The Tauranga music scene is a fragile thing, spluttering along intermittently, wherein most of the practitioners are driven by their love of music.

I'm not saying that the Bay's musicians aren't interested in 'commercial” success. Just that anyone who's been in the game for a while realises the sheer unlikeliness of sudden stardom happening in Tauranga. This means that if you're doing it here – as opposed to, say, packing up and moving to London – then you're probably doing it for the music, not strictly financial considerations.

There is an upside to this, and it's one that I find really appealing. It means that there is a certain purity to Tauranga music. Albums here may be constrained by the financial requirements of paying for a studio but they are not second-guessed by a record company, forced into a particular style by an unwanted producer, or reworked to try and make them 'more commercial” for radio.

On that last point, Julia Deans tells a cautionary tale of how, when Fur Patrol were recording, the members desperately wanted to get more radio play, so they invited various radio reps into the studio to advise what the songs needed to make them more 'radio-friendly”.

They were told none of their efforts would work unless they overdubbed a lot more guitars and other stuff. The band hated the idea and decided to just go with what it had, commercial radio be damned. The subsequent album yielded 'Lydia”, one of New Zealand's biggest-selling singles.

Marion Arts, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and all-round musical stalwart, has been following her own muse for decades, seemingly taking whichever musical direction most appeals to her imagination, often several simultaneously. She has just released her latest album, My Ukulele And I.

But allow me to suggest that one could make a case for Marion having a more canny relationship with musical trends than she would ever admit, though not mainstream ones.

Consider the – somewhat flimsy I must confess – evidence: when big band swing surprisingly hit the charts about 15 years back in the form of the Cherry-Poppin' Daddies, Marion had exactly the same sort of band, a big swing outfit called The Glamorous Mrs B (it was good too!). When Lord of The Rings was in production and the talk of the country Marion released her Songs of the Rings album. With gypsy jazz in its recent ascendancy Marion and husband Robbie Laven formed Bonjour Swing (even travelling to the annual Django Reinhardt festival in France for 'research”). Now, as ukuleles infest every corner of the civilised world, it's time for a ukulele album. Coincidence? Hmmm...

Marion Arts – My Ukulele And I

Marion has released a slew of albums in different genres, from classical guitar instrumentals to pop, stately folk and, most recently, gypsy jazz with Bonjour Swing. My Ukulele And I, recorded lo-fi and live at home, finds her solely in the company of three different ukuleles (which I guess means a really small one and two not-quite–as-small ones) and nods happily to most of her musical directions. It's a whole bunch of fun.

Things kick off with a sweet instrumental, 'Still” -one of Marion's and immediately identifiable as such, mixing, as it does, classical lines with the odd bluesy bend and phrase. From there we get a mixture of styles.

There are well-chosen jazz songs, from the wonderful 'T'Ain't No Sin” (with its terrific chorus of 'T'Ain't no sin to take off your skin and dance around in your bones”) to Bessie Smith's 'Send Me To The ‘Lectric Chair” and a stunning instrumental take on 'Pennies From Heaven”, which leaves one astonished that it is arranged for an instrument with a mere four strings. Marion can really play that uke!

There are also a couple of songs of Marion's, including the very funny ode to her goat Priscilla (and cat of the same name – it's black!), which features, for the only time on the album, some overdubbed harmonies.

I never thought I'd play a ukulele album for pleasure but Marion has converted me. All uke players (and other lovers of Marion's voice and music) should have this. You can get it from www.marionarts.co.nz