Behind Kine Kool

The story behind Kine Kool and worthwhile lessons to share

Basically, it’s a philosophy of well-performed music, featuring ukulele, excellent vocals and having fun — a simple recipe that every ukulele band can follow …

But it can be more than that, and needs to be for longevity!

Kine Kool‘s had a couple of iterations and “re-inventions”, commencing in middle of 2013, when I joined a group of exceptional vocalists, led by an experienced vocal teacher. The group became ten, and different musical parts for each song made great music. But, with unique, complex arrangements, it’s necessary to have the whole group at every rehearsal, and this is challenging.

A major lesson for every group to learn is the difference between rehearsal and practice – practice is what you do to learn your part BEFORE you turn up to rehearsal! At rehearsal you need everyone ready to play their part together.

Practice=individual; rehearsal=group.

Why no longer a 10-piece?

Other than rehearsals, it’s important that there is music to perform that every member enjoys, and in which every member has significant part. It should be challenging, and stretching, but within everyone’s ability.

With ten minds to feed, it became obvious that although the performances and music were great, there were diverging views about song choice. Some members also experienced life changes which had them re-assessing how they allocated their time. Survival for a 10-piece group is exceptionally difficult, and there is significant work in creating an interesting arrangement for a 4-part vocal harmony, bass, baritone, tenor and concert ukuleles, Cajon and percussion.

The lesson – If you have many members, some will be lost in the crowd, and probably won’t contribute, and might become a distraction. Ensure everyone in the group has a genuine part to play, and is committed to turning up – whether it’s a duo or a 100-piece choir!

The next step

A mutual separation ensued, and I was gifted the name “Kine Kool”.

After considering the possibilities I decided that it wasn’t necessary to have such a large group to deliver interesting arrangements. So I teamed up with Steve Elbourn, who has a magic voice and plays ballad-style guitar.

Jim with well known international star at SPRUKE 2015.

After a little work, we decided to add a third member – an electronic drum machine (Alesis SR18) to create a fuller sound. The SR18 replaces the veteran SR16 which has served musicians across the world for over 20 years. It’s actually a 3-channel midi device, including capabilities to prepare a bass part as well as drums and percussion.

Does this work?

We have taken the path with ukulele aficionados to ensure that we match our performance with a screen displayed “cheat sheet” that allows the audience to immerse in the song’s arrangement. Not all arrangements are suitable for this. They might have a complex section, or are simply a duo between voice and ukulele.

We’ve received amazing responses to the couple of duos that we play. At Kenilworth in 2018, we were elated to suddenly find the audience engaged with our arrangement of Song Sung Blue so much so that both Steve and Stephen Sandilands (who was playing with us at that time) stopped to listen.

Kine Kool now! Still having fun! Jim & Steve Elbourne, Kenilworth, 2019.

Why are the arrangements different?

I’m fortunate that I learnt piano from age 5, matriculated with AMEB music and theory, and was asked to join the most popular band in town at age 18. We played clubs and cabarets, backed a new guest artist every week, and grew to be a 7-piece band playing everything from Chicago to Kris Kristofferson to a Kings Waltz – I even played for a ballet school!

Living in the 70s – Jim isn’t the one with the guitar.

We even managed to obtain the score of ”2001 A Space Odyssey” from Brian May (Melbourne Show Band 😊), that I have continued to play and learn all my life. About 20 years ago I began recording my own arrangements of covers.

The lesson here is that I also critically listen to every one of my recordings and arrangements. Even if you’re only playing a simple three-chord song and singing, you should record it for your own review. If you can, also video any live performances with the same objective.

Be critical, but remember the applause you received was because the audience appreciated you, and any errors have long since vanished from everyone else’s memory.

Whilst I have the technical skills to create complex arrangements, it’s most important to remember that the arrangement should honour the important elements of the original artist’s performance. It’s essential to respect the musicians.

