Jake Shimabukuro - Live Hitchhike Records HRCD-1109 Format: CD Released: 2009 by Joseph Taylor josepht@soundstage.com Musical Performance Recording Quality Overall Enjoyment

I’ve had several opportunities to write about Jake Shimabukuro, a virtuoso ukulele player from Honolulu who has several CDs to his credit. I received copies of his previous discs, including Dragon (2005), Gently Weeps (2206), and Hula Girls (2007), but other CDs seemed more pressing at the time. Besides, the ukulele is a novelty instrument, right? Well, not in Shimabukuro’s hands. He showed promise on the instrument when he was a child and began performing when he was 21. His skill on the ukulele has allowed him to expand its sound by choosing a repertoire that includes classical, pop, and jazz tunes, and he has expanded its tonal palette by using effects pedals.

Live contains 20 tracks of the musician playing in concert, and it shows the full spectrum of his abilities. He plays unaccompanied, and among the tunes he interprets are Bach’s Two-Part Invention No. 4 in D minor, Chick Corea’s "Spain," and George Harrison’s "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Those selections, along with the many tunes by Shimabukuro himself, let him demonstrate the musical possibilities of the ukulele, as well as his own considerable chops. Seventy minutes may seem a long haul for solo ukulele, and it’s true that you will occasionally miss the lower register a guitar would provide. But Shimabukuro keeps things moving along briskly and intelligently, winning you over with his skill and his emotional involvement in the music.

Live is very nicely recorded from live settings in the US and Japan, and the disc conveys a very strong picture of the halls where the performances originated.

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