Joe Deninzon (electric violin/vocals/mandolin/guitar); Aurelien Budynek (guitar/vocals); Jamie Bishop (bass/vocals); Lucianna Padmore (drums)
Renowned electric violinist/vocalist Joe Deninzon and his acclaimed band, Stratospheerius unleash the fire on their new CD, “The Next World…” (Digital Nations). Deninzon has been called “The Jimi Hendrix of the Electric Violin”, because of his innovative style on the electric seven-string violin and his compositions blending rock, funk, jazz, classical, and Eastern European Gypsy influences. He has worked with artists ranging from Phoebe Snow to Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, and Ritchie Blackmore and has written a book for Electric Violin Techniques published by Mel Bay.
“The Next World..."is the fifth release by the band and combines incredible virtuoso musicianship with memorable hooks and intricate arrangements. With influences ranging from Yes, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Frank Zappa, and King Krimson, as well as Muse, Radiohead, and Flaming Lips, this is the bands most ambitious project to date.
Joe grew up listening to guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, Steve Vai, Jimi Page, and John McLaughlin, who had a bigger influence on him as a violinist than artists like Itzhak Perlman and Jascha Heifetz. He often refers to himself as “a guitarists trapped in a violinist’s body.”
Stratospheerius features Deninzon on electric violin and lead vocals, French guitarist Aurelien Budynek (Cindy Blackman’s band, Vernon Reid), bassist Jamie Bishop (The Syn, Francis Dunnery), and drummer Lucianna Padmore, praised by Modern Drummer Magazine for her “Deep grooves and serious fusion chops.”
Joe says that “The Next World…” is the band’s most personal and political CD to date. Songs like “Gods” rage against the modern day 24-hour media propaganda machine, “One Foot in The Next World” and “The Prism”, address political hypocrisy amidst epic string soundscapes and distorted guitars.
The opening track, “Release”, deals with not chasing things in life and letting them find you. The song recalls early Rush epics with odd time signatures and philosophical lyrics, climaxing with a wild fiddle solo.
“Tech Support” is about the overstimulated and overmedicated society we live in.
“The House Always Wins”, inspired by a giant army recruiting station in Elko, NV, is a symbolic war protest song, featuring Joe on mandolin. “For this song,” says Joe, “I wanted to give the impression that I had been up all night gambling, so after a whole day of singing, I drank a bottle of scotch and smoked a few cigars before laying down the vocals in one take.”
Instrumental tour-de forces like “Road Rage” are great for blasting while you speed down the highway and try to outrun the cops, and “Fleshbot” is the soundtrack to an imaginary B movie about creatures who are half man/half machine invading the earth in the not-so-far future.
Everything is weaved together by Joe’s lead vocals, and violin played like you’ve never heard it before, through wahs, delays, distortions, loops, whammys, and everything under the sun!
This CD is dedicated to the memory of bassist, Bob Bowen, who played with the band and did the cover artwork.
Escape to “The Next World…”, a musical roller coaster that may inspire your imagination and heighten your senses!
“As at home in the world of Grappelli and O’Connor as he is in the world of Steve Vai and Jimi Hendrix, Joe Deninzon may very well be our next national violin treasure.”
-Jedd Beaudoin www.sweoftranquility.com
“Memorable hooks, gravity-defying instrumental prowess and a kitchen sink move toward rock and Zappa-esque fusion. If Bela’ Fleck and Frank Zappa had a love child in outer space, it would grow up to sound like these guys do.” -
www.coolcleveland.comwww.stratospheerius.comwww.joedeninzon.comTRACK LISTINGS
1.
Release (LISTEN TO AUDIO) 2.
Missing Link (LISTEN TO AUDIO) 3.
Tech Support (LISTEN TO AUDIO) 4.
Climbing (LISTEN TO AUDIO) 5.
Fleshbot (LISTEN TO AUDIO) 6.
House Always Wins (LISTEN TO AUDIO) 7.
Gods (LISTEN TO AUDIO) 8.
Ballad for Ding Bang (LISTEN TO AUDIO) 9.
Road Rage (LISTEN TO AUDIO) 10.
One Foot in the Next World (LISTEN TO AUDIO) 11.
Prism (LISTEN TO AUDIO)Order CD
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