First-Ever Los Angeles Performance, Thursday,
December 20, 2012, at 8:00 PM
Honolulu's legendary Don Tiki - the collaborative of stellar musicians, vocalists and dancers that reinvented the jungle jazzy sounds of exotica - brings a bit of sunshine and family-friendly fun to the season with the first-ever Los Angeles performance of Don Tiki’s Hot Lava Holiday Show, Thursday, December 20 at 8:00 PM at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The creative collaboration of producer Lloyd Kandell and band leader Kit Ebersbach, Don Tiki draws inspiration from the original Mid-Century masters of the exotica sound including Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman and Les Baxter. Denny gave the band his seal of approval when he played on their 1997 debut album, The Forbidden Sounds of Don Tiki.
For their one-night-only Los Angeles appearance the band will be performing signature tunes such as “The Natives Are Restless” and “An Occasional Man” from all four of Don Tiki’s releases, The Forbidden Sounds of Don Tiki, Skinny Dip with Don Tiki, Don Tiki Adulterated - The Remix Project, and their latest release, South of the Boudoir, which won The Hawaii Music Awards’ Adult Contemporary Album of the Year.
“We’ll drop six new holiday songs to get into the spirit of things,” says producer Lloyd “Fluid Floyd” Kandell. Band leader Kit “Perry Coma” Ebersbach adds, “We were asked to add tiki holiday songs to our holiday show, and, as such a thing doesn’t exist, it was my challenge to compose some new Christmas songs as well as do some exotica arrangements of traditional holiday tunes for our singers and musicians to perform.”
Don Tiki has played everywhere from local tiki dives to the Honolulu Symphony to Waikiki showrooms to glitzy Las Vegas palaces to headliners at a summer music festival in Berlin and Tiki Oasis in San Diego. When they appeared on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, the food impresario came away raving, "Tiki supergroup Don Tiki knows the world, the subculture of tiki...it really doesn't get much better than this!"
Comprised of Hawaii’s top musicians, the Don Tiki troupe consists of band leader and composer, Kit "Perry Coma" Ebersbach on keyboards; bassist and purring song stylist Hai-Jung; Charles Degala and Tei Tatafu, Jr. on virile vocals; vocalist, dancer and comedienne Sherry Shaoling; percussionist Lopaka Colón, who continues his illustrious father Augie Colón's jungle and bird call tradition; tenor ace Tim Mayer on reeds; multi-talented Abe Lagrimas, Jr. on vibes and percussion; tribal drummer Jason Segler; space-age Ryoko Oka on keyboards and t'rung (a Vietnamese bamboo xylophone); exotic dancer Violetta Beretta; plus special guest artist Frank Orrall of Thievery Corporation and Poi Dog Pondering. Don Tiki is also honored to bring to the stage special guest artists, legendary SOCAL tiki-shaman Crazy Al, rising Brazillian star Tita Lima and Brazil's golden tambourine, Carlinhos de Oliveira.
The concert is a tribute to the memory of Delmar deWilde (aka Fritz Hasenpusch), Don Tiki’s front man, who passed away this year while hiking the Stairway to Heaven trail in Honolulu.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under the vibrant leadership of Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, presents an inspiring array of music from all genres – orchestral, chamber and Baroque music, organ and celebrity recitals, new music, jazz, world music and pop – at two of L.A.’s iconic venues, Walt Disney Concert Hall (www.laphil.com) and the Hollywood Bowl (www.hollywoodbowl.com). The LA Phil’s season at Walt Disney Concert Hall extends from October through May, and throughout the summer at the Hollywood Bowl. With the preeminent Los Angeles Philharmonic at the foundation of its offerings, the LA Phil aims to enrich and transform lives through music, with a robust mix of artistic, education and community programs.
For more information, please visit:
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2012, AT 8:00 PM
WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
111 S. Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Deck the Hall
Don Tiki’s Hot Lava Holiday Show
Don Tiki
Kit Ebersbach, band leader / composer / keyboards
Hai-Jung, bass / vocals
Lopaka Colón, percussion / jungle and bird calls
Abe Lagrimas, Jr., vibes / ukulele / percussion
Ryoko Oka, keyboards / t’rung / Mallet Kat
Tim Mayer, reeds / Burmese gongs
Jason Segler, drums
Charles Degala, vocals
Elitei Tatafu, Jr., vocals
Sherry Shaoling, vocals / dancer
Violetta Beretta, dancer / vocals
Lloyd Kandell, co-creator / producer / manager
with special guest artists
Frank Orrall, percussion / pattalar / boobams / Shan gong rack
Tita Lima, vocals
Carlinhos de Oliveira, Brazilian percussion
Crazy Al, general mayhem
Program selections and intermission will be announced from the stage.
Tickets for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 2012/13 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall are currently available. To purchase, please visit LAPhil.com, the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office or any Ticketmaster outlet. To order by phone, please call the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office at 323.850.2000, or Ticketmaster at 800.745.3000. For more information, please call 323.850.2000.
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11.29.12
Contacts: Sophie Jefferies, sjefferies@laphil.org, 213.972.3422
Laura Cohen, lcmediapr@gmail.com, 310.867.3897
Photos: 213.972.3034