Elite Kiwi ensemble Shogun Orchestra are to road test a Wellington city festival set for their debut performance at King Street Live, Masterton, next month.
Venue spokeswoman Ange Kalogeropoulos said the 10-piece unit from Wellington is "one of the most unique groups to come out of the capital in recent times" and will be playing their first-ever Wairarapa show.
"The band is made up almost entirely of members from other high profile bands such as the Black Seeds and Fat Freddy's Drop, the Yoots and Twinset etc. Basically, they're fantastic."
The group "draws music from only the most far-flung and exotic lands" and was formed by saxophonist Lucien Johnson after six years performing and travelling in places such as Haiti, East Asia, India, South America and Africa.
Johnson is joined by Venezuelan singing sensation Jennifer Zea and some of Wellington's finest musicians, with a horn section comprising of Toby Laing, Dan Yeabsley and Joe Lindsay from Fat Freddy's Drop and a rhythm section that includes members of fellow Wellington bands, the Black Seeds, the Yoots and Twinset. Ms Kalogeropoulos said Shogun Orchestra is "a musical odyssey which roams the planet in search of lost and exotic melodies" from the steaming hot rhythms of the Caribbean to the strange and sinuous inflections of Japan via the out-and-out funk of West Africa. "It is a toe-tapping journey full of surprises and unexpected turnings."
