Big Band Electronic Press Kit
Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica is the world's only big band dedicated to performing the lost space-age pop music of Juan Garcia Esquivel, which the Wall Street Journal calls "deliciously demented and entertaining in equal parts." Led by Mr. Ho (Brian O'Neill), a "percussion master and musical polymath" according to the Boston Phoenix, the group has rescued the king-of-space-age-bachelor-pad's arrangements via meticulous transcriptions of the original recordings. The ensemble—a big band augmented with slide guitar, four singers, B3 organ, and three percussionists—recreates the Hollywood big band, easy latin, crime jazz, and space-age bachelor pad sounds of the 50s and 60s. A 2011 Downbeat Rising Star Big Band with "incredible arrangements, musicianship, and artistic direction," the group—and it's standard formation as a vibraphone quartet—has toured in the USA and Mexico and received international acclaim for it's Exotica for Modern Living series of recordings, one of which plays in over 7,000 Starbucks stores worldwide.
- View 1-sheet (JPG) | (PDF, printable)
- Press quotes (PDF)
- Biography (1-pg PDF)
- Education/outreach programs (PDF)
- Discography (PDF)
- Musician roster (PDF)
- Looking for the global jazz quartet's EPK? Go here
Watch Andalucia
By Ernesto Lecuona, Arr. by Esquivel, Transcribed by Mr. Ho. January 2011, Cambridge, MA. 141MB.
12/2011
2 of the 10 Favorite Records of 2011
"…just about all the original stars of exotica...are gone -- here, at last, is their successor." —Tony Sachs
3/18/2011
"…deliciously demented and entertaining in equal parts." —Will Friedwald
12/2010
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…exquisite attention to details…" —Clive Davis
3/18/2011
"…Truly, the perfect soundtrack for your space age bachelor pad."
2011: Starbucks licensing deal
The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel is playing in 10,000 Starbucks stores world-wide via licensing deal with playnetwork.com.
1/14/2011: "Future: Perfect"
"…a marvelously flexible unit that can morph from a small, swinging combo to the full-blown 23-piece orchestra…" —Jonathan Perry
12/2010: Minneapolis, MN
"… something for that hard-to-shop-for eccentric on your Christmas shopping list…"—Martin Keller
1/2011
2011 Rising Star Big Band
"…incredible arrangements, musicianship and artistic direction…I’m sure the only thing better than hearing the record would be seeing this group live."—Frank Alkyer
11/2010
Top CDs of 2010 —Bruce Lindsay
Jazz Favorite for 2010 —Mark Saleski
"…so beautifully interprets Esquivel's work…breathes fresh life into these marvelously odd arrangements, with a clear understanding of just what their creator intended them to do… an album that just wants to play and have fun." —Bruce Lindsay
12/2010
"… something marvelous…The world needs more cool sounds like this…"—Carl F. Gauze
January 19, 2011: "Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica: Endless Bachelor Party"
"…If John Zorn is an exotica Picasso, O'Neill is his Georges-Braque counterpart in cubism's transposition to music…as Braque may have been the finer cubist, O'Neill may be, in the long run, a stronger exoticist than Zorn." —Gordon Marshall
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| Big band, formal (800px/72dpi | 3660/300dpi) Kathy Chapman |
Big band, action (800px/72dpi | 5616px/240dpi) Kelly Davidson |
Quartet, action (800px/72dpi | 5616px/240dpi) Kelly Davidson |
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| Brian, outside w/ mileage arrows (film) | Brian, outside w/ tiki & arrows(film) | Brian, outside w/ tiki (dig.) |
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| Brian, bamboo background (closeup) | Brian, bamboo background (full) | Brian, bamboo background (film) |
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| Brian, solid orange background | Brian, mid-century stairs outside |
In person:
Brian O'Neill (Manager)
Rhythmspice Music
1.347.482.1775
SKYPE: conguerocaliente
info@orchestrotica.com
Mail:
Rhythmspice Musicc/o Brian O'Neill
7a Haskell St
Cambridge, MA 02140
USA