The group's first show at DROM in NYC featuring guest bassist, George Rush and oud soloist, Dafer Taweel. In addition, they will premier new music including an arrangement of Gershwin's first piano prelude arranged as only Mr. Ho and the Orchestrotica can.

Call ahead to reserve a table (FYI: there is a 2 item (drink or food) minimum to sit at tables). Tickets are $10/adv, $15/door.

"&just about all the original stars of exotica...are gone -- here, at last, is their successor." --Huffington Post

Referencing the exotica of Martin Denny, Milt Raskin, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich among others, Mr. Ho's, Orchestrotica--as a vibraphone quartet--presents an original third-stream collection of updated jazz, chamber, and world music reaching towards the South Pacific via Asia, the Middle East, the Balkans, and Latin America. Led by, multi-percussionist, vibraphonist and composer Brian ONeill (Mr. Ho) the group normally features bass flute/woodwinds (Geni Skendo), percussion (NorikoTerada), and acoustic bass (Jason Davis). While the "deliciously demented and entertaining" Orchestrotica (The Wall Street Journal) does perform classics by the original artists of the exotica style, the group focuses on "serious jazz and chamber-music writing" (Boston Herald) written by O'Neill that is highly influenced by his fifteen-year career as a percussionist. The quartet often reinterprets classical melodies, improvising over them and adding exotic sounds from around the world leading AllAboutJazz to say, "...if John Zorn is an exotica Picasso, O'Neill is his Georges-Braque counterpart [and] may be, in the long run, a stronger exoticist than Zorn." In June 2011, they released their debut quartet CD, Third River Rangoon, which the Boston Phoenix called "...a rigorous classical-jazz hybrid..." and Lucid Culture called "...a a lushly nocturnal collection ...genius."

The CD continues their Exotica for Modern Living series, which opened with The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel, their 23-pc big band formation performing the lost space-age pop music of Esquivel. The debut CD reached #4 on the CMJ jazz charts, was a Top Album for 2010 (AllAboutJazz) and received 4 stars from the Sunday London Times.

"...marvelously flexible unit..."--The Boston Globe

"...incredible musicianship..."--Downbeat

FREE MP3s:

Get 6 free mp3s from the groups "Exotica for Modern Living" series including 3 tracks from Third River Rangoon, and 3 from their acclaimed 22-pc space-age pop big band CD, The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel.

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Artsquest presents a Luau at the Levitt! Our 22-pc Esquivel big band-recently named a 2011Downbeat Rising Star Big Band and a "marvelously flexible unit" (Boston Globe)--will come Bethlehem, PA for the first time ever to present the exciting space-age pop sounds of Juan Garcia Esquivel (video). In addition to our headlining concert, custom cocktails and polynesian pop food will be served, vintage fashions will be modeled during the day (along with other activities), and an art gallery featuring the exotica artwork of SHAG will be on display. This show will be free.

ABOUT THE BAND:

"...deliciously demented and entertaining in equal parts." Wall Street Journal

Led by percussionist, vibraphonist and composer Mr. Ho (Brian O'Neill), Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica is the only 22-piece big band in the world that presents the lost, supersonic, space-age bachelor-pad sounds of Juan Garcia Esquivel live in concert. Esquivel was a studio orchestra arranger in the '50s and '60s who was known for his use of blistering brass, boisterous Latin percussion, wordless vocals and mid-century Hollywood sound. Best known as one of the original exploiters of the stereo (two-channel) sound format, Esquivel was a masterful arranger who's big band manuscripts were lost after his return to Mexico in the 1970s. As a result, no ensembles since Esquivel's own touring days performed his wild big band arrangements until Mr. Ho came along in 2004 and began to transcribe his music back into paper from the original records, reviving his music for fans and introducing it to new generations of listeners.

In 2010, Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica released its debut tribute-to-Esquivel CD, The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel, which kicked off its new Exotica for Modern Living series that Tiki Magazine called "absolute must-haves..." The album received four stars from the Sunday Times London, became a Top CD for 2010 by AllAboutJazz, and is currently playing in Starbucks stores worldwide.

In May 2011, the series continued with the Orchestrotica's third-stream exotica quartet debut, Third River Rangoon, which the Boston Herald called "...serious jazz and chamber-music writing..." and Lucid Culture called "genius."

"&incredible arrangements, musicianship and artistic direction&Im sure the only thing better than hearing the record would be seeing this group live."Downbeat

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