An instrumental quartet that “fuses global music with an American sensibility,” Acoustic Office will return with a performance at District Live, and they couldn’t be anymore excited to get back on stage.
“We create an experience,” founding member Ricardo Ochoa said. “That’s what this band is all about…making different shows every time we perform. It’s going to be unique, it’s going to be different, and we’re going to get the audience involved.”
Born out of the idea of a more structured, mature approach to music, Acoustic Office was formed by Savannah Philharmonic and Velvet Caravan violinist Ricardo Ochoa after his Gypsy-jazz band was unable to recover after the pandemic.
“I come from Velvet Caravan, we toured for almost eight years before COVID,” Ochoa explained. “We were in the national circuit performing on stages and at music festivals. Once the pandemic hit, we had a fallout and we couldn’t recover from it. At that point I wasn’t sure if I wanted to perform music anymore.”
According to Ochoa, he began to see the light at the end of the artistic tunnel once he met and began playing with fellow like-minded musicians, and Acoustic Office was formed. In addition to Ochoa, the ensemble includes Grammy Award-nominated pianist Assaf Gleizner, Grammy Award-winning bassist Marc Chesanow and New York City drummer Uri Zelig.
“The guys that I found have the same type of experience and they are all very versatile in different styles,” Ochoa explained. “Marc is assistant principal of the Savannah Philharmonic bass so he’s a classical guy, a jazz guy, but he can also play country music. Assaf is the pianist that I’ve always wanted to play with. He’s a very well accomplished Off-Broadway composer and he can adapt to any style that exists. For this particular performance we’re bringing in Uri Zelig from New York and he’s a guy who grew up with Assaf. He’s a very accomplished, amazing drummer who can perform any style of music.”
For this performance, Ochoa explained that they are taking a different approach with not only their musical interpretation, but the audiences as well.
“This show is going to be different and for this performance, we want to go to the studio,” he said. “When the idea of going to District Live and looking at their facilities came up we were like ‘okay we need to record, even if it’s just a five song album and we need to make it an experience so that the audience is another member of the band.’ The audience is going to be hanging out with us at the studio and experiencing a recording session with us. We’re really looking forward to it!”
When it comes to choosing a favorite style of music, Ochoa says that it’s hard to narrow it down to one, and Acoustic Office has no musical limits.
“We’re not limited to one style or one concept. We just like cultures, and we like the best of every culture that we can interpret. We really emphasize what we love about the culture of other places and combine it with what we know. And we love bringing it to the stage!”
Acoustic Office will perform at 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 2 at District Live. Tickets can be purchased at plantriverside.com or at the door.
