JAKE SHIMABUKURO
The mighty uke strikes again
Back at Fuji Rock again was Japan’s favorite Japanese-Hawaiian ukulele player extraordinaire, Jake Shimabukuro. Jake has been signed to Sony Records for some time now and plays multiple city tours in Japan yearly. Jake has the skill to be able to maintain this schedule, while still sounding fresh. He’s that good of a player on his given instrument that it’s a wonder just to watch him sometimes.
Playing a 50 minute set on the Green Stage in the early afternoon was a good chance to get up close and watch Jake and his band shred. He currently tours with a drummer and a bassist, which he sometimes removes to focus on the star of the show, the mighty Uke!
They played a set, as is typical of Jake, filled with both covers and original songs. He played more traditional Hawaiian fare, then dropped in a fan favorites, like the singalong hit, “Bohemian Rhapsody”. The set was a bit short for my taste. To properly see Jake in his true form he really needs a couple of hours. So we got his condensed version of chatting with the crowd in his broken Japanese, then dropping lengthy solos that would make great guitarists shake.
Jake clearly still has a strong passion for the ukulele and playing out in front of crowds. I’ve seen him live a few times and his sound just keeps getting more refined and sweeter somehow. He ended the set, of course, with his signature, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. Like many of the great classic rock songs through the years, this tune has grown longer and more involved as Jake has delivered it. This version was full of solos from each member of the band and was an more chilled out version of the classic song.
Certain bands or players like Jake can get popular in a flash from a commercial, YouTube video or plenty of other fleeting methods. The truly great artists continue to evolve and stand the test of time, Jake is one of the rare ones. So while it’s not rare to catch Jake in Japan or at Fuji Rock, it’s never a bad thing.
