No. 47, Winter 2024

It’s always a treat to catch up with ukulele superstar Jake Shimabukuro. He is once again gracing the cover to share some behind the scenes stories about his new blues project; a collaboration with Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood.

Our special focus for this issue the baritone—we shine a spotlight on the biggest and most acoustically rich member of the ukulele family. This includes roundups of new and vintage instruments, a lesson from Sarah Maisel, a profile on Ginger Johnson of the Hula Honeys, plus two songs to play on your baritone: Benny Chong’s arrangement of “Chopsticks,” and Aaron Keim’s fingerstyle take on “Rock That Cradle Lucy.”

Elsewhere in the issue we feature Japanese jeweler-turned-luthier Yoshiro Naoki and his special instruments, a profile on the ukulele Renaissance man Dan Scanlan, a deep dive into the history of Waikiki uke merchants the Summers brothers, and a rewarding blues lesson from Daniel Ward.