PlayStation console. Traditional Japanese drums. The saxophone. How, you ask, do all of these things (for lack of a better, all-inclusive term) come into the mix? Well, the long answer is that it's what you get when you combine traditional and experimental approaches to East Asian Music into one musical genre/band.

The short answer is: KIOKU. And they're coming to Colby.

But the long answer is probably harder to wrap your head around. And I'm with you when you say that the combination is bizarre. It's one thing for an avant-garde concert to include a set of taiko drums and a saxophone (and these days, funky visual lighting projections), but it's a completely different ordeal when something that summons ideas about Final Fantasy (or, if you're a 90s kid like me, Mario Kart) comes into the mix.

Are they for real?

You have to believe me when I say this, but the strange medley of musical gear, and the music that this band is able to produce through it, actually works. And if you don't believe me, you can check out a sample of their music for yourself at www.kiokugroup. com. At the very least, you'll say that the sound is "eclectic."

Eclectic, of course, isn't necessarily a good thing. But when it comes to describing the life experiences that a person has had, it certainly makes for one interesting human being. To give you an example Wynn Yamami, one of three members in KIOKU, and Colby's very own Artist in Residence this spring, is the paradigm. He lives in New York City, plays the piano and the taiko drums, writes his own music, works with multiple bands (other than KIOKU, he's the leader of a band called happyfunsmile--how random is that). And to top it all off, Wynn is a teacher by day and funeral entertainer by night.

Oh wait, I lied. This tops it off: he has appeared in TV programs and commercials for the US Open, the Anime Network, Iron Chef, and MTV Unplugged.

If I may make but one modest comment: He was on IRON CHEF?! If nothing else convinces you, the opportunity to downsize your degree of separation from Bobby Flay to two should be reason alone to go watch this guy and his band play.

But ultimately, the question that you want to ask is: Is KIOKU driving a sledge hammer into what should be a pure, unadulterated form of Japanese traditional music? Or are they actually fashioning an intricate piece of creative brilliance into the unfinished cloth that is East Asian music in order to continue the musical legacy of their forebearers?

The best way to find out is to come to their show, Taiko in the 21st Century, and see for yourself what this group is really up to. The concert is this Saturday, March 6 in Given Auditorium. Christopher Ariza is on live electronics, Ali Sakkal is on sax, and Wynn Yamami is on Taiko and other percussion. Admission is free and open to the public--so come for to listen, revel and enjoy.