Live

Jake Shimabukuro | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 14, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hitchhike Records
• ASIN: B001TD1XVC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,947 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #3 in Music > World Music > Pacific Islands > Hawaii > Ukulele
  • #33 in Music > New Age > Instrumental

Track Listings

1. Trapped

2. Piano-Forte

3. Bach Two-Part Invention No. 4 in D Minor

4. Me & Shirley T.

5. Spain

6. Five Dollars Unleaded

7. Let's Dance: Prelude

8. Let's Dance

9. Thriller

10. Orange World

11. Wes on Four

12. Sakura Sakura

13. Dragon

14. Yeah

15. From Ukulele Disco to Youtube

16. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

17. 3rd Stream

18. Blue Roses Falling

Editorial Reviews

Ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro has taken the four-string, two-octave instrument to places no one has gone before, performing awesome music that ranges from Jazz, Blues and Rock to Bluegrass, Classical and Folk. His live concerts are an out-of-the-box blend of stunning virtuosity, deep musicality and a natural entertainer's flair. Jake now has his own record label, and tours extensively in the U.S. and Japan. He has completely rewritten the book on the possibilities of the ukulele -- and is adding new chapters with every CD he records.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jake makes the Uke a jazz instrument and is best experienced "Live", April 15, 2009

By 

Steven I. Ramm "Steve Ramm "Anything Phon... (Phila, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live (Audio CD)

Jake Shimaburo may be one of the best instrumentalists in the "string picker" world that you've heard of but can't remember his name. Well it doesn't exactly roll off your tongue. But if I say the words "ukulele" and "When My Guitar Gently Weeps", you know right then whom I'm talking about. The YouTube of his 2004 performance in Central Park has had millions of viewers. But Jake's not with a major label. (His label, Hitchhike Records, is owned by Sony's Japan division) and most folks learn about Jake through word of mouth. Among top musicians he's well known (Yo-Yo Ma featured him on his CD/DVD last year) but he's still the best kept secret out there. When he plays a folk or music festival - He wowed them at both the Philadelphia Folk Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival last year - he sells out of the CDs he brings. Once you hear him, you can't get enough.

This latest effort for the young 30 year-old Hawaiian captures him in performance at various venues around the world (New York, Chicago, Japan and his home state of Hawaii) and yet is sequenced so that you'd never know this was not one 70-minute set. All the audience response is just as enthusiastic. Consider it a "greatest hits" package as most of the tracks are numbers he has recorded on his many studio-recorded albums (all of which I love). "Guitar Gently Weeps" is here of course along with "Let's Dance" in which Jake's fingers move faster than your ears can hear. The one new track is a tribute to the 25th Anniversary of Michael Jackson's "Thriller", which Jake makes his own.

If you've not heard Jake play before - other than the You Tube video - this album is a good place to start and will lead you back to others he has released. If you have his previous albums, this one will add a few new tracks for you. Since the distribution of his CDs in the US is so small, Amazon is a great source to find his CDs. And, if you are lucky enough to have a chance to see him "live", don't miss the opportunity. You won't soon forget it.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Next best thing to seeing him LIVE, April 17, 2009

By 

Bruce Lee (San Mateo, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live (Audio CD)

Have seen Jake perform 5 times live. This CD really showcases what he is all about. What is really cool about his live shows is that he gives a little intro to each song, telling the audience his inspiration &/or interpretation of what he is trying to do with the UKE. My son's favorite songs are "Me & Shirley T" and "Dragon", the first about sugar overload, the second a tribute to Bruce Lee, with a nod to Eddie Van Halen. Dragon is so much more inpressive seen live, it is a very technique driven song. I still get chills listening to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and I like "5 dollars unleaded", "3rd Stream" and his Bach and Thriller covers, all of which I saw at his last show. If you ever get a chance to see a live performance, you can't pass it up.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jake's Live album, indescribably wonderful, April 25, 2009

By 

Helen J. Moreland (St Paul MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live (Audio CD)

April 14th Dominator Ukulele Tabs wrote, "Jake's new Live CD is outstanding... He just keeps getting better and better."

My favorite, Piano-Forte, is melodic, deceivingly simple and incredibly beautiful. Two others I really enjoy are Trapped and Five Dollars Unleaded. Wes on Four and Yeah are masterpieces of ukulele skill, but then I guess all Jake's playing is. These five pieces are less known to me. The better known songs are as extraordinary as ever, such as Let's Dance, Dragon, Sakura Sakura, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Blue Roses Falling and on and on. Each tune is so pleasurable it's difficult to leave one for the next.

The quality of the sound, clarity of tone and the feeling Jake both shares and elicits is indescribably wonderful.

Steve I. Ramm's review is correct in every way; I especially agree with, "Once you hear him, you can't get enough." Elaine of Alaska writes, "I would recommend his music and performances to anyone and everyone..." and I have, even to strangers while flying on planes, waiting in airport terminals and riding on buses.