you-koo-lay-lay

last friday, my band jebus had a gig at mambo italiano at 10 pm. a couple hours before that, jenn and i went to see jake shimabukuro at the strings in the mountains tent. this dude is quickly becoming the bela fleck of the ukulele - complete and astounding mastery of his instrument, and he borrows from an incredible array of music styles and disciplines. just an amazing musician.

well, a couple hours after his concert, when we were almost done with our first set, jake showed up at mambo carrying his ukulele. you know in movies, when something dramatic happens in a room full of people and there's that low murmuring as people talk to each other about what just happened - that's what it was like when jake showed up. all the folks at mambo who knew who he was were telling folks who didn't know who he was, pointing at him, etc.

we asked him to play two songs with us early in our second set, and he obliged us. he was gracious, polite, all smiles, and we had a hell of a lot of fun. you'd think being as talented as he is that he wouldn't want to bother with a bunch of dudes in some small little mountain town, but it was quite the opposite - he took time out to make us sound pretty incredible that night. we were all absolutely thrilled, and it was definitely the highlight of my short musical career.

link o' the day:

watch jake play a ridiculously cool version of the beatles' while my guitar gently weeps (make sure you pay attention from around minute 3 on - wow).