Jake Shimabukuro, Gently Weeps - 57m 25s

Tracks & Durations

1. While My Guitar Gently Weeps	4:07
2. Ave Maria	3:02
3. Wish On My Star	3:49
4. Sakura	2:56
5. The Star-Spangled Banner	2:12
6. Let's Dance	2:46
7. Misty	3:38
8. Spain	2:53
9. Heartbeat/Dragon	4:00
10. Blue Roses Falling	3:40
11. Grandma's Groove	2:11
12. Breathe	3:43
13. Angel	4:03
14. Lazy Jane	3:57
15. Hula Girl (The Movie "Hula Girl" Theme Song)	3:44
16. Break")	3:03
17. Rl")	3:31

Note: The information about this album is acquired from the publicly available resources and we are not responsible for their accuracy.

Review

You'll forget all the Tiny Tim, Don Ho, and Hawaiian-music jokes about the ukulele when you hear Gently Weeps, which leaves behind the Roaring Twenties strum and plinky-dink sound of most such music. Jake Shimabukuro sets the tone with the lead-off track from which he takes the album's title, George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," unfolding the vulnerable undertow of Harrison's epic lament. A string of covers follows, as Shimabukuro touches the serene with Schubert's "Ave Maria," evokes a Japanese koto on a Zen-like version of "Sakura," and turns "The Star-Spangled Banner" into a lament. But Shimabukuro's original tunes are just as full of plucked nuance, especially "Heartbeat Dragon," where he uses a slight delay to create a quietly joyful Celtic air. However, don't think it's all wistful melancholy. Shimabukuro whips it out on original tracks like "Let's Dance," alternating hard rhythmic chops with flamenco-like strums. His take on Erroll Garner's "Misty" is a little jive, though I'm sure the hot jazz middle-section pumps the crowds up. Chick Corea's "Spain" fares much better and still scores high on the flash quotient. You just can't keep a fret-burner down, even when his fretboard is toy-sized. You can't keep the Hawaiian out either. Its gentle sway turns up on the sweetly laconic "Angel." A few bonus tracks of generic fusion at the end detract from the solo purity and intimate mood that Shimabukuro creates, but Gently Weeps is a joy until then. --John Diliberto

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