Welcome

A former pupil of Chalmers Doane's and a lifelong lover of all things ukulele, John Kavanagh was always willing and eager to share his love of music with others.

Small Rooms: Rags, Jazz, and Encores for Uke was nearly complete when John died in May 2009. To honour his memory and to celebrate his life, John's friends and family pitched in to complete Small Rooms using the tracks that John had already recorded. The result is a beautiful, intimate portrait of a man and his music.

In His Own Words...

Taken from one of John's online profiles:

"I love the uke. It was my first instrument, and I think it remains my main flame. It's a soprano guitar, it's an indoor banjo, it's the mandolin's politer cousin. It's its own sweet self.

I went through Chalmers Doane's school uke program in Halifax, Nova Scotia in the 1970s, and was in a group of uke students that toured and recorded. I wasted the next few decades flirting with other instruments: a music degree playing classical guitar, almost getting another in musicology and/or viola da gamba performance, and playing upright bass professionally. A recent infatuation with clawhammer banjo probably added a few wrinkles to the uke playing, too.

I've played most styles of music, and for me the uke works for all of them, one reason I love it so. I've gigged or sat in, or jammed with folk, jazz, pop, hokum, rock, Baroque, classical, Indian, and country musicians. Some of them have asked me to come back..."

Uke Talk

John talks shop about his favourite instrument:

"I play a wonderful hot-rodded 1960s Harmony, in the "Canadian" tenor uke tuning: low 4th D. If you're not a uker, this is ad'f#'b' non re-entrant, like the top 4 strings of a guitar a fifth (7 frets) higher. It was originally a baritone uke, but it sounds great as a tenor. It's had a new spruce top and stuff added by friend and luthier Nicholas Tipney of Vector Violins. Thanks Nick!

I can't say enough about how much I like that uke. My wife was given it new when she was a teenager and wanted a guitar - it wasn't until I came into her life that the poor thing found a friend. (The uke, I mean. My wife has lots of friends.)"

More By and About John

• Uketalk.com interview
• Photos, audio and more at John's ezFolk.com page
• John's arrangement of I'll Fly Away, published in Ukulele Yes!
• A great article by John about creating a bluegrass arrangement
• Order your copy of Small Rooms: Rags, Jazz, and Encores for Uke