“Frame by Frame” Coming May 1st
FRAME BY FRAME
Joe Deninzon joins StringMasters
I am honored to join the masters teaching staff at String Masters! Jeremy Cohen has created a revolutionary platform for online music instruction, with different student/teacher split screen options, the ability to mark PDFs in real time and share them during the lessons, and a hi def program far superior to Skype, Zoom, or FaceTime. I’m also honored to be featured alongside colleagues like Mads Tolling, Evan Price, Earl Maneein, Crispin Campbell, Natalie Haas, and many more! Please check it out and subscribe for access to all of these teachers!
DENINZONEWS SPRING 2020
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:
https://thankyouscientist.bandcamp.com
https://7sunsmusic.bandcamp.com
https://www.susanaquilarocks.com
https://sonicelements.bandcamp.com
https://rmcstine.bandcamp.com
https://fernandoperdomo.bandcamp.com
https://thrilldriver.bandcamp.com
https://district97.bandcamp.com
https://officialpottersdaughter.bandcamp.com
https://3rdegree.bandcamp.com
You can find all my CD’s, downloads, t-shirts, mugs, vinyl, and other goods at:
www.stratospheerius.bandcamp.com
www.joedeninzon.bandcamp.com
JOIN MY PATREON
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 annual American 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 on Melodic Revolution Records came 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, and Dark 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!
Love,
-JD
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SONIC VOYAGE FEST SPRING TOUR 2020
Ladies and Gentlemen,
If you live in the Tri-state area, you don’t wanna miss this string of
shows coming up next week with our label mates from Melodic Revolution
Records.
Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius is excited to be sharing the stage
with Potter’s Daughter and Dark Beauty!
Here are all the details of the upcoming shows:
Wednesday, March 11 Debonair Music Hall
1409 Queen Anne Rd, Teaneck, NJ 07666
(201) 833-0011
7 P.M.
Thursday, March 12 Bushwick Public House
1288 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11221
Friday, March 13th NJ Proghouse
Roxy & Dukes
745 Bound Brook Rd, Dunellen, NJ 08812\
(732) 529-4464
https://facebook.com/events/s/sonic-voyage-fest-potters-daug/601727030614516/?ti=icl
Saturday, March 14 Olive’s
118 N. Main St. Nyack, NY
With special late-night guest Binaural Beats!
We look forward to seeing you at these shows! Thank you for supporting
live music.
Rock on!
-JD
DENINZONEWS WINTER/SPRING 2020
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!
Hanging out with my musical heroes and Playing on Cruise to the Edge with In Continuum featuring Dave Kerzner Steve Hackett Michael Sadler Jon Davison Randy McStine Marco Minnemann Nick D’Virgilio The McBroom Sisters Fernando Perdomo Leticia Wolf Gabriel Agudo Ruti Celli and Kaitlin Wolfberg.
Appearing on four of the year’s critic’s choice best prog albums: In Continuum “Acceleration Theory Part I & II,” Fernando Perdomo :Out to Sea II, and Thank You Scientist “Terraformer.”
Playing with The Who at Madison Square Garden & Jones Beach!
Playing with Kurt Elling (with Deedee Bridgewater and Ben Vereen) at Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Working on the underscore to “The Rose Tatoo” on Broadway starring Marissa Tomei with Alessandra Belloni
Co-writing & producing “The Greatest Lives” with Anne Leighton featuring Carmine Appice on drums and Thembeka Mnguni on vocals!
https://soundcloud.com/leighto…/the-greatest-lives-with-band
Touring as concertmaster with Renaissance for their 50th anniversary tour with my brothers in Sweet Plantain.
Releasing the first single, “Impostor,” with the new lineup of Stratospheerius on Melodic Revolution Records with Jason Gianni Paul Ranieri Michelangelo Quirinale.
https://joedeninzonstratospheerius.bandcamp.com/tr…/impostor
Playing the main stage with Stratospheerius at ProgStock Festival the biggest Progressive rock festival in the Northeast U.S!
