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<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nThey say there\u2019s no such thing as an overnight sensation\u2014then there\u2019s ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. Though well-known in Japan and in his native Hawaii, he was virtually unknown in the rest of the world until a 2006 YouTube clip of him playing George Harrison\u2019s \u201cWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps\u201d generated nearly 13 million views and turned him into\u00a0an international star.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt singlehandedly changed my life,\u201d says Shimabukuro, 37. \u201cIt started a career that\u2019s taken me all over the world. Even today, people come up to me and tell me they saw that YouTube clip. It\u2019s still introducing what I do to people. I feel very lucky I was in the right place at\u00a0the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luck played only a small part\u2014many have compared his musical mastery to Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis. His original songs, and ingenious covers of tunes like Queen\u2019s \u201cBohemian Rhapsody,\u201d combine elements of jazz, blues, funk, rock, bluegrass, classical, folk and flamenco. And his concerts have garnered praise from audiences, critics and even the Queen of England after a Royal Variety Performance.<\/p>\n
Shimabukuro\u2019s latest album, Grand Ukulele<\/i>\u2014his 10th solo and 10th released in Japan\u2014has upped the ante. Helmed by ace producer Alan Parsons\u2014the man behind the boards for Abbey Road<\/i> and The<\/i> Dark Side of the Moon<\/i>\u2014and released on Shimabukuro\u2019s own Hitchhike Records label, the album features a 29-piece orchestra and all-star session players.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the craziest story,\u201d Shimabukuro says. \u201cAlan came to one of my concerts, and I didn\u2019t even know he was there. Weeks later he was on a radio show and mentioned that he\u2019d seen me perform. Then during the interview, they played the clip of \u2018While My Guitar Gently Weeps.\u2019 I thought, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s the coolest thing ever.\u2019\u201d The two eventually met, and Parsons asked Shimabukuro if he could produce his next album. \u201cWhat do you say after that?\u201d he says. \u201cI couldn\u2019t stop smiling and I could barely eat. I went in without any expectations, any agenda. I just wanted to see how this genius works, what his process was.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrote most of the songs right there in the studio, and afterward we\u2019d talk about the arrangements. He would say, \u2018Yeah, that\u2019s great, but maybe take that middle section and put it toward the end\u2019 or something like that. Or, we\u2019d play through a song and he\u2019d go, \u2018I hear some bass and drums on this.\u2019 It was a great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shimabukuro plays an instrument too often dismissed as a novelty even though it\u2019s been championed by the likes of Paul McCartney and Pearl Jam\u2019s Eddie Vedder. Shimabukuro\u2014who\u2019s played the ukulele since age 4\u2014isn\u2019t bothered. \u201cI love that people don\u2019t take ukulele seriously,\u201d he says. \u201cAudiences have such low expectations, it adds an element of surprise to a concert. It\u2019s perfect for people who don\u2019t feel they have talent. Many are intimidated by the violin, piano or guitar. But hand them a ukulele and they say, \u2018That looks like fun\u2014I can do that.\u2019 I really embrace that part of it, because I\u2019d love to see more people pick it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Embracing musical education is a cause close to Shimabukuro, and the reason he founded the Four Strings Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works with schools to advance music education. \u201cWhen I was in school, I was always involved in music,\u201d he says. \u201cThere was concert band, a Polynesian music class, and a music appreciation class. It broke my heart when I found out all my old schools wiped out their music programs. It was such a great time in my life, and I\u2019d like to give others the opportunity to have\u00a0that same experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Lee Zimmerman<\/b><\/p>\n
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JAKE SHIMABUKURO\u00a0 In his talented hands, the ukulele demands new respect They say there\u2019s no such thing as an overnight sensation\u2014then there\u2019s ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. Though well-known in Japan and in his native Hawaii, he was virtually unknown in the rest of the world until a 2006 YouTube clip of him playing George Harrison\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[7401,7412],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12365,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12363\/revisions\/12365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}