WORLDWIDE PRESS
"a world class world music ensemble made up of musicians with hands on experience learning, researching, performing and transcending the knowledge of their instruments The musicians transform the sounds, traditions and cultures of ancient instruments to create something new and ancient at the same time." SOUTH PASADENA MUSIC CENTER AND CONSERVATORY "a uniquely versatile ensemble of master musicians performing on musical instruments from around the world." SOUTH PASADENA STAR NEWS "The musicians compose, arrange and perform their own unique compositions combining different sounds and instruments from many diverse cultures. With exotic, rare and unique cultural instruments are played during each concert. The magic comes from the dazzling expertise and knowledge of its world renowned musicians." SAN PEDRO CALENDAR George Abe is an energetic, enigmatic man. A Japanese American born and raised in California, he presented and performed as part of the Sounds of California program…….This interview with George was interspersed with poetry, bamboo flute, and meditation gongs. Sitting in the grass, under the canopy on the National Mall, he talked more about his childhood, his music, and his family influences. The poems included here were written by his mother, Satsuki Abe. SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE "While he has devoted much of his life to learning indigenous music, Garcia also revels in playing the new and unexpected…..Garcia's musical vocabulary not only spans centuries and cultures it's also spontaneous." DEUTSCHE WELLE GERMANYS INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTER "performing new concepts of old music from Africa, Asia and the Americas and they have a ton of experience to back it up…….travelers can see the world through the ears of spiritually attuned drummer Christopher Garcia (on drums of India and Japan) and George Abe (Japanese breath and percussion) in the traditional and original music of Tales From the Silk Road.” METALJAZZ.COM "We hear a variety of percussion, including instruments from India, Mexico and MesoAmerica. They sing and throb to the pulse of a single person, Christopher Garcia. He produces an extraordinary array of sound and rhythms, effortlessly weaving in and out of familiar Indian patterns to those of traditional MesoAmerica ........." SRUTI MAGAZINE INDIA’S PREMIER MAGAZINE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS "Pablo Calogero ............ his postulation of vibratory sounds through the medium of that clandestine wooden piccolo, that monumental yet unimposing bass flute, and the bass clarinet a seemingly rare yet integral part of the repertoire of sound, flowed with such elegance and grace, while from time to time awakening a heretofore unheard articulation…..” KUCI “George Tetsuo Abe is a consummate player of Japanese musical instruments: Shakuhachi, Fue, Yokobue, and taiko. He has played in the Japanese American community for years….born in Manzanar California, raised in the Seinan area (Westside, L.A.). He began with clarinet, and went on to play oboe and saxophone in high school. His music can be heard in KARATE KID II, and in productions at East West Players – OMEN; AND THE SOUL SHALL DANCE; and PACIFIC OVERTURES. His Shakuhachi playing was featured in the film Nisei Fisherman, and his playing can be heard on Makoto’s cds.” KUL TONE RECORDS "Garcia plays the most extraordinary music, on the most extraordinary instruments, with the most extraordinary musicians” JOHN SCHNEIDER KPFKS GLOBAL VILLAGE on NPR “George Abe was one of the founding members of Kinnara Taiko, paving the way for many of the groups that followed, Kinnara has been influential in the development of North American Taiko. Mr. Abe makes and sells yokobue and shakuhachi, and in this interview, talks about the early days of Kinnara as well as his contributions to flute playing.” TAIKO.COM “George Abe was a founding member of Kinnara Taiko, a taiko group based at Senshin Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles, and remains associated with them today. Kinnara Taiko was one of the first taiko groups to form in North America, second only to Sensei Seichi Tanaka’s San Francisco Taiko Dojo.” NISEI.COM "Garcia’s drumming cut through, complemented, and grounded the reverberating echoes of L. Shankar’s masterful slides on the violin… Highlights included Garcia’s percussion solo in the fifth composition, in which he built upon various rhythms for several uninterrupted minutes, playing every drum in front of him, including tapping his face to a fascinating effect………” WESLEYAN ARGUS “Calogero can groove, solo and lift the band with any of his multiple horns and flutes,each showing a very different side of his musical personality but each with their own organically developed sound within the hands of a musician who has played with Tito Puente, Jaki Byard, Anthony Braxton and Carla Bley and many many more…” PERFORMING ARTS LIVE |