#306 Kai Stensgaard- Marimbist, Composer, Instrument Inventor and More!
Kai Stensgaard, is internationally recognized as a leading concert marimba artist and composer from Denmark. KS specialized on marimba and studied at CSUN in Los Angels with Karen Ervin and in New York City with Leigh Stevens. KS is one of the pioneers in six mallet playing, and he has composed several works for six mallets. Amoung those a concerto for Marimba and Orchestra called “Concierto Mexicano” Many of his compositions and arrangements have been performed by marimba players all over the world. He has been giving concerts and clinics in Europe, USA, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Chile and Mexico.
He is the auther of the method for six mallet playing called “The Six mallet Grip” and has published 7 CDs and a DVD displaying his compositions and personal marimba style. He also premiered many works for marimba, among those a concerto for marimba and orchestra “Ballet in Dark” by Martin Knakkergaard. This piece was later choreographed for performance on the stage by a dancer from the Royal Danish Ballet. The project “Marimbas on Tour” is a concert tour he has done several times in Denmark and Mexico together with Marimba Nandayapa, Mexico. These concerts had focus on the modern marimba and the traditional Mexican marimba. -More
HELP!
Percussionist Robert Vilera needs our help! He is in the hospital with septic shock. It is a deadly condition caused by a serious infection that requires immediate medical attention, where several organs are compromised such as: the heart, problems in the kidneys, liver, water in the lungs and ishemia. His family is asking for prayer and financial help to be able to cover part of the excessive hospital and treatment expenses.
You can go to THIS GO FUND ME page to donate.
There is also a fundraiser in NYC on November 20th, from 6-9, at the Clemente Center at 107 Suffolk Street. Admission/donation is a minimum of $20. You can email (friend of the show) Bobby Allende at ochoymas@aol.com if you wish to participate musically.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Gabriel Globus-Hoenich! Gabriel blends a multitude of musical influences together in his work as a performer and educator. A Montreal native, Gabriel is now based in New York City where his career continues to reflect a deep love for the worlds of jazz, classical music, and world music. Gabriel has performed on drumset and percussion with a wide variety of artists including Morgan James, Jim James, Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Omara Portuondo, Telmary Diaz, Roberto Fonseca, Tirso Duarte, Steve Hackman, Tessa Lark, the Philly Pops, Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, among others. He collaborates frequently with Teddy Abrams and the Sixth Floor Trio, serving as principal percussionist and education director at the trio’s chamber music festival, GardenMusic, in South Miami. An active composer and arranger, Gabriel has written orchestral arrangements for Grammy-award winners Sam Bush, Cory Henry, and Sara Jarosz, as well as Achilles Liarmakopolous of the Canadian Brass, Grammy nominated Tiempo Libre, and the Louisville Orchestra. In 2018, Gabriel performed Julia Wolfe's percussion concerto riSE and fLY with Teddy Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra with the composer present. In 2019, Gabriel performed chamber music with Daniil Trifonov and Sergei Babayan to a sold out crowd at Stern Auditorium in Carnegie Hall.
In 2017 Gabriel founded People of Earth, a 15 person Latin fusion group filled with some of NYC's best musicians representing a myriad of countries. People of Earth has performed at Brooklyn Bowl, Rockwood Music Hall and other top NYC venues. For more information visit www.peopleofearthmusic.com
In addition to his work in the orchestral and jazz music worlds, Gabriel has completed extensive world percussion studies having studied Afro-Brazilian percussion in Salvador, Bahia with Gabi Guedes and Mario Pam, as well as Cuban percussion with Girardo Piloto, Rociel Riveron, and Adonis Panter.
Gabriel continues to work as a teaching artist for the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, Philadelphia Orchestra, 92nd Street Y, and Marquis Studios. He was formerly a teaching artist with Play On Philly! as well as musician-in-residence at The Please Touch Museum. He is a co-founder of PlasticBand, a community drumming group based in Harlem, New York and received a Carnegie Hall NeON Arts Grant to build this program. He is a 2008 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Don Liuzzi and Robert van Sice.
