Jake Shimabukuro Master Of The Uke

Over the past two decades, Jake Shimabukuro has proved that there isn’t a style of music that he can’t play. While versatility for any musician is impressive, what’s remarkable about Jake’s transcendent skills is how he explores his seemingly limitless vocabulary — whether it’s jazz, rock, blues, bluegrass, folk or even classical — on perhaps the unlikeliest of instruments — the ukulele. Shimabukuro will perform at Suffolk Theater in Riverhead on Sunday, June 12, at 7 p.m.

Responding to the urgent calls of his fervent imagination, Shimabukuro has taken the ukulele to points previously thought impossible, and in the process he’s reinvented the applications for this tiny, heretofore under-appreciated four-string instrument, causing many to call him “the Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele.”

His journey has taken him from local phenom to YouTube sensation, from playing tiny clubs to headlining the world’s most prestigious concert venues like the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center and the Sydney Opera House. He’s performed on TV and has released a string of award-winning, chart-topping albums. Just recently, he was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as a member for the National Council on the Arts. It’s fair to say that Shimabukuro has picked up more than a few admirers — millions of them, actually — but it wasn’t until he began his latest album that he discovered how many of his fans were, in fact, his very own musical heroes.

This past November, the acclaimed Hawai’i-born ukulele player released “Jake & Friends,” his most creatively ambitious project to-date, featuring collaborations with a who’s who of music royalty, from Willie Nelson and Bette Midler to Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Loggins.

“I have to pinch myself when I see those names on my own album,” he says. “It’s like, ‘Did that really happen?’ Making the album was a real challenge, but I’m deeply honored that all of the artists agreed to record with me.”

Tickets for Jake Shimabukuro are $45 to $59 at SuffolkTheater.com. Suffolk Theater is at 118 East Main Street in Riverhead.