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A few years back, the mother of one of teacher Cody Okimoto’s students came to see him after school. She wanted him to explain to her daughter that he was only joking about their class recording a Christmas album with the great Jake Shimabukuro.
This mom was from Japan, where the ukulele virtuoso has a fan base so devoted he has to travel to concerts with bodyguards. She couldn’t fathom a music star coming to her daughter’s Maemae Elementary School class.
But the story was true, and it has been for 20 Christmases.
When Okimoto started student-teaching at the Nuuanu school in 1997, he asked his ukulele-playing high school friend if he would come and sing some Christmas songs with his class. Shimabukuro was happy to oblige. They decided to record the session, though it was about as low-tech as you can get.
“We had a little tape recorder on the table and everyone had to huddle around and lean in,” Okimoto said. “Then we would push the ‘play’ and ‘record’ buttons.” The recording was then dubbed, one at a time, onto cassettes that were given to the kids’ parents as Christmas gifts.
Over the years, technical support for the annual Christmas album with Shimabukuro got better and better, from multitrack tapes to CDs to zip drives. In recent years, the school staff and parents produced DVDs with multiple-camera shoots and recorded the audio in a quiet room in the library.
This year, they’re taking a huge step forward: They’re recording live in concert.
The “why” of all this is, of course, for the students and for the shared belief at Maemae that the arts are an important part of education. Also, it’s a fun project for all involved.
But the biggest “why” has to do with a friendship between Shimabukuro and Okimoto that started in Kaimuki High School.
“I think we took Japanese together,” Okimoto said. “And we were on the wrestling team.”
Okimoto, who set a state record in bench press, helped the slim-built Shimabukuro with weight-lifting. When Okimoto started college, Shimabukuro helped him study for the music classes he needed for a degree in elementary education.
Okimoto describes epic study sessions that would start late at night and end up with Okimoto’s grandma making them breakfast. Shimabukuro was the best man at Okimoto’s wedding, and in the early days of his career, when Shimabukuro had to beg to perform at a Kapahulu coffee house, Okimoto and his wife would go to hear his set.
Sometimes, they would be the only two people in the audience and their dollar bills in the little bucket by Shimabukuro’s feet would be the only payment he’d get for playing.
Since that first year at Maemae, the only Christmas that Shimabukuro didn’t sing with the students was when he was traveling to play for the queen of England.
The idea for the 20th- album celebration concert came from Shimabukuro, who told the school in September: “We’re doing this, right?” Principal Lenn Uyeda called around and secured the 1,100-seat McKinley High School auditorium for the event.
All 105 fifth-graders will perform Christmas songs with Shimabukuro and a live band, plus special guests Ginai and musician Maia Mayeshiro. There’s an added surprise: a reunion of Shimabukuro and Jon Yamasato of Pure Heart.
The school is planning a two-hour show, selling tickets online and marketing the event to Japanese tourists as well as school families. And, they’re recording the concert live, something as thrilling as it is nerve-wracking. With the tape player, they could just say, “Cut cut cut! Again!” if somebody messed up. This time, they have only one shot. This time, they’ll have an audience beyond moms and dads.
School counselor and unofficial concert producer Matt Nakamura isn’t worried. He thinks the students are going to do great, and if something unexpected should happen, Shimabukuro will set a perfect example of how to keep the show going.
“This is an experience the kids will remember for the rest of their lives,” Nakamura said.
At the concert, Okimoto will bring out the guitar Shimabukuro taught him to play all those years ago and sing next to his old friend.
“He’s still the same guy,” Okimoto said. “He remembers his humble beginnings.”
CHRISTMAS WITH JAKE AND FRIENDS
A concert with Maemae Elementary
When: 6 p.m. Dec. 15
Where: McKinley High School auditorium
Tickets: $15-50
Info: eventbrite.com, 595-5400
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
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