An evening with Jake Shimabukuro

Name: An evening with Jake Shimabukuro
Start: 2025-10-03T20:00:00-07:00
Location: Rio Theatre

Schedule

Fri, 03 Oct, 2025 at 08:00 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

Rio Theatre | Santa Cruz, CA

A solo evening with Jake Shimabukuro
Since gaining prominence in the early 2000’s, ukulele marvel Jake Shimabukuro has mesmerized audiences with his innovative and dynamic style, taking the instrument to dizzying new heights. Over a dozen solo albums, Shimabukuro has shown a knack for moving effortlessly between genres, sometimes in the same song.
For his brand-new project, Shimabukuro joins forces with his friend, drumming legend and founding member of Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood, to create a fresh new take on the Blues. “I’ve always wanted to do a Blues album and when Mick and I started talking about working together, I thought who better to work with than Mick Fleetwood?” The result is something exhilarating and unique, as these two titans of their instruments reinterpret some of the greatest songs written by some of their favorite songwriters in a Blues setting. It’s a union whose roots go back to the late 1990s when a young Shimabukuro met and played with Fleetwood at the Hawaiian Music Awards ceremony along with singer songwriter Kenny Loggins. It wasn’t until a few years ago, that the two were reconnected by a mutual friend at a Fleetwood Mac reunion concert in Nashville. That night, the seeds of the collaboration were planted at Fleetwood’s suggestion. Not long thereafter the two convened along with Jake’s touring bassist Jackson Waldhoff and keyboard player Michael Grande to start work on a new studio album in Maui. Mark Johnstone from The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band plays keys on two songs, “Need Your Love So Bad”, and “Rockin’ In The Free World”.
Over the course of two 3-day sessions, the band recorded 9 songs live in the studio. The only track that was not recorded with all of the musicians playing together was Sonny Landreth’s brilliant slide guitar on the Jeff Beck/Stevie Wonder classic “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers”. This soaring track full of peaks and valleys was a tremendous way to start the album.
The interplay between Landreth and Shimabukuro is so seamless, you’d never know that they did not play together in the same room. The Chemistry is due in large part to the two performing the song together during a recent tour. In addition, Sonny would often sit in with Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band back when Jake was a member.
Up next is a truly unique interpretation of the Blues standard, “Rollin’ N Tumblin’”. The song fades in with a swirling, delay-drenched psychedelic uke over top of Fleetwood’s tribal drumming pattern, giving credence to why Jake is often referred to as the “Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele”. Then, on a dime, Jake changes his sound and cuts to playing the song’s theme which is echoed nicely by the Hammond Organ. Jake’s playing on the track is experimental and otherworldly, at times ascending into a psych jazz rock fusion in the most visceral ways.