Lucien Johnson led the Wellington outfit Shogun Orchestra in the early 2010, releasing two albums. The first self-titled album came out 2010, followed by Black Lotus in 2013. The sound was inspired by time he spent living in Haiti. Both albums are available on Bandcamp.
This clips is from a live show playing a tune off Black Lotus, with the talented Jennifer Zea on vocals. I remember seeing Shogun Orchestra when they toured for the album in November 2013, they did a great show at Ponsonby Social Club. The band arrived not long before showtime - I think they had some car troubles on the drive up from Welli. They managed to rally themselves and got a groove on.
These days Lucien Johnson has been releasing some great jazz albums under his own name, the latest came out in April this year - Ancient Relics (listen below).
I heard an interview with him recently where he said he's had people, say to him 'I don't like jazz, but this is really great' to describe the album, so go give it a listen. For jazz fans and non jazz fans alike.
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