By Dave Gil de Rubio
When we think of the blues, the last instrument we expect to be part of the genre is the ukulele. That is unless it’s uke master Jake Shimabukuro who is wielding this device that’s far more connected with the sounds of native Hawaiian music or vaudeville.
Having taken the uke into the realms of classical music with 2012’s Grand Ukulele and prog rock with 2016’s Nashville Sessions—and now scheduled to open the Healdsburg Jazz Festival in June 2025—Shimabukuro’s latest album finds him joining forces with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer drummer Mick Fleetwood for the recently released all-instrumental album, Blues Experience. Given Fleetwood’s storied history as a member of John Mayall’s Blues Breakers and as a founding member of Fleetwood Mac, Shimabukuro readily jumped at the opportunity to work with Fleetwood.
“When we were going to do this collaboration, I thought this would be a cool direction to go in that would really stretch me and push me out of my comfort zone because that’s the only way you grow,” Shimabukuro said in a mid-October interview.
“Mick was so great about encouraging me and giving me the OK to go for it and not worry about anything. What I’ve been telling people is that these are not just songs that I grew up listening to, but ones he lived and was inspired by. He’s on this end of the spectrum and the one who paved the way for all this stuff. And now for me to be able to do all this is a dream come true,” he continued.
Cut over the span of two three-day sessions at Fleetwood’s Maui studio, Blues Experience yielded nine cuts. They include blues standards (a hypnotic take on “Rollin’ N Tumblin’”) and covers of Neil Young (a raucous reading of “Rockin’ In the Free World”) and Procol Harum (the soaring “Whiter Shade of Pale”), augmented by the contributions of bassist Jackson Waldhoff and keyboardist Michael Grande (with Mick Fleetwood Blues Band keyboardist Mark Johnstone playing on a couple of tracks).
Highlights
A major highlight is an opening walk through Jeff Beck’s “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers,” featuring a guest slot by Louisiana guitar-whiz Sonny Landreth, whose relationship with Shimabukuro dates back to when the two toured with the late Jimmy Buffett. Elsewhere, the closing version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird,” penned by the late Christine McVie, was included and left quite an impression on all the players.
“‘Songbird’ was very emotional because Christine’s birthday came right after she passed,” Shimabukuro recalled. “Mick and I were talking about maybe doing ‘Songbird.’ I remember we went into the tracking room and Mick kind of sat at the drums and was tuning them up. Without really saying anything, he went into this groove on the toms and had his eyes closed. I remember kind of starting with the tremolo, which was very spontaneous, and the rest of the guys just kind of crept in on keys and bass.
Crazy
“The crazy thing is that the song kind of played itself,” Shimabukuro added. “It was all set to that drum vibe Mick started. It became like a wave, and we kind of faded out. I remember Mick kept it going with his eyes closed, just listening and being in the moment. Then he came to a stop and there was this really powerful silence. I remember him opening his eyes and saying he felt Christine’s presence in the studio with us. It gave all of us chills.”
While Shimabukuro and Fleetwood played the album live in its entirety as a two-day fundraiser for victims of the Maui wildfire, the former is now touring with Waldhoff.
“We’ve been doing three or four songs off the (Blues Experience) record,” Shimabukuro said. “When I talk about the songs off the album, we’ll start with ‘Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers,’ ‘Kula Blues,’ ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ and ‘Songbird.’ Hopefully we’ll be able to do it live somewhere with Mick. But for me as a fan, to see the ukulele played on an album with Mick Fleetwood is, like, ‘What?’”
While there were no cuts left over from the “Blues Experience” sessions, Shimabukuro is game for part two. And if it doesn’t come to pass, the humble Hawaiian is more than happy to have this latest addition to his canon.
“Mick did say in an interview recently that he’d be open to doing a second one, so we better do it before he changes his mind,” Shimabukuro said with a laugh.
“But seriously, when I was this four-year-old kid who picked up the ukulele for the first time, I never thought I’d be doing all the things I’m doing today and having all these opportunities to learn about music and just life. Even if it all went away tomorrow, I would be grateful for this instrument and all that I got to experience.”
Jake Shimabukuro is scheduled to play Sunday, June 15, in a Father’s Day concert at Bacchus Landing for the Healdsburg Jazz Festival.
