Ukulele Master Jake Shimabukuro Brings Aloha Spirit to The Suffolk

Jake Shimabukuro is from Hawaii, and like many inhabitants of the 50th state, he grew up playing the ukulele. But unlike the vast majority of ukulele players, Shimabukuro is able to do things on the instrument that most people would think is virtually impossible.

While traditional Hawaiian melodies are definitely part of his repertoire, with four strings and a seemingly bottomless well of talent from which to tap into, Shimabukuro has really built his musical reputation by performing intricate versions of popular songs. Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” among them.

When asked if his musical influences growing up leaned more toward traditional Hawaiian tunes or popular rock music from the 1960s and 1970s, Shimabukuro, who will perform at Riverhead’s Suffolk Theater on Sunday, October 8, responds: “It was a little of both. My mom was my first ukulele teacher and when I was four, she started teaching me basic chords.

“I grew up listening to traditional music, then when I was older, I was introduced to the Beatles and rock and roll,” he explained. “My parents loved a variety of music and always had recordings of different styles of music. No one explained to me, ‘This is jazz, this is rock and roll.’ I just listened to it all and there were certain songs that really grabbed me. It wasn’t the genre, it was more the melody or some cool chords.”

And as he grew as a musician, Shimabukuro was drawn to increasingly complex melodies and he worked hard to discover how they might be translated to the ukulele.

“As I got older, there were certain songs I liked,” he continued. “I wondered how that would work on the ukulele. It was always like a puzzle, problem solving. That was the fun part. I loved the different challenges of getting different sounds that you wouldn’t think are possible.

“Every song has its own challenges. In a blues shuffle, you’re trying to feel that whole shuffle groove,” he said. “It’s a foreign language. Same thing is true of traditional Hawaiian music, there’s a certain groove, you have to grow up with it.”

As part of his current East Coast tour, Shimabukuro, who lives in Honolulu, comes to The Suffolk this weekend a little more than a year after his last concert on the Riverhead stage. This time around, Shimabukuro will be performing alongside bass player Jackson Waldhoff and guitarist and singer Connor Johnson, and a portion of the proceeds from the show will benefit Hawai’i Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund, which provides financial resources to the people and places affected by the devastating Maui wildfires of August 8.

“I have a lot of friends on Maui. It was really shocking when all that happened. I knew a lot of people who lost their homes. It’s still hard to imagine,” said Shimabukuro, who co-produced the inaugural Hana Hou Music Festival in Honolulu on September 8 and 9. Like the upcoming Suffolk Theater show, the event raised funds for the Maui Strong Fund and the purpose of the festival was to bring together artists from the pop, jazz, world and Hawaiian music genres to help Maui recover and rebuild through music.

“The festival was already in the works when the fires happened, then we pivoted to make it a fundraiser,” explained Shimabukuro, who performed at the festival along with several other musicians, including Mick Fleetwood (of Fleetwood Mac fame) who lost his Lahaina restaurant to the fire. “It was a really special event. The whole community came together. It was a healing thing. It was beautiful to see the artists come together.”

For Shimabukuro, what also made the event special was that it was his first time in a producing role at a festival.

“Usually, I’m just someone who comes and plays and leaves. It was really special to be able to be part of things behind the scenes,” he explained. “Obviously, I had tons of help and wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own. It was wonderful to have everyone’s support. Then once we pivoted to the fundraiser, it was great. The money is still coming in. Mick Fleetwood’s been a strong voice for the effort.

“It will be a long road to recovery,” he added. “I think as much as possible whenever we can, we’ll keep supporting the effort as things unfold.”

Neighbors helping neighbors is not unusual in Hawaii, which is a very tight-knit place where friends and family support one another any way they can. Music is an important part of life there and it goes a long way toward solidifying that connection.

“Music is such a big part of the culture here. Growing up, we all took part in those jam sessions and have been to parties where everyone would make a big circle and play,” Shimabukuro said. “It was part of bringing everyone together. I think in a lot of cultures, there are very similar practices, whether it’s drum circles or something similar. Those were the moments where I probably learned the most. Watching the more seasoned musicians playing, you watch their fingers, and if you’re lucky, they’d sit down and show you what to do.

“Herb Ohta — Ohta-san — is one of my ukulele heroes. I watched him play live and was introduced to him,” recalled Shimabukuro. “Somebody told him, ‘This is Jake, he plays ukulele and is a big fan.’ In the second half of the show, he invited me on stage and let me sit on a chair next to him so I could watch his hands and see what he was doing.

“I was 12 or 13, it was like one of my greatest memories,” he added. “It’s like Jeff Beck or Jimi Hendrix inviting you up on stage.”

Mentorship has long been an important aspect of Shimabukuro’s career, and among the many important musical role models he’s had in his life was the late, great Jimmy Buffett, who died at his Sag Harbor home on September 1.

“I toured on and off with him for five or six years, beginning in 2005, and he really took me under his wing when I first started touring,” said Shimabukuro. “It’s hard to believe he’s gone. I was very lucky to be introduced to him early on and have him help me.”

Buffett and Shimabukuro teamed up to record a version of Buffett’s song “Come Monday” for Jake and Friends, Shimabukuro’s 2021 album. Other guests artists on that album included Ziggy Marley, Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Bette Midler, Jesse Colin Young and Kenny Loggins.

“I think mentorship is so important. Talk about mentors — Jimmy Buffett was huge for me, another band Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, they took me out on the road with them. There have been so many great musicians who have mentored me, I’ve been fortunate.

“‘Grateful,’ my latest record, is all the Hawaiian-based musicians who influenced me, including a handful who are much younger than me,” he said. “There are a lot of generations represented on this album, I think it’s wonderful. We always have to think about the next generation and be supportive, and help to encourage the interest.

“I’m just so blown away by so many of these young musicians who are also brilliant songwriters. I’ve been a huge fan, and having them all on one project is really great.”

Jake Shimabukuro performs on Sunday, October 8, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $49 to $69 at thesuffolk.org. Suffolk Theater is at 118 East Main Street, Riverhead.