Monkeyclaus» Abel Okugawa

Tabla Star Loren Oppenheimer Returns to Charlottesville

Sara — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:11:28 +0000

Loren Oppenheimer, originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, left almost 10 years ago to follow a dream and learn in the true style of Indian Classical Music as a committed and sincere disciple of Pandit Divyang Vakil. Loren is a tabla soloist and accompanist for music and Kathak dance and a member of the tabla ensembles Tabla Upaj and Tabla Triveni, which have performed throughout the US. And until now he has been a full time teacher at the Taalim School of Indian Music, which he helped to start with his Guru Pandit Divyang Vakil.

Loren decided to return to Charlottesville to spread the gift of Indian Music and open the Virginia Branch of the Taalim School. Loren returned recently to Cville to perform at the Indian Cultural Center on the UVA Grounds as a soloist and as an accompaniast to the Rhythm Riders Ensemble, Tabla Ecstasy, on their Tabla Tour around the United States.

Loren has been a friend to Monkeyclaus and has recorded many times with Monkeyclaus Engineer and Producer Abel Okugawa. We decided to share some of these recordings here. Loren is currently looking for students interested in learning the art of Tabla. Please contact him at lorenoppenheimer [@] yahoo.com, 434-882-1310 .

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

Keep your eye out for this rising star and look out for more recordings now that we have him back in the family.

Ticino Royale – Sun Wukong Project

abel — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:58:22 +0000

This is a new track from Sun Wukong , Abel Okugawa’s latest collaboration with Craig Honneycutt. Produced at Monkeyclaus studio, this music is available FREE for Download. Check it out !

<a href="http://sunwukongproject.bandcamp.com/track/ticino-royale">Ticino Royale by Sun Wukong Project</a>

Stencil – Time Lapse – Joe Iurato

abel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:20:23 +0000

Joe Iurato has just completed his first large scale outdoor stencil. While I was at first glance disrupted by the insertion of colors, I must admit that the result is equal to his smaller greyscales pieces. Poetry wins.
This stencil was created from a picture by Transgress. Timelapse by Nilepoc.com. Music from Abel Okugawa.

Abel Okugawa: Beat Wizard

peter — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:51:12 +0000

Let it be known that Abel Okugawa is an epic figure in the Monkeyclaus family. He is the chief head honcho engineer of the Monkeyclaus Recording Studio. As an early Monkeyclaus believer, Abel was a key figure in the construction of the studio. He personally wired the entire studio. All the patches. All the everything. Recounting the heroicness of his efforts in manifesting this studio and this webportal is impossible in "blog form." Howewer, let us not be distracted by his accolades, and let us focus on the output. Abel recorded over a dozen of the titles in our current catalog, all of the Monkeysession Features, and voluminous archived material which will be soon finding its way to the Monkeyclaus site, with our relaunch. In many cases Abel engineered, produced, mixed and mastered the entire project. His eponymous music project has become a relentless vehicle for beat creation and electronic wizardry. Check both Abel Okugawa releases in the store, "816 Mix" and "Magic Cuts". Also check out Abel playing on the Avon Force and Galactic Core albums, and in the artist community find his work on the Red Flower Lake recordings.

Abel Okugawa: Beat Wizard

koblitz — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:33:03 +0000

Monkeyclaus Artist of the Week: Abel Okugawa

koblitz — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:30:02 +0000

Abel Okugawa: Keyboard Clairvoyance

koblitz — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:48:22 +0000

Abel Okugawa is an electronic musician whose sounds and beats echo the sublime eloquence of his person. Abel is the primary Recording Engineer for the Monkeyclaus studio and had an integral role in building, wiring and refining the studio, which over the years metamorphesized from an old barn into a magical full-fidelity production facilty. Some of his past work building studios in New York city also received the attention of Source Magazine. Abel works prolifically as a solo musician and collaborates with many folks as producer, bandmate, beat generator, and guest musician. Okugawa states simply that his recording philosophy is rooted in "ease and inspiration".

His most recent CD-R release, "Magic Cuts" is available in both mini and full size CD-R with handmade packaging as well as by digital download. These "Magic Cuts" are cinematic, sexy, and infused with infectious grooves. His "816"vinyl, Monkeyclaus' first record release, is an underground classic full of crucial beats and haunting samples. Both releases feature gorgeous vocals provided by Rahimah von Briesen, whose voice summons mental imagery of a silver-tongued vixen wandering the desert from oasis to oasis taming birds and making men faint. Live tabla beats from local prodigy Loren Oppenheimer also grace both recordings. Buy the Vinyl through AbelOkugawa.com, alternatively, download it here. Abel's catalog additionally includes three releases from his old band Avon Force, and a high profile track on the Dosage Three Rock Climbing video from Big Up Productions.

Born in Los Angeles where he lived until age 14, Abel then moved to Charlottesville, Virginia. As a child Abel met King Crimson guitar guru Robert Fripp in a castle in England, where Abel's unique spirit inspired Fripp's League of Crafty Guitarists to write the song, "Are you Abel". In his own words Okugawa recounts one poignant exchange between him and the prog-pioneer Fripp. "I was about eight years old and at a seminar my Mom was teaching for the League of Crafty Guitarists. I was there as a guest. We had to eat spaghetti with peanut butter most nights. And I finally asked Robert (Fripp) at the dinner table why he liked the peanut butter spaghetti so much. So he called me a name and I called him a 'toad'." Though surrounded by much music growing up, Abel is mostly self taught and completely original.

Please listen to this melange of Abel's tracks to get a taste for his sounds and styles. One clip herein features voice samples of Joe Maynard, a Charlottesville denizen who was William S. Burroughs' official bibliographer and is known as "the last of the Beats".
Please enjoy Abel Okugawa's work and for more information visit his official website.

Abel Okugawa Magic Cuts mini CDr release

koblitz — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:36:15 +0000

Magic Cuts

Keyboard clairvoyance.
Incantation and anatomy of a beat.
Beat with a capital B.
Soaring female vocals.
Allurement. Captivation. Ritual. Rite.
Charming and glamorous.
Magnetic and street-wise.
Global interactions.
A hex for poseurs and Ponzi schemers.
Six cuts of pure hypnosis.
The magic formula.