1. Jake Shimabukuro was born on November 3,1976 and is a ukulele virtuoso and composer from Hawaii known for his fast and complex finger work.
22 Facts About Jake Shimabukuro
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Jake Shimabukuro's music combines elements of jazz, blues, funk, rock, bluegrass, classical, folk, and flamenco.
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Jake Shimabukuro was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, a fifth-generation descendant of Japanese and Okinawans who immigrated to Hawaii.
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Jake Shimabukuro's mother gave him a ukulele at age four and he quickly took an interest in the instrument, playing it many hours a day.
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Jake Shimabukuro initially gained attention in Hawaii in 1998 as a member of Pure Heart, a trio with Lopaka Colon and Jon Yamasato.
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Jake Shimabukuro was working at a music store in Honolulu when the group released its eponymous first album, which won them four Na Hoku Hanohano Awards from the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts: Island Contemporary Album of the Year, Most Promising Artist, Album of the Year, and Favorite Entertainment of the Year, the latter determined by unrestricted public vote.
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Jake Shimabukuro decided to pursue a solo career as Colon disbanded in early 2002.
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Jake Shimabukuro has released numerous Japan-only CDs: Skyline, Haruyo Koi, Yeah, Ichigo Ichie, Annon, The Music of Sideways, Across the Universe, Aloha To You, Ukulele X: 10th Anniversary Collection, Ukulele Disney.
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In 2008, a 120-page biographical photo-book on Jake Shimabukuro was published in Japan.
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Between 2002 and 2005, Jake Shimabukuro released four US albums as a solo performer: Sunday Morning, Crosscurrent, Walking Down Rainhill, and Dragon.
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The video performance resulted in a huge increase in concert engagements, and Jake Shimabukuro received collaboration requests from notable musicians including Jimmy Buffett, Bela Fleck, Ziggy Marley, Cyndi Lauper, Keali'i Reichel, and Yo-Yo Ma.
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Jake Shimabukuro began receiving many invitations to perform on major US talk shows and other well-known media ventures, and began touring worldwide eight or nine months a year.
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Jake Shimabukuro released his fifth US album, Gently Weeps, in September 2006.
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In 2009, Jake Shimabukuro released his concert CD, Live, which captures him in performance at various venues around the world: New York, Chicago, Japan, and Hawaii.
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Jake Shimabukuro created an original piece "Ukulele Five-O" as part of the soundtrack for the new Hawaii Five-0 television series.
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Jake Shimabukuro capped off 2011 with several live performances on the New Year's Eve episode of A Prairie Home Companion, broadcast live from Hawaii.
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On February 14,2020, Jake Shimabukuro released his album Trio through Music Theories Recordings, which landed at No 1 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
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On June 23,2021, Jake Shimabukuro was nominated by president Joe Biden to be a Member of the National Council on the Arts.
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Jake Shimabukuro was featured on the January 15,2012, episode of CNN's The Next List.
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Jake Shimabukuro plays a custom-made 4 string tenor ukulele from Kamaka Ukulele.
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Jake Shimabukuro was for many years the key spokesperson and then director of the Music Is Good Medicine non-profit organization.
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Jake Shimabukuro has done several performances in tsunami-devastated Sendai, Japan, in order to bring peace and respite to the distraught and newly homeless residents' lives.