ALOHA from SINGAPORE,
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I'm Daniel Purnomo - a Singapore jazz guitarist, ukulele jazz player and also international Zoom online ukulele instructor.
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I thank God that I've done all the recording for this solo fingerstyle acoustic album. Different from my 2 previous albums where I focused in playing ukulele and guitar respectively, in this 3rd album I played ukulele, guitalele and guitar .
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When I went to Hawaii for the first time in 2018 as I was one of the finalists (in solo ukulele category) of the International Ukulele Contest, I briefly learnt some of their Aloha culture in my limited time there . Hawaiians are so friendly, chill and relax, and I love their "shaka" or "hang-loose" hand gesture . And I'm amazed realising how the Aloha culture spread internationally as I saw many people from around the world gathered together happily in Hawaii for the same passion.
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The tropicality of Hawaii reminds me strongly to our own little island of Singapore, and I believe that the Aloha spirit of ukulele has found a place in the heart of Singapore as there are more and more people have been learning ukulele as their new hobby. It's a good healthy hobby and "hang loose" lifestyle for us in this fast-paced city country. Let's live our motto "relax one corner" for our own good. For those who don't understand what the motto means...it means "relax lah" :D
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As ukulele is known as fun and friendly instrument, it attracts wide demographic, even in my online ukulele class there are some children, youth, adults and elderly are learning ukulele enthusiatically. On the other hand, the support of Singapore government towards everyone, especially Pioneer Generation (born on or before 31st December 1949) and Merdeka Generation (born on or between 1 January 1950 and 31 December 1959) to keep on learning and being active play a part too. Hence ukulele has become one of the choice for living actively.
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The question like "Which one I prefer, ukulele or guitar" sounds to me like asking me to choose laksa or chicken curry (our local dishes that contains santan/coconut milk). Like those dishes, I love both ukulele and guitar with all their unique traits. They both have their own freedom and constraint.
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I'm always into rich harmony, exciting progression, soulful groove and beautiful melody, and both instruments allow me to express those qualities. Anyway, they both shares similar concept of fingerboard. I've got nothing to choose than to play both.
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Guitar is always my first instrument and I still enjoy playing it. I love the bass lines I could play on it's fingerboard, it's groovy. The fingerboard also accomodates me to play wider range solo phrasing. Somehow I thought it would be ideal if I could come out with an album that includes ukulele and guitar.
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Here in Singapore we have a local guitar and ukulele brand, "Maestro", which is also well known internationally. Every time I go to their shop I always reluctant to leave as I keep playing the guitars and ukuleles there, they all look good, sound and feel good to me. Amazing instruments.
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This acoustic fingerstyle album serves as a Singapore ukulele jazz album, as well as jazz guitar album in which I feature ukulele, guitalele and various guitars of "Maestro Guitar & Ukulele", including my own Crossover Maestro guitar - a responsive and ergonomic nylon stringed guitar.
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The Feel & Repertoire :
Overal it's got some local, Hawaiian and with a hint of Brazzilian Bossa Nova. Beside the legendary Hawaiian song, Aloha Oe (Queen Liliuokalani) as a best choice repertoire for "Aloha from Singapore", I included some gospel-hymn songs that I fused it with some jazz elements. To present our local flavour I also included some folk songs from this region, and some re-interpreted nursery rhyme for those who want to visit their child-hood memory. You'll hear some of my original compositions in this album too. It's an easy listening and lighthearted album for everyone.
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All the recording's done acoustically with DEITY V-Mic D3 Pro Microphone at "the Guitar Shop Singapore" and at my home. This microphone is amazing in getting the clearest sound and maintaining the purity of the acoustic tone of the instruments.
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I'm so thankful for my sound engineer friend Joel Zhou who's been helping me with the mixing and mastering, not only for this album, but for my other 2 previous albums too.
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I believe that this instrumental album brings you good mood, love, joy, peace, divine healing, restoration and inspiration as you listen to it. So here it is, wherever you are, "ALOHA from SINGAPORE".
