Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius' new album, THE NEXT WORLD is being released on May 24 through Steve Vai's Digital Nations and Joe's imprint D-Zone Entertainment. The band's acclaimed sound is a melodic mixture of progressive hard rock with jam band, funk, jazz, and Gypsy influences. The unique merging of these sounds can be heard on the album's fiery "Gods," the energetic power clash in "The Missing Link" and the glorious intro, "Release." The album's wide ranging instrumentals are the superfast "Road Rage" and the soulful "Ballad for Ding Bang," and the post-apocolyptic "Fleshbot." Joe & his band bend genres in the electronic/ska-inspired "Tech Support," the country rock ballad "Climbing," and the bluesy "The House Always Wins."
THE NEXT WORLD is chockful of dynamic musicianship, and creative energies of bandmates--leader Joe Deninzon on electric violin and lead vocals, French guitarist Aurelien Budynek (Cindy Blackman, 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."
The album is dedicated to the memory of Bob Bowen, the bassist in both Stratospheerius and the Joe Deninzon Trio. Bob was killed in a bicycle accident in Manhattan in 2010. Bob's bass playing can be heard on "The House Always Wins." He was also a talented visual artist and drew the cover artwork for the album.
Stratospheerius has played at colleges, festivals, and clubs throughout the US. The New York-based group has opened for Tim Reynolds, Mickey Hart, The Slip, Ekoostik Hookah, and John Scofield. The group was a winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, won the Online People's Choice Awards in the Cornucopia Festival, and was named "Best Jam Band" in Musician's Atlas Independent Music Awards.
Joe Deninzon is the music world's expert on alternative violin techniques and has been called the "Jimi Hendrix of the electric Violin." His song "Scarlett's Waltz" is in the soundtrack of the Will Ferrell-produced movie, VIRGINITY HIT. This year Mel Bay books published his "PLUGGING IN: A Guide To Gear and New Techniques for the 21st Century Violinist." A musician who transcends many genres, he has recorded and performed with a variety of artists including Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Everclear, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, Smokey Robinson, Johnny Matthis, Les Paul, Phoebe Snow, Jane Monheit, and Robert Bonfiglio among others.
Joe has appeared as a soloist with the New York City Ballet, has performed on MTV and at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, and has played for former President Clinton. His music has been featured on CMT, VH1, ABC, Comedy Central, the Travel Channel, History Channel, Food Network, and National Geographic. An active clinician, Joe has taught at Mark O'Connor's renowned String Camp and Mark Wood's Rock Orchestra Camp.
2 comments:
This is an awesome review. This band rocks. This song, and, really, all their videos are must-see TV. It's great to see some real progressive rock celebrated, not just those who have the accoutrements of the genre. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SkZ22uPsY0
Seriously, I think this is the best album of new prog/rock/fusion, hell, music period, that I've heard in a long time. Any other readers have this CD? Any readers who, like me, are in New York City? Stratospheerius live and play there (they're on the road, too). Next time they play let's get a Prog posse up and go the show. I live amongst indie rock geeks, hip hop heads and jazz snobs. It's lonely on the progressive edge.
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