Press
"SCHOOL OF UKES"
FROM VANCOUVER MAGAZINE
“The humble ukulele may be small—both in size and, arguably, popularity—on the grand scale of musical instruments. But for the hundreds of students who attend Ruby’s Ukes ukulele school in downtown Vancouver, the four- string guitar with Hawaiian roots is a point of discovery and community; neophytes and experienced ukesters alike converge here daily to pluck, sing and strum the day’s worries away.” (Oct 9, 2019)
A SUMMER IN MUSIC
- THE SOURCE
Daphne Roubini of Black Gardenia brings her band’s blend of London jazz and Americana to Granville Island’s Canada Day celebrations, while John Welsh & Los Valientes share their combination World Music and Reggae at the Surrey Fusion Festival, and Iskwé aims to deliver a fully experiential trip-hop performance at the Vancouver Folk Festival. (June 27, 2019)
GEORGIA STRAIGHT'S
“WHAT’S IN YOUR FRIDGE”
What’s in Your Fridge is where the Straight asks interesting Vancouverites about their life-changing concerts, favourite albums, and, most importantly, what’s sitting beside the Heinz ketchup in their custom-made Big Chill Retropolitan 20.6-cubic-foot refrigerators.
VANCOUVER UKULELE FESTIVAL
- VANCOUVER COURIER
Roubini is heading up the 10th incarnation of the Vancouver Ukulele Festival, March 22 to 24. (Mar 14, 2019)
REVIEW VANCOUVER INTERVIEWS DAPHNE ROUBINI
Vocalist, musician, school owner and teacher Daphne Roubini enjoys a hectic schedule and active lifestyle. Generally known has 'Ruby' by her students (myself included), she moved to Vancouver from her native London, England in 2004. Nine years ago she started up her own Ukulele school with only a dozen students. Now, Ruby’s Ukes Ukulele School, on Seymour Street in Vancouver, boasts around three hundred students per term. (May 23, 2018)
MONTECRISTO MAGAZINE FEATURES DAPHNE ROUBINI
Daphne Roubini believes in magic. She’s seen it enough times to understand that there is something in her beloved ukulele that has the power to transform a life. And not just her own. (Feb 28, 2018)
“RUBY IS READY TO SCHOOL YOU”
- NORTH SHORE NEWS
Her first ukulele was supposed to be a gift for a child, but Daphne Roubini just couldn’t keep her hands off it. (Jan 19, 2018)
UKULELEMAG.COM FEATURES
DAPHNE ROUBINI
It’s an improbable tale. A self-described jazz-singing London girl immigrates to western Canada and in just over a decade, she’s the namesake of what may be the largest ukulele school in the world outside of Hawaii. Located in a vintage Gothic Revival building in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Ruby’s Ukes attracts an incredible 350 students each term. So, how did this 5’2″ dynamo, with no stringed-instrument experience and a voice reminiscent of the great Billie Holiday, take a $25 blue ukulele and create Ruby’s Ukes? (Nov 7, 2017)
VANCOUVER SUN REVIEWS
BLACK GARDENIA ALBUM
Mining the music of an era that just keeps on delivering, Vancouver quintet Black Gardenia features the marvellously jazzy vocals of singer/ukulele ace Daphne Roubini and her life partner guitarist Andrew Smith leading an A-team of local players through less-familiar tunes from the canon by the likes of T-Bone Walker (I’m Just Waitin’ for Your Call) or Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington (The Nearness of You), as well as a few originals. (Oct 16, 2017)
NORTH SHORE NEWS PREVIEWS
BLACK GARDENIA SHOW
Old timey band Black Gardenia perform at West Vancouver’s Silk Purse Gallery on Saturday, June 17 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Jazz Waves series. (June 16, 2017)
A UKULELE NIGHT TO REMEMBER
As the founders of Ruby’s Ukes, the World’s largest Ukulele School outside Hawaii, they’re at the forefront of the new generation of performers. They will be performing an enchanting set, bringing their unique Ukulele magic to the York Theatre. (Nov 10, 2016)
UKULELE MAGAZINE REVIEWS
RUBY & SMITH'S 'A UKULELE ALBUM'
She’s Daphne Roubini, the one with the Billie Holiday voice, all breath and wistfulness. He’s Andrew Smith, the one picking ukulele behind her, alternating between strumming and single-string leads. Together, they’re Ruby & Smith, the heart of Vancouver’s Black Gardenia vintage- jazz band and the soul of Ruby’s Ukes, which bills itself as a “ukulele haven for the hip ukester” and “the world’s largest ukulele school outside Hawaii.” (Dec 9, 2015)
GEORGIA STRAIGHT REVIEWS
RUBY & SMITH'S 'A UKULELE ALBUM'
Coming exactly as advertised, A Ukulele Album is indeed centred around the instrument favoured by four out of five descendants of Hawaii’s King Kalākaua. But don’t expect the duo of Daphne Roubini and Andrew Smith to sound like the house band at the fabulous Royal Hawaiian on this low-key but charming full-length. (Nov 25, 2015)