From his early days as a member of Pure Heart through his time with Pure Heart’s successor group, Colon, and ever since then as a solo artist, Jake Shimabukuro has been known as a visual performer. A virtuoso musician, without question, but it was his physicality, that almost nonstop dancing when he was playing for an audience, that initially distinguished him from other ukulele players and then became something people looked forward to seeing.
As with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and James Brown, there is more overall to Shimabukuro as an artist than recording tape (or its digital equivalent) can capture. This recently released souvenir of his "Grand Ukulele" tour provides both halves of his music — the music we’re all familiar with and the physicality of his live performance.
"Grand Ukulele Live in Boulder"
Jake Shimabukuro
(Hitchhike) |
Like many other modern concert DVDs, watching the DVD is better than being there. The close-ups of Shimabukuro’s expressive features provide a much closer view of his face than anyone had in Boulder. Ditto the close-ups of his strumming and fretwork.
The first half of the show consists primarily of songs from the "Grand Ukulele" album — "Island Fever Blues," "More Ukulele" and "Ukulele Five-0" to start. He takes a break from the "Grand Ukulele" tunes to share the story of "Blue Roses Falling" (a friend’s terminally ill grandmother told him that at night she saw blue roses falling from the ceiling of her hospital room). Next come two more songs from the new album: "143" and "Gentlemandolin."
Anyone who was fortunate enough to catch Shimabukuro in the Blaisdell Concert Hall in November or at the Hawaii Theatre a year earlier will have a pleasurable sense of deja vu. The vibe is the same. And yes, we all remember the story of the blue roses.
The second half of the show includes some of Shimabukuro’s classic crowd-pleasers. He recalls his time spent exploring electronic effects with "Dragon" and shows how various effects make it possible for him to play a live duet with himself. "Bohemian Rhapsody" displays his imagination in reworking the rock hit for play on solo ukulele. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," the song he says started it all for him, is as always a powerful show-closer.
The concert audience is heard but is never intrusive; Hawaii studio engineer Milan Bertosa did an excellent job with the mix. A moment to wait for comes near the end of the show. Shimabukuro tells the audience that one of the great things about being a solo ukulele player is that there are "such low expectations of the music."
You’ll hear someone in the audience respond softly but distinctly, "Not anymore!"
Producer Chris Farrari adds value to the DVD with "Inside Story," a behind-the-scenes look at Shimabukuro and the album. Interview clips show Shimabukuro talking about his lifelong passion for the ukulele, his approach to performing ("I always want to give 110 percent"), the "dream come true" opportunity to work with English record producer Alan Parsons, and the new creative opportunities he enjoys when working with a professional lighting director. There is also more or less candid footage of rehearsals and the recording process.
