Name	Ukulele
Image capt	Martin 3K Professional Ukulele
Background	string
Classification	String instrument (plucked, nylon stringed instrument usually played with the bare thumb and/or fingertips, or a felt pick.)
Hornbostel sachs	321.322
Hornbostel sachs desc	Composite chordophone
Developed	19th century
Related	*Bowed and plucked string instruments, in particular the cavaquinho

The ukulele, ( , from ukulele}} ; variantly spelled ukelele in the UK), sometimes abbreviated to uke, is a chordophone classified as a plucked lute; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings.

The ukulele originated in the 19th century as a Hawaiian interpretation of the cavaquinho or braguinha and the rajão, small guitar-like instruments taken to Hawaii by Portuguese immigrants. It gained great popularity elsewhere in the United States during the early 20th century, and from there spread internationally.

Tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and construction. Ukuleles commonly come in four sizes: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone.

History

Hawaii

Ukuleles are commonly associated with music from Hawai‘i where the name roughly translates as "jumping flea", perhaps due to the action of one's fingers playing the ukulele resembling a "jumping flea". According to Queen Lili'uokalani, the last Hawaiian monarch, the name means “the gift that came here”, from the Hawaiian words uku (gift or reward) and lele (to come). Developed in the 1880s, the ukulele is based on two small guitar-like instruments of Portuguese origin, the cavaquinho and the rajão, introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants from Madeira and Cape Verde. Three immigrants in particular, Madeiran cabinet makers Manuel Nunes, José do Espírito Santo, and Augusto Dias, are generally credited as the first ukulele makers.

The OED has this to say: ukulele, n. Pronunciation: /juːkəˈleɪliː/ Also ukelele. From Hawaiian ‘ukulele, < ‘uku flea + lele jumping: see quot. 1957.

"A small four-stringed Hawaiian guitar that is a development of a Portuguese instrument introduced to the island c1879."

1957 Amer. Speech 32 309 "The machete was heard one day by the vice-chamberlain of King Kalakaua's court, who‥asked to be taught to play it.‥ This vice-chamberlain was a British army officer named Edward Purvis; but the Hawaiians‥called him ukulele because his lively playing and antics and his small build suggested a leaping flea. The new instrument became a great success,‥and someone started calling them ukeleles."

Two weeks after they landed aboard the Ravenscrag in late August 1879, the Hawaiian Gazette reported that "Madeira Islanders recently arrived here, have been delighting the people with nightly street concerts."

One of the most important factors in establishing the ukulele in Hawaiian music and culture was the ardent support and promotion of the instrument by King David Kalakaua. A patron of the arts, he incorporated it into performances at royal gatherings.

U.S. mainland

Pre-World War II

The ukulele was popularized for a stateside audience during the Panama Pacific International Exposition, held for most of 1915 in San Francisco. The Hawaiian Pavilion featured a guitar and ukulele ensemble, George E. K. Awai and his Royal Hawaiian Quartet, along with ukulele maker and player Jonah Kumalae. The popularity of the ensemble with visitors launched a fad for Hawaiian-themed songs among Tin Pan Alley songwriters. The ensemble also introduced both the lap steel guitar and the ukulele into U.S. mainland popular music, where it was taken up by vaudeville performers such as Roy Smeck and Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards.

The ukulele soon became an icon of the Jazz Age. Highly portable and relatively inexpensive, it also proved popular with amateur players throughout the 1920s, as is evidenced by the introduction of uke chord tablature into the published sheet music for popular songs of the time, A number of mainland-based instrument manufacturers, among them Regal, Harmony, and Martin, added ukulele, banjolele, and tiple lines to their production to take advantage of the demand.

Post-World War II

wearing lei and holding a Maccaferri "Islander" plastic ukulele]] From the late 1940s to the late 1960s, plastics manufacturer Mario Maccaferri turned out about 9 million inexpensive ukuleles. Much of the instrument's popularity was cultivated via The Arthur Godfrey Show on television. Singer-musician Tiny Tim became closely associated with the instrument after playing it on his 1968 hit "Tiptoe Through the Tulips".

