"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

The champion buskers from the 80s and 90s took their ukuleles into the recording studio during the past two-and-a-half years to lay down 14 tracks. As ever there is an eclectic mix of tunes and styles, from their old favourites from the annals of rock, skiffle, ska and rap through to some new jazz influenced material arranged especially for the studio. Anyone who likes Japanese music, Deep Purple, Dire Straits, Chuck Berry or Coronation Street may be offended, but everyone else will love "Heavens to Murgatroyd". The album features the blistering ukulele virtuosity and bizarre vocal dexterity of co-founders Jim Fulton and Graeme Cairns. They have been joined more recently by multi-instrumentalist Baz Galbraith. Other special guests include Der Oompahmensch, Paul Tregilgas, Adrian Botting, Glen Botting and Steve Webb. Mr Fulton, a Te Awamutu College old boy, and Mr Cairns were concerned fans of the tea chest bass, swanee whistle and kazoo which featured strongly in earlier works, will be outraged by the stylistic gamble the Muffins have taken with the new album. However they believe the result will satisfy hardened Muffin fans, as well as win over new ones. Despite what they consider a slight lowering of musical standards, the album does carry the usual Muffin guarantee of "no guitars used in the production". Their reasoning is that as we only have four fingers, four strings is all that is necessary on an instrument. Also in keeping with tradition, "Heavens to Murgatroyd" will also be available on black vinyl by special arrangement. Their first album "Jabberwocky Goes to Town" was one of the last vinyl albums to be pressed by the mainstream music industry, so it is fitting the new album is also available on the same medium. For those without a gramophone, the songs can also be heard on CD.

Te Awamutu Courier

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

"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

Serious performances break new ground

WEARING a bathing suit, swimming cap and 80s-styled sunnies, Baz Galbraith of the Big Muffin Serious Band proved that ukuleles and break-dancing can go hand-in-hand. Audiences discovered the wilder side of ukulele bands yesterday at A Weekend at Littleweed as Mr Galbraith leapt off stage mid-song and began break-dancing. He energetically did "The Worm" to the cheers of an appreciative crowd sitting beneath the persimmon trees.

The unusual antics were nothing new for the band which performed at Littleweed for the second time, strumming away on ukuleles and banging on a tea chest bass while dressed as a unique version of the Village People.

The three-day festival returned to Katikati with a roar at the weekend as hundreds of people from around the area and beyond soaked up the     extravaganza of music, dance, poetry, cabaret and circus performances.

                                                        Bay of Plenty Times

                                                            14.04.2008

Ukulele Experiment Te Awamutu Redoubt, 19/11/08.

TE AWAMUTU UKEFEST ’09

      Letter to Editor, Waikato Times  

Te Awamutu Courier     

Baz turns hand to making instruments

By Geoff LEWIS

BUILDING ukuleles and a variety of other small stringed instruments has been a learning curve for former Hamilton Boys' High School music teacher Bevan (Baz) Galbraith.

The Te Pahu resident and 13-year veteran of the famed Big Muffin Serious Band, began making ukuleles several years ago after seeing similar instruments made by Te Pahu Uke Orchestra member Sam Crossan. Baz had already done a bit of wood work and had a good range of tools and was enjoying using native timbers

"Before I got into making instruments I knew what rimu was and maybe matai, but now I've used a whole lot of native timbers." Woods such as swamp kauri, rewarewa, mangeao and kohekohe have turned out to be effective as "tone woods", and durable puriri is utilised in fingerboards.Baz's dad, who lives at Ohope, lends a hand by making attractive boxes for the instruments out of recycled cedar shipping crates.Also a member of the Muffin's splinter band Goulash Archipelago, Baz has made a range of Eastern European-sounding and looking folk instruments.

He has supplied a selection to a Cuba St music store in Wellington and another outlet in Auckland, while examples in Hamilton are available at Weirs. Selling under the Captain label, prices are a matter of conjecture. Baz can be contacted through www.captainukuleles.co.nz.