Jazz Articles about Jake Shimabukuro

John Mayall: The Sun Is Shining Down

by Scott Gudell
December 24, 2022

British blues master John Mayall can still turn out a rich collection of originals and covers six decades, and approximately sixty albums, after his first songs were released in the early 1960s. Add the fact that he still has a knack for enlisting top guitarists--this time Mayall spotlights Mississippi born/Chicago bred Melvin Taylor among others--and it is a Brit-led blues bash at its best. Often considered the Godfather of British Blues, Mayall said during a 1980s interview that ...

The Sun Is Shining Down

by Doug Collette
January 29, 2022

Having announced he will be limiting his touring in the future, John Mayall doesn't seem to have lessened his engagement with recording. On the contrary, for The Sun Is Shining Down, 'The Godfather of British Blues' surrounds himself with a roster of high-profile contributors, all of whom play to their respective strengths and sound inspired collaborating with a genuine musical icon. Equally importantly, this fifth Forty Below Records studio outing (out of some forty overall) radiates a sense of deep ...

Jake Shimabukuro Live: Ukulele Jazz

by Jim Santella
February 25, 2007

Jake Shimabukuro The Coach House San Juan Capistrano, CA February 2, 2007

One of the longest operating jazz venues in the neighborhood just south of Los Angeles, and Orange County's premier supper club, The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano continues to bring in some of the best musical artists. Their decision to bring in ukulele jazzman Jake Shimabukuro for a repeat performance this year meant another sold out event. For a club ...

Jake Shimabukuro: Gently Weeps

by Jim Santella
September 30, 2006

Hawaiian ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro covers a wide range of musical styles. Like a classical guitarist who can't be satisfied with a narrow repertoire of known entities, Shimabukuro reaches out to the worlds of jazz, blues, funk, folk, rock and beyond. He performs twelve selections a cappella, while the remaining five bonus tracks feature a large number of guests.

Shimabukuro opens Gently Weeps with George Harrison's tune “While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which features the expressive slide technique ...

Jake Shimabukuro: Gently Weeps

by John Kelman
September 20, 2006

Pity the poor ukulele. Consigned to a less-than-respectable fate thanks to Tiny Tim and movies like Elvis Presley's Paradise, Hawaiian Style, this small four-string cousin to the guitar just can't get any respect. Jake Shimabukuro has been working hard to change that over the past few years on albums like Skyline (Epic, 2003) and Dragon (Hitchhike, 2005). But while earlier recordings have placed Shimabukuro's diminutive instrument in larger group settings, Gently Weeps is all the more remarkable for being a ...