CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
‘Sunday strummin’ Jake Shimabukuro has gone from being the main musical attraction of the bands Pure Heart and Colón, to his current status as an acclaimed 'ukulele virtuoso. But even so, this is a big day for him.
Jake Shimabukuro’s solo CD hits with
a mix of complex and laid-back piecesBy John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.comToday is the day his first solo CD goes on sale.
"When I held it in my hand and looked at it ... it was very strange to see my name across it," Shimabukuro said during an early breakfast at Liliha Bakery last Friday. He and his manager, Kazusa "Kaz" Flanagan, had picked up a few copies just minutes before, he explained, and despite the months of work with producer/engineer Dr. Trey at Hawaii's Four Strings Studio, it wasn't until he pulled a CD out of the box that his new position as a solo recording artist became real to him.
"Of course I'm very excited about the CD, but I'm a little nervous because I don't know how people are going to react to it. People have always associated me (and, I think, will always associate me) with the bands that I've played with in the past ... and I don't mind that at all, because I'm very proud of the chapters (in my career) that I've had prior to this. I just look at this as a new chapter in my life and in my music career. We'll just see what happens."
The album title, "Sunday Morning," defines both the "It's something very laid back and relaxing, but, at the same time, uplifting and adventurous. You have this entire day free to do whatever you want to do. All of the songs in some way or another reflect my personality and the vision that I have for music and my passion."
That said, Shimabukuro admits to be particularly proud of his adaptation of Nicolo Paganini's "Selections from Caprice No. 24."
"It was probably the most difficult piece I've ever tackled for the 'ukulele -- not just in a technical sense, but also trying to be creative and innovative with the arrangement. The song is actually a violin piece, which requires a minimum of three octaves ... (and with) the 'ukulele, you're stuck with only two octaves, so I had to create a lot of artificial harmonics (and) use and create a lot of different techniques ... to try to carry out the tune the way that Paganini would have wanted it.
"Then after I completed the arrangement, I had to practice it! It's a really tough piece and one you have to be mentally prepared for. A lot of the things that I do are heavily improvised ... but with a piece like that, every note has to be accounted for."
And although Shimabukuro is widely known for his willingness to push the envelope and experiment with distortion pedals and other guitar-based technology, he said that one of the things that made the Paganini piece so difficult was his determination to do it using the standard G-C-E-A (a k a "my dog has fleas") tuning.
"I could have changed the tuning to make some of the parts a lot easier, but I wanted to keep in the the standard tuning because I wanted people to know that you can do this on an 'ukulele. Some people prefer using the low G, but I'm against that because I feel that takes away from the uniqueness of the instrument. The octave high G gives the chord voicing the very unique sound which every one immediately recognizes as an 'ukulele. When you have a low G, the voicing you play can be easily mimicked by a classical guitar. That one string makes all the difference in the world. I know people like to use (the low G) because you get a fuller range, but I truly believe in just working with the instrument and trying to be as creative and innovative as you possibly can. To me that's what makes it special.
"It's a feel good album," he said. "I wanted all the songs to reflect something positive and something enjoyable, and hopefully I captured that."
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