Ninja Funk Orchestra
Ninja Funk Orchestra
http://www.myspace.com/ninjafunkorchestra
http://www.ninjafunkorchestra.com/
The Ninja Funk Orchestra is an indie jazz-rock band who stretches genre limits to create an eclectic mix of what could best be referred to as danceable funked-up jazz-metal. Made up of tenor saxophonist Gordon Hyland, guitarist Neil Whitford, bassist Andrew Roorda, and drummer Mackenzie Longpre, the band first emerged as hosts of Toronto’s Concord Funk Jam. The Jam, designed to bring together a variety of rock and jazz instrumentalists, singers, freestylers and DJ’s, created a unique opportunity for musicians around Toronto to experiment with this of diversity styles.
Since the success of the Concord Funk Jam, Ninja Funk has taken on new challenges and performance opportunities, spreading their original style to unsuspecting crowd at various venues in the city and around Ontario. This included a weekly gig as Avenue Bar’s house band at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel. They also traveled to South America as pioneers of the first ever Canada-Chile music festival and exchange. Their performance during the Montreal Jazz Festival with local favourite Skyhook, as well as numerous other collaborations with singer-songwriters Coco-Love Alcorn, Amy Lee Owens, Toronto indie band Yuka, Dan Fournier and the Pill, and jazz artists the Worst Pop Band Ever and Jim Lutz, has contributed to the growth of the band and to the evolution of their sound and repertoire.
Ninja Funk strives to enhance the intellectual depth of their music without removing themselves entirely from the mainstream. Each band member composes and arranges, drawing on influences from a variety of artists, including modern jazz groups Void, Rudder, Kneebody and David Binney as well as Rage Against the Machine, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, and James Brown.
Related posts:
