"The Instrument of Love"

"With the masses of bland, uninspiring candy floss, musical dross available, it's refreshing to hear something different. Te Pahu's Serious Ukulele Ensemble have come to the rescue.
The group (linked to the Waikato's Big Muffin Serious Band, who have been performing with ukuleles for 17 years) is made up of eight core ukulele players. As they say, they took up the challenge of making complex and listenable music with just 1.5m of nylon strings, 550g of wood and glue and a musical scale of 1 octave. And it's brilliant, with the 19 little gems truly stretching belief. Yes, the humble ukulele can sound very good indeed. Highlights are covers of Volare, Here Comes the Sun and a version of Take 5 that would make Dave Brubeck jealous. Class."

4/5

Quentin Reade, Waikato Times

"Dead Serious"

"Praise be to the ukulele - the much-maligned comedy-size guitar rip-off and sound of Hawaii. Thanks to this Waikato bunch, it earns its rightful place in the sun. From '60s surfing guitar hits to famous opera, Radiohead and Metallica - the Serious Ukulele Ensemble cover them all as instrumentals, using the itsy-bitsy "jumping flea", as it translates.
It may sound corny, but it's actually incredibly good: accomplished, interesting and yep, a little bit crazy. Perfect. "

5/5

Tania Hall, Waikato Times

"The Instrument of Love" (again)

"I just love this, from the CD liner, and want to share it with you: 'We live in a world where all of the major earth shattering challenges have been faced and met. Everest has been conquered, the moon reached, the four minute mile left in tatters and the Pacific Ocean crossed solo by a man in a chilly bin lid. Given that there just isn't anything left for the rest of us to attempt, we've been forced to downsize and make more personal versions of these mammoth and unlikely tasks, to seek less obvious rewards. The challenge of making complex and listenable music with just 1.5m of nylon strings, 550 grammes of wood and glue and a musical scale of one-a-half octaves may not be dangerous or earth-shattering but it is just as unlikely. So stick this CD on your gramophone, make a nice cup of tea, and enjoy.'

The tracklist includes the unlikely in Volare, Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend, a very inventive My Favourite Things, and the likely - classical, jazz and Beatle standards like Autumn Leaves, Yesterday and The William Tell Overture (or at least a minute of it). Personally I could have done without bloody Take 5 or the even bloodier Cavatina but including the Penguin Cafe Orchestra's Music For A Found Harmonium almost makes up for those. The eight (!) ukulele players are accompanied at times by a tea-chest bass, a tuba, piano, cello, brass and burping. And where do such plans get hatched? Hamilton, of course!"

Dominic Blaazer, New Zealand Musician Magazine