Jake Shimabukuro

About

In one of the most highly anticipated returns of the season, Jake Shimabukuro brings his joyful holiday classics program back to the Miner stage. Widely recognized as “the Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele, Shimabukuro has created an international fanbase as a sensational performer whose concerts leave audiences awed, dazzled and delighted. Over the past two decades, he's become a one-man army advancing the ukulele cause, turning the four-string axe into a supremely pliable musical vehicle, capable of generating everything from power chord rock to sensuously swinging jazz. Strumming with a hummingbird blur, he coaxes an impossibly big sound out of the instrument through his intoxicating repertoire of pop tunes, American Songbook standards and lilting originals. Shimabukuro has released a staggering 25 albums for the global and Japanese markets since his 2002 debut Sunday Morning , including his 2006 breakout U.S. hit Gently Weeps and his 2012 Alan Parsons-produced showstopper, Grand Ukulele . The success of these recordings leaves no doubt why fellow string renegades such as banjo star Béla Fleck, fiddle wizard Darol Anger, and cello virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma embrace Shimabukuro as one of their own. He brings his ebullient virtuosity to these evenings of beloved holiday favorites, imbuing them with a feeling of festive warmth and a tropical vibe.