May 31, 2013 Posted by Brian
I was born in England before WWII and was brought up in in a town called Plymouth (Mayflower, Sir Francis Drake, The Eddystone Lighthouse, and all that) I spent some of my formative years in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) . I trained as a nurse and followed a variable career in Nursing, Public Health, Health Education, Management Education, Administration, Research, etc. in England, West Africa and latterly Australia (a happy Citizen) where I have now retired.
Married to Jean, who shares my interest in classical music but certainly not in Jazz and Swing; but we have lasted 50+ years, so we seem to have worked it out reasonably well. We have two sons whom we brought to Australia with us in 1978.
I have always loved music, my mother was an accomplished piano player... me? I failed at that! I played Banjo in a Trad Jazz Band in the 1950's. Took up guitar, then developed an interest in Early Music and started to make hobby versions of many medieval musical instruments.
I like to say I have been in and out of music all my life, never good at anything but enjoying everything immensely.
My love for the Great American Songbook came about via listening to the American Forces Network broadcast in Europe during the years after the war ended. I heard all the best stuff, probably via the "V disks" sent to the armed forces for many years. So it seems that alongside my continuous (and continued) delight in classical music my love for Jazz and Swing has remained and finds its outlet in my Ukulele playing.
I make my own ukuleles out of wood but lately out of Carbon Fiber, seeking to get a jazz sound from a ukulele. It seems to work reasonably well.
My email address is (after you do the required adjustments) : brido11 [at] bigpond.com (Does this subterfuge really work?)
I was born in England before WWII and was brought up in in a town called Plymouth (Mayflower, Sir Francis Drake, The Eddystone Lighthouse, and all that) I spent some of my formative years in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) . I trained as a nurse and followed a variable career in Nursing, Public Health, Health Education, Management Education, Administration, Research, etc. in England, West Africa and latterly Australia (a happy Citizen) where I have now retired.
Married to Jean, who shares my interest in classical music but certainly not in Jazz and Swing; but we have lasted 50+ years, so we seem to have worked it out reasonably well. We have two sons whom we brought to Australia with us in 1978.
I have always loved music, my mother was an accomplished piano player... me? I failed at that! I played Banjo in a Trad Jazz Band in the 1950's. Took up guitar, then developed an interest in Early Music and started to make hobby versions of many medieval musical instruments.
I like to say I have been in and out of music all my life, never good at anything but enjoying everything immensely.
My love for the Great American Songbook came about via listening to the American Forces Network broadcast in Europe during the years after the war ended. I heard all the best stuff, probably via the "V disks" sent to the armed forces for many years. So it seems that alongside my continuous (and continued) delight in classical music my love for Jazz and Swing has remained and finds its outlet in my Ukulele playing.
I make my own ukuleles out of wood but lately out of Carbon Fiber, seeking to get a jazz sound from a ukulele. It seems to work reasonably well.
My email address is (after you do the required adjustments) : brido11 [at] bigpond.com (Does this subterfuge really work?)