100 ukuleles provide summer soundtrack at Huntington Beach Pier

Shirley Orlando entertains hundreds of people every Thursday night by playing the instrument she used to annoy her family with when she was a child.

Orlando was originally a guitar player but opted for the ukuleles that her late grandmother left her when guitars proved too big to fit in her suitcase during family vacations.

“I’d play it in the back seat and drive everybody crazy strumming and singing away,” she said.

Now, the owner of Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach plays weekly with more than 100 other ukulele players, usually in her store at 16582 Gothard St.

But every Thursday in August, the decade-old Ukulele Jam is playing near the Huntington Beach Pier.

“The ukulele is just one of those instruments that just has kind of a magnetic draw to people,” Orlando said. “It has a quality to it that very few instruments have. When people see it, they’re immediately attracted to it.”

Many times, audience members will lounge in lawn chairs while listening to the ukuleles, she said.

The 1 1/2-hour set ranges from early standards to 1970s and ‘80s rock music.

Orlando said music is a “universal connector” for her group members, who range in age from 12 to 93. Each pays $5 a week to play.

“Music is something that doesn’t scream a person’s politics or their religion,” she said. “It temporarily helps a lot of the people in the group forget their aches and pains and just experience sheer joy for the duration that they’re playing.”

Orlando said the group has become like a family. The members laugh at one another’s jokes, celebrate birthdays and eat together after playing.

She said Ukulele Jam also helps people in need.

The group sent 1,500 ukuleles to troops overseas and has donated the instrument to schools. It also performs for veterans and in senior homes throughout Orange County.

Orlando said playing on the beach gives the group’s music more exposure and provides the players a chance to enjoy the outdoors.

“It’s cool,” she said. “It’s literally cool, because it’s not hot like it can be in the store. It’s a wonderful experience because we sit there at one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and watch the happiest people walk by and stand and listen to us.”

If You Go

What: Ukulele Jam

Where: At the benches north of the Huntington Beach Pier

When: 6 to 7:30 p.m. every Thursday in August

Cost: Free

Information: ukuleleparadise.com