Too good for the uke?

Dan sent me email directing me to a First Things entry on Jake Shimabukuro by Joseph Bottum. As a fan of Jake -- the world's greatest uke player -- I was a bit surprised to see him written up on the conservative social think tank site.

Then I got to the line, "Today I was going to add the ukulele -- an instrument that, for purists, ranks somewhere between the accordion and the theremin in pointlessness: If you're a good-enough musician to make a ukulele actually sound good, you're too good to be wasting your time with a ukulele."

Hmm? There seem to be some snobbishsh and ignorant suppositions at work here. Yes, the uke is a fun instrument -- sometimes silly -- alway accessiblele. But there are lots of very accomplished players -musicians who draw from their instruments engaging and pleasing music. I'm not yet one of them but to suggest that it's a pointless instrument is pretty elitist.