Album Notes

"What do you turn on when you Tenori-On" is a collection of 10 live performances on the Tenori-On by King Tet. The Tenori-On is a new experimental electronica musical instrument for the 21st Century invented by Toshio Iwai and Yamaha. There aren't many around and there is not a consensus on how they are to be played but for King Tet this is an instrument he's waited for since he was 10....and he's 52! "I can't help that they didn't invent this until I was 52" states King Tet. "It finally feels like the year 2000" King Tet says in the year 2008. Part of the charm of the Tenori-On is the ability of the performer to create and upload custom sound banks. King Tet sampled his 1930 Vega Tubaphone banjo for the occasion. The result is "King Tet's Breakdown" which may sound like a jam between a Tenori-On and a banjo player, whereas, the entire track is a live Tenori-On performance. All tracks are live Tenori-On performances without over-dubbing or studio editing. Who is King Tet? King Tet® is Eric Van der Wyk, former street-playing electric banjoist from San Francisco; Eric composes and records dance, world beat, new age, jazz-blues music and environmental recordings in San Diego. Multi-talented, Eric plays banjo, acoustic & electric guitars, electric sitar, doumbek, djembe, tamboura, guitar synthesizer and Tenori-On. Eric studied Classical Indian music with Ali Akbar Khan, electronic music composition from Terry Riley and is a self-taught jazz-blues musician. The music of King Tet® is as diverse as its roots. Sit back and enjoy the ride!