Kan Wakan played to a full room last night (11/4/2013) at the Troubadour. I wasn’t expecting such a large band — there were seven musicians on stage!
To begin their set, a sole violinist played as the other band members came out, and everyone wore all black (except the singer, who wore a white and red jacket over an all black outfit).
Kan Wakan played effects-laden music with a ton of influences — I heard some tropical/Hawaiian sounds, as well as smooth jazz, psychedelic, experimental, and at times folksy vibes. On the second song, the singer shook a tambourine and one guitarist shook an egg shaker — this percussion as well as the saxophone really added to the overall sound.
I also noticed that the electric guitar player used a slide and the drummer played with his snare drum turned off in a few of the long, jamming songs.
Kan Wakan finished off their set with “Midnight Moon Pt 1 & 11” — the song went on a pretty long time, but the two marimba players were the best part. People in the front of the crowd were really into the music and were moving around.
+ Check out KanWakan.com for more info. on the band.
