In case you missed Conan last night

Wow.

That show is still on?!?

Saw him live at Wolf Trap a couple years back, opening for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. He was incredible. This is an amazing cover, but not even the best of his material.

Oh hell Yeah! Jake is the man. Thx Subby

Interesting. Then there's this (pops). Wait for Prince to step up and own the solo.

Earguy: Interesting. Then there's this (pops). Wait for Prince to step up and own the solo.

I never liked Prince when he was big. But Jesus tapdancing Christ can that dude shred.

Earguy: Wait for Prince to step up and own the solo.

Holy shiat.

I've always been a fan, from "1999"....but goddamn, that is pure joy right there.

The best part is seeing these rock icons just awed by his passion and his playing.

I wanted to stand up right here and applaud, that was so amazing.

Thanks for the highlight of my day. Seriously.

Seriously the best concert I've ever been to was Prince. The man can play amazingly - it's ridiculous.

submitter: In case you missed Conan last night, here's Jake Shimaburkuro performing "While My Guitar Gentley Weeps". Great quality. All you can say is, wow

The Internet -- Contributing to Bad Spelling for Over a Decade.

That guy looks like he is blowing his own mind.

mialynneb: Seriously the best concert I've ever been to was Prince. The man can play amazingly - it's ridiculous.

I don't know if it's myth, but I heard Prince can play something like 30 instruments very well. In any case, he can tear it up on a guitar.

Saw him (and Pamelia, a righteous theramin babe) guesting with the Flecktones a few years back. Didn't know who either of them was, but Jake puts on a great show.

I just wanted to make the "holy shiat" comment regarding the Prince video Earguy posted.

Holy shiat.

I didn't mean to threadjack with the Rock Hall of Fame vid, but it came to mind. I think it was Prince's moment to declare himself a guitar hero, something most people don't consider.

Jesus that is huge. Look how little the guitar looks...

Meant to say, 'that guy is huge'

/trying to be clever always backfires...

Wow, Jake's career is doing well! Only 4-5 years ago, he was the headline act at the May Day (Hawaiian holiday) program at my daughter's little preschool in Nuuanu. He's a very nice guy - friendly, easy to talk to and very humble.

Can somebody help me put my face back together? Earguy's video just melted it right off.

Seriously though, is Jake Shimaburkuro paying for these greenlights or something? He's undoubtedly talented, but not nearly interesting enough to warrant this many links on the Music and Video pages.

RocketRod: submitter: In case you missed Conan last night, here's Jake Shimaburkuro performing "While My Guitar Gentley Weeps". Great quality. All you can say is, wow

The Internet -- Contributing to Bad Spelling for Over a Decade.

Subby also farked up his last name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw3n7VURfXE

Too lazy for html, but that's Jake Shimaburkuro's performance on Conan last night.

Good stuff. I also really enjoy Michael Hedges' arrangement of the tune (new window).

Earguy: Interesting. Then there's this (pops). Wait for Prince to step up and own the solo.

A number of years ago, I was in a hotel somewhere and flipping through the channels, and I landed on a Prince concert. He tore it up the whole time. It was amazing. It made me a fan, (even though I don't have any prince in my library, I at least recognized his awesomeness after that).

Jake - not your father's Don Ho.
Prince? yeah, he rocks too. He seemed to be playing a completely different tune than the rest of the guys though. yeah he had the key, but the feel was way out that-a-way.

I dl'd some Jake last time someone posted a vid of him on here. He's insanely talented. What he can do on a ukelele most people probably couldn't do on a guitar.

As for Prince, I wasn't terribly impressed. Yes, he's a great guitarist, and no, I couldn't do it, but I've seen better. For example, this guy, from about 10' away in concert about 3 years ago. More.

Then there's these guys.

madden101: I dl'd some Jake last time someone posted a vid of him on here. He's insanely talented. What he can do on a ukelele most people probably couldn't do on a guitar.

As for Prince, I wasn't terribly impressed. Yes, he's a great guitarist, and no, I couldn't do it, but I've seen better. For example, this guy, from about 10' away in concert about 3 years ago.

You have got to be kidding, "this guy's" solo sounded similar to a cat in a blender. There is a lot more to playing the guitar than taking a shiatload of crystal meth and playing until your fingers catch fire. There is just no soul to music like that.