Post-1990 Revival

After the 1960s, the ukulele declined in popularity until the late 1990s, when interest in the instrument reappeared. During the 1990s, new manufacturers began producing ukuleles and a new generation of musicians took up the instrument.

Former Beatle, George Harrison, and former keyboardist of The Cars, Greg Hawkes, became enthusiastic players.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, formed in London in 1985, have played to audiences across the world.

Hawaii-born Jake Shimabukuro has also become a popular ukulele performer in recent years, having played the instrument since the age of 4.

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole also helped popularise the instrument, in particular due to his 1993 ukulele medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World", used in several films, television programs, and commercials. The song reached #12 on Billboard's Hot Digital Tracks chart the week of January 31, 2004 (for the survey week ending January 18, 2004).

The instrument has also found use by some indie pop performers, such as Beirut Noah and the Whale. and Nevershoutnever

Punk cabaret artist Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls has also enthusiastically taken an interest in the instrument.

American singer-songwriter and musician, Sara Watkins, who performs as a soloist and with the progressive bluegrass group Nickel Creek, plays both the ukelele and the fiddle.

Singer-songwriter Jason Reeves plays the ukulele and is featured on the ukulele in "Tied Down", a song on Coco (album) (the debut album of Colbie Caillat).

World

Japan: The ukulele came to Japan in 1929 after Hawaiian-born Yukihiko Haida returned to the country upon his father's death and introduced the instrument. Haida and his brother Katsuhiko formed the Moana Glee Club, enjoying rapid success in an environment of growing enthusiasm for Western popular music, particularly Hawaiian music and jazz. During World War II, authorities banned most Western music, but fans and players kept it alive in secret, and it resumed popularity after the war. In 1959, Haida founded the Nihon Ukulele Association. Today, Japan is considered a second home for Hawaiian musicians and ukulele virtuosos.

Canada: In the 1960s, educator J. Chalmers Doane dramatically changed school music programmes across Canada, using the ukulele as an inexpensive and practical teaching instrument to foster musical literacy in the classroom. There were 50,000 schoolchildren and adults learning ukulele through the Doane program at its peak.

Ukulele Ensemble “The Dukes of Ukes”]]

UK: The singer and comedian George Formby was perhaps the most famous ukulele player in the UK, although this is technically a misnomer as what he actually played was a banjolele, a hybrid instrument comprising of an extended ukulele neck with a banjo resonator body. There has been a recent upsurge in demand for the instrument, due to its relative simplicity and portability.

Types and tunings

Construction

Ukuleles are generally made of wood, although variants have been made composed partially or entirely of plastic. Cheaper ukuleles are generally made from ply or laminate woods, in some cases with a soundboard of an inexpensive but acoustically superior wood such as spruce. Other more expensive ukuleles are made of solid hardwoods such as mahogany (Swietenia spp.). Some of the most expensive ukuleles, which may cost thousands of dollars, are made from koa (Acacia koa), a Hawaiian wood.^photo

Typically ukuleles have a figure-eight body shape similar to that of a small acoustic guitar. They are also often seen in non-standard shapes, such as an oval, usually called a "pineapple" ukulele, invented by the Kamaka ukulele company, or a boat-paddle shape, and occasionally a square shape, often made out of an old wooden cigar box.

These instruments may have just four strings; or some strings may be paired in courses, giving the instrument a total of eight strings.

Sizes

Four sizes of ukuleles are common: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone. There are also less common sopranino and bass ukuleles at the extreme ends of the size spectrum.

The soprano, often called "standard" in Hawaii, is the smallest, and the original size ukulele. The concert size was developed in the 1920s as an enhanced soprano, slightly larger and louder with a deeper tone. Shortly thereafter, the tenor was created, having more volume and deeper bass tone. The largest size is the baritone, created in the 1940s.