BUT, with the limitations of just four strings, it is sometimes necessary to make significant changes. Be aware that this might take the song far away from the original, so that it becomes quite “awful”!

The lesson – Always find the original chart, key and tempo, if you’re able. Then you should learn the chords for this key. Look for different fingerings, and extend your skill set. Whilst we can easily make key changes for many songs, simply making a change to make it easier to play may be a very bad idea!

And for the vocalists, you do not need to sing in any particular key – you have a vocal range and THIS dictates if the song should to be transposed for you. If this is confusing – talk to an accredited vocal coach.

Samples

Want to hear some of the songs I mentioned above and make up your own mind?
From 1973 “New Direction – 2001 A Space Odyssey” and a Chicago song – both live recording performed as opening act for Brian Cadd in the Silver City. 7 piece, audio recorded only from the stage mics.
https://soundcloud.com/jim-bills-475220845/2001-a-space-odyssey
https://soundcloud.com/jim-bills-475220845/does-anybody-really-know-what-time-it-is
Kine Kool – 9-piece at Stellarossa – “Walking After Midnight”
https://youtu.be/VzDdQ04Yk4E
Kine Kool – with Stephen Sandilands “Song Sung Blue”

Kine Kool – at  Sunshine Coast Ukulele Festival 2019 – “Diary”
https://youtu.be/9z13gNbSJZE

Keep on strumming and come and play, sing, dance with or just listen to Kine Kool at SPRUKE 2019 – Saturday morning 10:15 am – in The Lounge at the Sunnybank Community & Sports Club. 😊

 

Mama Juju & the Jam Tarts

Weddings, Parties, Almost Anything!

The diversity and creativity of our band Mama Juju & The Jam Tarts can be a blessing and a curse. When asked, it is sometimes a real a struggle to describe what sort of band we are, what type of music we play and what sort of events we play at … I guess the answer is we will give almost anything a go! Celtic, blues, jazz, rock, country and more!

Mama Juju & the Jam Tarts at a recent performance.

The roots of the band go back 19 years to when Julie was selling her Bodhran (Irish drum) and met Vicky. She was invited to join Irish Folk band Thornlands, who recorded 2 CDs and performed at Folk festivals from Tassie to North QLD before going their separate ways. In 2010 Julie formed a jazz/ blues duo with guitarist Sugar Cane Slim and earned the nick name Mama Juju. Fast forward to 2015 Mama Juju and The Jam Tarts original line up Mama Juju, Vicky Velour (MacDonald), Cath McCourt and Trish Rodwell (Rockwell) got together to play at a party just for fun. It was fun, the music seemed to hit a spot with the party goers and we ended up with some more bookings so we decided to keep going!

Mama Juju & the Jam Tarts tea party.

The current band line up is Mama Juju, Vicky Velour, Trish Rockwell and Connie D and between us we own more instruments than we can bring along to any one gig. All of us sing lead vocals and work on tight harmonies for many of our songs. We also tend to swap instruments between us during our performances which adds to the action and mayhem on stage.

A fact most people don’t know is that all four of us play ukulele. However, we like to have a full band sound so the drums, bass and other instruments all play a part. Juju plays tenor uke, guitar, bass and harmonica.

Trish loves to play anything percussive from drum kit, hand drums, wood blocks to washboard and lagerphone, she’s even been known to drum on tractor tyres and kitchen kettles. Other instruments Trish plays when given the chance are harmonica, tenor guitar, baritone and tenor uke.

Vicky plays flute, piccolo, guitar, bass, kazoo, baritone, tenor uke, newly added keytar and pretty much anything she can get her hands on!

Connie plays bass, drums, harmonica and guitar. This year she surprised us all by picking up a solid bodied electric uke and playing some rip – roaring solos which is a welcome addition to our ukulele band sound.

