DENINZONEWS SPRING 2020 All the news that’s fit to print about violinist/vocalist/mandolinist/composer Joe Deninzon
Dear friends,
I hope you are all staying safe and healthy. Welcome to my Spring newsletter. Under normal circumstances, I would have a lot of cool things to report, concerts and clinics and sessions coming up. Lots to get excited about for the coming months. But this Covid19 pandemic has devastated my income and that of many of my friends and colleagues who make their living as freelance artists and musicians. Independent contractors do not qualify for unemployment. Cancellations of concerts, private events, and school residencies has left many artists depending only on artist relief funds and savings to live on until this virus passes. The best way to help is NOT by streaming our music on Spotify, but going to bandcamp pages and buying music directly from the artist or supporting them on crowdfunding sites. On that note, here are links to the bandcamp pages of some of my friends who can use some financial support in these difficult times:
Patreon is an incredible platform where an artists get a personal connection with their fans. I’m excited to launch my Patreon page! Tiers range from $5 per month to $75 per month. The base tier gets you weekly, or sporadic “gig diaries” where I share stories about my life as a musician, exclusive sneak peaks into new projects I’m working on, and surprise free stuff. You also get free downloads of unreleased material emailed to you periodically. Higher tiers get you free full album downloads, signed sheet music/vinyl/CD’s, t shirts, mugs, skype music lessons or interview, skype/facetime performances, free tickets, and even house concerts! Watch the video below and JOIN TODAY at www.patreon.com/joedeninzon
Here’s something to entertain you while you’re quarantined in your home. One of my biggest musical influences was the 70’s fusion band, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, featuring legendary guitarist John MacLaughlin. When I was 20 years old in college, I heard a recording of the song :Cellestial Terrestrial Commuters” from their 1973 album “Birds of Fire,” featuring the incredible violinist, Jerry Goodman. It was a moment of epiphany for me when I first heard jerry play. That was when I knew I wanted to be an electric violinist. I had never heard a violin sound like that! So this past year, I worked out a solo loop version of this song for the seven-string Viper and performed it at the 10th’ anniversary of the Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp in Olathe, KS. I have been teaching last this incredible camp for ten years now, and highly recommend you check it out if you are an aspiring musician! WWW.MWROC.COM
Enjoy the video!
Before the world got turned upside down last week, I was able to have some amazing experiences. On March 5-8, I flew down to Orlando, FLA for the annualAmerican String Teacher’s Conference.
As a traveling clinician and performer, I have made it a priority to attend this conference every year, hang out with my friends and colleagues, road test new workshops, jam a little, network with students an teachers, and find out what’s new on the string eduction scene. This was my busiest years yet! I gave a public masterclass to two very talented students, Leila Warren and Matt Laird. I taught as class on “Live Looping with a String Orchestra” using a volunteer demo group of some incredibly talented kids from John Jay High School in San Antonio, led by my friend Heather Gonzales, who I am very grateful to. I was part of a wonderful
panel on electronic effects for strings led by Julie Lyon. Lieberman. The highlight, of course, was getting to perform (for the first time) in a big concert alongside living legends of electric strings Mark Wood, Tracy Silverman, Martha Mooke, and Jesus Florido with one of my violin heroes Mark O’Connor jumping up onstage at the end of the night! Thank you to Jesus and Yamaha for sponsoring the event, and the incredibly talented rhythm section from Tampa, Fla who learned the music on very short notice! Also thank you to my dear friend/label president Nick Kastona from Melodic Revolution Records and his wife Jennifer for hosting me and helping out with Merch. The Covid19 Sonic Voyage Fest
On March 11-14, three bands who are labelemates onMelodic Revolution Recordscame together for a regional NY-area tour. We had planned these shows for a long time and were promoting them like crazy! Then the Corona pandemic escalated. The shows took place at Debonair Music hall in Teaneck, NJ, Booshwick Public House in Brooklyn, Roxy & Dukes/ NJ Proghouse in Dunellen, NJ, and Olives in Nyack, NY. The first two shows were sparsely attended due to fears of the virus. The second two shows had a modest but enthusiastic turnout. We agonized over cancelling and would meet and take a vote every night about whether or not to go on, but we knew in our hearts this was the last hoorah before a long quarantine. We needed nthis, and so did the people who attended the shows. There was a great love and camaraderie between all the bands, and we hope to repeat this next fall under better circumstances. We made our decisions to move forward with the shows and have no regrets.
