In 2017 I was lucky enough to be invited by Van Fletcher, Jake’s manager to his house in Nashville to listen to the latest mixes of the new Jake album. Interviewed Jake in the UK in 2016 and we had a fascinating discussion about music and it was clear to me that he has a great love of all kinds of music. Of course Jake is well known for his brilliant Queen and Beatles covers and I had his excellent Nashville album. Now he has released The Greatest Day and its excellent.
The new album is a brilliant choice of material with some fantastic guest musicians, including Jerry Douglas who is on three tracks – If 6 Was 9, Eleanor Rigby and Go For Broke
Jake commented
“It was such an honor to have Jerry guest on the record” He was only going to play on one tune, but we had such a great time that he stayed and played on two more tracks.”
You can preorder online here
Here is the tracklisting
1. Time of the Season
2. The Greatest Day
3. Eleanor Rigby
4. Pangram
5. Bizarre Love Triangle
6. Straight A’s
7. If 6 Was 9
8. Shape of You
9. Go For Broke
10. Little Echoes
11. Mahalo John Wayne
12. Hallelujah
I have long maintained that the ukulele is a terrific instrument, but often many (not all) ukulele players don’t explore more of its real potential. This album is a brilliant example of pushing the sonic boundaries and raises the bar for all ukulele players, but then Jake is far from just a ukulele virtuoso. In my opinion he is a superb musician who just happens to play the ukulele.
The album has a diverse range of material and kicks off with the great Zombies song “Time of the season” which has a fantastic melodic hook. The production is excellent on this track and throughout the album. The rhythm part reminds me of something Michael Jackson might arrange, a really great driving beat. The Greatest Day is a Jake composition and swings wonderfully with Jake’s part soaring in the mix. There’s also a great use of effects on the uke, which I’m not usually in favor of, but here it works really well. As with all the other tracks on the album, there is a real consideration to sonic dynamics which is essential especially for instrumental work. Few artists truly pull this off.
The title track “The Greatest Day” follows and here’s Jake talking about it
I know Jake has a love of Beatles music and Eleanor Rigby is really well arranged and sounds great especially with Jerry Douglas. I’ll kill to see Jake and Jerry play live as they work brilliantly together. “If six was nine” is where Jake takes this album to a whole new level. The playing is superb and I suspect Jimi would have approved.
The challenge for uke players in playing guitar classics is to do something new. Otherwise why not just play the guitar? On this version, there’s, a great arrangement and this could sit comfortably on “Electric Ladyland” which from me is the ultimate compliment. Jake’s playing throughout is wonderfully fluid with a lot of dynamics. He’s been described as “the Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele”, but I think of him more as “The Eric Johnson of the uke” Both musicians are world class and have a very distinctive sound.
“Straight As’ is an original composition by Jake and has a great feel. Its good to see Jake writing his own original material and continuing to explore new sound combinations.
The album concludes with Hallelujah another great cover of a classic song. Those who know me, know that generally, I favor original material, but Jake is a rare individual who has the talent and creativity to bring something entirely new to such great tunes. He literally set the world alight with “While my guitar gently weeps” and I was blown away by Bohemian Rhasphody on his Ted talk. The Greatest Day will in my view continue to showcase the magic of the tiny uke to a much wider public, which is most welcome. He’s also on a trajectory for exploring new territory and that is always the sign of a smart musician.
Clearly, a great deal of time and care has gone into this recording and it shows in the result. Jake is touring extensively in the USA and Asia and audiences are in for a treat.