 

What is on the horizon for us next?  We are playing at a wedding at Sirromet and there are a some parties of course! We are also very excited to be at two festivals in September – Redfest  www.redfest.com.au, and as one of the headline acts for the Friday night cabaret at  Brisbane’s own ukulele festival SPRUKE.  You can find out more about us at www.mamajujuandthejamtarts.com and www.facebook.com/mamajujuandthejamtarts

Julie Minto (aka Mama Juju)

Ukulele Saints Band

One of the benefits of playing in a BUMS community band is that you get to meet like-minded performers. And that’s how it was with our band. We all play with NUMB BUMS on the Northside and shared a love of similar music genres.

L-R Frank Buckley (tenor), Ginny Michel (tenor & vocals), Peter Grace (tenor & vocals), John Low (baritone, occasional vocals), Caroline Haig (8 string tenor & vocals) and Chris Slater (bass, occasional vocals) seated.

Origins
In early 2017, Chris, John and Pete had been meeting at Frank’s place in Redcliffe for informal practices when Jude, Frank’s wife asked if we realized we all had saintly names – Christopher, Francis, John and Peter. At that moment, we became the Ukulele Saints.

We are all members of NUMB BUMS and became friends through practices and performances.

The Saints practise every week, even when one of us is away or unavailable, and have a good and growing song list. We cut our performance teeth leading sets at the Northside and Coorparoo jams, and have performed at some aged care and retirement homes, community markets, at Newkulele in 2018, and for Brisbane City Council volunteers at Mt Cootha.

Hynotonics @ SCUF

Frivolity. Fun. Friendship. Feet — and thinking on them. Just a few of the words I associate with Hypnotonics and the Sunshine Coast Ukulele Festival.

Hypnotonics has been around for about a year, and is made up of some familiar BUMS faces: Amanda Allwood, Mark Bradshaw, Salli Chmura, Cath McCourt, and Trish Rodwell.

Salli, Cath, Mark, Amanda & Trish

 

We all met through playing in other BUMS groups, and realised fairly quickly that we had a great time rehearsing and performing together.

For the Sunshine Coast Ukulele Festival this year we decided on a set with a difference to highlight the versatility of our newest member Salli! As well as ukulele, Salli plays a mean clarinet, flute, recorder and saxophone.

With 12 weeks to go until SCUF Salli showed her musicality and grit when, having broken her arm, she re-learned all of her solos one handed on the keyboard! (Remember that bit about feet and thinking on them?).

 

Hypnotonics is made up of some extremely talented musicians that I am proud to call my friends. We always have a great time and the audience does too. Come and check us out around the place.

Hypnotonics performing at SCUF 2019. Photo by Julie Minto.

BUMS Big Band members, Amanda, Maggie & Phil, enjoy catching up at SCUF.

For me, personally, part of a band has always been so much more about the friendships with the music as an added bonus. If anyone is thinking about taking their playing further I highly recommend getting involved in a performing group!

None of what we do would have been possible without BUMS! I’ve been a member now for 9 years and the one thing that never alters is the joy the ukulele brings! Friendships forged stand the test of time.

There was even an impromptu reunion of a few of the BUMS Big Band members — Amanda, Maggie, Jack, Phil, Mark, Cath and John H!

Get amongst it! Live large! Sing and play with others! Find your groove, and you could be the next one having the time of your life with a group like Hypnotonics!
By Amanda Allwood

NUMB BUMS Band

NUMB BUMS was the second community band formed by BUMS. Established in 2013, and the group made its debut festival performance at SPRUKE that year. In case you’re wondering, the name stands for Northside Ukulele Musicians Branch of the Brisbane Ukulele Musicians Society Inc. BUMS Inc members who are interested in joining a community band are welcome to come and ‘test the water’ at the group’s weekly sessions on Monday evenings at the Zillmere Community Hall on Murphy Road. Band members arrive at 6:30 pm to set up for a 6:45 pm start. If you want to know more, please email the Gigmeister (). One of the band’s lead singers, Peter Grace, tells us about the bands activities for 2018.

