The Shows. . .
Epi.phony
OkCello’s main show, originally called Epi.phony: A Sound Realization, has evolved over 10 years to become an experience that audiences all over the world frequently describe as one of the best shows that they have ever been to.
While the show is built upon the evocative and catchy instrumental song writing, looping, and improvisation that OkCello has become known for, it also includes artful storytelling that makes the audience laugh, reflect, imagine and remember. Even more, it contains surprising and norm breaking audience participation that people often can’t believe they enthusiastically engaged in.
The show is one part Bobby McFerrin, one part Bill Withers; it’s trying to be a bit like Miles, but it has a little more in common with Ed Shearin. You put all that together and throw in a cello, a looper, a bunch of big words, and you’ve got an OkCello show.
If you want to amaze your audience, all while entertaining them with songs and stories that will make them laugh and cry, bring OkCello’s Epi.phony to your venue.
City Winery Atlanta. April 2023. Song premier for “Move.ment.” Sample Epiphony moment.
The Avatar Show:
A Visual Experience of Live Musical Looping
The Avatar Show is the newest evolution of Epi.phony, and it comes with a twist: on three of the show's songs, OkCello is joined on screen by four video avatars of himself, each playing a looped part, until a whole band stands behind him.
Everything that makes Epi.phony what it is remains. The evocative and catchy instrumental songwriting, the looping and improvisation, the artful storytelling that makes audiences laugh, reflect, imagine and remember, and the surprising, norm breaking audience participation that people often can't believe they enthusiastically engaged in. What the avatars add is sight to the sound. For ten years audiences have heard OkCello build an entire ensemble out of one cello in real time; now they get to watch that ensemble arrive, one OkCello at a time.
It's one part concert, one part magic trick you're allowed to watch twice; it's still trying to be a bit like Miles, but now it has a little more in common with a band that never has to be paid. You put all that together and throw in a cello, a looper, a bunch of big words, and a screen full of OkCellos, and you've got The Avatar Show.
If you want to amaze your audience with songs and stories that will make them laugh and cry, and send them home talking about what they just watched, bring OkCello's Avatar Show to your venue.
Offering
Offering is a fully improvised, concert experience, which is designed as a gift of sound and intention for the audience. The experience consists of 4 acts in close succession, which follow this form:
I. Improvisation Meditation: An improvised cello meditation on a word, feeling, or experience arrived upon from a short conversation with those gathered.
II. Offering: OkCello invites a member of the audience on stage to talk about a loved one, perhaps who has transitioned or who has left this life in some way. From the conversation that they have about that loved one, OkCello will improvise a sonic gift from the person speaking to the person being remembered.
III. Co-Creation: OkCello will invite a fellow improviser on stage to co-create something that bears witness to the experience. (Clip below)
IV. Living Sound: OkCello will invite the audience to lift their voice into an unending living sound/note, into which he will improvise, creating a communal, in the moment, improvisational song.
Your audiences will be moved by the earnestness and vulnerability of this concert and will remember it as a singular experience.
Act III of Offering. Featuring CC Sunchild. March 2024