If music makes you happy you’ll love this episode as we welcome world renowned musician, Jim Beloff to the show! You hear his voice every week on Aging GreatFULLy singing the spectacular theme song we all love, Aging Gratefully, but this week we’ll be talking about his new release book, UKEtopia! Adventures in the Ukulele World, and so much more! Jim never stops surprising us with new endeavors, because after all, he really is Aging GreatFULLy and aging gratefully – he’s definitely the real deal! I predict UKEtopia! will be a best-seller! It’s full of everything you think of when you think of Jim Beloff – living life to the fullest, fun and festivities, laughter, and lots of surprises! Plus, it definitely delivers on the adventure spectrum! And stories, well, ukuleles go hand in hand with story-telling and so does this book! With over 200 pictures, compliments of his amazing wife Liz Maihock Beloff, who captured loads of fun they enjoyed together over the years basking in music, purpose and passion. You can purchase UKEtopia! at your favorite bookseller, Amazon, and he’s even offering exclusive limited author autographed copies at: https://www.magicfluke.com/UKEtopia-Adventures-in-the-Ukulele-World-p/uketopia!.htm?fbclid=IwAR1XoqkcOjU_viYjl4A_XCxim9U8ZCo1HASAIcAE36x0IxdGeZB3VYvt614
Jim has also created a Spotify Playlist that pairs perfectly and follows all the songs/music referenced in UKEtopia! to compliment the experience that can be accessed here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7ocCb5fPfhwtzmievmR6VV or you can also find the link on the homepage of Jim’s website at www.fleamarketmusic.com.
Jim reminds us that life is full of surprises and shares how his entire unexpected journey began with a remarkable story, back in 1992. And, as they say, the rest is history. And what a lot of funtastic history it has been and continues to be. Jim shares his story of playing with a Beatle! And the story behind the song we use for our show, Aging Gratefully. We talk about his international fame and the fun of being “Big in Japan,” and even how music is the universal language that brings everyone together. It’s a fabulous and powerful hour beginning to end for everyone that wants to smile and bask in joy and celebrate music, life and living!
Jim Beloff is the author of The Ukulele—A Visual History (Backbeat Books) and author, arranger, and publisher of the Jumpin’ Jim’s series of ukulele songbooks with over 1,000,000 copies in print. This series is available worldwide and includes The Daily Ukulele and The Daily Ukulele: Leap Year Edition, two of the biggest and best-selling ukulele songbooks ever published. All Jumpin’ Jim’s songbooks are distributed by Hal Leonard LLC.
Jim produced Legends of Ukulele, a CD compilation for Rhino Records, and has made three how-to-play DVDs for Homespun. He is also an active songwriter and has released a number of CDs. His two-CD set, Dreams I Left in Pockets, features 33 songs he wrote or co-wrote with uke legends, Herb “Ohta-san” Ohta and Lyle Ritz. His album, The Wind and Sun was released in August 2020.
In 1999, Jim composed and premiered Uke Can’t Be Serious, a concerto for solo ukulele and symphony orchestra. Since then, the piece has been performed with both high school and professional orchestras, including the Michigan Philharmonic in 2016. He has also performed it many times with a string quartet. His second concerto for ukulele and orchestra, The Dove Tale, premiered in 2017 with the Wallingford (Connecticut) Symphony Orchestra.
Jim and his wife, Liz Maihock Beloff, own Flea Market Music, Inc., a company dedicated to the ukulele. They perform together playing their family’s Fluke, Flea and Firefly ukuleles and are known around the world for playing a major role in the current third wave of the ukulele popularity. They have toured Japan, Australia and Canada and believe in their company’s motto, “Uke Can Change the World.”
To connect with Jim, visit him online where great products are available such as songbooks, CD’s, DVD’s, his event calendar and his new UKEtopia! book at https://www.fleamarketmusic.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/jimbeloffmusic/
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