'The Ukulele Bookshop' has relaunched my book of seven new ukulele pieces first published on amazon. The idea of writing music that depicted different 'creepy- crawlies' came to me after thinking about the ukulele's association with fleas. 'Ukulele' translates to 'jumping flea' and we have the famous 'My Dog Has Fleas' association with the open strings.
Hugh McElveen and his sister Sadhbh McElveen are both highly talented artists and designers and I am extremely grateful to both of them for creating the cover design and the illustrations within the book.
The arthropods in this book consist of WASPS, SPIDERS, ANTS, SCORPIONS, BUTTERFLIES, LADYBIRDS and FLEAS. Jim Beloff's review of the pieces is included in the book:
"The pieces are brilliant in every way. The compositions are sophisticated, the performances are first rate and I can think of nothing else quite like them in the current ukulele repertoire. Like a great impressionist, Tony paints with sound to bring each creature delightfully and musically to life. Bravo!" - JIM BELOFF
The professional Musician, Giovanni Albini has also given me a very positive review on the new edition.
The pieces are quite hard, so a beginner would struggle, I feel. Some of the pieces have been selected for the Victoria College of Music ukulele Grade exams from Grade 4 to Grade 8.
The pdf version of the book and the free mp3s can be found here on my website under 'Arthropoda Download'. The 'Buy Now' button will take you to 'The Ukulele Bookshop'.
The free mp3s are home recordings but clear enough to illustrate the tempo and character of each piece.
I hope people will enjoy playing or listening to the pieces. Here are two professional ukulele players who have played from my book:
Giovanni Albini playing WASPS:
Sam Muir playing Scorpions:
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