If the word ukulele brings to mind a luau or Don Ho, Hawaiian native Jake Shimabukuro will soon change that. According to music critics, he is a master of playing the ukulele. He is also a master at making you forget that's what he's playing. Shimabukuro (pronounced She-ma-boo-koo-row) uses his small instrument to play jazz, blues, funk, classical, bluegrass and rock.

Shimabukuro will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Rogue Theatre, 143 S.E. H St., Grants Pass.

He delights in breaking the stereotypical notion that the ukulele is capable only of tropical melodies. He doesn't cite Don Ho as one of his influences. Instead he lists Pat Metheny, Carlos Santana, Bela Fleck, Eddie Van Halen and George Harrison. Shimabukuro pays tribute to Harrison, who wrote "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," in his most recent solo CD, "Gently Weeps." The work is signed under his own record label, Hitch Hike Records, but is produced by Mac McAnally, lead guitarist from Jimmy Buffet's Coral Reefer Band.

On his Web site he describes his sound as "acoustic folk-jazz infused with classical-rock riffs and a lot of soul."

Shimabukuro, 30, began playing traditional Hawaiian music on the ukulele with his mother when he was just 5 years old. Twenty-five years of practicing and experience has expanded his repertoire — and paid off.

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"There's a lot of different sounds that you can really get from the instrument," he told National Public Radio in an interview. Indeed, when he plays his "uke" it sounds like an electric guitar, or like an entire band is accompanying him.

Many wonder why he would put so much effort and so many years of practice into such an overlooked instrument. Shimabukuro responds to this on his Web site, saying the ukulele is an "untapped source of music with unlimited potential." It is that potential that has helped him push the boundaries of the ukulele.

"To say that Shimabukuro plays the ukulele is like saying that Tiger Woods plays a little golf," said Joe O'Gara of Nuvo Newsweekly in Indianapolis.

Shimabukuro has been popular in his native Hawaii and in Japan for several years, but thanks to YouTube, a Web site that broadcasts videos, his career has been catapulted into the U.S. There have been more than a million viewings of his broadcast performances within the last year. His rendition of "My Guitar Gently Weeps" is one of the top-rated musical videos of all time on the Web site, beating out millions of others. One viewer commented that the musician "is the Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix of the Uke."

Recently, Shimabukuro toured with Buffet, recorded with Ziggy Marley, contributed to the soundtrack of the movie "Hoot," performed on NBC-TV's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and is set to perform as a guest musician on "Last Call" with Carson Daly on Feb. 15.

He was also commissioned by the independent Japanese film company Cine Quanon to compose the score for its new movie "Hula Girl," which was featured in the 2006 Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival.

For a teaser, visit youtube.com. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. They are available at roguetheatre.com, Larry's Music in Medford and Grants Pass, and at The Music Coop and CD or Not CD in Ashland.

Call 471-1316.