Uke spots of interest in LA?

I'm going to be in LA in in another week or so to get my daughter settled in for her first year in college. Most of our time is going to be centered on settling her in, but I may be able to swing a little me time into the trip if I'm lucky.

We'll be up in The Eagle Rock area. Is there anything worth visiting in reasonable proximity?

Ah, what a milestone. You need a new uke to celebrate. You'll be in the NE area of greater LA. You might check out The Fretted Frog which just relocated to Pasadena. And then downtown in Little Tokyo you have U-Space, which is a uke only store and coffee shop.

Ukulele Eddie said:

Ah, what a milestone. You need a new uke to celebrate. You'll be in the NE area of greater LA. You might check out The Fretted Frog which just relocated to Pasadena. And then downtown in Little Tokyo you have U-Space, which is a uke only store and coffee shop.

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Thanks for the info, hopefully I can make it to one or both. Uspace looks like a fun visit. However since a uke just showed up on the doorstep today, buying one while there doesn't seem like the wisest idea.

If I was going to CA from PA I would take the time to see who might be playing in LA. You may think it's a bit of a drive, but hello????? It's a lot closer than PA. Anybody playing out there? I, personally, would be writing to Troy Fernandez and asking him where he will be playing next week. We were in Long Beach last August and drove up to Malibu to see him. It was AWESOME! Are asarah Maisel /Craig Chee in town? Man, lots of ukulele groups out there. Maybe go to a meet up? Go to Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach -- it'll knock your socks off if you have never been to an ukulele store. And they have tons of jams, I believe. Oh, man....you can definitely find some stuff. Have fun.

sukie said:

If I was going to CA from PA I would take the time to see who might be playing in LA. You may think it's a bit of a drive, but hello????? It's a lot closer than PA. Anybody playing out there? I, personally, would be writing to Troy Fernandez and asking him where he will be playing next week. We were in Long Beach last August and drove up to Malibu to see him. It was AWESOME! Are asarah Maisel /Craig Chee in town? Man, lots of ukulele groups out there. Maybe go to a meet up? Go to Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach -- it'll knock your socks off if you have never been to an ukulele store. And they have tons of jams, I believe. Oh, man....you can definitely find some stuff. Have fun.

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There's a high chance Troy Fernandez is playing at Downtown Disney at nite. I just saw him last Friday.

I just visited USpace today and got to know Brad, the owner, a little better... he's really chill and cool, and you can definitely catch him on Wednesdays! The place has a good selection of mid-range to high-priced ukes - I remember at least one HF-3, one HF-2, a Pepe Romero Cigar Box tenor (handmade by Pepe Romero, at least $2k o.o), a KoAloha tenor, super soprano, concert, a D-VI, a Covered Bridge redwood/myrtle tenor, and some Kamoas and Kalas. He also has good coffee on hand as well! As for parking, just make sure you have cash on hand, because it is pretty tough to find a good parking space in the middle of LA!
If you're willing to branch out a bit farther than LA, Folk Music in Claremont (further east) has a pretty friendly atmosphere with a fair selection of ukes. They just had an ukulele band play not too long ago (the name escapes me, but they do a cover of MGMT's Kids) in their shop. McCabe's in Santa Monica (opposite direction) is also a good place to stop by, especially because they have concerts every once in a while (not just uke concerts, though). TBH, McCabe's has the best selection of high-end ukes (or maybe tied with USpace) - I saw an aNueNue harp tenor, two Blackbirds, a KoAloha super concert, some Collings, a HF-2, one of Pepe's 6-strings, and then some!
If you specifically wanted to try some Kanile'as, Kaye's Music Scene in Reseda has a lot of Kanile'as and Islanders, along with a Godin Multi-Uke... George, the owner, is very nice and the ukes there are not bad.
Maybe you should give the new ukulele you just got to your daughter and buy a new one for yourself in LA... just a thought... xD

There are meetup uke groups in South Pas on Fridays, and in Montrose on Saturdays. Sign up for the local meetups and go to a jam.

As for parking, just make sure you have cash on hand, because it is pretty tough to find a good parking space in the middle of LA!

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There's actually a parking lot right on 2nd street that's 4 or 5 bucks, really close to U-Space.

You can also take the Gold Line to Little Tokyo from Pasadena/South Pas, which is better than driving in and out of the downtown area.

McCabes in Santa Monica is a must. They always have a number of high end and vintage ukes.

aquadan said:

I'm going to be in LA in in another week or so to get my daughter settled in for her first year in college...We'll be up in The Eagle Rock area.

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Is she going to Oxy? That's really close to me. I try to walk most every day and that's a regular destination. Sometimes I'll take a uke and sit in the quad and play for a while.

With school out, it's nearly deserted and a nice quiet place to sit.

itsme said:

Is she going to Oxy? That's really close to me. I try to walk most every day and that's a regular destination. Sometimes I'll take a uke and sit in the quad and play for a while.

With school out, it's nearly deserted and a nice quiet place to sit.

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Yes, she's going to Oxy. Looks like it'll be a great school for her. Enjoy the quiet while you can, the new freshmen hit next Friday.

And wow, there are way too many things to visit there. My trip is short and focused on her so I suspect I'll have to leave more time when I get back out to visit. I'd love to see Troy, and get down to do a lesson with Craig instead of doing it over FaceTime like I do now. And there are no uke stores here in pittsburgh of note here unless you are looking for a lanakai or a collings, but I don't think I can hit the stores this time around although I would love to.

P. s. -- she will be busy doing freshman things. As it should be, in all honesty. Go, have some fun.

sukie said:

P. s. -- she will be busy doing freshman things. As it should be, in all honesty. Go, have some fun.

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Yes but my other daughter won't!

aquadan said:

Yes but my other daughter won't!

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Drag 'em with you!

sukie said:

Drag 'em with you!

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Not giving me a break are you! How about I promise I try to fit in as much as I can.

aquadan said:

Not giving me a break are you! How about I promise I try to fit in as much as I can.

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Deal. .

nongdam said:

There's a high chance Troy Fernandez is playing at Downtown Disney at nite. I just saw him last Friday.

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Google is failing me, is there a schedule somewhere? If he's playing I'm gonna try and drag everyone along to see him.

aquadan said:

Google is failing me, is there a schedule somewhere? If he's playing I'm gonna try and drag everyone along to see him.

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Ask him on Facebook. He's quite nice about answering.

aquadan said:

Google is failing me, is there a schedule somewhere? If he's playing I'm gonna try and drag everyone along to see him.

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It's more of a street performance thing so I bet he's there most weekends. Like Sukie said, see if he answers on FB.

Well I didn't manage to do anything uke related in LA. I had to settle for going down to San Diego and sitting in Craig and Sarah's kitchen for a lesson and mini concert.

I would have tried to visit the spot where Lyle Ritz recorded his two ukulele jazz albums in 1957 and 1959. Not that there would be anything ukulele-like to find there, but the idea simply appeals. The internet says the albums were recorded at the Radio Recorders, although I always thought it was the Capitol Records building - both are still standing and are located in Hollywood.