“Never in my wildest dreams.” That’s how ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro described, not just his new album, Jake and Friends, but his entire career.
“To be traveling and being a touring musician now,” he told me last week during a Zoom interview, “it’s like happiness. It’s just crazy, you know, to look at all the opportunities and experiences that the ukulele has brought into my life.”
Not only has his instrument brought him opportunities, it has brought him an album featuring collaborations with Jimmy Buffett, Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley, Bette Midler, Willie Nelson and more. Jake and Friends comes out today.
For the uninitiated, it was a video of Shimabukuro performing the song While My Guitar Gently Weeps in Central Park in 2006 that went viral that catapulted his career. The video has been seen over 17.4 million times.
For Shimabukuro this album might actually reflect a return to the early days in his career. He participated in Brown Bags to Stardom in Hawaii where could be in the background while singers he accompanied competed for stardom. This time, of course, he’s front and center with the singers.
“I’m a fan of the ukulele first. I love the instrument and never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would hear a ukulele with Warren Haynes or with electric slide guitar by Sonny Landreth. Mixed in with not just these different genres of music, but these iconic artists who represent their respective genres. It’s so fulfilling and magical. I’m really thrilled. I mean, Jon Anderson, you know, I used to listen to all his records growing up and his voice is so iconic. I never ever thought I would hear that voice with a ukulele.”
The first person he went to was Willie Nelson. From there it was easy to get other artists to join him – most of whom he had worked with previously whether on record or in performance. New to performing with Shimabukuro and his ukulele were Anderson, Nelson, Moon Taxi, Billy Strings and Nelson’s son Lukas.
“The first time we met was actually in the studio. Everything he played, and I’m not even exaggerating, every take he did was perfect. We did the song Find Yourself three times. The only reason we had to do it three times is because I kept making a mistake. But all three times that he recorded it, it was perfect. We wanted to get a live take – we didn’t want to edit it. He was like, ‘Oh, you wanna try another song?’ So we actually ended up recording four songs. That was a really special experience for me.”
Even though Shimabukuro has redefined how a ukulele can be played and how it can sound, he still wonders why people like Warren Buffett, Francis Ford Coppola and Bill Gates also play the ukulele. He even posted on Facebook in 2014 that it “blew his mind.” He does have a theory about what motivates them to enjoy the instrument – it’s unique sound.
“The sound of it just grounds. It just brings you back to simplicity. It’s hard to explain. You just have to pick one up and play a chord – as long as it’s in tune. That’s what drew me to it. When my mom first put it in my hands and I played my first chord. I was like, ‘Oh, wow!'”
It seems simple, but it takes a lot of work and practice to make that simplicity sound good.
“You get that instant gratification because you can play it right away, but then you can also spend your entire life trying to master the instrument. And that’s what I love about it. Every time I have an opportunity to really be present with the instrument and to just play – which is almost every day – I discover new things about it and and it’s exciting. And every time you discover something new it’s like finding an unopened treasure box of gems and goodies.”
The day before our conversation Shimabukuro had just turned 45. He’s been in the public eye since 1998. For more than half his life he’s been defined by his music. He’d be quite content to have his music define him for the next 20 plus years as well.
“If you can do something that makes someone else’s life a little better and makes them happy or gives them joy in any way, that’s what I really love. When I’m on stage I feel so present and not distracted by anything. I can be so in the moment and you feel like other people can be in the moment with you. When you can share that together, you know, it just makes for a greater experience than you can really achieve by yourself.”
It all comes down to the ukulele. One of his idols, Eddie Kamae, released a popular album in 1962 called The Heart of the Ukulele. Shimabukuro shared his own definition of what makes the heart of the instrument that has taken him to the highest of heights.
“I guess the heart of the ukulele is really just simplicity. What I love about the ukulele is it’s such a humble instrument. There are four strings, two octaves and there’s something about the sound when I hear it. It just it takes me back to the islands and it makes me feel young, makes me feel alive and just makes me smile.”
To watch the full interview with Jake Shimabukuro, please go to our YouTube channel here.
All photos of Jake Shimabukuro ©Sienna Morales
