Originally from Hawai‘i, Jason Arimoto, Ph. D., is a Los Angeles-based ‘ukulele creative with a professional background in ‘ukulele performance, education, and retail. Arimoto performs and teaches across the U.S. and internationally, and is the co-owner of U-SPACE, L.A.’s premier ‘ukulele store and award-winning, full-service community-centered creative arts enterprise. In addition to teaching undergraduate ‘ukulele studies in Applied Music at 鶹Ƶ, he also served as artist faculty in arts institutions across the country, notably the Centrum Foundation (Washington), the Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago), and the Walt Disney Concert Hall and Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in the Music Center of Los Angeles' Active Arts program. As an ‘ukulele products designer, Arimoto developed his original line of PHD Strings – premium high density ‘ukulele performance strings – designed and optimized for ‘ukulele players and endorsed by six-time GRAMMY-award winner, Daniel Ho. Arimoto has performed across the U.S. at the Ford Amphitheatre, Grantmakers in the Arts, the National Association of Music Merchants, and the Bean Blossom Blues Festival (Indiana) as well as internationally at the Cairns Ukulele Festival (Australia) and the Sentosa Ukulele Festival (Singapore). As YouTube creator “facemeltingukulele,” Arimoto has produced acclaimed blues ‘ukulele covers of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” and John Mayer’s “Gravity,” and was featured on Jake Shimabukuro’s curated YouTube ‘ukulele playlist. Arimoto is a Yamaha Music Foundation certified instructor and is the official online ‘ukulele advisor for the Musician’s Creativity Lab and a lead instructor on the popular ‘ukulele education forum, Ukulele Underground. Arimoto’s studio recordings are featured on: A Brighter Day, an album of original ‘ukulele and vocal compositions; Take On the ‘80s, a collection of ’80s hits re-imagined on ‘ukulele and vocals in the varying styles of blues, reggae, and swing; and JMD, featuring ‘ukulele, bass, and drums on six original reggae/blues/rock compositions.
Education: B.S., Ph.D., University of Southern California