The eccentric Shibusa Shirazu Orchestra from Japan combines music from all four corners of the globe that they perform in a theatrical, circus-like act. The group has a flexible lineup that includes some twenty to thirty musicians, action painters, butoh dancers and actors. At the start of the current millennium, the group bewildered audiences at the Glastonbury and Moers Festivals. Their music has jazz as its basis, but also extends to rock, ska, funk, Balkan beat and Latin, as well as Japanese musical traditions. The lineup consists of woodwind and brass instruments, but also includes a violin, keyboards, guitar and the biwa, a traditional Japanese plucked instrument, related to the pipa, the Chinese lute. The live show is dazzling with colorful costumes and gigantic props, such as an enormous dragon-shaped balloon. The Shibusa Shirazu Orchestra brings fireworks to the stage, both literally and metaphorically.