Joe_SixPack: madden101: I dl'd some Jake last time someone posted a vid of him on here. He's insanely talented. What he can do on a ukelele most people probably couldn't do on a guitar.

As for Prince, I wasn't terribly impressed. Yes, he's a great guitarist, and no, I couldn't do it, but I've seen better. For example, this guy, from about 10' away in concert about 3 years ago.

You have got to be kidding, "this guy's" solo sounded similar to a cat in a blender. There is a lot more to playing the guitar than taking a shiatload of crystal meth and playing until your fingers catch fire. There is just no soul to music like that.

Agreed. His solo really wasn't very impressive. It felt very mechanical and ho-hum. With Prince's solo you could really feel it and get into it. He just understood the song, and his solo spoke volumes.

Jake is pretty damn good. I gotta admit that a few years ago I thought the Uke was almost a toy. I know I am wrong now. I wish I could see his playing with Bruddah Iz's voice.

As for guitarists. I give Prince his due. But he seems to have a bit of the ego problem.

Here is my choice for most impressive guitarist (new window)

Meh. Was about a thousandth as good as the Prince one.

He's like the Yngwie Malmsteen of the ukelele. Talented but incapable.

Earguy: I didn't mean to threadjack with the Rock Hall of Fame vid, but it came to mind. I think it was Prince's moment to declare himself a guitar hero, something most people don't consider.

Some of us realized it 20 years ago with "Let's Go Crazy".

SuperCatBarf: He's like the Yngwie Malmsteen of the ukelele. Talented but incapable.

Jake Shimabukuro? You're nuts. He's got some great stuff. He really gets into it. His music shows it.

Maybe it was this song on the ukulele but I just didn't give a sh*t. (IMO) At least it looked like he was enjoying it.

Prince definitely did shred that solo. And that grin was great. Damn, I wish I could play the guitar.

kronicfeld: Earguy: Interesting. Then there's this (pops). Wait for Prince to step up and own the solo.

I never liked Prince when he was big. But Jesus tapdancing Christ can that dude shred.

That's the same reaction I had when I first started listening to Prince. You would never peg him as such an awesome guitarist. I mean, Prince? C'mon. But it's true, and he kicks ass.

I could play that well if my guitar was that small too.

Seen Jake several times in Jimmy Buffett's band. Good stuff - he's amazing with the uke.

Jake and Prince are great and all, but nothing compares to this I think.

/neal is a douchebag

Jake is an incredible player, and I really love his laid back shows. It is usually just him on stage, sometimes with sit-ins (especially at the music festivals, where I most see him) and he chats with the crowd and is very personable.

Will have to check that Prince video when I get home. Love him or hate him, you have to recognize mad skills when you see them.

Funny thing, I grew up Jehovah's Witness and I remember my Mom always telling me about Prince and Michael Jackson being "on and off" members of the JW church. Cracked me up. No idea if there is any truth to it, but I can't imagine the JW's were too happy when Prince was schtooping twins :D

I love how everyone posts electric guitar solos against a dude plunking a ukulele. Get over it. Enjoy the moment.

Anyways...I present the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain - The Good the Bad the Ugly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3gp7B8WC4Q

JBKMDX: Joe_SixPack: madden101: I dl'd some Jake last time someone posted a vid of him on here. He's insanely talented. What he can do on a ukelele most people probably couldn't do on a guitar.

As for Prince, I wasn't terribly impressed. Yes, he's a great guitarist, and no, I couldn't do it, but I've seen better. For example, this guy, from about 10' away in concert about 3 years ago.

You have got to be kidding, "this guy's" solo sounded similar to a cat in a blender. There is a lot more to playing the guitar than taking a shiatload of crystal meth and playing until your fingers catch fire. There is just no soul to music like that.

Agreed. His solo really wasn't very impressive. It felt very mechanical and ho-hum. With Prince's solo you could really feel it and get into it. He just understood the song, and his solo spoke volumes.

