Jake Shimabukuro Plays Tonight at Cactus Cafe
You can’t follow the fingers. They’re just too dang fast. Jake Shimabukuro has turned speed-of-light plucking into an artform on the ukulele.
Ever since Shimabukuro got his hands on a ukulele when he was only four years old, he was completely hooked. After humble beginnings playing at a local cafe in his hometown of Honolulu, he’s developed imaginative and innovative performance techniques that gained him the reputation of being one of the world’s foremost ukulele artists. He tours regularly throughout the world, and just released his first full-length CD, Live, since the wildly popular Gently Weeps (2006).
Live contains Shimabukuro’s personal selection of the best live tracks from his various shows, including his incredible version of George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” which always sends fans into a frenzy.
Shimabukuro is also a dedicated community activist in support of music, and often visits schools to speak to students of all ages about his work. He’s a spokesman for Music is Good Medicine, a foundation that uses outreach programs to promote a healthy lifestyle through music.
Shimabukuro’s live performances are a real treat, and tonight you’ll have two opportunties to see him. He has shows scheduled for 7 p.m. and again at 9:15 p.m. at the Cactus Cafe, 2247 Guadalupe (24th and Guadalupe), in the Texas Union on the UT campus. Check it out. Very awesome, indeed.
