Luthier "James R. DeCava" was born and raised in Stratford, Connecticut. As a young teenager, he began playing guitar and banjo and soon realized that if something needed repair on his instruments, he had to do it himself as there were few repair people around at that time. He began meeting others with similar interests and came into contact with the well known Liberty Banjo Co. He worked for them for many years making banjos, doing repairs, and cutting-inlaying mother of pearl with intricate designs. Over the years, he has built hundreds of guitars, banjos, mandolins, and one-of-a-kind instruments. He has also become well known for building multi-string instruments.

The Jazz Uke is a miniature archtop . The construction and materials are the same as on an archtop guitar, with a carved solid spruce top, and the sides, back, and neck of figured maple. The fingerboard is ebony and the inlays are mother of pearl. The back is not carved, but is braced like the back of a traditional uke, in order to allow more volume when using nylon strings.