Over the past two decades, Jake Shimabukuro has proved that there isn’t a style of music that he can’t play. While versatility for any musician is impressive, what’s remarkable about Shimabukuro’s transcendent skills is how he explores his seemingly limitless vocabulary – whether it’s jazz, rock, blues, bluegrass, folk or even classical – on perhaps the unlikeliest of instruments: the ‘ukulele. Responding to the urgent calls of his fervent imagination, the Hawai’i-born virtuoso has taken the ‘ukulele to points previously thought impossible, and in the process he’s reinvented the applications for this tiny, heretofore underappreciated four-string instrument, causing many to call him “the Jimi Hendrix of the ‘ukulele.”



Jake & Friends isn’t the first album on which celebrated guests appear with the main performer, but in terms of size and scope, and considering the sheer number of legendary stars who graciously loaned their inimitable talents, it can only be compared to benchmark duets albums by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, and it’s a shining testament to just how far the singularly gifted Shimabukuro has come.

Willie Nelson, Bette Midler, Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Vince Gill and Amy Grant, Jon Anderson, Ziggy Marley, Moon Taxi, Warren Haynes, Jack Johnson, Jesse Colin Young, Ray Benson & Asleep at the Wheel, Sonny Landreth, Lukas Nelson, Billy Strings – Shimabukuro’s own head spins when looking over his high-wattage guest list.



Creatively, Jake & Friends is Shimabukuro’s most ambitious project to date, and the two years-plus that went into it were an immense logistical undertaking. During pre-Covid times, tracks were recorded in Maui, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Nashville, Austin and other U.S. cities, depending on guest artists’ touring schedules, and there were even a few cuts recorded remotely during lockdown.



1 A Place In The Sun - feat. Jack Johnson/Paula Fuga

2 Sonny Days Ahead - feat. Sonny Landreth

3 All You Need Is Love - feat. Ziggy Marley

4 Why Not - feat. Kenny Loggins

5 Smokin' Strings - feat. Billy Strings

6 Find Yourself - feat. Lukas Nelson

7 On The Road To Freedom - feat. Warren Haynes

8 Come Monday - feat. Jimmy Buffett

9 Something - feat. Vince Gill and Amy Grant

10 Two High - feat. Moon Taxi

11 A Day In The Life - feat. Jon Anderson

12 Go Now - feat. Michael McDonald

13 Wrapping Paper - feat. Ray Benson & Asleep At The Wheel

14 Stardust - feat. Willie Nelson

15 The Rose - feat. Bette Midler

16 Get Together - feat. Jesse Colin Young