It Sounds So Sweet: Jug Band Music for Ukulele (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781508677758)

A musician who possesses that rare combination of insight and talent necessary to successfully transcend conventional concepts of genre and culture." - John Berger, Honolulu Star-Bulletin. During a career that started well before he could drive, Mark Kailana Nelson has picked up music from places as far afield as the South Pacific, the Irish Sea and Alta California. A gifted multi-instrumentalist, he is equally at home in a wide variety of traditional music settings and a number of interesting folk instruments. Mark's lifelong interest in slack key led him to write "Learn to Play Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar" (Mel Bay Publications), with legendary Hawaiian musician Keola Beamer - the first widely available instruction method for this gentle art. In 2006 he released "Old Time Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar," 19 classic Hawaiian songs recorded live in the studio with a book of note-for-note transcriptions. Mark added the 'ukulele to his arsenal in 2001, when he discovered he could play Duke Ellington tunes on it while jamming at a festival after hours. He has taught 'ukulele at festivals, music camps and workshops across the county. His first Mel Bay uke book "Learn to Play Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele" - one of the best selling ukulele books of all time - was followed by "Favorite Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele," "Duets for Fingerstyle Ukulele," "Mastering Chord Inversions for Ukulele," and "Favorite Old Time American Songs for Ukulele." His "Learn to Play Slack Key Style Ukulele" and "Juke'n' the Uke: Blues, Hokum and Ragtime for Ukuele" are available from Acme Arts. In the early 1970's Mark was one of a handful of free-spirited musicians who created a whole new vocabulary for the Appalachian dulcimer and guitar. A first place win at the National Mountain Dulcimer Championships in Winfield, Kansas in 1979 led to appearances at festivals, colleges and coffeehouses across North America and Europe, and a recording career spanning over 35 years and counting. In addition to his ukulele and guitar books, Mark is the author of "Ke Kukima Polinahe: Hawaiian and Polynesian Music for Appalachian Dulcimer," "The Complete Collection of Celtic Music for Appalachian Dulcimer," and "Favorite Old Time American Songs for Appalachian Dulcimer." He lives in Oregon's Applegate Valley along with an assortment of pets, semi-tame birds and the ever-present squirrel hoard. He once worked as a banjo playing gorilla in Dublin, but that's another story...