Ukulele hero: Musician brings unique talent to Kenai Peninsula
Jake Shimabukuro is to the ukulele, what Jimi Hendrix was to the guitar, and he will soon be playing in Soldotna, for one of only two performances in Alaska.
"He's in his late 20s now, but I remember seeing him back in Kauai in '96 or '97, and he was already tearing up the ukulele back then," remembers Mike Morgan, director of World Music for the Kenai, which, along with the Kenai Peninsula College Multicultural Consortium, KPC Showcase, The Anna Fossett Goodrich Foundation, KDLL-91.9 FM,
and the UAA Diversity Action Council, is responsible for bringing Shimabukuro to the Kenai Peninsula.
Shimabukuro (pronounced shee-ma-BOO-koo-row) views the ukulele as capable of so much more than only the traditional Hawaiian music, seeing it also as an untapped source of music with unlimited potential, playing jazz, blues, funk, classical, bluegrass, folk, flamenco and rock.
His collaborations and special projects have been varied. Shimabukuro toured with Bela Fleck & the Flecktones in 2002, 2005 and 2006, and recorded on the band's "Little Worlds" album in 2003. He recently collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma for a single track on the cellist's album "Song's of Joy & Peace" in 2008. He is also featured on Ziggy Marley's "Love is My Religion," as well as on three CDs and two DVDs by Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band.
Shimabukuro also has his own CD, titled "Live," due to be released on April 14. It will feature the best of his 2008 concert performances.
"I've kept tabs on him as he's grown, travelled the world and put out CDs. He's taken the ukulele to places it's never been before. He's in a league of his own and this is a chance to see a top shelf musician in a small venue," Morgan said.
Shimabukuro will perform March 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Peninsula Grace Auditorium on Kalifornsky Beach Road in Soldotna. Tickets range from $15 to $23, but admission is free to all Kenai Peninsula College students (who have ID at the door) due to funding from the UAA Diversity Action Council.
For more information on the performance, call 907-252-8223. To view an Internet clip of Shimabukuro playing the ukulele, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puSkP3uym5k
Joseph Robertia can be reached at joseph.robertia@peninsulaclarion.com.