{|class=wikitable !Type !!Scale length !!Total length!!Tuning(Helmholtz notation) |- |soprano or standard |13" (33 cm) || 21" (53 cm) || g'c'e'a' or a'd'f#'b' |- |concert |15" (38 cm) || 23" (58 cm) || g'c'e'a' or gc'e'a' |- |tenor |17" (43 cm) || 26" (66 cm) || gc'e'a', g'c'e'a', or d'gbe' |- |baritone |19" (48 cm) || 30" (76 cm) || dgbe' |- |}

Tuning

The standard tuning for soprano, concert, and tenor ukuleles is C-tuning, g'c'e'a'. The g string is tuned an octave higher than might be expected. This is known as reentrant tuning. This standard tuning is often sung to the mnemonic "My Dog Has Fleas." Some prefer "Low G" tuning, with the G in sequence an octave lower. The baritone is usually tuned to d g b e' (low to high).

Another common tuning for sopranos and concerts is D-tuning, a' d' f#' b', one step higher than the g'c'e'a' tuning. D tuning is said by some to bring out a sweeter tone in some ukuleles, generally smaller ones. This tuning was commonly used during the Hawaiian music boom of the early 20th century, and is often seen in sheet music from this period. D tuning with a low 4th, ad'f#'b' is sometimes called "Canadian tuning" after its use in the Canadian school system, mostly on concert or tenor ukes.

Hawaiian ukuleles may also be tuned to open tunings, similar to the Hawaiian slack key style.

Related instruments

Ukulele varieties include hybrid instruments such as the banjo ukulele, harp ukulele, and lap steel ukulele. There is an electrically amplified version, the electric ukulele. The resonator ukulele is louder and of different tone quality from traditional wooden ukuleles, producing sound by one or more spun aluminum cones (resonators) instead of the wooden soundboard. The Tahitian ukulele, another variant, is usually carved from a single piece of wood and does not have a hollow soundbox.

Close cousins of the ukulele include the Portuguese forerunners, the cavaquinho (also commonly known as machete or braguinha) and the slightly larger rajão. Other stringed variants include the Puerto Rican bordonua, the Venezuelan cuatro, the Colombian tiple, the timple of the Canary Islands, the Spanish vihuela, and the Andean charango traditionally made of an armadillo shell. In Indonesia, a similar Portuguese-inspired instrument is the kroncong.

Audio samples

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See also

List of ukulele manufacturers

List of ukulele musicians

Nano guitar

Notes

References

External links

Ukulele Underground - online discussion forum

Ukulele Cosmos - online discussion forum

Easy Ukulele - video lessons

Live Ukulele - tabs, lessons, and reviews

Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum

Tiki King's Ukulele Brand name database - information on over 500 ukulele makers past and present

Alles Uke - history, famous players, tunings, chords, tabs, songs, videos, lessons

Category:Ukuleles Category:Hawaiian musical instruments

Name	Jake Shimabukuro
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Born	November 03, 1976
Instrument	Ukulele
Genre	jazz, blues, funk, classical, bluegrass, folk, flamenco and rock
Years active	1998–present
Associated acts	Pure Heart
Url	www.jakeshimabukuro.com

Jake Shimabukuro (born November 3, 1976 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is a ukulele virtuoso known for his complex finger work. His music combines elements of jazz, rock and pop.

History

Shimabukuro's mother gave him a ukulele at age four and he quickly took an interest in the instrument. A fifth generation Japanese-American, Shimabukuro initially gained attention in Hawaii in 1998 as a member of Pure Heart, a trio with Lopaka Colon (percussion), and Jon Yamasato (guitar). Shimabukuro was working at a music store in Honolulu when the group released its eponymous first album, featuring a sound and style somewhat similar to the Kaau Crater Boys. Their first album won them four Na Hoku Hanohano Awards (the Hawaiian counterpart of the Grammy Awards): Island Contemporary Album of the Year, Most Promising Artist(s), Album of the Year and Favorite Entertainment of the Year, the latter determined by unrestricted public vote.

The following year, they released Pure Heart 2, which earned them another Hoku award for Island Contemporary Album of the year. Yamasato informed the others that he was quitting the group via a newspaper story that ran in the Honolulu Advertiser on Thanksgiving Day, and Shimabukuro and Colon formed another group, Colon, which they named in honor of Colon's father, famed percussionist Augie Colon. The new guitarist was Guy Cruz, younger brother of the Kaau Crater Boys' Ernie Cruz, Jr., and John Cruz. Colon won the Hoku Award for Favorite Entertainer of the Year in 2001, after which Shimabukuro decided to pursue a solo career.

