In classical music circles an orchestra is defined to be a large musical ensemble that consists of four equal sections: brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion. Other musical styles have laid claim to the term as a description of a large band, regardless of its composition. What kind of stuff do these non-classical orchestras play? Glad you asked.

Das Palast Orchester “Sex Bomb” (Tom Jones)
This sounds like something Frank Zappa would play with one of his big touring bands. Frank loved a good romp through all the cliches of a musical style, played with crack precision. I might just like this version better than the original, which is saying something given my unnatural love of Tom Jones.

Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra “Velvet Guitar” (Alejandro Escovedo)
Nicholas Tremulis is something of a local institution in Chicago. His orchestra plays an incredibly broad variety of music, and here they put a calypso spin on this Alejandro Escovedo song.

The Woody Jackson Orchestra With Money Mark “Love’s Theme” (Love Unlimited Orchestra)
No strings or porno waka-chika guitar here. It’s a all about the roller rink, baby. Dang, now I have a mental image of Barry White on roller skates. I need to think of something else fast.

Man Chau Po Orchestra “Sealed With A Kiss” (The Four Voices)
It sounds like it’s from the soundtrack of a teenage surf movie from the 50s. This song would be playing during the makeout scene on the beach, just before Conflict occurred. Then all the good-hearted but misunderstood kids would have to run off to save the girl/defeat the monster/stick it to The Man with barely enough time to brush off the sand. This comes from an album with a truly great title: The A-Go-Go From River Kwai.

The Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain “Dy-Na-Mi-Tee” (Ms. Dynamite)
These guys are hilariously funny but they also have great chops.