I've always been bothered by this argument. Not necessarily in this specific example because I wasn't impressed with Tremonti's solo (though I do think he's a good guitarist), but in general. It's as if bending the ever living fark out of a note almost always in the same pentatonic minor scale while thrashing the string until it damn near breaks is somehow more passionate than another guitarist using a furious flurry of notes in a sweep picked arpeggio. They're just different expressions of a passion for guitar playing and music. In the hands of truly capable guitarists, phrasings of any kind can be inspiring on many levels.

rpl: Jake and Prince are great and all, but nothing compares to this I think.

/neal is a douchebag

This video of Paul Gilbert is exactly what I'm talking about as far as being in the hands of a truly capable guitarist.

but at the end of the day, it's still a farking ukelele.

/i bet zamfir could play this on the pan flute just as well.

I've been a big fan of Jake Shimabukuro since before his rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps got big. I met him at a concert a few weeks ago and he's a great guy in person. He signed my ukulele and told me to come out to Hawaii to come play with him and Aldrine Guerrero.

And yes, While my Guitar Gently Weeps isn't the best of his material. I'm at work, so I can't easily grab URLs right now, but search for him playing Third Stream, Ehime Maru, his cover of Led Zeppelin's Going to California, or Me & Shirley T. I don't think there are any videos of some of the following, but if you can get a hold of the audio, listen to Sleep Walk, In My Life (Beatles Cover), and Fragile.

I really think that Jake plays While my Guitar Gently Weeps as more of a fanservice than a heartfelt piece. I think the most heartfelt piece I've seen him play was his latest take on an original piece entitled Blue Roses Falling. I haven't found any great YouTube videos of it because he keeps changing his own arrangement so much, but when I saw him play it at Anthology in San Diego, it was simply amazing--very dramatic, emotional, and captivating.

When I started learning to play ukulele, I looked up to him (and still do), so I of course tried covering him a few times:

youtube.com/chronosxd

Wow to both performances!

I like Jake a lot but that wasn't a particularly good performance for him.

All I can say is, weak.

People -- No one does While My Guitar Gently Weeps like Toronto's Jeff Healey.

Especially since George Harrison played back up on his version.

ShredVicious:
I've always been bothered by this argument. Not necessarily in this specific example because I wasn't impressed with Tremonti's solo (though I do think he's a good guitarist), but in general. It's as if bending the ever living fark out of a note almost always in the same pentatonic minor scale while thrashing the string until it damn near breaks is somehow more passionate than another guitarist using a furious flurry of notes in a sweep picked arpeggio. They're just different expressions of a passion for guitar playing and music. In the hands of truly capable guitarists, phrasings of any kind can be inspiring on many levels.

I can understand that. But, Tremonti's didn't particularly impress me much. I listen to Stanley Jordan, and while he's great at playing, it feels very robotic, and seems to lack passion. I listen to it once, and I have no urge to listen to it again. Prince mixed it up well in the solo. He was able to go along with the song and still make his own statement with his solo.

Sheez, I remember seeing Jake and Pure Heart for free down at Ala Moana beach park back in the day... glad to see the rest of the world catch on.

Another kid to watch (dang, she'll be 20 this year?) is my neighbor's cousin, Brittni Paiva. Back when she was 16ish she won "most promising artist of the year" at the Hoku awards here in Hawaii.

http://www.brittnipaiva.com/

I'd pay good money to see Jake and Brittni duet. (As opposed to seeing them for free)

Prince wins.

Mobutu

Prince only became a JW a few years ago, around the time he released the Rainbow Children album. He had always been a Christian, but when he became a JW (which Christians do not think of as Christianity), he stopped performing songs that were too "racy". So no more Let's Pretend We're Married, Sexy MF, DMSR, etc.

Saw Jake Shimabukuro play with Jimmy Buffet in '06 and he did a solo that went from Ava Maria to Stairway to Heaven to the Desperation Samba into. When I sobered up a few days later and downloaded the audio from the concert I went "That's awesome, how in the hell did I miss that?"

Fox_MacGyver: Saw Jake Shimabukuro play with Jimmy Buffet in '06 and he did a solo that went from Ava Maria to Stairway to Heaven to the Desperation Samba into. When I sobered up a few days later and downloaded the audio from the concert I went "That's awesome, how in the hell did I miss that?"

link... download ? nething

here's a link to a jake shimabukuro recording that i made a few days ago if anyone would like to hear more!

http://www.archive.org/details/jakeshimabukuro2008-02-14.mbho.flac16