Publishing my string quartet, “Benson Burner Boogaloo” with Ludwig Masters/JW Pepper.
https://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/search.jsp…
Having my “Dream Diary” Electric Violin Concerto performed by Rudolf Haken and my piece “Electric Lake of Soul” performed by renowned violinist Rachel Barton Pine.
Teaching/performing residencies with
Northside HS in San Antonio, TX with Heather Newman Gonzalez Angelica Guerra
Highland School in Medina, Oh Rachel Martin Gamin
East brunswick HS Arvin Gopal
Vance Music in Wichita, KS
Arlington HS with Sweet Plantain in LaGrangevile, NY
American String Teachers Conference Albuquerque, NM
Fiddle Hell Massachusettsl in Westport, Mass
Teaching and playing at MWROC Music Festival my favorite week of the year!
Performing and teaching at the Grand Canyon Music Festival with Robert Bonfiglio.
Playing at Vail Jazz festival in Co with Mark Diamond trio.
Playing with Brooklyn Raga Massive Mahavishnu Orchestra/Shakti/McLaughlin tribute,
While 2019 will be a hard year to live up to, I got many projects cooking on multiple burners, so stay tuned…..
Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius post-holiday sale!
MAJOR discounts on CD’s. vinyl, mugs, t-shirts, and more!
visit: www.stratospheerius.bandcamp.com
LIMITED TIME Sale ends at the end of January!
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
Thursday, Jan 23rd–Sweet Plantain makes it’s debut at the Fever Up Candlelight Concert Series
Middle Collegiate Church (50 East 7th St. NYC)
7-10:30 P.M.
BUY TICKETS HERE!!
Friday, Jan 30 7 P.M. Residency with Ridge View High School Orchestra Columbia, 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)
ZAPPA COVER ALERT!
My friend and brother Matt Bell has released this killer version of “My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama,” with guest appearances by yours truly, ThatViolaKid Patrick Contreras and Ross Holmes.
The Greatest Lives
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!
In Continuum
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!
Joe Deninzon Published Sheet Music
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…
Peace, love, and music,
-JD
JOE DENINZON & STRATOSPHEERIUS NEWS & UPCOMING SHOWS
DENINZONEWS NOVEMBER 2019
The latest on violinist Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius
GREETINGS, FRIENDS!
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!
NEW STRATOSPHEERIUS SINGLE, “IMPOSTOR!” from
MELODIC REVOLUTION RECORDS!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We our proud to release our new single, “IMPOSTOR!” Please stream it, download it, and she it with your friends!
Engineered by Rave Tesar (Renaissance)
Mixed and Mastered by Rich Mouser
Written by Joe Deninzon
Joe Deninzon-electric violin/lead vocals
Paul Ranieri-bass
Jason Gianni-drums
Michelangelo Quirinale-guitar
Special guests:
Bill Hubauer (Neal Morse Band)-keyboards
Randy McStine-guitar/background vocals
GET A CUP OF JOE!
Enjoy sipping your morning coffee in these sleek mugs with our logo, a shape of the Viper electric violin, and bow!
Order yours TODAY! https://stratospheerius.bandcamp.com/merch/stratospheerius-mugs
Joe Deninzon & STRATOSPHEERIUS NY-AREA MUG RELEASE PARTIES COMING UP THIS WEEK AND NEXT!
This Friday, Nov 1st. 9 P.M.
Sonic Voyage Fest presents: Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius, Randy McStine, Mile Marker Zero, & Joe Piteo’s Binary Beats
Olives
118 N. Main St.
Nyack, NY
https://www.facebook.com/events/676615799517528/
Monday, Nov 4th
Randy Mcstine (9 P.M.)
Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius ( 10 P.M.)
The Bitter End
147 Bleeker St.
New York, NY
10012
Saturday, Nov 16th. Joe Deninzon performing with keyboardist Neil Alexander at Skip Fest
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.
