Post #355404 by Mr. Ho on Wed, Jan 16, 2008 6:56 PM

Without getting too deep here, i have to jump in for a second on a few points. (I play vibes in WAITIKI and a lot of what Randy is talking about is my playing since I'm doing the melody quite often...)

Also, I'm speaking only of the exotica genre here too (i know this was originally happa haole but since it's expanded).

First off, the MORE often than not, most of music in the world evolves over time AND is performed with variation in part because exact replication of previous recordings/manuscript is not the goal. As you (basilh) probably know, the concept of playing note-for-note precision is mostly held in the orchestral scene (using that term broadly for most of the music taught in universities or that the public calls "classical"). While lyrics I would agree are probably an exception to the rule, melody, harmony, rhythm, tempo, key - these are elements that are not replicated precisely in most cultures - and MOST people aren't performing solely for the satisfaction of other musicians (if that's the case, it's a sad sad world).

For something as subjective as music as a whole, it seems odd to me that anybody could come on here and have such strong definitions as to what should be or not be. Basilh and everyone else out there is entitled to an opinion but there is no "right" or "wrong" on the approach to playing one's version of a tune. In addition, Randy clearly stated that we're doing arrangements here - waitiki versions of these tunes. When we do tribute shows, we play it with the most accurate transcriptions , instrumentation, and approach as we can (accounting for number of musicians, equipment, $, and other concerns of course). If you doubt our diligence toward accurate tributes and transcriptions, you might consider reviewing the Esquivel Orchestrotica project at http://www.waitiki.com/esquivel.cfm . I might also cite we were invited to play a Denny tribute at the HI Intnl. Jazz Fest. because they know we want to "keep it real." We work hard at this.

As an aside to this whole topic: some people like to drink (or have sex, thats not a joke) to our music and that's it; other people "get off" on what's behind the scenes in WAITIKI's music: the puns, the incessant quotations in our music, and all the other stuff some may call "academic" - I don't think there are tons of bands or groups out there who can accurately say they can appeal to as diverse of a base as we have without alienating one end of the spectrum to favor the other. Unlike what happens in many jazz groups when performers get too caught up in the academic, the audience doesn't have to "get" any of this stuff (or this thread between you and Randy) to enjoy exotica as a whole (in my opinion) and definitely WAITIKI; if one chooses to dig deeper, great but that's not a requirement to enjoy it. I am glad basilh has a deep understanding and appreciation for accuracy but why listen at all to anyone else's version of a tune if the expectations are solely to hear how accurately they reproduced a prior rendition of the song? To me, that's missing something. There is an area in there where "this doesn't sound like the same song" kicks in but I think we're far from that in this thread.

Finally, basilh, if you make it to the show sometime, I'd be happy to perform any of the melodies on any of our arrangements with whatever adjustments you'd like to enhance your enjoyment of a waitiki show. (not being sarcastic at all, but totally genuine! haha.) We've made mistakes in transcribing stuff before - when I came to the band, most of the exotica stuff was transcribed quickly so we could get gigs, and I was playing that stuff as provided to me - as time progressed, we've all learned the material further and studied it more closely and realized that there some diffs between our first passes and how we do it now - a glance at my book especially will yield a lot of pencil corrections. Sometimes we adjust to those traditional recordings of the music we cover, and other times we just leave things as "our version." And sometimes, I just screw stuff up on vibes , haha :wink: (Depends on grog intake). At any rate, mahalo for the conversation and I hope you are more satisfied than not with the state of exotica as a general closing to this message. I should probably do a fresh review of some denny and lyman.

Sorry if I grew the red herring but it wouldn't be a bulletin board if somebody didn't go off topic here and there :wink: