Was sad to hear that we just lost the great Lyle Ritz at the age of 87 years young. Lyle was truly a uke elder and legend. I would credit him with developing the ukulele as a jazz instrument. Even if you don't play the ukulele you have likely heard his work. In the famous scene in Steve Martin's "The Jerk" where Steve and Bernadette are singing "You Belong to Me", it is in fact Lyle who is playing ukulele on the soundtrack and not Steve.
It has been a long while since I have seen Lyle but I was blessed to get to know him some over a decade ago at the earlier ukulele festivals of the third wave. I recall, particularly, a Midwest Uke Fest where I was stage managing. I don't recall who was emcee but they were lost in the shuffle when the time came to introduce Lyle as the next act. Wanting to keep things going I took it upon myself and said everything that I knew about him...legend, talent, etc. I liked him even more when he humbly thanked me for the intro later that night. He was a career musician, a great guy and his impact was significant. What more could you want?
It has been a long while since I have seen Lyle but I was blessed to get to know him some over a decade ago at the earlier ukulele festivals of the third wave. I recall, particularly, a Midwest Uke Fest where I was stage managing. I don't recall who was emcee but they were lost in the shuffle when the time came to introduce Lyle as the next act. Wanting to keep things going I took it upon myself and said everything that I knew about him...legend, talent, etc. I liked him even more when he humbly thanked me for the intro later that night. He was a career musician, a great guy and his impact was significant. What more could you want?
RSS Feed
