Hawaiian ukelele artist Shimabukuro teams up with drummer Mick Fleetwood for a passionate Blues Experience. Highly recommended.
It’s been nearly twenty years since a young ukulele virtuoso named Jake Shimabukuro came to world-wide attention through a YouTube video of his rendition of George Harrison’s classic “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. Jake has gone on to release more than two dozen albums and has captured countless awards for Entertainer of the Year, Instrumental Album of the Year, Best Rock Album, Best Film Score and more. His latest project, entitled Blues Experience, teamed him with the legendary drummer, Mick Fleetwood in a series of instrumental versions of blues material that takes us far into the blues, reaching the pinnacle of soulful exploration. This is a beautiful, faultless album, destined to become a classic.
The sessions took place in Mick’s Hawaiian studio. Joining them were bassist Jackson Waldhoff and Michael Grande on piano. Guest artists were Sonny Landreth and keyboardist Mark Johnstone a longtime member of Fleetwood’s solo band.
Music fans of a certain age are well-acquainted with Fleetwood’s star turn as drummer on Fleetwood Mac’s classic rock albums from the 1970s, and ardent bluesologists will recall that the original incarnation of the band was founded in the blues. Early Mac albums featured Peter Green as well as a young blues singer named Christine Perfect, who married bassist John McVie. It’s no surprise then, that Mick’s grounding in the blues appealed to Shimabukuro, a virtuoso on the tenor ukulele. The combination is blues perfection.
Jake recently spoke with American Songwriter online magazine about the making of the album: “It was just a stunning experience, and I learned so much from it. I grew so much from it. You know, he’s so encouraging, so he really tried to get me to play out of my comfort zone. And he just said, ‘Oh, just have fun. Go for it, be experimental, and just play.’ And that’s kind of what we did.”
The album opens with “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers”, composed by Stevie Wonder and made famous by Jeff Beck, with a major contribution by the current blues guitar star Sonny Landreth. Mick’s powerful drumming here is a strong reminder of his stellar work on “Go Your Own Way”.
Other tunes on the album include “Rollin’ and Tumblin'”, the high-energy Muddy Waters number, as well as the Procol Harum classic from the ’60s, “A Whiter Shade of Pale”. Two other standout tracks are Gary Moore’s “Still Got The Blues”, and Neil Young’s masterpiece “Rockin’ In The Free World.” Close to Mick’s heart are the two numbers that close the album, two different takes on the Christine McVie composition “Songbird”, each a moving tribute to the irreplaceable talent we recently lost with her death.
Jake’s tenor ukulele tone is truly something special, while Mick’s drumming manages to walk a line in some exalted place where elegance, precision, passion and power co-exist. Highly recommended.
