Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro has teamed with Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood for the new album Blues Experience, and he tells ABC Audio he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to embrace the blues with the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.
“You know, he’s one of my favorite drummers,” Jake says. “He kind of just pioneered that style,” noting that early Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green was a blues band. He adds, “I mean, who better to kind of explore this genre of music than with him?”
Jake shares that recording the album with Mick “was just a blast,” describing it as “so inspiring to play” with him.
“He’s just got this incredible, like, intensity and you know, he’s so present when he plays,” Jake says. “He’s just always listening and he’s watching you and elevates everyone around him.”
“He just looks at you and somehow, telepathically, you just kind of know what to do,” he adds.
The album features covers of tunes like Procol Harum’s “Whiter Shade of Pale,” Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World,” and more. The last song on the album is a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird,” which was recorded as a tribute to its songwriter, the late Christine McVie.
Jake calls their version of the tune “a beautiful tribute” to McVie and says when they were recording it, Mick got lost in the song.
“At the end, I remember, like, we all kind of faded out and Mick just kept the drums going,” he said. “And then he opened his eyes and he told us that he felt Christine’s presence with us in the studio.”
Blues Experience will be released Friday. It is available for preorder now.
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