Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica

Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica is a unique instrumental exotica ensemble comprised of three separate ensemble configurations. The group as a whole is dedicated to composing, recording, and performing primarily instrumental music that sits on "borders"—sometimes mixing balkan beats, and American surf; other times, combining global jazz and chamber music. And sometimes, it's a vintage recreation of the space-age sounds of Esquivel which—during its time—was also pushing boundaries. Many fans refer to it simply as "exotica," as it doesn't quite fit into a neat, single category. 

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New? Below are descriptions of each of our 3 unique ensembles—and there may be more in the future.

Quintet: Story-Driven Global Jazz & Chamber Music
"engagingly unique"–Boston Globe

In the same way a chef de cuisine runs a kitchen, percussionist Brian O’Neill leads a team of five musical creators who deftly collaborate on instruments foreign and domestic to form modernist delicacies for hungry, curious listeners. From the high arts of jazz and chamber music to adaptations of mid-century exotica and pop art, the quintet version of Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica renders O’Neill’s original compositions and curious arrangements of Bach, Gershwin, Shostakovich and John Adams into cinematic, layered music for armchair travelers ready to journey off road.

Esquivel Megaband: Reviving the Lost Space-Age Pop Music of Esquivel
"…exquisite attention to details…" - Sunday Times London

Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica is the world's only big band dedicated to performing the lost space-age pop music of Juan Garcia Esquivel. The 22-pc group has rescued the king-of-space-age-bachelor-pad's arrangements via meticulous transcriptions of Esquivel's original stereophonic recordings of crime jazz, easy-latin, and hi-fi music, shaken and not stirred, on a trip to the moon.

Czarna Wolgastar - Intergalactic Balkan Surf Jazz Trio Czarna Wolgastar 
("charnuh volga-star") is the world's only intergalactic balkan surf jazz trio. Whenever the space ship Wolgastar 1 returns to Earth, three non-corporeal Wolgastarian entities embody three members of Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica's quintet: Tev Stevig (guitar), Michael Harrist (bass), and Brian O'Neill (drums). Together, the trio – or sextet, depending on how you think of it – release a strange, other-worldly cocktail of Balkan beats and Milky-Way mischief crossed with the American songbook, Hollywood film soundtracks, and more.