Size: 115,2 MB
Time: 49:50
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2024
Styles: Instrumental Blues/Rock mix
Art: Front
1. Cause We've Ended As Lovers (5:47)
2. Rollin' N Tumblin' (4:59)
3. Need Your Love So Bad (5:59)
4. Kula Blues (4:35)
5. Whiter Shade Of Pale (5:13)
6. I Wanna Get Funky (4:33)
7. Still Got The Blues (4:12)
8. Rockin' In The Free World (5:46)
9. Songbird (4:15)
10. Songbird (Mick Spoken Word) (4:26)
The adjective “eclectic” gets tossed around liberally when describing those who dip their musical toes into a variety of genres. But it’s perfect for Jake Shimabukuro. Not only does the Hawaiian native shift effortlessly between styles as radically dissimilar as rock, classical, world music, jazz, bluegrass, country, funk, pop and folk, but he accomplishes that brandishing his trusty four-string ukulele. Few if any another musicians have covered Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Disney tunes, Leonard Cohen, New Order and Bach with the same effortless aplomb. Additionally, other high profile names have flocked to him. Who else has recorded with Cyndi Lauper, Yo-Yo Ma, Billy Strings and Bette Midler?
So it comes as little wonder that Shimabukuro finally wades into blues with ‘Blues Experience,’ one of the few areas he hasn’t spent time in. Fellow Hawaii resident and, oh yeah, world famous drummer, Mick Fleetwood provides some marquee star power above the album’s title and helps the uke expert navigate a field he knows about as well as any other percussive player. It’s nearly impossible to tell that Shimabukuro is not slinging a typical six-string on the majority of these ten tracks. Unlike most ukulele practitioners, he plugs into an amp, using audio enhancements to yield a full guitar sound. On the opening “’Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers,” where he grabs Jeff Beck’s arrangement and invites the disc’s lone guest, Sonny Landreth, to add slide, few would imagine he’s working with just four strings. His solo bobs and weaves around Stevie Wonder’s melody with Beck’s casual grace.
Shimabukuro is no stranger to instrumental interpretations (his major breakthrough was a unique version of George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”), and the eight others, with one original, fit that established pattern. He tackles Gary Moore’s signature “Still Got the Blues,” squeezing out strong, tensile notes you’d think would be difficult from his modest instrument. Elsewhere Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” gets a surprisingly powerful handling complete with reverb and strangulated notes similar to what Young might play, urged on by Fleetwood’s drum prowess.
The approach even goes psychedelic on Muddy Waters’ standard “Rollin’ N Tumblin’.” Shimabukuro cranks up the echo and solos like Clapton in Cream as Fleetwood thumps along resulting in one of the disc’s more frantic, even intense, offerings. Those expecting an easy listening atmosphere based on some of Jake’s prior music will be surprised yet riveted by his searing sonic attack. The tempo drops for the set’s lone original, a standard Chicago shuffle titled “Kula Blues.” It’s a pleasant performance that starts predictably then ramps up the energy. Fleetwood’s sturdy backbeat is reminiscent of his band’s old deep blues days. You can’t go wrong covering Procol Harum’s classic “Whiter Shade of Pale.” With the ukulele taking the lead vocal melody, it yields an agreeable result displaying Shimabukuros’ shredding talents.
Mick also nods to his past. Little Willie John’s “Need Your Love So Bad,” a hit for Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green years, reveals a moody treatment featuring piano from Michael Grande. The closing, dreamy nod to “Songbird” pays tribute to Fleetwood’s longtime band mate Christine McVie with a touching, somewhat ominous approach that’s genuine and respectful. It closes the impressive ‘Blues Experience’ with the class, sophistication and diversity Jake Shimabukuro has always exhibited by adding another notch to his ever expanding stylistic belt. /Hal Horowitz, Rock & Blues Muse
So it comes as little wonder that Shimabukuro finally wades into blues with ‘Blues Experience,’ one of the few areas he hasn’t spent time in. Fellow Hawaii resident and, oh yeah, world famous drummer, Mick Fleetwood provides some marquee star power above the album’s title and helps the uke expert navigate a field he knows about as well as any other percussive player. It’s nearly impossible to tell that Shimabukuro is not slinging a typical six-string on the majority of these ten tracks. Unlike most ukulele practitioners, he plugs into an amp, using audio enhancements to yield a full guitar sound. On the opening “’Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers,” where he grabs Jeff Beck’s arrangement and invites the disc’s lone guest, Sonny Landreth, to add slide, few would imagine he’s working with just four strings. His solo bobs and weaves around Stevie Wonder’s melody with Beck’s casual grace.
Shimabukuro is no stranger to instrumental interpretations (his major breakthrough was a unique version of George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”), and the eight others, with one original, fit that established pattern. He tackles Gary Moore’s signature “Still Got the Blues,” squeezing out strong, tensile notes you’d think would be difficult from his modest instrument. Elsewhere Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” gets a surprisingly powerful handling complete with reverb and strangulated notes similar to what Young might play, urged on by Fleetwood’s drum prowess.
The approach even goes psychedelic on Muddy Waters’ standard “Rollin’ N Tumblin’.” Shimabukuro cranks up the echo and solos like Clapton in Cream as Fleetwood thumps along resulting in one of the disc’s more frantic, even intense, offerings. Those expecting an easy listening atmosphere based on some of Jake’s prior music will be surprised yet riveted by his searing sonic attack. The tempo drops for the set’s lone original, a standard Chicago shuffle titled “Kula Blues.” It’s a pleasant performance that starts predictably then ramps up the energy. Fleetwood’s sturdy backbeat is reminiscent of his band’s old deep blues days. You can’t go wrong covering Procol Harum’s classic “Whiter Shade of Pale.” With the ukulele taking the lead vocal melody, it yields an agreeable result displaying Shimabukuros’ shredding talents.
Mick also nods to his past. Little Willie John’s “Need Your Love So Bad,” a hit for Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green years, reveals a moody treatment featuring piano from Michael Grande. The closing, dreamy nod to “Songbird” pays tribute to Fleetwood’s longtime band mate Christine McVie with a touching, somewhat ominous approach that’s genuine and respectful. It closes the impressive ‘Blues Experience’ with the class, sophistication and diversity Jake Shimabukuro has always exhibited by adding another notch to his ever expanding stylistic belt. /Hal Horowitz, Rock & Blues Muse
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