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!
This gallery contains 4 photos.
I had the distinct pleasure of teaching samba band and ukulele to a group of students at the Medley Arts Camp in Crawford Bay from July 27-31. Additionally I performed an impromptu version of Manha de Carnaval with superb classical … Continue reading
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.
Beautiful harp and vocals by Dawna McLennan at the most zen musical setting of the summer.. Voices Over Water. Featuring Ben Johnson on Udu (clay pot percussion).
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:
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).
A little cabin in the woods, where magic happens.
Some stuff we’ve created here:
Studio inquiries: Contact Ben
This 4-minute short film, created for the food film contest over at realfoodmedia.org, represents my first original film score! Narrated by Lee Reidl – all audio recorded, performed and edited by Ben Johnson – and with a tight deadline too. Let me know what you think!
Featuring a remix of Desert Dub by Xopianoi: Ben Johnson, the oudist on the original track.
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.
Live world fusion/acoustic-electronic music project with Adham Shaikh, the Outworld Orkestra (www.outworld-orkestra.com) brings together the talents of artists from around the sphere adding unique and exotic instrumentation, dance and visual media to Adham’s organic and electronic sounds. The collaboration of the musicians with dance & visual art creates global music tapestries that take listeners on sonic journeys transcending time and place.
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Producer Will Chapman and vocalist Michelle Moss’ The Arcane Garden presents Seed, their post-Peruvian journey featuring sacred Shipibo icaros and Ben Johnson on Santoor on track 6: Standing Stones.
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Australian Didjeridu master Shine‘s first full-length release Great Central Sun – produced by Adham Shaikh – features Ben Johnson throughout on a variety of instruments including oud, çümbüş, tabla, Persian santoor & darbuka.
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Composer/Producer Adham Shaikh‘s sixth major release “Universal Frequencies” features Ben Johnson on oud and frame drum on track 9: “Desert Dub”.
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Recorded in one take in one room with one microphone, Gesundheit! is the second release by Nelson BC’s premiere klezmer jazz outfit, Heavy Shtetl. Featuring Ben Johnson on drums & darbukka.
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Produced by D.G. Silakiewicz & Ben Johnson, 5 Lb. Hammer features Ben Johnson on drums throughout, and on keyboard accordion on the Blues-Tango number ‘Hey Cinderella’.
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Vi An is an improvisational Gu Zheng virtuoso. Vi An’s ‘Embark‘ marks the first album to feature tracks composed and produced by Ben Johnson: Track 9 ‘Yangucho’, and Track 10 ‘Goddess And Messenger’.
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The Rembetika Hipsters‘ second album, marking the song-writing debut of Ben Johnson with the instrumental track ‘Mersini’. Ben is also featured on tabla on ‘Oso Varoun ta Sidera’, – a bold choice for a Cretan folk tune – and on drum kit in 7/8 time on ‘Evil Eye’.
Multi-disciplinary artist Xstine Cook released this EP featuring her original songs, Mark Sadlier-Brown on guitar, Mike McCafferty on bass, and Ben Johnson on drums. Performance highlights included whip-cracking solos, musical saw performance, and an axe solo.
A thick soup of pop, rock and ska made with the salty base of gypsy and klezmer music with dashes of spanish and middle eastern influences, Belladonna is the Plaid-Tongued Devils‘ fourth release.
Features Ben Johnson performing a santoor intro to the classic ‘Misirlou’, and on tabla alongside Meghana Bhat’s lovely sitar on ‘Kama Sutra’.