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Ukelele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro will perform at Brigham Young
University-Idaho Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 28 and 29, at
7:30 p.m. in the Kirkham Auditorium. Tickets for the
Center Stage concert are available at the BYU-Idaho Ticket
Office in the Manwaring Center for $10 for the general public
and $2 for BYU-Idaho students. Call 496-2230 for more
information.
At the age of 28, Shimabukuro
is already considered a master of the ukulele. Known for his
lightning fast fingers and innovative style, he is leading the
ukulele’s resurgence. Boldly going where no ukulele player has
gone before, he continually breaks musical boundaries by
experimenting with various guitar effect pedals to create a
heavy “dirty” amplified sound while integrating the pure “clean”
natural acoustic sound of the uke. His ever-expanding repertoire
includes jazz, blues, funk, classical, bluegrass, folk and rock.
He views the ukulele, a four-string,
two-octave instrument, as an “untapped source of music with
unlimited potential.” Countless hours in the studio, three solo
albums and a music DVD later, he continues to strum, pluck,
distort and tap into that potential.
In June of 2002 Shimabukuro became the
first ukulele player from Hawaii to sign with Epic Records
International, a division of Sony Music International. His first
solo album, “Sunday Morning,“ was released in 2002 and earned
him Instrumental Album of the Year and Favorite Entertainer of
the Year at the 2003 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. His second album,
“Crosscurrent,” released in 2003 won Album of the Year,
Instrumental Hawaiian Album of the Year, and Entertainer of the
Year at the Hawaii Music Awards as well as Instrumental Album of
the Year at the 2004 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.
His third solo album, “Walking Down
Rainhill,” was released in the summer of 2004 and won the
Instrumental Album of the Year at the 2005 Na Hoku Hanohano
Awards and Ukulele Album of the Years at the 2005 Hawaii Music
Awards. The album features “Rainbow,” selected as the Honolulu
Marathon theme song and as the television commercial song for
Hawaii Tourism Japan.
Although his musical accomplishments are
well known throughout the islands, he is perhaps known equally
as well for his tender yet outgoing personality and warm heart.
He is currently the spokesperson for the “Music is Good
Medicine” program. He is also the spokesperson for the Hawaii
Alliance for Arts Education, a group dedicated to perpetuating
the arts.
Following the fatal collision of a U.S.
submarine with a Japanese fishing vessel in Hawaiian waters in
February 2001, he composed an instrumental entitled “Ehime Maru”
to honor the nine victims and their families. The song was
recorded as a single and all proceeds from its sale were donated
to a fund benefiting the families. Although he did not intend to
gain recognition for, “Ehime Maru” has gained worldwide
recognition and acclaim.
The State of Hawaii recognizes Shimabukuro
as an outstanding musician and role model for the people of
Hawaii. In 2004 he was named Hawaii’s goodwill ambassador to
Japan and received “The Japanese Foreign Minister’s
Commendation” for being an active voice in U.S.-Japan relations
at the grassroots level.
His popularity in Japan continues to grow.
During 2003, he completed a seven-city tour, only to launch an
even bigger tour the following summer. The 2003 tour included a
performance at “Fuji Rock Festival ’03,” the largest rock
festival in Japan, where he was the first ukulele player to
perform. |