Jake Shimabukuro and his uke. Credit: Courtesy of the Kent Stage
Kent Stage has just announced that ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro will perform at the venue on Oct. 10.

Since he raised eyebrows with his deeply beautiful and original take on George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” the Hawaiian-born Shimabukuro has virtually reinvented the four-string instrument.

“I just wanted to play the ukulele my way, which turns out to be very different from what everybody else has done,” says Shimabukuro, who started playing the instrument at the age of 4, in a press release. “Most people just strummed the ukulele, but I started playing melodies, and a new world opened up – I was singing through the ukulele.”

Tickets to the Jake Shimabukuro concert at the Kent Stage go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday.

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This article appears in Aug 25 – Sep 7, 2021.

Jeff has been covering the Cleveland music scene for more than 25 years now. On a regular basis, he tries to talk to whatever big acts are coming through town. And if you're in a local band that he needs to hear, email him at jniesel@clevescene.com.