Art Briefs
June 24, 2005
Ukulele Star Wows Japan and Buffett
TOKYO –– Hawai‘i musician Jake Shimabukuro has the highest debuting instrumental album ever in Japan. But forget the guitars and pianos. He did it with a ukulele.
His new CD, Dragon, opened at No. 15 on the Japanese album charts. The CD will be released in America on Aug. 2.
“We’ve been very surprised,” said Shimabukuro, in Japan on a promotional tour. “Instrumental albums are very tough. And this is the ukulele, which is even harder to market.”
A more rock-oriented collection than Shimabukuro’s earlier, softer-sounding albums, is expected to sell 100,000 in Japan alone, according to Sony, Shimabukuro’s label.
BRISTOW, Va. –– Jake Shimabukuro is kicking off a 20-state U.S. tour –– joining singer Jimmy Buffett for several concerts –– that will take him from Calif. to the East Coast.
“I can’t wait until Jake walks out onstage and sees 26,000 screaming people,” Buffett told the Honolulu Star Bulletin.
“I don’t think Jake has a large mainland fan base because he hasn’t had a lot of exposure over here; I can help with that. My band and I are really at a peak and get so much media attention, so Jake will get some benefit from that.”
He predicts that Nashville will “go nuts” over the ukulele player’s style and energy.
Hawai‘i Artist Sato Dies at 82
WAILUKU, Hawaii –– Tadashi Sato, a Hawai‘i artist who designed the circular mosaic on the floor of the state Capitol courtyard, died from complications due to cancer. He was 82.
A fisherman who enjoyed being close to the ocean, Sato was among the group of Japanese American veterans who became successful artists after World War II.
Many of his abstract expressionist paintings captured the ethereal, unifying and reflective quality of water.
Sato was born in Maui on Feb. 6, 1923 to a Lahaina candy store owner. He was the grandson of a sumi painter in Japan.
Sato got his break in New York, where he worked as a security guard at the Museum of Modern Art, when actors Charles Laughton and Burgess Meredith, and a Broadway producer visited his apartment to see his works.
“No one else painted the way he did, and probably no one will,” said artist Satoru Abe.
Sato is also survived by two sisters and his daughter, Janice Shimamura.
LGBTQ Art Show
EVENT: Smoke, Lilies & Jade
INTERESTING: Coon Lam, Ajuan Mance, Taro Musushio, Li Yu, Mokhtar Paki and others in this exhibition of art from LGBTQ communities.
DETAILS: Through June 30. WCRC Gallery, 5741 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, Calif. (510) 601-4040 ext. 111, www.wcrc.org.
Play-Doh with Legs
EVENT: Walking clay figurative sculpture
BACKGROUND: Gallery Pahk showcases Asian-inspired artworks.
INTERESTING: In collaboration with Loveed Fine Arts and Dai Ichi Arts, a group of Japanese artists will present their artworks at Gallery Pahk.
DETAILS: Through July 2, Gallery Pahk, 988 Madison Ave. (at 77th St.), New York, (212) 861-3303.
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