Thank you to my bandmates in Stratospheerius, Jason Gianni, Paul Ranieri, and Michelangelo Quirinale. Thank you to Dianne Voegtlin of Potter’s Daughter,andDark Beauty for making these shows magical!
This picture came out great. Members of Stratospheerius, Dark Beauty and Potter’s Daughter. From L to R Top Row Jason Gianni – Drummer Stratospheerius Second Row Katie Pachnos– Harp ,Keyboards Dark Beauty Bob Konig– WFDU and Emcee Jan C. Voegtlin – Bass Potter’s Daughter Paul Ranieri– Bass Stratospheerius Front Row Michaelangelo Quirinale – Guitar Stratospheerius Bryan Ziegler – Guitar Dark Beauty Dyanne Potter Voegtlin– Vocals and Keys Potter’s Daughter Joe Deninzon– Violin and Lead Vocals Stratospheerius Liz Tapia–Vocals Dark Beauty Michael Diamantopolous – Bass Dark Beauty Greg Schwab – Drummer Dark Beauty
Stay safe and healthy, everyone. I hope to see you all on the other side of this thing when we can all share some hugs and some live music in the same room once again!
All the News that’s fit to print about violinist/composer/singer/mandolinist Joe Deninzon
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome to the roaring twenties! I’m getting ready to play some swing fiddle on a LOT of Great Gatsby-themed parties in the next ten years. Hey, it could be worse…
Hope you had a wonderful Holiday season and are ready to turn a new page in the new decade. Despite all the fucked up things going on in the world, I remain hopeful that we will learn total care of our planet and show each other some respect and compassion. Call me an idealistic fool, but I wear my idealism like a badge of honor!
Anyway, enough of my rambling.
Nah, here’s more rambling…
Looking back on the past decade, it’s been a wild ride! 2 kids, 3 albums, a book, a violin concerto, new bands, new friendships formed, and some of the greatest recording and touring experiences of my life!
Highlights of my 2019:
Celebrating 20 years of marriage with the lovely violinist/NY Philharmonic member Yulia Ziskel!
Having my “Dream Diary” Electric Violin Concerto performed byRudolf Hakenand my piece “Electric Lake of Soul” performed by renowned violinist Rachel Barton Pine.
BUY A MUG, send us your Mug shots, and we will post on our instagram!
Upcoming performances
Sunday,Jan 12 Playing with Brooklyn Raga Massive celebrating the music of John McLaughlin,Mahavishnu Orchestra, & Shakti 55 bar (55 Christopher St. NYC) 2 sets: 9:15 & 10 PM with: Joe Deninzon-violin, Premick Russel Tubbs (original Mahavishnu member)-sax, Neil Murgay-sitar, Vin Scialla-drums, Dan Asher-bass, Dr. David Ullman-guitar
Friday, Jan 30 7 P.M. Residency withRidge View High School OrchestraColumbia, SC with director Phillip Pagal 4801 Hard Scrabble Rd. Columbia, SC 29229 Honored to be conducting/performing my arrangements with this talented group of young musicians.
Feb 27 Sonic Voyage Fest presents: STRINGFEST II Echo of the Ghost(7 P.M.) Susan Aquila Band(8 P.M.) Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius(9 P.M.)I’m starting a tradition of mini-electric and eclectic string festivals. The concept is an evening of bands playing original music led or comprised of creative electric string players who push the boundaries of their instruments. We had a great first mini-fest last year at DROM with Mazz Swift, 2 Birds Band, and Seven Suns. The sequel will feature Stratospheerius along with 2 of my favorite electric violinists/songwriters/friends; Susan Aquila and Claudia Chopek.
