DENINZONEWS: The latest from violinist Joe Deninzon

DENINZONEWS: The latest from violinist Joe Deninzon

NOVEMBER 2014

WWW.JOEDENINZON.COM

Ladies and gentlemen,
I am writing to you on a plane coming back to NYC from Stockholm. Having been on an unforgettable, immensely successful tour of Sweden with my brothers in Sweet Plantain . You can read the tour summary below. It has been a long month of travel and I’m looking forward to getting back and seeing my family again. November has Sweet Plantain traveling once again for a one-week residency at Quad Cities, IL and a concert in Iowa. My jazz trio returns to the stage in NJ after a long hiatus, and there is a big announcement from STRATOSPHEERIUS….

NEW STRATOSPHEERIUS SINGLE, “BEHIND THE CURTAIN” IS OUT!!!

behind_the_curtain cover
After months of teasing all of you, I am happy to announce that the new Stratospheerius single, “Behind the Curtain,” is officially available for streaming and downloading. You can stream it at Reverbnation and download it for a buck on CDBABY and BANDCAMP, and of course, iTunes, Spotify, and anywhere that mp3’s are in orbit. The track was written by me, and features myself on electric “Viper” violin and vocals, Lucianna Padmore on drums, @Aurelien Budynek on guitar, and @JamieBishop on bass, as well as our secret 5th member benny Koonyevsky on percussion. Engineered and mastered by the incomparable Rave Tesar, mixed by the incredulous Alex Salzman. produced by Stratospheerius.

 Also Download at CDBABY.COM

Sweet Plantain Quad Cities Residency

SWEET PLANTAIN 10-14
Sweet Plantain is looking forward to our residency at Quad Cities. A week of school performances and clinics, culminating in a concert on Nov 8 in Bettendorf, IA. Here’s the info:
Saturday, Nov 8th
7:00 P.M.
Bettendorf High School
3333 18 St.
Bettendorf, IA 52722
Sweet Plantain is:
Joe Deninzon-violin/mandolin/vocals
Eddie Venegas-violin/trombone
Orlando Wells-viola
Leo Ginhauz-cello

Joe Deninzon Jazz Trio returns to the stage

 

Featuring Joe Deninzon-violin/vocals

Steve Benson-guitar

Gaku Takanashi-bass

Thursday, Nov 13th, 7:30 P.M.
Harvest Bistro
252 Schraalenburgh Rd.
Closter, NJ 07624
Listen to the trio HERE!
Here’s some footage of myself and Steve Benson at this year’s Grand Canyon Music Festival performing Mark O’Connor’s “Swingin’ on the Ville”

SWEET PLANTAIN TOUR OF SWEDEN. FINAL THOUGHTS

 sweden1sweden 2 sweden 3
After a month traveling all over Sweden, this tour has finally come to an end. An experience that started with a professional catastrophe we wouldn’t wish on our worst enemies ended as one of the greatest experiences of our lives! We clawed our way out of a seemingly hopeless situation. We have travelled throughout this incredible country. Places we hadn’t  heard of and couldn’t pronounce, with names like Udevalla, Sveg, Båstad, Helsingborg, Linköping, Tingsryd, Västerås, Ljusdal, Östersund, Hudiksvall,  Vänersborg, Goteborg, Växjö, Sandviken, and Nyköping.
21 concerts! Rave reviews across the board and the presenter said it was one of the most successful tours he has organized in his career! We have met some beautiful and generous people who showered us with gifts, food, and uplifting energy that inspired us to no end. We witnessed how well this country is run both interns of economics, efficiency, and respect for people’s health, the environment, and quality of life. We have formed new friendships that we will always cherish. There are many people to thank, but here are those who were most instrumental in making this tour possible:
On September 25th, we were standing at the gate at JFK about to board the plane to Stockholm and our cellist was nowhere to be seen! We could not reach him or his family, and it turns out he fell ill and was not physically able to make it on tour, but we did not know this at the time. This is a person we had rehearsed with for months preparing for this tour. We all frantically got on our phones and called every cellist we knew. By the grace of God, Leo Grinhauz was available to clear his schedule for a month and hop a plane the next morning. I emailed him all our music right before I had to turn off my phone for takeoff. He arrived 3 hrs before our first concert, never having played with us before! Mind you, this is mostly original music that is very difficult to play and is rooted in jazz and Latin rhythms and improvisation. Leo worked his ass off and singlehandedly saved our tour! Also, I might add, he was a blast to hang with, which anyone can tell you is of utmost importance on a tour.
Our thanks to Guido Frackers for hooking up a flight for Leo and his cello on ridiculously short notice at an amazing rate.
We want to thank our driver, technician, spiritual advisor, and drinking buddy Stefan Hansson. A lousy driver but a true genius in audio engineering!(:) In the words of Joe Pesci, “He’s a good kid, that kid. “
And finally, we want to thank Mats Brostrom and the International Chamber Music Alliance of Sweden. Mats saw us perform at APAP in NYC many years ago. He had the vision to bring Sweet Plantain to Sweden and organized this whole tour for us, convincing local presenters in each city who are used to more traditional chamber groups to take a chance on a band that mixes hip hop, Latin music, and Jazz with classical music. Thank you, Mats!
As we head home and look towards the future, we feel immense gratitude and overwhelming emotions. The stars aligned for this tour at the 59th minute of the 11th hour and we are extremely blessed. Sweden, you will always have a place in our hearts. We raise our glasses to you and say “Skål” and a heartfelt “Tak tak!”
Until next time…
Love,
-Joe, Eddie, Orlando, and Leo

Sweet Plantain/Joe Deninzon/Stratospheerius videos

“Plugging In” book/CD/DVD by Joe Deninzon available from Mel Bay Publications

plugging_in