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 O’Neill (Mr. Ho) with bass flute/woodwinds (Geni Skendo), percussion (Noriko Terada), and acoustic bass (Jason Davis). While the Orchestrotica borrows some of mid-century exotica's sounds and instruments, the group mainly focuses on recreating the "escapism" that made it popular through new compositions and reinterpreting classical works with global sounds and improvisation.

The quartet’s debut CD, Third River Rangoon, is available as a pre-sale and ships in May 2011. The album is part of the group's "Exotica for Modern Living" series, which starts in November 2010 with the release of the group's big band CD. (see below)

For special events, Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica swells to a 21-piece ensemble performing the space-age bachelor pad big band music of Juan Garcia Esquivel. Transcribed by ear and edited from the original recordings by Mr. Ho, this group is the only band on the planet who performs Esquivel's unique arrangements of mid-century jazz, dance, and pop music. This is the only group on the planet with a library of Esquivel's music.

Signed STARBUCKS licensing deal in 2011 for background music play. (via PlayNetwork.com)

“...incredible musicianship...” – Downbeat

“4 stars...exquisite attention to details...” – The Sunday Times London

“...a marvelously flexible unit...” – The Boston Globe

“...O'Neill may be in the long run, a stronger exoticist than John Zorn.” – AllAboutJazz

Official site: http://orchestrotica.com

Formed in Cambridge, MA in 2005 as the WAITIKI Orchestrotica and reformed in 2008 as Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.