Ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro is touring in support of his new up and coming studio album, Trio, set to release Feb. 14 and will be at Songbirds on the south stage on Sunday, Jan. 26, at 9 p.m.
Review for Jake Shimabukuro:
The 13 studio tracks that comprise Trio features some of Shimabukuro’s most imaginative and adventuresome playing yet.
Trio is the follow up to 2016’s Nashville Sessions and 2018’s The Greatest Day. On it, Jake brings back the same sound and rhythm adding guitarist Dave Preston and longtime bassist Nolan Verner to expand upon the sound they started creating three years ago.
Accompanying Shimabukuro on tour will be longtime bassist Nolan Verner and guitarist Dave Preston. The three of them have come together to create an experience unlike past shows or unlike anything you’ve seen/heard before. They truly are a dynamic touring “trio”. Unlike previous releases that sometimes featured studio musicians, this would be a true band album, with the only sounds performed by Shimabukuro, Verner and Preston, and many of the songs would be written spontaneously in the studio. In this way, ‘Trio’ marks a bold and exciting new era in Shimabukuro’s already remarkable career.
They will perform songs from Jake’s past albums, "Live in Japan" (2015) and “ Travels" (2015), favorites from his 15-year career, and several songs from his studio album Nashville Sessions and The Greatest Day along with songs from his current much anticipated new album Trio such as 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.