 

For me, it’s been another entertaining year as a member of NUMB BUMS. We are the BUMS community band based on the Northside of Brisbane.

As with other groups, the membership of the band varies due to a range of factors including work, travel, health and family. This year, there have been 13 ‘regulars’ who have formed the core for our practices and performances. We lost some of our female singers during the year, and were delighted to welcome two newcomers just in time for Christmas.

We have a very talented team. Several of our members branched out and complemented our performances with instrumentals on other instruments.

John F on didge

Marg R on spoons

Peter G on jug

Salli C on flute.

Andrew H on drums

Zoe W on recorder

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the year, we have performed at 13 functions including BUMS jams, retirement and aged care facilities, for Christmas functions and charitable groups. Also, ten NUMB BUMS members were part of the BUMS Festival Group (BFG) that performed at the Newkulele Festival in Newcastle in October.

Ken Carter runs an improvisation workshop at band practice.

Developing our skills and confidence is a key aim of NUMB BUMS. Being in an enthusiastic group of players means all sorts of opportunities come up to perform at jams, opens mics and in other groups. When I glance down the list of our members, I note that all of us have performed publicly in other settings this year. Ahh – the ukulele can take you anywhere. Peter Grace

Fun behind the scenes.

Free Range chUKES

By the end of their second year playing together, the chUKES were ready to take on the world! Well, Bulimba Ukulele Festival and QPAC’s Bands on the Green anyway. Which they very succesfully did. Setting the bar high, with repertoire from recent charts hits, favourites of individuals in the band and a few classics thrown in by their director, the challenge was to memorise! And just as well they did, as the stage at Bulimba barely fitted them all with no room left for music stands, and the storm that blew through Southbank on the night they played there in December made that step forward very worthwhile as they kept right on playing while the wind whirled leaves and banners around the stage and stage crew ran to catch equipment.

Earlier in the year, sucessful gigs had included leading a set at Cooparoo Jam night, playing for the Oxley Community Bands on the Green,  and Graceville UC and Milpera’s Art Exhibition.

Oxley Community Bands on the Green

The chUKES were proud to sing in the Indigenous Yuggera language while on Yuggera country. This new song which was co-written by Gaja Kerry Charlton and local school students, seeks to acknowledge our Frist Peoples, a very important step in reconciliation and celebrating 2019 as a year of Indigenous Languages.

And of course, finishing the year alongside the CAGE at the Pajama Foundation Christmas Party and the Oxley Community Carols were a great way to get into the festive season.

Oxley Carols Evening

As member grow older we’ve had a couple of people ‘retire’ from chUKES to concentrate on their high school studies. We are looking for some new members to join us this year. You’ll need to audition – a very casual audition – by playing and singing a song of your choice including at least 3 chords. Contact Megan on for more information.

Rehearsals are held 1st, 2nd and 3rd Sunday’s of each month (except school holidays), at Corinda State School.

Free Range chUKES play at the Green Jam at QPAC, South Bank

 

The chUKES are looking forward to performing a set at the Sunshine Coast Ukulele Festival in April 2019, and playing at local school and community events throughout the year.

The CAGE

Wow, what a tremendous year for The CAGE!

With a slow start performance wise, we put our heads down to work on new pieces. We were fortunate to have a CAGE member by the name of Becky Lochel to put her hand up to co-lead with Ian Phillips. What a wonderful job she has done.

The CAGE at Oxley

We have ventured to, and participated in, a variety of events this year: QPAC on the Green, Oxley Bowls Club for Neighbourhood Watch, Music on the Porch Day, Performing with the Ignite Choir, PJ Foundation Christmas gig, Brookfield Christmas Bash , the Oxley Christmas Carols as well as leading sets at a couple of Coorparoo jams.

Brookfield Bush Christmas

We rest for now and return on Australia Day to perform at the local Australia Day gig at the Oxley Bowls Club. We officially start back for band practices on Sunday 3 February at Corinda State School. Players of all abilities are welcome. We hold beginners’ classes from 1:00 pm. Singing lessons will be introduced for individuals from 1:30 pm with The CAGE rehearsals starting at 2:00 pm.

