 Photo by Samir Shukla The Ukulele is a corky little instrument. It’s a mini guitar with four strings. It’s small. Musicians with big fingers find it confounding. The Hawaiian instrument has had a, shall we say, less than stellar reputation for years. Bugs Bunny and Tiny Tim are among those giving it a cartoonish rep. Jake Shimabukuro is out to change that. He is a ukulele master. He strums and picks the strings of the humble uke so cleanly that one would think a classically trained guitarist is on the stage. During his performance, he made the ukulele sound like a rock guitar, flamenco guitar, and classical guitar. Some of the songs included originals like “Gentle Mandolin” and “Blue Roses Falling” along with his take on rock classics “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Bassist Rich Glass accompanied Shimabukuro on a few tracks, adding depth with his deep, resonant bass strings. But otherwise it was Shimabukoro playing solo and keeping the crowd mesmerized with his flawless playing. There were no pretentions and the neatly coordinated lights added a colorful mood to the evening.
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