You toured with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. What was that like?
Oh man, it was so tough learning their tunes because they were so complicated. I had to have cheat sheets on the floor because a lot of the chord progressions were so complicated I couldn’t memorize them. A lot of the tunes were polyrhythmic, with time signatures in fives and sevens. They would position me between Bela and (bassist) Victor Wooten – and that’s the scariest place you want to be. They’d trade solos, and I had to solo between those two. It was one of the most inspiring things of my life. And just listening to them talk about music was inspiring. Q: You also played with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band for a few years. A: Yeah, I still do occasionally. The last show I did with him was the Newport Folk Festival last summer. I don’t ever think I’ll get used to playing in front of that many people. His average concert is like 30,000 people. It’s insane. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: 3 and 7 p.m. today. $5-$15 family matinee; $20-$50 evening show. Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 L
