Marching to the beat of a different strummer
By Lesley Bannatyne, Globe Correspondent  |  May 14, 2006

The Skybar in Somerville is packed. Craig Robertson takes the stage; the crowd quiets. He leans into the mike, strums his ukulele, and sings: ''Houdini always thought outside the box / That's how he opened all those locks / He was never worried when they tossed him off the docks / Houdini always thought outside the box . . ."
A Somerville resident, Robertson, 59, has not only played the ukulele for seven years, he also hosts a gaggle of uke musicians at monthly ''Ukulele Noir" nights in local clubs. ''Noir" audiences have come to expect of all kinds of music -- Tin Pan Alley, classical, swing -- strummed on the toy-like four-string most associate with Tiny Tim tiptoeing through the tulips. ''Noir" performers like The Cars' keyboardist Greg Hawkes can be spotted rubbing elbows with Dave Wasser, past president of the Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum, or the tattooed-and-vintage-dressed Renee Rogers, as they await their performance slots.
Musicians tuned into the uke, says Robertson, when they heard it played by the likes of George Harrison, David Byrne, and Elvis Costello. But now the uke scene is teetering off the edge of cult status into the mainstream. Hawaiian Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's heart-rending ''Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" created a whole new wave of uke fans, and Jake Shimabukuro (''He's like the Jimi of uke," says Robertson, referring to Jimi Hendrix) is opening for Jimmy Buffett this summer.
In the Boston area, it's Robertson who's ignited the fire.
''I was running an open mike every week at the Skybar," he recounts. ''I'd play my uke. Other uke players heard about it and started to come down. . . . I thought, 'Let's have a whole night of uke, grownup uke.' You think of the uke on a beach in the sun, but I wanted it in a bar at night."
Since the first ''Noir" in 2004, Robertson has found a core of 12 players whom he rotates among special guests in 20-minute, cabaret-style sets. ''Ukulele Noir" audiences have come to expect everything from Robertson's original, dark ditties with titles like ''Sawing a Lady in Half," or ''Kirtland Murder Barn," to Davis Sweet's renditions of big-band and swing tunes. And Greg Hawkes, says Robertson, sometimes plays Cars tunes. The whole ''Noir" scene is retro-hip, vintage 1920s cool: Audience members and performers alike sport fedoras and suits, bowties and suspenders. ''The weird thing," says Robertson, ''is the younger crowd is coming out of goth -- dark eyeliner and flapper dresses."
Myths about the ukulele abound. ''People think you can't play anything serious on it," says Robertson. ''You can. John King once came out and played a Bach Partita No. 3. It was amazing."
Another misconception? That it's Hawaiian. ''It's Portuguese," Robertson explains, and came to Hawaii with the crew of a Portuguese ship in the late 19th century.
''It's the instrument for lapsed guitar players," laughs Robertson, who's played guitar for 40 years.
''You can learn a lot of tunes right away," he continues.
''But to get good, it's just like any other string instrument. And it's sweet. If I come into a room and take out my guitar, everybody groans. If I take out a uke, everybody smiles."
The Skybar crowd -- young and pierced to older and gray-bearded -- stop their chatter as Robertson picks out another tune:
''He's sawing the lady in half / He makes a small joke and everyone laughs / There's nothing to fear / It's all done with mirrors / Sawing a lady in half . . ."
It's true. Everybody is smiling.
The next ''Ukulele Noir" night will be June 6 at 8:30 p.m. at Johnny D's in Davis Square, Somerville. $12.
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.

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