The other thread on Christmas Music and Hawaiian versions of it reminded me of an extraordinary Hawaiian musician that I encountered a little over a year ago. The musician's name is Jake Shimabukuro.
Who is Jake Shimabukuro? Well, he is simply the finest musician I've seen come out of the state of Hawaii. What instrument does he play?.... The ukulele..... That's right, the ukulele.
My wife picked up some tickets to see Jake at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. She told me prior to the concert that Jake was a local boy in Hawaii who played the ukulele and that she had wanted to see him for a while. I rolled my eyes and went along thinking that I would hear a modern rendition of Don Ho's Tiny Bubbles. I expected a lot of Hawaiiana music coming from a twangy hawaiian banjo. Boy, was I in for an unbelieveable surprise.
Jake Shimabukuro has done for the ukulele what Jesus did to water. He has the best range of a string instrumentalist I have ever seen. He can make that 4 string instrument sound like just about anything. He played ballads like "Somewhere over the Rainbow" that would bring tears to your eyes. He played Flamenco with the speed of any Spanish Virtuoso. He played the violin solo to a Puccini piece that rivals any player I've ever seen. And, he plays Jazz, Rock, Brazilian Samba and more.
Jake is playing a concert today in Honolulu. I would go, but my priority is the USC-Notre Dame game.
Here is his website and a sampling of what he can do. Listen to the 3rd and last video of the home page of this website and it will give you an idea of his talent. Jake's Website. Click around and listen to his rendition of "Spain".
Amazing. Simply Amazing.
Who is Jake Shimabukuro? Well, he is simply the finest musician I've seen come out of the state of Hawaii. What instrument does he play?.... The ukulele..... That's right, the ukulele.
My wife picked up some tickets to see Jake at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. She told me prior to the concert that Jake was a local boy in Hawaii who played the ukulele and that she had wanted to see him for a while. I rolled my eyes and went along thinking that I would hear a modern rendition of Don Ho's Tiny Bubbles. I expected a lot of Hawaiiana music coming from a twangy hawaiian banjo. Boy, was I in for an unbelieveable surprise.
Jake Shimabukuro has done for the ukulele what Jesus did to water. He has the best range of a string instrumentalist I have ever seen. He can make that 4 string instrument sound like just about anything. He played ballads like "Somewhere over the Rainbow" that would bring tears to your eyes. He played Flamenco with the speed of any Spanish Virtuoso. He played the violin solo to a Puccini piece that rivals any player I've ever seen. And, he plays Jazz, Rock, Brazilian Samba and more.
Jake is playing a concert today in Honolulu. I would go, but my priority is the USC-Notre Dame game.
Here is his website and a sampling of what he can do. Listen to the 3rd and last video of the home page of this website and it will give you an idea of his talent. Jake's Website. Click around and listen to his rendition of "Spain".
Amazing. Simply Amazing.
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