The Artists

JAY JASKOT drums

Jay Jaskot pursues the evocation of beauty, generosity, wit, argument... the stuff of living, by hitting things with sticks. Naturally a humbling endeavor, he takes inspiration from a beautiful painted brushstroke, a dancer’s navigation of space, and draws inspiration from his fellow musicians, each pointing their own way. Jay’s virtually limitless polyrhythmic range and unpredictability together foster a creative environment with Honolulu Art Ensemble that inspires its bandmembers to new levels of radical musical discourse. There is likely no object he can’t draw a beautiful sound from.

ROLAND LONGSTREET congas

Roland Longstreet maintains a breakneck artistic schedule, what with sculpture, painting, and music forming his creative triumvirate foundation.

Roland is a great listener and finds innumerable ways to loop and thread his own complex sounds and textures within and throughout the overall musical output of Honolulu Art Ensemble. He recently appeared at the Blue Note Hawaii with Nick Kurosawa and the DaeHan ensemble.

PETER SHAINDLIN Flugelhorn, Bb trumpet, digital trumpet, small percussion instruments

Active as a musician, composer, poet, and photographer hailing originally from New York, Peter studied musical performance and theory at Mannes College, his trumpet studies with Danny Stiles, William Vachianno, and Mel Broiles, mentorship with Tommy Turrentine and Eddie Barefield, and improvisational study with bassist Ahmed-Abdul Malik at NYU. At eighteen he performed as principal trumpet in the Aspen Festival Orchestra. Primary jazz trumpet influences include Booker Little, Lester Bowie, Don Cherry, and Wadada Leo Smith. Peter enjoys both the rich, supple timbre and sonorities of the flugelhorn and the bite of the digital trumpet, and has continually pursued free jazz-influenced experimental ensemble work and improvisation. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma from the University of Oxford.

TA'LTOSH Guitar, violin, sharod, sitar, tampura, Hungarian flute

Ta'ltosh studied classical guitar at the Peabody Conservatory of John Hopkins University under Nat Gunod and Manuel Barrueco. He continued his education with, among others, Wayne Brasel, Pat Metheny, and John and Gerald Clayton. Over the years he’s had the privilege to share the stage with many significant jazz musicians including Ajaramu, Fred Anderson, Gary Bartz, Malachi Favors Maghostut, Von Freeman, and Arthur Taylor. His musical interests lie predominantly in jazz, free jazz, funk, ethnic and folk music, and classical music. Ta’ltosh played lead violin in the Vadkelet Ensemble in Toronto, Forming String Theory in Honolulu, leading the Szapudi-Nagy-Gavaller Trio in Budapest, studies with Pat Metheny at the 2009 Vitoria Jazz Festival, seminar with John and Gerald Clayton In Honolulu, and founder of the Ta’ltosh Collective in Honolulu, 2010. Ta'ltosh is also an active film maker in Honolulu, Hawaii, and a member of the Hawaii Film Collective.

RANDY WONG Double Bass

Randy's remarkable ability to shift fluidly between classical, popular and progressive performance genres lends itself brilliantly to the mission of Honolulu Art Ensemble. Hawaii-born and raised, he studied classical, jazz, and other music in Boston and holds degrees from New England Conservatory and Harvard University. Inspired by his mentors and heroes Cecil McBee, Michael Cain, Brother Ah (Robert Northern) and Brother Cleve, Randy has a fluid view of music and the spectrum made possible through improvisation and free-flowing interaction. A versatile bassist, performed with George Clinton, the Orquesta Nacional de Jazz de Mexico, and his own group The WAITIKI 7. Also a member in the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and an innovative arranger, Randy has recorded/produced albums in jazz, popular, Hawaiian, and Exotica genres and has been profiled on NPR. Outside of performance, Randy leads the Hawaii Youth Symphony as President, where he seeks to "Make Music A Right" for every young person.