March 5-7: ASTA (American String Teachers) National Conference in Orlando, FLA. Hyatt Regency Hotel (9801 International Dr. Orlando, FL) Order of events: Thursday March 5th 2:45-3:45 P.M. Teaching masterclass open to attendees. Thursday March 5th 8 P.M. Performing all-star triple bill with violinist Jesus Florido and Tracy Silverman! Friday, March 6th 2:45-3:45 P.M. Live Loop clinic Saturday, March 7th 1:30 P.M. Panel on effects for electric strings hosted by Julie Lyonn Liberman
March 11-14, Sonic Voyage Fest Tour with Potters Daughter & Dark Beauty Stratospheerius is honored and excited to tour with our label mates at Melodic Revolution Records! More details forthcoming… Wed, March 11th: Debonair Music Hall (1409 Queen Anne Rd, Teaneck, NJ 07666) Thur, March 12th: Bushwick Publick house (1288 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11221) Friday, March 13 TBA Saturday March 14th TBA
New Recordings
Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius new single, “Impostor” on Melodic Revolution Records
If you haven’t already, stream (or better yet, download) the new Stratospheerius single, Impostor. Featuring: Joe Deninzon-electric violin/vocals, Jason Gianni-drums, Michelangelo Quirinale-guitar, Paul Ranieri-bass, Bill Hubauer (Neal Morse Band)-keyboards, Randy McStine-guitar/vocals Recorded by Rave Tesar (Renaissance). Mixed and Mastered by Rich Mouser (Spock’s Beard, Flying Colors, Neal MKorse, Trans Atlantic, Dream Theater, Tears for Fears)
Earlier last year, I was blessed to collaborate on this song with my friend and manager Anne Leighton. The lyrics she sent me were inspired by her hero Muhammad Ali, and deal with overcoming your worse fears and personal demons to live your best life and inspire others. She recently launched an indiegogo campaign to help promote the song. We had the privilege of Thembeka (Universal artist/winner of the Voice South Africa) to grace us with her incredible voice, and the legendary Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Jeff Beck,Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osborne) to play drums. Engineered by Dale Wardell, Mixed by Alex Salzman, mastered by Fred Kevorkian. Check it out!
I’m honored to have participated on one of the best Prog albums of 2019 with an all-star cast. Keyboardist/singger/songwriter/producer Dave Kerzner released the sci fi concept albums, Acceleration Theory Part I & II in 2019, and I contributed strings to both projects. Musicians on the album include Michael Sadler (lead singer of Saga), Jon Davidson (lead singer of Yes), Steve Hacket (original Genesis guitarist), drummer Marco Minneman (Joe Satriani, Aristocrats), drummer Nick D’Virgilio (Spock’s Beard, Big Big Train), singers The McBroom Sisters (Pink Floyd), bassist Matt Dorsey, guitarists Randy McStine and Fernando Perdomo, and singers Gabriel Agudo and Leticia Wolf!
Attention string players! Check out my original compositions available on from Lathasm Music/JW pepper. My latest is a “Sidewinder”-style funky jazz string quartet titled “Benson Burner Boogaloo.” BUY SHEET MUSIC HERE!
New Projects
We are currently hard at work filming and editing the video for Stratospheerius “Impostor,” with videographer David P. Levin, who produced our video for “Behind the Curtain”
Here is the full performance of my “Dream Diary Electric Violin Concerto” by Prof Rudolf Haken!
Finally, check out this bootleg video of Stratospheerius performing our song, “Game of Chicken” live at Progstock Oct 13, 2019. Union County Performing Arts Center.
We are also putting the finishing touches on three new tracks that will be a part of the next Stratospheerius album. At least one will be released as another single until the album comes out. Also writing new music we plan to record.
I will soon be launching patreon account and look forward to the opportunity to share my day to day musical activities, projects, and general thoughts with you. Stay tuned…
Fall has been jam packed for Stratospheerius. We recently had the honor of performing alongside bands like Saga, Nekrar, Discipline, and Joe Getter at Progstock, the biggest Progressive Rock Festival in the Northeast United States!
Here are some photos from our show and meet n greet! Thank you from the bottoms of our hearts to Tom Palmieri and Ann Rinaldi for this incredible opportunity! Thank you to our videographer David P. Levin for creating 75 minutes of mind-blowing backdrop footage for our performance! Also, thank you for the tireless crew of volunteers backstage, which includes Ray Loboda, Scot Corcoran, Alan Benjamin, Jim Robinson, Jason Kresge, Joel Simchas, and a slew of other folks who were involved!