Gig Alerts
Friend of the show, Weedie Braimah will be performing at the Blue Note in NYC this coming Wednesday and Thursday with his band, Hands of Time and special guests.
Ticket prices for Adele’s Las Vegas residency are skyrocketing on reseller sites, going for as high as $45,000 in some cases.
‘Weekends with Adele’ is kicking off on November 18 after being rescheduled from earlier this year. In addition to the rescheduled dates, Adele added eight additional dates in March 2023. But tickets for these events are listed at eye-watering prices on resellers like StubHub. Tickets in the lower bowl of the theater range anywhere from $8,000 up to $32,000 for seats in the 100s to 200s range. -Article
You can listen to Ash Soan and his isolated drums on an Adele track he recorded on.
Educational Spotlight
This week is PASIC week! The PASIC schedule is up. You can CLICK HERE to see it and download the app to your device.
Damon will be doing his clinic on Saturday November 12th at 10am in room 109.
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording is “25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago.
Shout out to the current percussion section of Wally (de los) Reyes and (friend of the show) Ray Yslas.
Honorable mention for the iconic recording is “Libertango” performed by Gary Burton and Astor Piazzolla.
You can watch the transcription of Gary’s parts by CLICKING HERE.
You can download the transcription of the vibraphone parts by CLICKING HERE.
Music News
Adam Blackstone has put together an all-star band for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction for this year. You can watch the show on YouTube.
The White House Promises to Crack Down On Concert Tickets’ ‘Hidden Junk Fees’ as Live Nation Posts Double-Digit Revenue Hike.
This latest government pledge to regulate the ticketing space – and, in turn, industry-leading promoter Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary – first came to light in remarks from the president nine days ago. But the topic has continued making headlines after the White House doubled down on the regulatory objective in a social-media post published yesterday. -Article
Kai Stensgaard Interview
The song going into the interview is, “Salsa Mexicana" by Kai.
Damon did some research on the beginning of 6 mallet useage. It was first used with vaudvillian xylophone.
The six mallet grip is discussed in great detail in THIS THESIS.
Shout-out to Dean Gronemeier.
Damon mentions Kana Omori and her progression with 6 mallets.
Kai talks about his trip to Chiapas to see the marimba and then Guatamala afterwards.
If you want, you can go back to the MARK STONE interview to hear some of the history of the marimba.
Kai goes on to talk about the marimba de arco.
Damon mentions Manuel Vleeshower and Zeferino Nandayapa.
Kai is from Odense, Denmark.
Kai talks about his beginning path of music and how he came to the marimba.
Kai attended Cal State Northridge, then he went to study with (friend of the show), Leigh Howard Stevens.
Damon mentions the Expanding Canvas group Kai has with his wife.
Damon mentions the Minister of Culture for Denmark and what people are pushing for in the USA with Be An Arts Hero. Be an Arts Hero is an intersectional grassroots campaign comprised of Arts & Culture workers, Unions, and institutions in the United States pushing the Senate to allocate proportionate relief to the Arts & Culture sector of the American economy and ultimately have a cabinet level position for the arts.
Kai talks about the perks in Denmark from the ministry of the culture.
Damon talks about the World Percussion Committee for the Percussive Arts Society.
Here are a few marimba competitions if people are interested in auditioning for them.
Option 1 - Option 2 - Option 3
(There are more out there if you search)
Kai has invented an instrument called the Aluphone with Michael Hansen.
The instrument has also been used in drum corps.
Friend of the show, Jon Fox, has played pieces composed by Kai.
Kai has a steel band called Caribic Steel Band.
Kai talks about his relationship with Ju Percussion Group.
You can check out the music Kai has written and PURCHASE IT HERE.
Kai recommends the iconic recording for the week.
Kai uses Salyers Percussion Mallets.
Shout-out to Leigh Howard Stevens.
