Kaslo Jazz etc. floating stage with Breakwater

Thank you Jeff Faragher & Breakwater for the opportunity to perform on the floating stage at the 2015 Kaslo Jazz etc. festival. What a treat! I had to jump into the lake off the back of the stage after the show.. it’s tradition!

Dreamtree Project at Starbelly Jam

Gallery

This gallery contains 12 photos.

Photos by Joel Pelletier www.joelpelletier.ca Featuring Adham Shaikh, Uwe Neumann, Gurpreet Chana, Marty Carter, and yours truly, Ben Johnson performing at the 2015 Starbelly Jam music festival.

Aire Nuevo – Música Musa

A nice recording credit for the Dog House Studio!

Kenji Fukushima recorded his guitar tracks in the Riondel studio last January, and we sent them off to Hans in Mexico City for mixing.

So inspiring to be part of an international collaboration! Kenji’s guitar is heard on:

  • track 5; Inspiración 17:01
  • track 6; Música Musa 19:34

 

A Dream of Tulum


A “dreamscape” produced with field recordings from Tulum (Q. Roo) and Merida (Yucatan), Mexico. The Caribbean Sea breeze playing the strings of an Aeolian harp, a Guitarrón surreptitiously plucked, a Mayan ritual re-enactment.

released 24 June 2014
Caty Petersen (Aeolian harp), Indira Beatrix (laughter).

Dog House Studio

A little cabin in the woods, where magic happens.

Some stuff we’ve created here:

Studio inquiries: Contact Ben

ROM with Adham Shaikh

June 21st 2013, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, ON. Season Finale of the ROM’s Friday Night Live series. There were between 3,000 and 4,000 people in attendance! People lined-up around the block, hundreds did not even make it in..

The whole show featured Adham on beats’n’bass with his new Arturia MiniBrute, Ben Johnson on Persian santoor, electric oud, çümbüş and darbuka, Torontonians Jacqueline Levitt on vids and Akimi and Amanda sporting the ultra-tribal bellydance moves.

Notably we beat the odds and highway closures on the road during the Great Calgary Flood of 2013 to get there!

Photos courtesy Jonah K
http://www.jonah-k.com/

Unity 2012

This year’s Unity festival in Winlaw, BC opened with world music improv group “Shrutrio”, composed of Prashant Michael John on vocals & resonator guitar, Marty Carter on flute, saxophone, Akai Ewi wind synth and djembe, and Ben Johnson on oud and tabla. Building on repertoire developed during Kirtan night performances together, the trio took some traditional song forms along with some of Prashant’s original pieces into extra-dimensional sacred space.

What a wonderful way to open a festival! Photography by Bohdan Doval.

Samba Lago Profundo

Samba Lago Profundo – East Shore grupo de samba (www.sambalagoprofundo.ca) is the community percussion ensemble founded in 2011 by Ben Johnson.

Rooted in the Rio Carnaval style of Brazilian samba, the group nonetheless incorporates other style of Brazilian music (such as Forró), as well as other influences from around the globe (Bhangra!).
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