The night of acoustic perfection that Atwood Concert Hall was designed for arrived when Jake Shimabukuro took the stage for a matinee on Sunday. Performing to a near-capacity crowd, the Hawaiian born ukulele master greeted the audience warmly with an "Aloha" and thanked them for the Redoubt volcano fireworks that made him feel right at home.

Precariously perched atop a bar room stool, Shimabukuro blazed into a self-penned flamenco epic, "Let's Dance," dedicated to the late guitarist Carlos Montoya. Using the rasgado -- or the technique of raking the strings independently with each finger -- he strummed and tapped at light speed, even playing notes above the fingerboard to a fiery finish.

The audience was immediately stunned both by the intensity of the performance and the remarkable beauty of the tenor ukulele's tone.

Continuing with original material, he played both the chords and melody of "Dragon" simultaneously, weaving bell-like harmonics and then playing the underlying melody by itself making the beauty of the entire piece obvious and easily understood.

Imitating the Japanese 13 string koto, he played the traditional folk song "Cherry Blossoms." Then he switched gears with "Orange World," his take of the bluegrass standard "Orange Blossom Special."

Following intermission, he returned with Schubert's "Ave Maria" and continued with his own compositions -- "Piano Forte" and "Five Dollars Unleaded," to name a few. He charmed the attentive audience with the stories behind each of the songs.

One of the highlights of the show was a drum solo he played on a muted ukulele that overwhelmed the crowd. Playing at lightning speed, he tapped and slapped and whacked to a thunderous ovation.

Equally astonishing were heartfelt performances of John Lennon's "In My Life" and George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Shimabukuro credits his performance of the latter on "YouTube" as the event that changed his life and gave him his present career.

As he encored with a traditional Hawaiian song, the crowd kept taunting him to play faster and faster until his hands became invisible and he was in danger of spontaneous combustion. The intensity brought him a well-deserved standing ovation.

While it may be popular to label Shimabukuro as the Jimi Hendrix of ukulele, as he must be experienced to be believed, comparing him to an acoustic virtuoso and composer such as Paganini is more accurate. I expected more electronic gadgetry from the show, like echo, fuzz, wah-wah pedals etc. but trickery was nowhere to be found.

On the contrary, the Stradivarius-like sound he produced was a wave of tonal bliss and perfection. The altered time signatures, chord voicing, masterful dynamics, digital articulation and the gorgeous contrast of ideas along with Jake's gentle emotional charisma made it an evening to remember.

Beyond his music and brilliance lies the calm pursuit of perfection that. It is his devotion that we admire most. What Jake does is pure magic.

P.S. Congratulations to The Anchorage Concert Association for a flawless production.