Arranging/Composing
The WAITIKI “Orchestrotica” Plays Esquivel
In early 2005, I directed and performed in a special show with other members of WAITIKI to bring the easy listening, space-age-bachelor-pad sounds of Juan Garcia Esquivel to Boston. Our desire was to bring in 15 guests and perform a set of his music, using rented sheet music. However, I soon learned that Juan Garcia Esquivel’s sheet music
had been destroyed. So, I started an initiative to transcribe some his works for a 19-piece side project called the WAITIKI “Orchestrotica” (to distinguish it from our core exotica quartet). The first show sold out and was covered in the press.
In April 2006, the entire “Orchestrotica” (now 21 players) was brought to Mexico City to perform Esquivel at the Festival de Mexico. We gave another performance entitled “Homenaje Nacionál á Juan García Esquivel” (National Tribute to Esquivel). I also participated in a panel discussion entitled "Orchestrotica. Proceso del rescate y transcripción de las partituras originales y el Homenaje" about the transcription process (in spanish).
In 2008, this group was renamed "Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica," and is no longer affiliated with WAITIKI. Watch the calendar for new space-age adventures including possible trips to Mexico in the summer of 2008!
Enjoy the video from our performance in Mexico (that's me on piano).
- Flickr Photos from Mexico
- 2008 update about this group
WAITIKI
WAITIKI has released two full length albums (2005 and 2007). I wrote original exotica music on both of these records which can be explored on the audio page at waitiki.com. In late 2007, an album featuring WAITIKI under the name Lost & Found: Songs of Hawaii Old and New was released on the Fleamarket Music label. I arranged one of the tunes called "Exotic Adventure" (Mel Henke) which WAITIKI performs on the record.
Vampyr - Scoring a Silent Film
A New Musical Score Performed Live
Shaun and I wrote a new score for this 70min film, which opened in 1931. Scored for voice, accordion, gutiar, vibes, cello and percussion, this is the first of what we hope are several filmscoring projects that we will collaborate on. The music and film were performed/shown live on Oct 30, 2004 at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA. Photos from the event.