Planet Nelson

Jake Shimabukuro (she-ma-BOO-koo-row) is an ukulele player of unparalleled skill and virtuosity. I’ve never seen or heard anyone like him. For me, he has taken a prop that was the butt of jokes and turned it into something akin to a Stradivarius played by a maestro. And the man’s got soul! From his website:

At just four years of age, Jake’s mother gave him his first ukulele lesson. “When I played my first chord I was hooked”, says Jake, ” I fell in love with the instrument”. That love grew into a deep passion to create and innovate. Experimenting with various techniques allows Jake to create sounds never thought possible on the tiny four-string, two-octave instrument. A true showman, his performance captivates audiences with intricate strumming and plucking, electrifying high-energy grooves and smooth, melodic ballads. His covers of tunes by The Beatles and Led Zeppelin are interpretations that have dazzled and delighted audiences worldwide.

This video is his version of Let’s Dance. He also does a terrific version of George Harrison’s classic, While My Guitar Gently Weeps. I’m going to see him tonight. More later.

Update: I’m back from The City. This was the last concert of the San Francisco Jazz Festival and it was a doozy. I can’t remember such an unexpected and gratifying musical experience. Shimabukuro is very personable and fun but his playing is a knockout. He played everything from the two songs referred to above to an execrable version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Add to the list Chick Correa’s Spain and a Bach “invention” and you start to get an idea of the depth and breadth of his talent.

For me, the word that kept coming back to me was “aching.” There was a delicious ache, a sweetness, a sense of longing that came from his perfect interpretations of pop tunes like Cindi Lauper’s Time After Time or his own songs. Maybe it’s because the ukulele’s sound (pronounced “oook-a-ley-lee” by the cognoscenti) doesn’t have the throw weight of a guitar that it makes you have to listen more carefully; I’m not sure. I do know that the audience at the Palace of Fine Arts was near silent for each of his perfectly rendered songs.

That was the best concert I’ve been to in a long time. A very good evening; I really enjoyed myself.

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Jake Shimabukuro, ukulele