The musicians of W7 bring together a wealth of culture and superb musicianship. At its core are three Hawaii-bred musicians: Percussionist & exotic bird caller Lopaka Colon (son of original Martin Denny percussionist & bird caller Augie Colon), jazz drummer Abe Lagrimas Jr., and bassist/bandleader Randy Wong. Exotica has always had strong Latin Jazz influences; in W7, these tenets are held taut by Zaccai Curtis (piano) and Tim Mayer (winds) — both of whom have received past Grammy nominations in Latin and Jazz. Crossing over from the classical world comes the group’s youngest member: twenty-one year old vibraphonist Jim Benoit. The brilliantly exuberant Helen Liu (violin) rounds out this phenomenal group. Six of the members compose and arrange for the group.
The WAITIKI 7 are led by Randy Wong. Dedicated to the pursuit and re-invigoration of Exotica as a major musical genre, this all-star Exotica septet made its international debut on July 24, 2008 at the WASSERMUSIK Festival held by the Haus der Kulturnen der Welt (in Berlin, Germany), and its American debut on November 1, 2008 at Liberty Hall for the Retro Cocktail Hour’s 500th Broadcast Anniversary.