As a solo artist after the break-up of Colon he experimented with using effect pedals to make new sounds that few would associate with a ukulele. He has released an instructional DVD called Play Loud Ukulele, and in 2006, composed the music to the Japanese film Hula Girls, which featured hula dancing and a Hawaiian spa resort as its primary theme and setting respectively.

In November 2009, Shimabukuro accompanied fellow Hawaiian-born Bette Midler at the Royal Variety Show. They performed a rendition of the Beatles song "In My Life" as the first of Midler's three-song set.

Media

Discography

Pure Heart

Pure Heart (1998)

Pure Heart 2 (1999)

Pure Heart 2.5 Christmas (1999)

Colon

The Groove Machine (2000)

Solo

Sunday Morning (2002)

Crosscurrent (2003)

Walking Down Rainhill (2004)

Dragon (2005)

Gently Weeps (2006)

Hula Girls (2006)

My Life (2007)

Live (2009)

Peace Love Ukelele (2011)

Singles

Ehime Maru (2001)

Contributions

Song of America (2007) – Stars & Stripes Forever

Songs of Joy & Peace (2008) - Yo-Yo Ma''

DVD

Million Miles Away (Jake Shimabukuro)

Play Loud Ukulele

Television

Japan

NHK Ongaku Yume Club (音楽・夢くらぶ) – May 12, 2005 57th Kōhaku Uta Gassen – December 31, 2006, alongside Rimi Natsukawa NHK Live in Shibuya: Instrumental Music Concert, February 22, 2007

USA

KHON-TV, Honolulu, Jake Live in Japan – September 2003

Late Night with Conan O'Brien – December 2005

Last Call with Carson Daly – February 2007

Late Night with Conan O'Brien – February 2008

Australia

Spicks and Specks, ABC TV, 24 September 2008

United Kingdom

Royal Variety Performance with Bette Midler – Blackpool, Lancashire, ITV, December 2009

Instruments

Shimabukuro plays a custom-made 4 string tenor ukulele from Kamaka Ukulele. He uses a Line 6 Pod XT Live and AnalysisPlus cables.

References

The 1999 Hoku Award

Pure Heart member changes

Jake Shimabukuro Interview

External links

Official website

YouTube clip of live collaboration with beatboxer Jason Tom

Jake in Concert on midnight ukulele disco

Jake Shimabukuro collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive

Interview with Jake Shimabukuro 2009

2006 Shimabukuro Interview from Modern Guitars Magazine

2006 Shimabukuro Interview on NPR

2006 Shimabukuro Interview from AsiaXpress.com

A biography and listing of Shimabukuro's albums from Sony Music Entertainment Japan

- Photos from live show

Jake Shimabukuro featured at the Waikiki Shell, Hawaii Romance Festival, May 2008

Jake Shimabukuro feature by the Pacific Citizen newspaper, Oct. 2009

Interview with Jake Shimabukuro

Category:Musicians from Hawaii Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:American people of Japanese descent Category:American people of Okinawan descent Category:American musicians of Japanese descent Category:Ukulele players

Title	Korean name
Hangul	정성하
Hanja
Rr	Seongha Jeong
Mr	Sŏngha Jŏng}}

Name	Seongha Jeong
Caption	jwcfree
Birth name	정성하
Birth date	September 02, 1996
Birth place	Seoul, Korea
Nationality	South Korean
Other names	colloquially: Sungha Jung, jwcfree, jungsungha, blueseaJSH
Years active	September 8, 2006–present
Known for	Guitar music
Website	SunghaJung.com

Seongha Jeong (정성하) (colloquially: Sungha Jung) (born September 2, 1996) is a South Korean prodigy guitarist who has risen to fame on YouTube and other sites, mainly through the South Korean audience.

Seongha typically takes three days to learn and practice a new song, and video-record it for upload onto YouTube. His genre selection is rather broad, as he learns and plays many songs that are playable on guitar, therefore consequently spread across numerous genres.

Seongha has won 13 awards on YouTube, including 6 "#1" awards. Also on YouTube, Seongha has 38 videos with over one million views. Seongha's video with the most views is the "Pirates Of The Caribbean", at 13,018,898 views as of January 8, 2010.

Seongha has composed 16 songs as of December 2010, two of which are featured in his debut album, Perfect Blue.

Lately, Seongha has been performing together with Mr. Big. He is currently on tour with Trace Bundy.

YouTube awards

(Ordered highest to lowest)

#1 - Most Subscribed (All Time) - South Korea

#1 - Most Subscribed (All Time) - Musicians - South Korea

#1 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Musicians - South Korea

#1 - Most Viewed (This Month) - Musicians - South Korea

#1 - Most Viewed (All Time) - South Korea

#1 - Most Viewed (All Time) - Musicians - South Korea

#6 - Most Viewed (This Millenium) - South Korea

#6 - Most Viewed (This Month) - South Korea

#13 - Most Viewed (Today) - Musicians - Zimbabwe

#21 - Most Viewed (This Week) - Musicians

#25 - Most Subscribed (All Time) - Musicians

#54 - Most Viewed (All Time) - Musicians

#93 - Most Viewed (This Month) - Musicians

See also

Yuto Miyazawa, Seongha's Japanese electric guitar-playing counterpart

Trace Bundy, Fellow acoustic guitarist with whom Seongha collaborates

References

External links

Seongha Jeong's homepage

Seongha Jeong's YouTube page - jwcfree

Seongha Jeong's Twitter page - jungsungha

Seongha Jeong's MySpace page - jungsungha

Seongha Jeong's Daum Cafe-club page - blueseaJSH

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sungha-Jung/

Jung-Sungha.com, A fansite dedicated to Sungha Jung

News Appearances

Sungha on TV - Seoul Broadcasting System - YouTube

Sungha Jung news segment - Why Ten News - YouTube (Korean)

Sungha Jung news segment - unknown news station - YouTube (Korean, with English subtitles)

External Articles

Ericson Tanabe - Guitar Prodigy - Guitar Today

YouTube Guitar Prodigy Sungha Jung Is Legit - URLesque

Sungha Jung, no larger than his guitar - Guitar Flame

The Acoustic Funtwo - Virginia Heffernan - The Medium - THE NEW YORK TIMES

Seongha Jeong's article on Hankooki

Category:South Korean guitarists Category:Fingerstyle guitarists Category:People from Seoul Category:1996 births Category:YouTube video producers Category:Living people

Name	Jason Mraz
Landscape	yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Jason Thomas Mraz
Born	June 23, 1977Mechanicsville, VirginiaUnited States
Died
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, mandolin, Mandola, ukulele, keyboards
Voice type	Tenor
Genre	Pop rock, alternative, blue-eyed soul
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
Years active	1999–present
Label	Elektra Records (2002–2005)Atlantic Records (2005—present)
Associated acts	Tristan Prettyman, Bushwalla
Url

Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter, born and raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Mraz's stylistic influences include reggae, pop, rock, folk, jazz, bossa nova and hip hop.

Mraz released his debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which contained the hit single "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)", in 2002, but it was not until the release of his second album, Mr. A-Z that Mraz achieved commercial success. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and sold over 100,000 copies in the US. In 2008, Mraz released his third studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and was a commercial success worldwide, peaking in the top ten of many international charts.

Mraz's international breakthrough came with the release of the first single from the album, "I'm Yours". The single peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Mraz his first top ten single. The song was on the Hot 100 for 76 weeks, beating the previous record of 69 weeks held by LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live". The song was a huge commercial success in the US, receiving a 5x platinum certification from the RIAA for sales of over five million. The song was successful internationally, topping the charts in New Zealand and Norway and peaking in the top ten of multiple international charts.

Early life

Jason Mraz was born and raised in Mechanicsville, Virginia. He is of Czech descent through his grandfather, who moved to the United States from Austria-Hungary in 1915. His surname is Czech for "frost"

Mraz attended Lee-Davis High School in Mechanicsville. As a teenager, Mraz participated in local theater with SPARC (School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community). He played Joseph in the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

After graduating from high school in 1995, Mraz attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, for a short time, studying musical theater. He dropped out of the school after taking up the guitar and focusing more on songwriting, and began performing at the world famous Java Joes for money. He then briefly returned to Virginia before moving to San Diego, California.

Music career

Waiting For My Rocket to Come (2002-2003)

In 2002, Mraz released his first major-label debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come. The album was a relative commercial success, peaking at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 200 and at number two on the Top Heatseekers Chart. The lead single from the album, "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)" was co-written by music production team The Matrix and it was Mraz's first top 20 single on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 15.

Mraz's friend and former roommate Billy "Bushwalla" Galewood collaborated on the album, co-writing "Curbside Prophet" and the album's third single, and "I'll Do Anything".

Touring and Mr. A–Z (2003-2008)

Mraz opened for Tracy Chapman in March 2003 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In July 2005, Mraz opened for Alanis Morissette during her Jagged Little Pill Acoustic Tour. On July 26, 2005, he released his second major-label album, Mr. A–Z, for Atlantic Records. It entered the Billboard 200 album chart at number 4. In December, the album earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, while its producer, the prolific Steve Lillywhite, received a nomination for Producer of the Year.

Mraz began his long-running tour in support of Mr. A–Z at the San Diego Music Awards on September 12. The tour featured a variety of opening acts, including Bushwalla and Tristan Prettyman, with whom he had co-written the duet "Shy That Way" in 2002. Mraz and Prettyman dated, ending their relationship in 2006. They also co-wrote the song "All I Want For Christmas is Us". In November 2005, Mraz opened for the Rolling Stones on five dates during their 2005–2006 world tour. Also in 2005, Mraz was one of many singers featured in the fall advertisement campaign for The Gap entitled "Favorites". The music-themed campaign also featured other singers including Tristan Prettyman, Michelle Branch, Joss Stone, Keith Urban, Alanis Morissette, Brandon Boyd, and Michelle Williams. In December 2005, Mraz released the first part of his ongoing podcast.

in Ledyard, Connecticut on May 17, 2006.]] In Stockholm, Sweden 2008]]

In March 2006, Mraz also performed for the first time at a sold-out performance in Singapore with Toca Rivera as part of the annual Mosaic Music Festival. In May 2006, Mraz toured mostly small venues and music festivals in the U.S., along with a few shows in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The tour included a May 6, 2006 acoustic show with P.O.D., Better Than Ezra, Live, and The Presidents of the United States of America. Mraz was featured as a headlining guest of St. Louis's annual Fair St. Louis and performed a free concert at the base of the Arch on July 1, 2006. During this time, Mraz was also the opening act at several dates for Rob Thomas' Something to Be Tour.

In December 2006, , the live, online-only album recorded during the Songs for Friends Tour, was released. Selections for Friends features Jason's favorite songs from the Schubas Tavern and Villa Montalvo shows he played in July 2006. Jason Mraz began 2007 by debuting his new single "The Beauty in Ugly", an earlier track penned by Mraz entitled "Plain Jane" that he rewrote for the ABC television program Ugly Betty. The song was featured as a part of ABC's "Be Ugly in '07" campaign. He has since released a song in Spanish entitled "La Nueva Belleza (The New Beauty)".

In 2007, American Idol contestant Chris Richardson performed "Geek in the Pink", which subsequently garnered the song mass recognition and increased downloads at the American iTunes Store. "Geek in the Pink" peaked at #22 on the U.S. iTunes Store on March 10, 2007, but it was ineligible for the site's Hot 100. The tape-recording of bootlegs during Mraz's shows is explicitly supported by him and his management.

We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. (2008-2009)

Mraz released his third studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. on May 13, 2008. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 200, giving Mraz his highest charting album to date. Following the success of lead single, "I'm Yours", the album broke into the top ten of many international music charts and charted in the top three in Australia and the US.

The first single, "I'm Yours", reached #1 on AAA radio charts in the US. The single was a B-side to Mr A-Z, and was made famous by recordings from his live shows. In September 2008, the song became Mraz's first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #6. As of October 14, 2008, the album has been certified Gold by the RIAA, selling in excess of 500,000 copies in the US. The song was a commercial success worldwide, peaking in the top ten of multiple European charts and topping the charts in New Zealand for six weeks. In 2008, Mraz launched his single "I'm Yours" at the music industry-only event titled Sunset Sessions. Exactly one year later, Jason was nominated for a Grammy on the single.

