“Echoes”

Aidan James

(No label)

Watching Aidan James introduce the songs on his debut album in concert at the Honolulu Museum of Art on Nov. 29 and then listening to them as recorded on the CD clarifies what he means when he says, “I want to be able to show the ukulele to everybody and be able to show that you can do anything with it.”

For more than 50 years the six-string guitar has been the instrument of choice for singer-songwriter rock artists. With “Echoes” he is showing the world — or at least his audiences — that the ukulele can work just as well.

“The Girl on the TV Screen,” released in September as a preview of where he is going as a singer, songwriter, recording artist and producer, is still a standout — lyrically and musically — but the other songs are also solidly assembled. And, yes, we’ll say it for the last time: Aidan is well past being a “cute” ukulele-strumming child prodigy and has become an articulate and mature artist.

“Fast Car (Acoustic Looping Version),” an update of Tracy Chapman’s doleful 1988 hit, is the only remake. The arrangement effectively demonstrates his skill at looping, but it is strange to hear a 14-year-old sing about supporting an employed partner and hoping to “move out of the shelter.”

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