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TRACK LIST :
1. ALOHA OE (Queen Liliuokalani)
What's best for a Hawaiian instrument to play with rather than a chill classic Hawaiian song. Originally it's a farewell song, nevertheless the word "Aloha" itself can be used as a greeting when people meetup each other. In this solo instrumental piece I employed a lot of slur / slides techniques to simulate Hawaiian slide guitar sound.
Instrument : UT-CO Island Series Maestro Ukulele
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2. TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR
It could be the most famous classic nursery rhyme. I played this in 2 versions in my previous jazz guitar album "My Childhood Recollection" album as solo fingerstyle and jazz duo with double bass. In this ukulele version I played it with more sweet & relax feel. As I played this on ukulele, I always somehow think it as "Twinkle Twinkle LELE Star".
Instrument : UT-CO Island Series Maestro Ukulele
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3. BECAUSE HE LIVES
It's a meaningful classic hymn that I turned it into swing jazz bluesy number on ukulele. Expect some playful solo over the tune when you sing along with this track.
Instrument : UT-CO Island Series Maestro Ukulele
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4. AMAZING GRACE
I played this one as a "funk" solo fingerstyle number in "My Childhood Recollection" fingerstyle guitar album. In this album I did it in Blues, it's deep & soulful. It's kind of unique and unconventional combination of Blues and nylon stringed guitar as I use my Crossover Maestro guitar.
Instrument : Crossover Vera MH CSB CY Maestro Guitar
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5. BURUNG KAKAK TUA
It's a folk song and nursery rhyme from our region (Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia) which I covered with double bass in "My Childhood Recollection" album. In this album I did it as solo fingerstyle on a steel stringed acoustic guitar in Swing Waltz. It's a 3/4 guitar with a deep and clear sound.
Instrument : Temasek MH SB C Maestro Guitar
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6. SLIDE SLIGHTLY (ORIGINAL)
It's a very catchy and yet playful composition that pictures a carefree attitude in a busy world. A lot of keys and interesting chord progression in this piece, but yet it maintains the simplicity of the melody. I have 2 others versions of this piece, one is a solo fingerstyle on an electric guitar in "My Childhood Recollection" and the other one is a single track where I played with a full band track.
Instrument : OS Raffless FM CSM A Maestro Guitar
7. JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE
It's a traditional gospel song originated from African-American culture that eventually has become a jazz standard. Here is some solo acoustic guitar Swing Jazz rendition.
Instrument : Temasek MH SB C Maestro Guitar
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8. CACA MARICA / CHAN MALI CHAN
Caca Marica is an Indonesian song from East Nusa Tenggara which has become a folk song in our local region. It's also known as Chan Mali Chan in Singapore and Malaysia. It's a very playful and rhyme-y love folksong which is actually a poem. Here I covered it as Bossa Nova piece on a guitalele. It's indeed a unique instrument that combines the virtues of guitar and ukulele.
Instrument : GL-MR SB 5G Maestro Guitalele
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9. DREAMING OF YOU AND I (ORIGINAL)
It's a chill Bossa Nova instrumental piece I wrote more than 20 years ago when I was in my university days at Universitas Surabaya in Indonesia. I remember I put some lyrics to it for my church vocal group back then, but I totally forgot lyrics.
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When I came to Singapore and enrolled to Lasalle College as music student I joined ExxonMobil Songwriting Competition in 2004 with this composition. As my English wasn't so good back then, my college mate who's also from my hometown, Jessica Irawan wrote a lyrics for it, and that's how the title came about. Finally this composition won the 3rd prize in that competition - https://www.dpurnomoconcept.com/composer-song-writer-singapore
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I think it's good to document this composition in an album.
Instrument : Crossover Vera MH CSB CY Maestro Guitar
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Album Cover Picture :
Rosetta IR SB A Maestro Guitar
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This album is available on all major digital platforms