I am excited to once again have the opportunity to perform my solo electric violin show at Skipfest, followed by a duo performance with legendary keyboardist/composer Neil Alexander, and later sitting in with his band, “Nail.” Trinity Episcopal Church, 55 George St , Allendale NJ. 3 P.M. Music by Joe Deninzon, Tracy Silverman, The Polcice, Jaco Pastorius, Neil Alexander, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Luiz Simas, Paganini, Mark O’Connor, David Wallace, and more!
We leave you with an oldie but a goodie. Here’s our performance of our song, “Release,” filmed by our friend Julia Gillies from the audience.
All the News that’s fit to print about Vioinist/Composer/Mandolinist/Vocalist Joe Deninzon
Greetings, friends!
It’s hard to believe the summer is over! It flew by in a flash.In my case, a whirlwind of gigs, travel for business and pleasure, and many beautiful experiences both musical and non-musical.
Highlights include:
-Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp/Music Festival, where I have been fortunate to teach and perform since 2011. My favorite week of the year with my extended family of friend and colleagues.
Progstock is the premier progressive rock festival in the Northeaster United States, founded by our good friend Tom Palmieri.
The event takes place at the Union County Performing arts Center in Rahway, NJ from Friday, October 11-Sunday October 13th
Stratospheephius performs on Sunday, October 13th at 1:30 PM, but you should BUY TICKETS NOW and spend the whole weekend to hear these other incredible bands, who we are proud to share the stage with:
Yes folks, it took us a while but we HAVE NEW MUSIC!!! This marks the recording premier of the new lineup of Stratospheerius, featuring:
Joe Deninzon-Electric violin/lead vocals
Michaelangelo Quirinale-guitar/vocals
Paul Ranieri-Bass/vocals
Jason Gianni-drums/vocals
In May, we laid the groundwork for four new tracks, which will eventually become a part of our next record. In the meantime, we have created an 8-minute monster called Impostor!
This track will be released as a single and be available for the first time EVER at Progstock!
The track features guest appearances by Randy McStine-guitar/vocals
And keyboardist Bill Hubauer (Neal Morse Band) and was tracked by Rave Tesar andmixed and mastered by Rich Mouser, best known for his work with Neal Morse, Spock’s Beard, Trans Atlantic, Flying Colors, and basically half of my record collection. Please visit our Facebook and twitter page for teaser samples of the song in the next few weeks. I can’t wait for you to hear this track!!!
10/11/19 Town Hall, New York, NY
10/12/19 Keswick Theater. Keswick, PA (Recording LIVE 50th anniversary CD/DVD!!)
10/15/19 Count Basie Theater. Red Bank, NJ
10/16/19 Ridgefield Playhouse. Ridgefield, CT.
10/19/19 The Egg. Albany, NY
11/16/19 @ 3 P.M.
Trinity Episcopal Church, 55 George St , Allendale NJ.
1 hr solo electric violin set by Joe Deninzon, followed by a duo set with keyboardist Neil Alexander.
Performing originals and covers by Mahavishnu Orchestra, Steve Vai, Frank Zappa, Jean Luc Ponty, Tracy Silverman, Mar O’Connor, and more! https://www.facebook.com/events/505511826870985/
Joe Deninzon records underscore to new Broadway play starring Marissa Tomei!
I’m honored to record the underscore music for the new revival of Tennessee Williams’ classic “The Rose Tattoo” on Broadway starring Marissa Tomei!
The recording was produced by Tony award-winning producer/sound designer Fitz Patton, and features Alessandra Belloni-percussion, Wilson Montuori-guitar, and Steve Gorn-bansuri flute.
I am pleased to announce that a new original string quartet of mine called “Benson Burner Boogaloo,” is now available from JW Pepper! This is another funky jazz piece with a “Sidewinder” feel. Easy to learn for intermediate players. Check it out, as well as my other sheet music, “What’s that Thang” and “Shock Therapy.” Thank you to Lynne Latham for making this possible
