As its title suggests, tranquility is a central element to “Calm Seas,” Jake Shimabukuro’s 15th solo studio outing. Recorded over six months throughout 2025 amidst a busy tour schedule, this collection is not just a solo presentation of the Hawaiian native’s ukulele skills; it showcases a creative communion with one of his longest-running collaborators—Mother Nature.
The process involved Shimabukuro recording ambient noises from some of his favorite locales, everywhere from various beaches and waterfalls to the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge. The seed for this project was planted by his manager, who felt the offhand riffing his client would instinctively do in myriad places, ranging from sound checks to the back of the tour bus, might provide fertile material for an entire album.
“I remember my manager saying when he’d hear me noodle around that it was really beautiful and it could be something people might want to hear,” Shimabukuro said in a late-February interview. “It’s not something I’d normally play at a show because it’s a different kind of playing. One of the things I love most, especially living in Hawaii, is going outside and playing at the beach or someplace like that. It’s kind of how I grew up, allowing the natural sounds of the islands to inspire songs or different ways of playing or feeling the music. We kind of brought that element in as well.”
He added, “We went to different places like some of my favorite shorelines, recording the waves and the sound of the ocean. It created this atmosphere that I’m used to hearing and playing to. The cool thing was that we recorded those sounds, brought them into the studio, and then I got to record and improvise to the sounds I was hearing. That was a really great experience for me, too, because I never really did anything like that before.
“Creatively, too, it opened up different avenues for me. The songs with nature, they’re not really songs, but really just capturing moods and moments. It wasn’t like, ‘After eight bars, we’ve got to get back to the chorus or hook.’ It was just about letting it breathe and go. When I was recording this album, some of those tracks were like 25 minutes long. You just get into this meditative state.”
Given the untraditional, soundscape nature of the album, the 49-year-old instrumentalist admits that incorporating the newer material presents a bit of a challenge for his concerts.
“I would like to incorporate elements of this project into the live shows,” Shimabukuro said. “To be honest, I don’t really know how yet. I’m still trying to figure it out. I love the way some of the songs start off, especially some of the nature ones with the sounds of the Hakalau or the waves. It’s really tranquil. Aside from that one track that has electric bass on it with some really low droning sound, (everything) else is the ukulele, so it’s really neat for people to hear all the different sounds that come out of that instrument.
“Even the song, ‘Beneath the Waves,’ that one with the volume swells, it almost sounds like the song of the whale. Some of my favorite guitar players do those volume swells, which I always thought were so cool. Or with the Hawaiian lap steel, they would use a volume pedal and get those amazing swells.”
Shimabukuro’s love affair with the ukulele began when he was three years old, when he encountered his mother, who was also his first teacher, playing her own instrument. The following year, she allowed Shimabukuro to hold her cherished Kamaka ukulele. This memory remains crystal clear for him decades later.
“I vividly remember her putting it in my hands,” Shimabukuro recalled. “We had this small apartment, and I sat on the living room floor. She had me sit down because she didn’t want me to drop it. She put it in my lap and taught me my first chord. I can still see myself holding the ukulele, running my fingers down the strings, and making that first sound. I was hooked. That was my first moment actually playing the instrument. Something really resonated with me, and it’s been my passion ever since.”
*Jake Shimabukuro plays The Guild Theatre, in Menlo Park, on June 12th.
