Naples Florida Weekly
Loading...

Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica makes Florida sweep




The quintet of Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica, with bandleader Brian O’Neill at center. LIZA VOLL / COURTESY PHOTO

The quintet of Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica, with bandleader Brian O’Neill at center. LIZA VOLL / COURTESY PHOTO

Brian O’Neill’s parents had a decent record collection.

But the 40-year-old had never heard Martin Denny’s quirky exotica music until maybe 15 years ago, when he joined a band in Boston. His bandmates, two guys from Hawaii, thought it would be fun to play Mr. Denny’s style of music.

Mr. O’Neill, a percussionist and vibraphonist, fit right in. They played covers of classic exotica tunes and wrote some of their own.

Mr. Denny, of course, is the man whose , with instrumental tune, “Quiet Village,” complete with frogs ribbitting and band members making bird sounds, spawned a whole genre music named after his first album, “Exotica.” The music was popular in the late 1950s and the ’60s.

 

 

“The original sound started in Hawaii, but it was not traditional Hawaiian music, it was faux,” says Mr. O’Neill. “Martin Denny was the grandfather of the sound. I believe it was referred to as wallpaper music, because it blended into the background. But ‘Quiet Village’ became a big hit.”

It was more of a kitsch thing, he says. The genre eventually fell out of style but enjoyed a resurgence when lounge music became hip.

Mr. Denny’s albums today are generally relegated in the novelty bins of record stores. But if he’s the grandfather of exotica, Mr. O’Neill is the hipper grandchild who has taken the music into the 21st century.

“I liked his concept of the escapism that came with the music and transported you,” Mr. O’Neill, who started Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica 10 years ago, says.

Orchestrotica is a mash-up of “orchestra” and “exotica.”

Mr. Ho was a name given to Mr. O’Neill by a Hawaiian bandleader. The H stands for haole, the Hawiian term for a white person, a non-Hawaiian, which can be pejorative or just mean foreigner or “that white guy,” says Mr. O’Neill. And the O is the first letter of his last name. “No relation to Don Ho,” he laughs.

Version of the band

Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica has two formations. The first is a 22-piece band that specializes in the music of Esquivel, who was known as the king of space-age bachelor pad music. The band has toured internationally.

Because the cost of touring with such a large group can be prohibitive, Mr. O’Neill also created a quintet version of Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica. “We play global jazz and exotic chamber music,” he says. They don’t play the traditional exotica music of the 1950s and ’60s, but use it as a jumping-off point, he explains.

The members of the quintet weave in Bach, Shostakovich and Gershwin, as well as Bulgarian and Turkish influences. They incorporate the oud, tanbur, bass flute and the Japanese shakuhachi (a five-hole bamboo flute from Japan) as well as Mr. O’Neill’s vibraphone into their music.

The quintet makes a short loop through Florida, playing the Gulf Coast before going over to Miami. It’s the first time they’re performing in the state (see box).

“It’s not authentic world music,” says Mr. O’Neill. “It’s not musically connected to any particular culture. But it might feel foreign or ‘exotic’ to the western ear; it has that flavor. We’re having fun with the whole exotica thing.”

The Florida program includes Gershwin’s three Piano Preludes.

“We’ve arranged and adapted them, and written in some new material inside of them,” he says. “We take a lot of liberties; the jazz spirit comes out in these compositions … It’s accessible, but it has that spirit of escapism.”

The Boston Globe called the music “engagingly unique” and The Wall Street Journal said it was “deliciously entertaining.” The Washington Post described the quintet as possessing “an exotic imagination that’s anything but straightforward.”

The music works for audiences on various levels, Mr. O’Neill says.

“It’s sonically very colorful,” he says. And there’s humor in it, too.

Although the musicians are serious about their craft, in between songs they talk about the music and their instruments and even explain the titles of some of their repertoire, such as “Would You Like Bongos With That Fugue?”

While Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica will provide the tunes, Florida will provide the palm trees, beaches and tiki huts. ¦

Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica

In Bonita Springs:

>> When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24

>> Where: Center for Performing Arts 10150 Bonita Beach Road

>> Cost: $42, $37, $32

>> Info: 495-8989 or www.artcenterbonita.org

In Venice:

>> When: 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25

>> Where: Venice Performing Arts Center

>> Cost: $30, $45

>> Info: 941-306-1202 or www.artistseriesconcerts.org

In Miami:

>> When: 8:30 p.m., Friday, March 2

>> Where: South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center

>> Cost: $30 in advance, $35 day of show

>> Info: 786-573-5300 or www.smcac.org

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *