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Coffee time
with Jake

Hours after making an appearance on KHNL's morning news last Thursday, ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro stopped by the Star-Bulletin newsroom to chat about his new album and upcoming Japan tour.

"Dragon" is Shimabukuro's fourth solo album to be released locally, and has enjoyed much success since hitting Japanese record store shelves back in June. It debuted at number 15 on Japan's equivalent of the Billboard charts, with more than 40,000 copies sold during the first two months. No other instrumental album has ever done that well.

"The whole idea ... was to approach (recording) from a completely different standpoint than I have in the past," he said. "I really like the sound of this album. It's a reflection of the musician I was at the time."

Two big changes with "Dragon" were the use of analog recording equipment and a reshuffling of personnel, Shimabukuro said.

Instead of using computers with digital editing programs, he sat down with drummer Noel Okimoto and bassist Dean Taba to record everything the old-fashioned way.

"There's no editing," he said. "We just played live ... we recorded all of the songs in four days."

The Honolulu Symphony's Matt Catingub and world famous turntablist DJ QBert also helped shape the sound of "Dragon," which continues to show Shimabukuro's willingness to step out of his comfort zone and experiment with the ukulele.

"It was a great experience for me," said Shimabukuro. "The songs 'Dragon' and '3rd Stream,' those two are special to me because I utilized new techniques that I'd never used before.

"The other song that I like is 'Touch,' because Matt did a string quartet arrangement that came out really gorgeous."

BUT WHAT'S up with making local fans wait until Oct. 4 to get a copy of the new CD?

"We wanted to release the album a lot sooner, but I'm under contract," he explained. "We have to release the album in Japan first ... (but) if it was up to me, I would release it at the same time."

So while the buzz keeps building at home, Shimabukuro left Sunday for a five-week tour in Japan. He'll follow that with concerts in Guam and Saipan before returning home. In October, he'll fly to Vegas to play with Jimmy Buffett again.

"For me, I want to keep traveling and gaining these new experiences, and keep growing as a musician," he said. "I love it. It's totally fun."