Mick Fleetwood is releasing a blues album with “the Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele”, Jake Shimabukuro.
Fleetwood Mac legend Mick Fleetwood has teamed up with renowned ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro to record a blues album titled “Blues Experience.” Set to be released on October 18 via Forty Below Records, the album is heralded by the duo’s rendition of the delta blues classic “Rollin’ N Tumblin’,” a song popularized by iconic artists such as Muddy Waters, Cream, and RL Burnside.
“Jake and I had a full let-it-all-go moment on this one!” says Fleetwood. “Jake let his hair down. A blues standard being given a wake-up call!”
“Mick’s energy when he plays is so infectious,” adds Shimabukuro. “He’s such an intense musician. He pushes everyone around him, and it’s inspiring to see his facial expressions and watch his movement and the way he hits the drums.”
Shimabukuro, often referred to as “the Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele,” first crossed paths with Fleetwood at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards (Hawaiian Music Awards) in the late 1990s. He has collaborated with an impressive roster of artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Bela Fleck and The Flecktones, Jimmy Buffett, Jack Johnson, Bette Midler, Ziggy Marley, Sonny Landreth, Billy Strings, Lukas & Willie Nelson, and Warren Haynes.
Other tracks recorded for the album feature covers of Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” and a rendition of Christine McVie’s classic “Songbird”.
“I remember Mick took a moment of silence after the song ended and you could see that he felt Christine’s presence,” says Shimabukuro. “I felt so fortunate to be able to experience that with Mick. It was very powerful to see the effect it had on him”.
Mick Fleetwood and Jake Shimabukuro: Blues Experience tracklist
1 Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers
2 Rollin’ N Tumblin’
3 Need Your Love So Bad
4 Kula Blues
5 Whiter Shade of Pale
6 I Wanna Get Funky
7 Still Got The Blues
8 Rockin’ In The Free World
9 Songbird
10 Songbird (Mick spoken word)
