Sun shining, ocean glistening, birds chirping, kids and dogs playing — what else do you need to start your perfect weekend?
How about a ukulele? How about 30 of them? Or 40, or 50, or even 60?
Come to Harbor Cove Café at Ventura Harbor on Saturday morning (weather permitting), and you’ll find yourself caught up in the happy sounds of Cool Hand Ukes, a festival of four-stringed fun that has entertained locals for close to a decade.
Comprised of 30 to 60 folks from all age groups and all walks of life (from entertainment industry attorneys to retired harbor boat-dwellers), Cool Hand Ukes plays from an increasingly diverse set of songs representing almost any and every musical genre.
“Hotel California?” Check. “Stairway to Heaven?” Check. “Bohemian Rhapsody?” No problem.
Leading the pack for the past five years is Gary Ballen, a veteran guitarist, record and concert producer who has worked and played with some of popular and rock music’s biggest names of the past 50 years — Jackson Browne, Air Supply, Lita Ford and Beyonce among them. A decade ago, he took up the ukulele. Upon moving to Oxnard he discovered the fledgling ukulele group launched by noted musicians Miles and Jill Martini Lang at Harbor Cove Café.
“They were, like, backroom sessions with eight to 10 people,” says Ballen. “The group became so large they moved outside to the patio.” When Miles and Jill got too busy with their musical commitments elsewhere, Ballen “offered to take the reins and build on what they started.”
As a “classic rock guy,” Ballen began assembling a book of song selections that stretched the capacity of the ukulele (and its practitioners) beyond simple three-chord ditties. He’s now assembled 15 such books, which include Motown, the Beatles and other ’60s-era music that first inspired the Ohio-born Ballen to pursue a musical career.
With the expansion of its repertoire, so has grown Cool Hand Ukes — to the point where they now play on the spacious lawn outside Harbor Cove, “for all the folks walking around the harbor to enjoy,” smiles Ballen. “We have kids dancing, teenagers singing and, if someone is celebrating a birthday, we’ll give them a ‘Happy Birthday’ to remember.”
Lloyd and Lisa Wyckoff, whose Ventura store Anacapa Ukulele offers instruments and lessons, “have been very supportive,” says Ballen. The same can be said of Harbor Cove Café head honchos Randy Willis and Dr. Shocker. And the late Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s recording of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” — which has sold close to 5 million digital copies worldwide — has popularized the ukulele on a broader scale, and brought much-needed awareness to its simple charm.
“It’s a happy instrument,” Ballen says. “It’s lightweight, it’s easy to play, it’s been around forever, and you can take it and play it anywhere.” Except when the weather turns too damp or windy, which Ballen admits is “not good for string instruments.”
On days like that, the Cool Hand Ukes often move inside at Lookout Bar and Grill in Channel Islands Harbor, where Ballen headlines on guitar every Wednesday and Sunday. Or the group simply postpones altogether until better weather prevails.
“And we’re always happy to welcome new members,” he says. “We’ve become a family, and some of our members say playing with the group is the highlight of their week. People want to know they have somewhere fun and enjoyable to go every week, and that’s what we offer.”
Cool Hand Ukes performs Saturdays, 10 a.m.-noon (weather permitting) at Harbor Cove Café, 1867 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura Harbor. For more information, visit garyballen.com.