Latest Rolling Coconuts II

Continuing this week with an overview of issue #32 of Rolling Coconuts, we will touch on four articles.

The first of these contains two interviews--one with Katz.seiji and the other with Matsui Tomotaka. They are the repective compilers of "Toei Ukulele Festival" and "Ukulele Mozart". Both of these books of score come complete with tabs and CDs. The Toei book contains theme songs particularly of animations and character theme songs. Toei, as some readers know, is a film and TV production outfit. Matsui, the compiler of the Mozart books admits that the arrangements are definely not for beginners and that he would balk at playing some of the pieces in public due to their demanding difficulties.

The next article is the third installment of the "Ukulele on the Hill" series. This series focuses on the work of Canadian James Hill. This issue examines his latest tour around Japan, stopping into 10 places. On this tour, he offers workshops making use of "Sakura, sakura", probably the best know Japanese traditional song arranged in three parts.

The third is the 17th installment of "Ukulele Iwao Style". This article discusses some of his experiences while doing a series of series of events at record stores and a concert in Tokyo following the release of his "Hawaiian Morning" album. Perhaps the most interesting comment was one about his meeting a young boy. The boy apparently was quite good at playing the ukulele as the mother was eager to show him off. The comment noted that as a young kid starting out on an ukulele, he will have lots of potential. As more young children become interested in playing the ukulele, the intrument will gain more acceptance as a good, solid instrument in its own right.

The next article is another interview. This time with Owa Yoshio, who released his "Legend of Hawiian Guitar--Best Selection" album "featuring ukulele and resonator guitar". According to a description I found elsewhere, the songs in the album are:
01： Lag Rag
02： Kaupo Store
03： Lazy River
04： Uwehe Ami & Slide
05： Opihi Moe Moe
06： Ten Tiny Toes〜S-H-I-N-E
07： Ka Makani Ka'ili Aloha
08： I'm Livin' On Easy
09： Guava Jam
10： Maui Chimes
11： Harvest Of Rainbow
12： Ka'a ahi Kahului
13： On A Little Bamboo Bridge
14： 12th Street Rag
15： Lover Come Back To Me
16： Ukulele Blues
17： Yellow Roses
18： Come Stay With Me
The article mentions that he has recently been focusing on Hawaiian Blues.

After this, there are the two introductions of ukulele craftsment and an article about Miyaji-TIKI--a Japanese ukulele player that has been active in Germany for several years and a participant in Risa Ukulele's U'COOL'LELE festival there. I will skip those two for the time being.