Posted by admin on March 12th, 2010 in News, The Waitiki 7, WAITIKI Connects!
Our education initiative, Exotica in Education, launched last September with a visit by The WAITIKI 7 to the Josiah Quincy Upper School (Boston). More than just a show-and-tell about the instruments and its illustrious bird calls, Exotica in Education is as much about the opening of dialogue about the cultural, historical, and social themes surrounding exotica as it is the music’s composition and performance. If you know of a school, museum, or community center that might be interested in this dynamic program, please contact randy@waitiki.com. We’re bringing a taste of this program with us to Hawaii in April, with visits to select Honolulu schools. Watch waitiki.com for more news on this initiative!
Posted by admin on January 19th, 2010 in The CD: Adventures in Paradise, albums
The Waitiki 7’s Adventures in Paradise is featured in “Prelude” section of the print edition of JAZZIZ Winter 2010!
The Waitiki 7, a born-in-Honolulu ensemble loaded with virtuoso talent, updates the classic exotica mood on Adventures in Paradise (Pass Out)—a 13-track excursion that pays respect to the venerable music’s roots while charting its own distinctive course . . . The contributions of woodwind player Tim Mayer, trombonist Mike Dease and violinist Helen Liu provide Waitiki 7 with substantial improvisiational firepower. Laka, the Hawaiian goddess of song and dance, should be smiling.—Mark Holston
Download the full review as a PDF
Posted by admin on November 5th, 2009 in The CD: Adventures in Paradise, albums, around the Web, radio
Santa Salsera, host of the WXDU program Azucar y Candela speaks highly of our album Adventures in Paradise. Salsera writes:
Exotica is back, baby. Not your typical “salsa dura,” nonethless, the Latin backbone is authentic, the musical approach pure jazz. This album is a special liqueur. Recapture your own personal cocktail hour (drink recipes are included with the liner notes) and go with the wave.
Live in the Raleigh-Durham area? Tune into Azucar y Candela on WXDU 88.7 FM, Wednesdays 6-8 PM.
Read the full review here, or
Download as a PDF.
Posted by admin on November 4th, 2009 in The CD: Adventures in Paradise, radio
Waitiki 7 has been doing really well on the CMJ (College Music Journal) Jazz charts lately. As of CMJ Issue #1127, we’re up to #12!
Posted by admin on October 7th, 2009 in The CD: Adventures in Paradise, The Waitiki 7, around the Web
Tom Bock of the Westchester (NY) Herald writes a rave review in the Herald’s Sept. 7, 2009 issue:
This debut CD from The Waitiki 7, Adventures in Paradise, raises the bar extremely high for both the group and their representatives [Fully Altered Media] … To the romantic trying to set the mood, this needs to be on your must-have list. And to any music lover looking to relax after a hard day’s grind, you’ll need to go no farther than Adventures in Paradise.
Download the Westchester Herald’s review of Adventures in Paradise (PDF)
Posted by admin on October 1st, 2009 in The CD: Adventures in Paradise, What Makes It Exotica?, around the Web
Nate Chinen posted a thoughtful commentary on exotica the other day at his blog The Gig. Chinen, who was born and raised in Honolulu, is no stranger to exotica or its musicians—he studied drums with Harold Chang, gigged with many of the Islands’ finest jazzers, and wrote remembrances of Arthur Lyman when Lyman passed away. He’s now an esteemed jazz critic, known for his writings for the New York Times, JazzTimes, and Village Voice.
… the band, which also includes pianist Zaccai Curtis and percussionist Lopaka Colon, is on the right track with Adventures in Paradise released last month. The music reflects a firm grounding in Hawaiian culture, and a real grasp of this genre’s practices. (Colon’s father was the revered percussionist Augie Colon, a former member of Denny’s group; he appears on that recording of “Quiet Village.”) … If there’s room for a postmillennial exotica revival, this is the band to beat.
Check out the whole article online here. Nate wasn’t able to catch any of the shows during our East Coast tour, so if you saw and liked us, please comment below his post to let him know!
Download Nate Chinen’s “Exotica: It Takes A Village” as a PDF
Posted by admin on September 29th, 2009 in News, The CD: Adventures in Paradise, radio
This just in… Thanks to some serious upward momentum, The Waitiki 7 has made its debut on the main JazzWeek chart. Our jazz chart debut puts us at #23. On the JazzWeek World side, we’ve moved up to #2! Many thanks to the 70+ stations across North America that have added our CD to their station and/or program playlists, as well as to NPR for using us for interlude music!
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Posted by admin on August 20th, 2009 in CMF, around the Web
We stumbled upon a cool post about exotica by The Great White Shank, who kindly included a link to our first quartet album, Charred Mammal Flesh: Exotic Music for BBQ. The GWS graciously amended his post (which is actually a few years old) with a link to the new WAITIKI 7 album Adventures in Paradise, and so we thought it’d be fitting for us to post a link to his blog too.
Check it out: http://goodboysnation.com/2009/08/17/exotica-mission-possible-2/
Posted by admin on August 19th, 2009 in The CD: Adventures in Paradise, around the Web
More praise for our new album… ALARM Magazine names Adventures in Paradise as one of “This Week’s Best Albums“:
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hawaii’s statehood, the Waitiki 7 balances a thematic tribute to Martin Denny and musical stars of yore with piano-driven Latin sounds, modern jazz, lounge, and film motifs. Adventures in Paradise, as the name suggests, could double as the soundtrack for a cheery private-dick mystery flick, calling upon exotic vocal calls, flute, horns, and vibraphone to create just the right mood.—Scott Merrow
And some kind remarks from CampusCircle.com:
I was pleasantly surprised with the ancient yet melodic sound found on the band’s new album, Adventures in Paradise. The songs were reminiscent of a tropical jungle with a hypnotizing blend of animal sounds and instrumental beats.—Grady Winn
Posted by admin on August 18th, 2009 in News, The CD: Adventures in Paradise
Aloha WAITIKI 7 fans,
Today is the long-awaited street date for our debut CD, Adventures in Paradise. The disc and mp3s are now available for sale via our Waitiki 7 Shop (preferred), CDFreedom.com, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and many others. Also, for those of you following us on the radio, you can now hear us on WDNA 88.9 FM (Miami), in addition to the stations we mentioned in previous posts.
Mother Jones magazine declares:
Fire up the tiki torches. Break out the umbrella drinks. The debut of Hawaii’s Waitiki 7 harks back a half-century to the golden age of exotica , when lounge-music giants like Martin Denny walked the Earth . . . A cover of jazz great Lee Morgan’s “Totem Pole” showcases a mesmerizing sax-trumpet [sic] dialogue, while the sleek violin of “Mood Indigo” would please Duke Ellington himself . . .
—and now, experience the magic of our music for yourself!