With 2019 being a SPRUKE year, we will preparing hard for this. If you wish to start a new venture on the uke, give us a try. For more details about joining The CAGE, email Ian Phillips at .

It’s Flukey

Flukey banner on display

Well, our second year together has passed, and what developments we have seen …

Our ukulele group, now called “Flukey”, has focussed on developing individual and ensemble skills as we work together to present to the wider public some wonderful music on this beautiful instrument the UKULELE! We now have our own logo, promotions blurb and thanks to Daphne, Grace and William’s daughter Olivia, Denis and the generous funding from BUMS, our own “Flukey” banner to display at performances!

This has been utilized at community events: Bardon Markets – twice; Gaythorne Bowls Club – twice; End of Year BBQ at Regina Caeli Catholic Church; Brookside Shopping Centre Christmas Carols; Paddington Christmas Street Markets and one performance at the BUMS Coorparoo Jam!

Through these performances we have been asked to perform at other venues which is great!

If you have a desire to sing harmonies or lead vocals we would love to see you come along to rehearsal with the view of joining our group, as we are looking to expand the vocalist role. You can get in contact with Charmaine on 0407 671 625 for more details.

Flukey rehearse every second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at Coorparoo Bowls Club from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Thanks to all our members for their efforts in rehearsals and performances, to Grace, our Events Coordinator, and Olivia, our publicist. We will see all enthusiastic people on Wednesday 13 February 2019 – some … with spectacular new instruments!

Flukey Christmas performance group, December 2018

Brisbane Basket Brigade

Volunteers Free Concert

I was first asked 2016 if I could arrange some (free) motivating music to entertain the volunteers at the Brisbane Basket Brigade Packing Day, for about 5 hours, but was given no brief.

The performance slots filled with little difficulty, including Mick Angeles, The Cage, Bec Hull, Duke Ukem and Vic Kena. Daylight Moon also made an appearance. And then there were some guitarist/singers that joined the list – Steve Elbourn, Rick Young and Dan Nebe from Team Utopia. – Dan is the heart behind Rockin’ for the Homeless 4.0 from Redcliffe, which has now expanded to other major cities.

2017 saw a new venue, across two indoor basketball courts at Cannon Hill Anglican College. Suddenly there were 2 days and 8 hours to fill. Steve Elbourn and Mick Angeles confirmed their slot the year before, Duke Ukem were in the show and Kine Kool (3 piece) made a mark. RCUS took a slot and David Hethorn courageously took the closing slot and played every song he knew. Vic Kena and Keith Pavy and outstanding performer who includes several years with Ol’55 in his CV were the feature acts.

By 2018 grew to be a full two-day event (8 & 9 December 2018) with 13 hours of entertainment to be delivered. Steve Elbourn, Mick Angeles, Duke Ukem and Vic Kena celebrated their third participation (and have reserved their slot for 2019 already. Kine Kool played a couple of songs as a duo, and David Hethorn, undaunted by 2017, took a set.

Newcomers Budgies (BUG) played a creditable second public performance, soliciting Vic Kena on ukulele and myself on percussion to add a little colour. Hypnotonics, and Adrian Board completed the ukulele line-up. Paul Seils Jnr, John Donnelly (who drove down from Bribie), Erwin Zerbe and John Lindsay (1969) delivered an entertainment experience including original works, Kenny Rogers, Neil Diamond, Rolling Stones and so much more!!

Los Angeles, or the LA Bros & Trish Rodwell

A special experience was the Los Angeles, or the LA Bro’s…. Mick wasn’t quite sure what to call them, but it was Mick and his brothers in a unique line-up. The LA Bros were joined on stage by Paul Seils Jnr and Trish for a few songs. And Auntie Marg was also spotted dropping a few bass lines with Paul earlier in the day.

And as if this wasn’t enough there was the Ukulele Supergroup “HypnodukeAngeles feat Adrian Board”! Obviously, all of the performers had an amazing time.

“HypnodukeAngeles feat Adrian Board” at Brisbane Basket Brigade, 2018

Sorry, but it’s unlikely that there will be vacancies in 2019 as reservations were confirmed by every player before they left.

Brisbane Basket Brigade shouts out a huge THANK YOU to the 26 performers over the two days that kept the volunteers motivated, and I thank everyone for making my job so easy ??

Why???
Brisbane Basket Brigade is a self-sufficient program of Magic Moments Foundation of Australia. Run completely by volunteers, 98-99% of all funds raised is distributed to the community. There are similar programs on the Gold and Sunshine Coast and in other capital cities.

Some 900 or more volunteers pack and deliver family baskets, homeless baskets and baskets to rural families at Christmas. Recipients are nominated by a variety of organisations and the deliveries are anonymous. Over 5000 gifts were wrapped, about 900 families have a better Christmas with the food hampers, and about 250 homeless were also gifted for delivery by other major charities.

The audience is dynamic, constantly varying, full hall to almost empty and then full house again. It is a unique performing experience where the audience has their hands too full to clap … but they do engage, sing and dance.

BFG’s Back in Town

Supergroup at Sister Festival

Last April, a call went out for BUMS members to join a ‘supergroup’ to play at the Newkulele Festival in October 2018. Newcastle is our ‘sister’ festival – we run SPRUKE in the odd years and they run Newkulele in the even years. We each support each other’s events.

Initially, 17 people volunteered and committed to attend rehearsals and to travel to Newcastle. In the following months, some people dropped out and other players joined us – so, we had a band of 15 by the time the festival came around. We chose the name BUMS Festival Group (BFG for short) so it clearly says we come from Brisbane and we were formed to play at festivals.

We wanted our performance to be a ‘show’ not just a series of songs. If you saw the NUMB BUMS put on a Motown show at SPRUKE 2017, you will get the idea.

We eventually developed a 30-minute show, dubbed a ‘ukulele opera’ because it told a story.

President, Max Borchardt, was our narrator and the show comprised 11 songs which told the tale of a love-struck couple who meet at the coffee shop on the top of the Goodwill Bridge.

The real Cafe on the Goodwill Bridge.

Of course, their relationship has to overcome many obstacles before the story reached a fitting conclusion with the peaceful influence of the ukulele playing a part.

At Newkulele, we promoted the show as ‘Australia’s first ukulele opera’, and it went down well with the large audience in the Concert Hall.

BFG performs on the main stage at Newcastle City Hall.

Once we all got home, the BFG put on the show again for BUMS members and family and friends. We incorporated the show into the November Northside jam at Wavell Heights. Over 70 people came along to play in the jam and experience the second performance of the show.

BFG at Northside

The members of the BFG were:
Amanda Allwood and Trish Rodwell from Hypnotonics, Lesley Allen, Frank Buckley, Salli Chmura, John Fitzgibbon, Peter Grace, John Henderson, Andrew Hunt, John Low, Chris Slater and Zoe Watson from NUMB BUMS, Darrell Reeve from the Redland City Ukuleles, and Peter Ransom who had a solo spot at the festival. And, of course, our President, Max Borchardt.

Max Borchardt, ukulele opera narrator.

Special thanks to John Henderson who coordinated the band’s establishment, rehearsals and performances, Ian Phillips who coached us at rehearsals and Mick Angeles who did a brilliant job mixing the sound at the Northside Jam.

The final question is ‘What happens to the BUMS Festival Group now?’ Is this a one-off or will it resurface to put on shows at future festivals?

If you missed our Newcastle and Brisbane performances, you’re in luck. We’ve applied to take the show to Kenilworth in April 2019 for the Sunshine Coast Ukulele Festival.