Jake Shimabukuro

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Jake Shimabukuro
Jake Shimabukuro performing in Joshua Tree, California in 2007.
Jake Shimabukuro performing in Joshua Tree, California in 2007.
Background information
Born November 3, 1976 (1976-11-03) (age 31)
Genre(s) Pop, Hawaiian
Instrument(s) Ukulele
Years active 1998–present
Associated acts Jason Tom
Pure Heart
Website www.jakeshimabukuro.com

Jake Shimabukuro (born November 3, 1976 in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi) is a ukulele virtuoso known for his lightning-fast fingers. His music combines elements of jazz, rock, Hawaiian, and pop.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

A fifth generation Japanese American[2], Jake initially gained attention in Hawaiʻi in 1998 as a member of Pure Heart, a trio with Lopaka Colon (percussion), and Jon Yamasato (guitar). Jake was working at a music store in Honolulu when the group released their eponymous debut album, featuring a sound and style somewhat similar to the Kaʻau Jake and the Boys. Their debut album won them four Na Hoku Hanohano Awards (the Hawaiian counterpart of the Grammy Awards): Island Contemporary Album of the Year, Most Promising Artist(s), Album of the Year and Favorite Entertainment of the Year, the latter determined by unrestricted public vote.

The following year, they released Pure Heart 2, which earned them another Hoku award for Island Contemporary Album of the year. Jon informed the others that he was quitting the group via a newspaper story that ran in the Honolulu Advertiser on Thanksgiving Day, and Shimabukuro and Colon formed another group, Colon, which they named in honor of Colon's father, famed percussionist Augie Colon. The new guitarist was Guy Cruz, younger brother of the Kaʻau Crater Boys' Ernie Cruz, Jr., and John Cruz.

Colon won the Hoku Award for Favorite Entertainer of the Year in 2001, after which Jake decided to pursue a solo career.

Shimabukuro's mother gave him a ukulele at age four, and he was hooked from the first chord he played. As a solo artist after the break-up of Colon he experimented with using effect pedals to make new sounds that no one would associate with a tiny, four-stringed, two-octave, "novelty" instrument. His amplified riffs gave him the title "Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele". Internet videos of Shimabukuro's cover of George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" have received over 3 million views, and he released a studio version of that song on his latest CD, "Gently Weeps."

He has released an instructional DVD called "Play Loud Ukulele." Shimabukuro has toured with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Jimmy Buffett and most recently in Australia with Tommy Emmanuel.

His influences include Eddie Van Halen, George Harrison, Yngwie Malmsteen, Bruce Lee and Carlos Santana[3]. In 2006, Shimabukuro composed the music to the Japanese film Hula Girls, which featured hula dancing and a Hawaiian spa resort as its primary theme and setting respectively.

[edit] Media

[edit] Discography

[edit] Pure Heart

  • "Pure Heart" (1998)
  • "Pure Heart 2" (1999)
  • "Pure Heart 2.5 Christmas" (1999)

[edit] Colon

  • "The Groove Machine" (2000)

[edit] Solo

Album cover for Dragon
Album cover for Dragon

[edit] Singles

[edit] DVD

  • Million Miles Away (Jake Shimabukuro)
  • Play Loud Ukulele

[edit] Television

[edit] Japan

[edit] USA

[edit] Instruments

Jake plays a tenor ukelele from Kamaka ukeleles. He apparently has a few, all tenor.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Official biography
  2. ^ Virtuoso more than a novelty act
  3. ^ Official news
  4. ^ NHK Ongaku Yume Club via archive.org
  5. ^ Nikkan Sports
  6. ^ NHK World Premium Synopsis for February 19-25

[edit] External links