Afro Asian Music Ensemble

The Afro Asian Music Ensemble is the product of over three decades of Fred Ho’s revolutionary and multicultural musical and theatrical productions. Consisting of royal hartigan (drums), Masaru Koga (alto sax), and Ben Barson (who wields Fred Ho’s own Mark VI Baritone Sax), and other notable alumni from Fred Ho’s bands including Wes Brown (bass), David Bhindman (Tenor Sax), and Bhinda Kiedel (soprano sax), the ensemble represents the core of Fred’s compositional legacy. Fred wrote for this 6 piece ensemble for the majority of his career, combining groovy mixed meters bass lines with Chinese percussion, Korean operatic tuning systems, and infectious funk — all set to agitprop titles with uplifting references to the people’s struggle for liberation and dignity!

The Afro-Asian Music Ensemble will be performing and presenting in Chicago in the April of 2015 as part of the Asian American Studies Conference, and is available for educational and performance purposes upon request.