Ukulele master wows Saipan

Appearing in a gray AC/DC shirt and faded jeans, ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro awed his Saipan audience of over 200, leaving them utterly mesmerized by his avant-garde musical prowess Saturday night.

Shimabukuro, 28, performed at the 20th anniversary of the Hotel Association of the Northern Marianas held at World Resort Hotel’s Diamond Hall.

“Awesome!” “Great!” “Amazing!” were the words that the audience—adult and children alike—could utter during and after the two-hour dinner concert.

With lightning fast fingers, Shimabukuro played his electric ukelele in a repertoire of jazz, blues, funk, classical, bluegrass, folk, flamenco, and rock.

“I began playing ukulele when I was four years old. Through this, I’ve met a lot of wonderful people like you,” he told his audience.

He said the musical instrument “is very magical, very friendly” that when one hears its sound, “ you can’t help but smile.”

Shimabukuro, a Japanese-American based in Hawaii, began performing at local cafés in Hawaii.

With his exceptional musical talents, it was no wonder that he got an international following.

Last year, he performed at Fuji Rock Festival in Japan with fellow musicians for a crowd of about 35,000 people.

In the mainland U.S., he had performed with Jimmy Buffett in venues like the House of Blues on Los Angeles, Calif., and B.B. King’s Nightclub in New York City.

“You inspired me,” 16-year-old James Quibat of Marianas High School told Shimabukuro after the concert.

The ukelele virtuoso granted full access to his fans, especially the students, who sat at the bottom of the stage during the entire concert to be near him.

Twelve-year-old Shin Kimura said he was very happy to learn that his musical idol would visit Saipan.

“I have all his CDs. I love listening to him. I also play ukulele,” he said.

He said he has Shimabukuro’s latest CD, titled Dragon, which is yet to be launched in October.

“I enjoyed the concert. It’s amazing,” said 14-year-old Rezne Wong.

Wong had his newly bought rubber shoes signed by Shimabukuro.

Meantime, the HANMI event featured a first-of-its-kind culinary delight: an eight-course dinner prepared by six executive chefs from Saipan’s resort hotels.

They are chefs Robert Stern of Pacific Islands Club, James Birk of World Resort, David Spitzer of Dai-ichi Hotel Saipan Beach, Christopher Adams of Saipan Grand Hotel, Hubert Friedle of Aqua Resort, and Gabriele Colombo of Hyatt Regency Saipan.

All the chefs brought along their own staff to serve the guests.

PIC made the cold seafood appetizer, Saipan World Resort, prepared the hot appetizer, while Saipan Grand Hotel took care of the salad.

Dai-ichi was in charge of the soup and sorbet, ARC prepared the main course, and Hyatt offered the dessert.

HANMI chairwoman Lynn A. Knight said she was extremely delighted about the outcome.

“It’s amazing. I truly appreciate everybody’s cooperation to make this a successful one,” she said.

HANMI is a non-profit organization that was formed in 1985 to provide a forum for the sharing of ideas and common issues for the CNMI’s hotel industry.