With a Lot of Help

Uke superstar Jake Shimabukuro teams up with Warren Haynes, Sonny Landreth, Willie Nelson, Jack Johnson, Vince Gill, Billy Strings and others on Jake & Friends.

- By Jimmy Lesile. Photography by Sienna Morales

As the modern ukulele craze rages on, with major manufacturers offering more models than ever, its explosive origin can be traced back to a Hawaiian maestro who remains the instrument’s most recognizable face and primary ambassador. Jake Shimabukuro has been the preeminent four-stringer on the planet since the millennium flip, and his luminous light has brought tons of attention to the ukulele, not only from aspiring four-stringers but also from oodles of six-stringers looking to rock some uke on the side. Heavenly artists from across the musical universe respect Shimabukuro, and an astronomical collection collaborated with him on Jake & Friends (Mascot).

Guitarists share a lot in common with ukulele players, but real collaborations between true stars from the two camps are few and far between. One might encounter an acoustic duo on occasion, but a uke and electric guitar combo is seldom seen, and during the course of the following conversation neither this editor nor Shimabukuro himself could readily cite a previous instance featuring a bottleneck slide player. Jake & Friends includes a pair of epic tracks featuring slide icons Sonny Landreth and Warren Haynes. “Sonny Days Ahead” is a dynamic original composition where Landreth and Shimabukuro soar through a slew of twists and turns spanning more than eight minutes. The track with Haynes on guitar and vocals is a reworking of Alvin Lee’s “On the Road to Freedom,” and the interplay that develops throughout its expansive 13 minutes over a shuffling drum and bass groove is the kind of cosmic jam rarely achieved in a studio setting.