Mraz and his song "I'm Yours" were nominated for Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009 51st Grammy Awards. The album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical in 2009. On January 31, 2009, Mraz was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, performing "I'm Yours" and "Lucky", the latter with Colbie Caillat. "Lucky" peaked on the Hot 100 at 48.

With "Make It Mine" and "Lucky", Mraz won two awards for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals, respectively, at the 2010 52nd Grammy Awards.

Fourth studio album (2009–present)

In early 2009, a song titled "Try Try Try" was leaked out into the internet. New songs have been performed in his recent concerts, some of which have been uploaded onto YouTube. Earlier this year, Jason Mraz spent time in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil working with Milton Nascimento. Mraz also recently met and worked with Willie Nelson, whose 'style' is fondly referenced in one of Mraz's early hits "Curbside Prophet."

In November 2009, Mraz posted on his Myspace page plans for a new album to be recorded starting in December, stating "In 2 weeks time I will enter the studio and begin recording the next album. Only a handful of songs are written and slated but the momentum of love is with me. Every day new verses get added on. The songs are coming together piece by piece. The process is unlike any of the other records before this. It's like I'm being gifted the album without having to do the work. I'm creating that in 6 months the project will be complete and then we'll hit the road again with new sounds and new musicians."

Mraz has recently returned from London, England where he was working with a London Studio for his new album with producer Martin Terefe. Christina Perri has also recently tweeted about making a 'masterpiece' with Mraz. Jason also got a chance to work with British singer-songwriter Dido on his upcoming album.

Mraz recently contributed vocals for The Grooveline Horns' eponymous EP on the track "Ffun", a cover of the Con Funk Shun song, released March 2, 2010.

In August 2010, Mraz had a Q&A; interview with Spin magazine. In the interview, he stated the current possible titles for his fourth album are Peace Canoe or The Love Album.

On September 13, 2010, Mraz was featured on the single "Love, Love, Love" by Hope.

On September 28, 2010, Mraz announced the upcoming release of the new "Life Is Good" EP consisting of recordings from his concerts from Maine to the Life is Good Festival in Canton, Massachusetts which will include live recordings of "Coyotes" and multiple new songs, "San Disco Reggaefornia", "Up", "What Mama Say", and "The Freedom Song". The EP was released on October 5, 2010. On the same tour, Mraz also showcased other new songs, such as "Thinking About You", "Love Looks Like" and "In Your Hands".

From Boxing Day 2010, the official website was updated with a series of images, the first seemingly a sequence of blocks separated by points to indicate a date, and the second image containing a rectangle, circle, triangle and a square, which appear to spell out the word "love". This image is also trademarked, which suggests an imminent announcement on the fourth album, and this would also match one of the working titles for the album "The Love Album".

Personal life

Mraz lives a health-conscious lifestyle and enjoys eating mostly raw vegan foods. He owns an avocado farm in Oceanside in Northern San Diego County near Fallbrook. Jason Mraz is an active supporter of several charities including VH1's Save The Music Foundation, MusiCares, Free the Children, Life Rolls On and SPARC. He has been named the 2010 SIMA Humanitarian of the Year. He also received the Clean Water Award in 2010 from the Surfrider Foundation.

Mraz is now engaged to singer-songwriter Tristan Prettyman. On December 23, 2010, Mraz posted on his Twitter "SHE SAID YES." Immediately after his post, Prettyman tweeted "For Once, I Am Speechless..... i did good! holy crap! man of my dreams!!! for the rest of my life!!!"

Discography

;Studio albums

Notes

External links

Jason Mraz collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive

Playlist: Jason Mraz – Nightline 07/17/09 – Reggae to rock, Mraz reveals his musical influences.

Concert Photos: Jason Mraz – 09/17/2010, 09/18/2010 – Jason Mraz opens for Dave Matthews Band for two sold out shows at Chicago's Wrigley Field.

Category:1977 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American male singers Category:American people of Czech descent Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock singer-songwriters Category:American vegans Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:Living people Category:Musical groups from San Diego, California Category:Musicians from Virginia Category:People from Richmond, Virginia