Kamaka Soprano
Mya Moe Brazilian Rosewood Tenor (production to start next month December)
Martin 12 fret Tenor
 
It's never all pure talent though - let's not forget Abe went to music school. It's easy to say "oh so-and-so is so talented and I'll never get to that level" but this really discounts all the time he and others have spent studying music and music theory. Education sure goes a long way....
 
Just found this thread :)

Abe is great! A really nice guy too!

A few years ago at NAMM he sat in with James Hill for a couple songs, was cool to see. That is how I was introduced to him. The next day he was hanging out at NAMM and I asked if he had any CD's I could buy. He said "Let me check." About 15 minutes later he comes back and hands me Dimensions, when I asked how much it was he said "don't worry about it, it's yours." :)
 
Abe

His "Dimensions" album is one of my favorites and "Solo Ukulele" and "Ukulele Vibes" are on my next-to-buy list. He is so very skilled and fun to listen to.
 
This is right up my alley. I love Jake, Brittni, James and Aldrine, but I'm always so disappointed that none of them bust out the straight up jazz chops that Abe does. They all have more of a fusion style to my ears.

I'm definitely going to get a couple of cds from Abe.

I also love Benny Chong and Byron Yasumi. Masters of jazz uke as far as I'm concerned. I just wish I could find some of their material. The only cd I've seen available is Ukulele Jazz.

Edit: Eh, I forgot that I found this thread on a search so it's not new. I just got excited and didn't think when posting. Ah well, I think Abe deserves the exposure.
 
He is amazing and he is super cool, too. Totally humble dude. Here's a video of us drunkenly playing "What's Up?" after the Windy City Uke Fest with Victoria Vox and some other folks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgX78trjrD8

 
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