The Jimi Hendrix of Hawaii

June 21, 2004 8:54 AM

Jake Shimabukuro plays the ukulele. Hoo boy, does he play the ukulele.
posted by gottabefunky (8 comments total)

Just saw him play with Bela Fleck over the weekend at Telluride Bluegrass. Very impressive. Never thought it'd be possible to rock out so completely on that instrument, but he did.
posted by gottabefunky at 8:55 AM on June 21, 2004

An amazing musician, clearly. However, a couple of tracks sound like filler for The Weather Channel's local forecast segments.
posted by mortimer at 9:03 AM on June 21, 2004

I was thinking "Purple Haze, man!" before I even clicked.
posted by abcde at 10:16 AM on June 21, 2004

Ha, I listened to the clips before I read any comments, and I thought of Bela Fleck. Jake will be one to watch, thanks gottabefunky.
posted by madamjujujive at 11:05 AM on June 21, 2004

unfortunately alot of "contemporary" hawaiian music sounds like it was made for the weather channel.
posted by outsider at 1:11 PM on June 21, 2004

I got his Sunday Morning album after hearing his amazing 'Crazy G' on a compilation album, and boy, was I disappointed. Weather Channel indeed. His talent is undeniable, he is an amazing virtuoso, but his original compositions on that album are really dull new-agey, lite-fm kinda stuff.

It really did remind me of Bela Fleck, also an artist of jaw-dropping talent whose composition style just doesn't appeal to me. Except for Drive, which only skirts the edges of newageyness in a few spots.
posted by ulotrichous at 1:27 PM on June 21, 2004

boy
posted by Satapher at 1:59 PM on June 21, 2004

Anything sounds better backed by Victor Wooten's bass.
posted by Mach3avelli at 4:43 PM on June 21, 2004