PEACEFUL COMPOSITIONS
Jake Shimabukuro brings his ukulele as part of his ‘Grateful’ tour
Away from traveling, Jake Shimabukuro enjoys his home life in Hawaii. It’s filled with lots of sun and relaxation. From time to time, he will find himself working on new compositions.
“It’s where I can be at peace while being inspired,” he says of his home. “It’s important for me to strike that balance.”
Shimabukuro picked up a ukulele at the age of four.
It was an instrument that spoke to his soul, which is why he hasn’t really put it down.
The 47-year-old has toured the world showcasing his fast and complex finger work.
He recently released the album, “Grateful,” and will be making two stops in New Mexico as part of his tour.
The first is at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 10, at the KiMo Theatre. The next night at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 11, he will perform at the St Francis Auditorium at the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe.
“I love the KiMo,” Shimabukuro says. “I played there one time in Albuquerque and it was magnificent. I can’t wait to get back and perform some of the new compositions I’ve been working on.”
It’s been nearly two decades since Shimabukuro’s profile skyrocketed.
He was already well-known in Hawaii and Japan in the early 2000s. In 2006, a video of him playing a rendition of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” was posted on YouTube without his knowledge and became one of the first viral videos on that site.
In 2012, the award-winning documentary, “Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings,” was released tracking his life, career, and music. It went through the film festival circuit, as well as being broadcast on PBS.
On his new album, “Grateful,” Shimabukuro says it’s a personal album.
This is exactly the reason he features Hawaiian music royalty such as Henry Kapono, John Cruz, Raiatea Helm, Brother Noland, Kimié Miner and many more — all kanikapila style in a return to his roots.
“I kind of look at recording and albums as two different things,” he says. “When it comes to recording collaborative records, you are putting together music you hope that other musicians will be part of. It’s a project that you put all the music together for people to hear.”
When it comes to a live performance, Shimabukuro takes an entirely different route.
“I will throw in a song or two from the new album,” he says. “Most of the time, it will be instrumental. Those make the most sense because I don’t have the featured musicians on tour with me.”
Shimabukuro has been playing music for nearly 45 years and says his excitement for playing has never waned.
“Performing hasn’t lost its excitement,” he says. “When I first started doing it, I was excited because I always had something new I wanted to try. Now that I’m older, I will be at home composting and honing my skills. It’s like I’m writing a playbook for when I get to perform a show. All the time I spent prepping, it comes out when I hit the stage. I’ve also grown to appreciate all the nervousness that still arrives before a show. I will harness it to create energy for the performance.”