Olympia Concert Company Presents: JAKE SHIMABUKURO

SATURDAY MARCH 4, 2017
Olympia Concert Company Presents

JAKE SHIMABUKURO

6:30pm doors / 7:30pm show
$35 general / $30 members
Tickets are available online and at the box office.
Mezzanine Lounge Open (21+ w/ ID)

Ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro has taken the four-string, two-octave instrument to places no one could have imagined back in the golden years of Don Ho, ranging freely across the music spectrum from jazz, blues, and funk to bluegrass, classical, and folk with the ease of a musician fully in command of the possibilities of his chosen instrument. He has topped Billboard’s World Music Chart on numerous occasions, and has sold out prestigious venues and festivals such as the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center, Sydney Opera House, Bonnaroo and SXSW. He even played for Queen Elizabeth II in Blackpool, England. Shimabukuro’s busy touring schedule – 140 dates a year – is complemented by a rich and varied catalog of albums that capture the many moods of the uke. He travels to schools around the world spreading positive messages to young people, encouraging them to live drug free and find their passion – just as he did at age four when his mother gave him his first ukulele lesson. In the time since then, he has played a key role in the current revival of interest in the ukulele. “When I first started touring the mainland,” he recalls, “everybody would say, ‘Oh man, I didn’t know you could play that kind of music on that thing.’ But now there are so many iconic artists playing the ukulele, like Paul McCartney, Eddie Vedder, Jimmy Buffett, Dave Mathews and Taylor Swift. The popularity of the ukulele keeps growing every year. And I’m constantly discovering new sounds, styles and expressive possibilities.”