Saw Jake Again and WOW!

Mandarb

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2010
Messages
5,212
Reaction score
0
Location
PA
My wife and I saw Jake Shimabukuro last night at the ArtsQuest Center in Bethlehem, PA. This is our second time seeing him in concert and he is simply great. He has such passion and energy. Watching him play makes all the stress of work and life melt away and fills my heart with joy.

The venue is cabaret type seating so we had a nice dinner before the concert. Our seats were front row with our table touching the stage. It is mind blowing watching him play. He is so fast and clean - there were times when I was like okay I see what he is doing and other times my wife and I swore his hands were moving so fast they were not even touching the strings. She really enjoyed the show as well - it was great watching her smile and laugh.

We met with Jake after the show and he is such a nice guy - very humble and gracious. I remembered to ask him the questions I had in mind. 1) He is still breaking in his new Kamaka (Buffy 3) when he is back home in Hawaii. He does not bring his new uke on tour. 2) The strap he uses is homemade. 3) Hal Lenoard is working on Jake's tabs and then Jake will review and approve them.

I asked Jake if he could play my Kamaka and give it a little bit of his mojo. Here is a brief clip my wife filmed with my iPhone while I stood there watching and grinning ear to ear....

 
Awesome! I am going to see him tonight at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. It seems like a similar setup to the Bethlehem venue, and our table is front row too!
 
Oh you guys STOP!!!!!! How brilliant does that sound Mandarb. Insanely jealous...beyond belief.

And to have a chat and get him to play your uke. Great story mate. The uke week in heaven continues...what's up tomorrow??? :)
 
Can't wait for November!
 
Awesome! I am going to see him tonight at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. It seems like a similar setup to the Bethlehem venue, and our table is front row too!

Enjoy the show. My wife and I love Jake - he is such a phenomenal player and he is such a cool guy and very down to earth.

Oh you guys STOP!!!!!! How brilliant does that sound Mandarb. Insanely jealous...beyond belief.

And to have a chat and get him to play your uke. Great story mate. The uke week in heaven continues...what's up tomorrow??? :)

Thanks mate. Tonight is a jam with some fellow UUers in Jim Thorpe, PA. Tomorrow night is recovery night with some quiet playing at home.

Can't wait for November!

Kelli and I will be there.
 
3) Hal Lenoard is working on Jake's tabs and then Jake will review and approve them.

I had talked to my Hal Leonard rep about this a couple weeks ago. They are shooting for a August/September release date for this :) They were just about ready to send it to Jake for approval :)
 
I had talked to my Hal Leonard rep about this a couple weeks ago. They are shooting for a August/September release date for this :) They were just about ready to send it to Jake for approval :)

Cool! I cannot wait for this. It'll make life a lot easier.
 
What a great night you had and for Jake to play on your uke and you got front row seats.Thanks for the info about his new uke and the tab book.
 
Taking my boys to see him Saturday night in Fall River, MA. Same cabaret stile set up in a converted Warehouse. Very cool venue. I'm looking forward to it. I have never seen him perform live before.
 
Taking my boys to see him Saturday night in Fall River, MA. Same cabaret stile set up in a converted Warehouse. Very cool venue. I'm looking forward to it. I have never seen him perform live before.

He is amazing. I leave with such a good feeling and it lasts for awhile.
 
He is amazing. I leave with such a good feeling and it lasts for awhile.

How exciting for you and your wife. Keep that mojo alive, enjoy and strum away on your Kamaka. Thanks for sharing your joy.
 
Glad you got to see him, and had the honour of him playing your Ukulele! Wow, that's great :D One day when I get Stateside I'm doing a huge amount of Ukulele related stuff, guess it's time to start actually playing the lottery!
 
Did he add anything new into his preformance??

He played a lot of stuff from his new album, Peace Love Ukulele. He played "Bohemian Rhapsody" and he said it was a "work in progress". It seemed a little different than how he played it when I saw him last October but it was still jaw dropping.
 
Jake is an Albany, NY tonight... but won't be going.

Just got back from 3 weeks of family care-taking in California, and just too wiped out.

oh, well... There will be another time.

-Kurt
 
Top Bottom