Ukelele titan Jake Shimabukuro to release new studio album 'Trio' on 14 Feb 2020!

Jake Shimabukuro has been redefining what the ukulele is capable of for the last 20 years, and on 14 February 2020, he returns with his new album ‘Trio,’ his first on Music Theories Recordings, a division of Mascot Label Group. Ahead of this they reveal a stunning reworking of Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here,’ which you can watch HERE.

Re-imaging beloved classics has become a Shimabukuro specialty, and to celebrate the announcement of the new album, he and the band have their own unique way with Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.” The suggestion to record the song came from Shimabukuro’s longtime manager, Van Fletcher, a dedicated Floyd fan who had given the ukulele titan the album of the same name years ago and pressed him to listen to it – which he did. Acting on such inspiration, the three musicians turn in a glorious reading – the blend of Preston’s rustic guitar lines, Verner’s richly intuitive bass playing along with Shimabukuro’s ravishing treatment of melodies is one of the album’s standout moments.

It was nearly 15 years ago that the world first caught notice of the stunning musical artistry of Jake Shimabukuro. The young ukulele player’s gorgeous rendition of George Harrison’s ballad ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ whilst sat in Central Park, became one of the most-watched clips on the then newly launched YouTube platform, and now sits at 16.5m views.

He released 3 albums as part of the band Pure Heart, and has since released 16 solo albums beginning with 2002’s ‘Sunday Morning’ up to 2018’s ‘Greatest Day’ – 6 of these albums reached the Billboard Top 5 World Album Charts, including the #1 ‘Peace Love Ukulele’ (2011). Alan Parsons personally asked to produce his 2012 album ‘Grand Ukulele’ – Parsons’ credits (as a sound engineer) include Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ and The Beatles ‘Abbey Road’ and ‘Let It Be.’ Jake has been lauded by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder who said, “Jake is taking the instrument to a place that I can’t see anyone else catching up with.”

He started to experiment with effect pedals and transforms the tiny instrument into a million different musical forms, dexterously playing jazz, rock, classical, traditional Hawaiian music, as well as folk. It is this that has led him to collaborate with a number of incredible musicians such as Warren Haynes, Tommy Emmanuel, Jimmy Buffett (who also took him on tour for 3 years and appears on a number of albums), Jack Johnson, Cyndi Lauper, Ziggy Marley as well as renowned shredders like Paul Gilbert and Marty Friedman. Add to this the time he performed at the 2009 Royal Variety Performance with Bette Midler in front of Queen Elizabeth II, even meeting Her Majesty after the performance.

The “Jimi Hendrix of the Ukulele” has gone on to appear on some of the biggest national TV shows in the world including Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Carson Daly, The Today Show and BBC Breakfast. There has also been a documentary made on him, entitled ‘Life On Four Strings,’ and he has dedicated many years to non-profit charity organizations to create outreach programs and educational workshops to schools.

Early 2019, Shimabukuro, Verner and Preston holed up in Nashville’s Sound Emporium studio with only a few snippets of riffs and melodies fleshed out, and over the course of a week jams took flight and became songs. Guiding the process was producer R.S. Field (Steve Earle, Webb Wilder, John Mayall, Sonny Landreth).

2020 will prove to be another landmark year for Shimabukuro, with a second special release to follow later in the year, where he collaborates with a number of high-profile guests. ‘Jake & Friends’ will feature artists such as Lyle Lovett, Bette Midler, Jack Johnson, Jon Anderson (Yes), Warren Haynes (The Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule), Moon Taxi, Ray Benson (Asleep At The Wheel) and Michael McDonald (The Doobie Brothers) amongst others. More details to follow.

Tracklist

1. When The Masks Come Down

2. Twelve

3. Resistance

4. Lament

5. Red Crystal

6. Morning Blue

7. Summer Rain

8. Wish You Were Here

9. Fireflies

10. Wai’alae

11. On The Wing

12. Strong In Broken Places

13. Landslide