Few people have done for an instrument what Jake Shimabukuro has done for the ukulele. Hendrix did it for guitar, Jean-Luc did it for violin and Jaco certainly did it for the bass. They took their respective instrument and pushed it to its boundaries. They took the conventional sounds of their instrument and twisted it, breaking the expectations of the listener. However, unlike these other artists, Shimabukuro had the help of YouTube to gain exposure (See his version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps at Central Park if you want to see more). Of course, unlike these other artist Jake plays a ukulele, not exactly the most prominent instrument in popular music. Jake chats with Neal Cohen about playing the ukulele with soul and pushing it to its limits and plays a few tunes (including While My Guitar Gently Weeps)

It may seem very odd to hear that none of the members of the California Guitar Trio are actually from California, although they spent a good bit of time crafting their sound in Los Angeles. In fact, they met at a Robert Fripp guitar seminar in England. Paul Richards is from Salt Lake City, Bert Lams is from Belgium and Hideyo Moriya is from Japan. Being from different countries, they have been exposed to a wide array of influences and genres of music. The CGT is not scared to attack any of these genres, but always as a group. Instead of putting together a bunch of flashy licks that sounds like three soloists, they attempt to play as one guitarist in three bodies. In this session with Neal Cohen, they show their ability to do exactly that.

Big Mike Geier has made himself into an Atlanta institution. However, it’s hard to say what has done this. Perhaps it is his bi-annual Elvis Tribute Concerts (One for Elvis’ birthday and one for his Death day). Perhaps it is his burlesque troop Dames Aflame. Perhaps it is is his shows at great Atlanta locations like Trader Vic’s (where a Hawaiian tinged version of Styx or Journey awaits you). Even more likely, it may be Geier’s towering presence, charm and showmanship. Whatever it is, it is apparent in Geier’s visit with a stripped down version of his Kingsized band to the AM 1690 studios where he treats us to some of his renditions of Elvis Presley classics.

Adron made her exodus from the Atl up to Brooklyn a few years ago, but she still remains a native daughter to the city that embraced her. However, her sound is not even specifically Southern or Brooklyn. Her music creates an imaginary world around her, even if it is very inspired by Brazilian tropicalia sounds. This recording features the debut recording of her tune “Peripheral Spit,” the Caetano Veloso tune “Leaozhino” and “Timid Young Ones.”

It’s hard to believe listening to Beppe Gambetta’s guitar playing that he was born and raised in Genova, Italy. However, when you hear him speak and sing, his Italian roots come straight through. As a teenager, Gambetta was just a typical teen with a love for Led Zeppelin when someone introduced him to Doc Watson. His love for American roots music led him to playing like his heroes Doc Watson and Norman Blake. His mastery of flat-picking has taken him all around the world playing the music he loves. Everywhere that is except for Idaho and Alaska.