Archive for the ‘Reviews’Category

“Loaded with virtuoso talent” // JAZZIZ Winter 2010 [Review]

Our album, Adventures in Paradise, is featured in “Prelude” section of the print edition of JAZZIZ Winter 2010!

JAZZIZ LOGOThe 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

19

01 2010

“Exotica is back… this album is a special liqueur” // WXDU 88.7 [Review]

Santa Salsera, host of the WXDU program Azucar y Candela speaks highly of our album Adventures in Paradise. Salsera writes:

WXDU LogoExotica 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.

06

11 2009

“This is the band to beat” // Nate Chinen, The Gig

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

29

09 2009

“Needs to be on your must-have list” // Westchester Herald [Review]

Tom Bock of the Westchester (NY) Herald writes a rave review in the Herald’s Sept. 7, 2009 issue:

Westchester Herald mastheadThis 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)

Place your order at The Waitiki 7 Shop!

07

09 2009
  • About The WAITIKI 7

  • The WAITIKI 7 are helping to define a new movement in Exotica.

    Dedicated to the preservation and resurgence of Exotica music, and the related tiki culture, W7 is modeled after the classic groups of Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman, and Gene Rains. The WAITIKI 7 is the only modern group that performs exotica completely live and acoustic—just like in the 1950s.
  • Band Members: