Jake Shimabukuro - Travels (2015)

Globetrotting ukulele star Jake Shimabukuro continues to display his mastery of the instrument with Travels, his first studio LP since 2012's unlikely Alan Parsons/Kip Winger collaboration, Grand Ukulele. Where that album rolled and swelled with lush orchestrations, Travels offers a wider variety of Shimabukuro's different musical styles. A mix of thoughtful, classically minded original pieces, warm-hearted island tunes from his native Hawaii, and the oddball pop covers that initially launched him into the YouTube-assisted international spotlight, Travels eschews dramatic orchestrations in favor of a tight rhythm section on many of its tracks. As entertaining as it is to hear him pick his way through War's funky "Low Rider" (complete with vocals) or the Jackson 5 ballad "I'll Be There," Shimabukuro is still at his best nimbly working his way through more subtle fare like the gentle island favorite "Hi'ilawe," the three-part "Departure Suite," and the two dreamy "Interlude" numbers.

Tracklist:

01. Departure Suite - part I
02. Train Ride
03. Low Rider
04. Travels
05. Interlude 1
06. Passport
07. Hi'ilawe
08. Everything Is Better With You
09. Departure Suite, Pt. II & III
10. Oama
11. I'll Be There
12. Haven't We Been Here Before?
13. Interlude 2
14. Kawika
15. Red-Eye
16. Ichigo Ichie
17. Dinner & a Move