The Greatest Day

There's never been any doubt that Jake Shimabukuro is a remarkable ukulele player. From his early success in Hawaii with the group Pure Heart, to the international reaction to his viral 2006 YouTube reworking of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ and his many concert appearances ever since, he's been rightly hailed as a virtuosic live performer.

Shimabukuro's studio recordings have always been a mixed bag of his own originals and other occasionally interesting covers. But that formula is getting tired, and unfortunately this latest collection is disappointing on most levels. Firstly, many of the cover versions - from The Zombies' opening ‘Time of the Season’ to Ed Sheeran's ‘Shape of You’ and even Leonard Cohen's often-covered ‘Hallelujah’ - are blandly uninspired and dangerously close to muzak. The Beatles' ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and Hendrix's ‘If 6 Was 9’ have more energy, but are largely predictable band jams. Shimabukuro's original melodies fare a bit better, but not by much. Sadly there are no overtly Hawaiian tunes.

The album's saving grace is the inclusion of three ‘bonus live’ tracks, tacked onto the end - Bill Withers' ‘Use Me’, Shimabukuro's own ‘Dragon’ and a spirited version of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. But it's just not enough.