Linda Chase is a freelance writer based in Santa Barbara specializing in the arts, travel and lifestyle. This feature is produced by the Journalism Arts Initiative, which is underwritten by donations from arts organizations and others interested in supporting excellence in arts journalism.
Abe Lagrimas was looking for the ukulele of his dreams.
He was already a virtuoso on the instrument — audiences around the world were attending his performances and workshops to hear him play his Brazilian rosewood uke. But he wasn’t satisfied.
He heard about Ohana Music in Signal Hill and stopped by the shop to find an instrument that matched the spec and scale of his concert ukulele, but one that would produce the sounds he was imagining.
The craftsmen at Ohana, who make everything from basic “strum-and-hum” ukes to custom instruments designed to the artist’s specifications, came up with something that finally gave him the warmer, more resonant sound he had been looking for: the OCS Custom.
When Lagrimas takes the stage next month at the Los Angeles International Ukulele Festival, that is the instrument he’ll be playing.
The OCS Custom has an Engelmann spruce top and burled redwood back and sides. Its thicker body enhances the natural resonance and volume. The drum motif that runs along the front of the instrument from the headstock down to the soundhole has a special significance for Lagrimas.
When he was 4, Lagrimas was given his first set of drums, kickstarting his love for music. As a teenager, he and his brothers formed a garage band to play ‘90s rock tunes, and he played percussion in the Hawaii Youth Symphony.
But on a winter day in New England, things changed. It was a typical February morning in Boston — temperature below zero, six-foot snow drifts. Bundled in packable down jackets, boots and scarves, Lagrimas and his fellow students at the Berklee School of Music trudged to class.
A native of Oahu, Lagrimas found himself yearning for the white sands and warm ocean waters of home. “I was homesick,” Lagrimas recalled in a recent phone interview.
“I didn’t have the luxury of flying back and forth, so I had to figure out how to bring Hawaii to me.”
He reached for what was close at hand: a ukulele.
Marooned 5,000 miles from his home island in a culture he described as “very European and British,” he began playing music that was ubiquitous on the airwaves and in public spaces where he grew up.
Lagrimas formed a group with two fellow Hawaiians at the school, and they began playing gigs around the Boston area. After graduation, he returned to Oahu and continued performing and giving lessons. In the summer of 2007, he moved to Los Angeles, where he did session work along with performing and teaching gigs.
The drums still called to him, and he displayed his chops at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Drums Competition in 2012. But the uke had become his go-to instrument, his muse and a connection to his Hawaiian roots.
The instrument played by Lagrimas and other contemporary uke artists bears only a faint resemblance to the braguinha, the small guitar brought by Portuguese settlers from Madeira to Hawaii in 1879. It was adapted by the Hawaiians for luaus and other celebrations, and soon it became known as the ukulele (jumping flea). More than a century later, the ukulele is synonymous with Hawaiian music and culture.
In the hands of virtuosos such as Jake Shimabukuro, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole and Lagrimas, the hollowed-out wooden instrument with four strings that reaches only an octave and a half can become a virtual orchestra of melody, harmony, tone and range.
Lagrimas and his wife, Karen, whom he met in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic, decided to leave Los Angeles for the Islands. “We wanted a fresh start to begin a new chapter,” Lagrimas said.
The new chapter included new avenues of creativity. “Composing original music pushed me to record an album,” he said. His compositions on “Beyond Words” drew on complex rhythms from his jazz drumming days, traditional Hawaiian music and popular music of the ‘90s. The 2021 album won the Nā Hōkū Hanohano (Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts) Ukulele Album of the Year in 2022.
Lagrimas now serves as ukulele instructor for the Hawaii Youth Symphony Music4Kids Program. “That position didn’t even exist when I played there,” he said. He also supports the work of Lōkahi: The Ukulele Collective, a nonprofit whose mission is to ensure that every student attending school in Hawaii has the opportunity to learn, play and create music.
In addition to touring in the States and Europe, Lagrimas makes regular trips to China as a representative of Ohana Ukuleles. “I’m developing quite a fan base there,” he said, laughing.
Lagrimas said that while many instruments can be beautifully played by skilled musicians, they are unable to evoke the feelings the ukulele does. “The sound is so uplifting, so joyous and infectious,” he said. “People who have never heard the uke before are immediately drawn to it.”
At the Los Angeles festival next month, he will lead a trio that includes bass and drums. He is also conducting two workshops that are open to advanced ukulele players. “It’s going to be fun for the players and the audience,” he promises.
The Los Angeles International Ukulele Festival will take place at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center, at 3330 Civic Center Drive on Saturday, Sept. 20 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Doors open at 8:30 a.m.
Entrance (including fees) is $60, and includes access to all workshops and performances by Lagrimas and other all-star ukulele artists throughout the day. Children 12 and under are free with a paid adult. Onsite parking is free. The Ukulele Marketplace is free and open to the public, and there will be free classes for beginners (does not include admission into the festival Saturday).
For the complete schedule of workshops and performances, see https://losangelesukulelefestival.com/saturday. For an FAQ about everything else, see https://losangelesukulelefestival.com/faq. Two of the featured musicians at the festival, Cathey Fink and Marcy Marxer, will perform From China to Appalachia, featuring Chinese hammer dulcimer player Chao Tian, on Sunday, Sept. 21, in the center’s James Armstrong Theatre at 2 p.m. $35 to $45, including fees.
