![The Next World: Seattle PI [April 2012]](https://joedeninzon.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/seattlepi.png)
by Joe Deninzon | Apr 24, 2012 | The Next World
Perhaps despite themselves, Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius are proving the sub-genre of ’70s progressive rock is very much alive and well in 2012. While Stratospheerius describes itself as a “psychojazz trip funk” band, The Next World is squarely in the linage of works from bands like Yes, King Crimson, and Genesis, along with nods to jazz/rock fusion. While Deninzon doesn’t claim any of these groups as influences, citing instead musicians likeFrank Zappa and Jean-Luc Ponty, The Next World seems grounded in the conventions of progressive rock, which gives Stratospheerius the ideal format to showcase their musicianship and songwriting abilities.
For example, one trend in old school prog rock was the tendency to feature lead singers with high-register tenor voices. That’s certainly true of Russian-born bandleader Deninzon. But few other frontmen also excel as masters of the electric violin. A high-flying rock band also usually requires a guitarist capable of both soaring leads and inventive and energetic chord support. For the current incarnation of the group, French fretman Aurelien Budynek does just that. In prog rock, the ensembles are normally built on the tight performances of a rhythm section capable of unusual time signatures and quick tempo changes. Bassist Jamie Bishop and drummer Lucianna Padmore fit that bill to a T.
Their The Next World album opens with the jubilant “Release,” which is about letting go of old restrictions. Tricky time signatures and interwoven vocal lines mark “The Missing Link,” showcasing an extremely psychedelic guitar solo from Budynek. The entire band becomes hopped-up speed demons on “Tech Support,” with appropriate electronic sounds to deliver the message that the singers need that elusive technical support and, “You’re my last resort.”
Offering different moods and approaches, Stratospheerius goes Appalachian on “Climbing,” which erupts into King Crimsonesque rising and falling scales, reflecting the lyrics by a singer who is “still climbing” while he ages and is “looking over my shoulder.” Crashing gongs punctuate the fusion-jazz of “Fleshbot,” which might have fit on Wired if Jeff Beck had been a fiddle master with a streak of humor.
Speaking of humor, “The House Always Wins” goes even further back in time for influences, with a bouncy, swingin’ tribute to the breed of blues you might expect in a MGM musical-that is, if violinists had been plugged in back in the day. (The bassist for this track is former band member Bob Bowen. The album is dedicated to his memory, as he died in a bicycle accident in 2010.)
The variety of styles continue to range from the rough-edged “Gods,” in which “the more the pain, the more gods we need,” to the gentle instrumental, “Ballad for Ding Bang.” After the rock jam of “Road Rage,” we get one song seemingly deliberately crafted for radio airplay, the poppy “One Foot in the Next World.” The song from which the album drew its title has the listener part in the next world, part in this life, and one part twisting the knife. To close off the album, why not add a touch of ELO-style exuberance in “The Prism”? It’s a dramatic echo of “Release” with lyrics calling for the audience to break free from what imprisons us.
Some of the publicity for The Next World might suggest the album is a Deninzon project with Stratospheerius essentially his backing band. That’s far from the case. The album does have ample samplings of Deninzon’s accomplished violin work, but Budynek’s guitars are on display in equal measure. None of the “jams” sound like spontaneous improvisations, but are rather tightly crafted studio pieces including intricately produced vocal articulations, electronic effects, and multi-tracked instrumentation. Most of the songs are five minutes or less, meaning there are few opportunities for extended demonstrations of virtuosity. It’s an album with bright, vibrant tones from four players who aren’t competing, but rather congealing.
For this release, you’re not likely to think Zappa or
Mahavishnu Orchestra, but rather Trevor Rabin, Jon Anderson, or perhaps Robert Fripp. In the end, The Next World is an album for fellow musicians to appreciate and prog rock fans to enjoy.
Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Music-Review-Joe-Deninzon-Stratospheerius-3477902.php#ixzz1sztkOPxe
by Joe Deninzon | Jan 16, 2012 | Exuberance, Joe Deninzon Jazz Trio
Joe Deninzon Trio: Exuberance
Joe Deninzon has made a name for himself by defying expectations. The Russian-born fiddler has jazz and classical chops, but he’s equally adept at ass-shakin’ rock, funk, and straight-ahead pop. Joined here by guitarist Steve Benson and bassist Bob Bowen (who has since passed away), Deninzon finds unexpected nuances in the Alice in Chains classic “Heaven Beside You,” Steely Dan’s “Bodhisattva,” and Radiohead’s “The Tourist,” rendering them with the same care and adeptness as Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug (Used To Be A) Waltz” and Django Reinhardt’s “Nuages.” Deninzon also revisits one of his older tunes, “Sun Goes Down”, sung here by Luba, and Bowen contributes the titular piece (“Exuberance, in the Face of Utter Anguish and Despair”), two of the record’s most exhilarating moments. In the end, Exuberance serves as a refreshing and unpretentious bridge between jazz, classical, rock, and pop built by three musicians who seem capable of just about anything.
![Exuberance: Jersey Beat [November 2011]](https://joedeninzon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/jerseybeat.jpg)
by Joe Deninzon | Nov 22, 2011 | Exuberance, Reviews
The JOE DENINZON TRIO takes an interesting look at the term “standard” on their “Exuberance” (joedeninzon.com). Along with a number of original jazz compositions by the trio – Joe’s nine-string violin accompanied by Steve Benson on guitar and the recently late Bob Bowen on bass – they take music from the near and relatively far past, and put it through a progressive jazz filter. Sure, one might expect it of tunes like Fat’s Waller’s “Jitterbug (Used To Be A)” or even Chopin’s “Nocturne in Eb Op. 9 No. 2,” but they move it significantly further with Steely Dan’s “Bodhissatva,” Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Linemen” (perhaps the one piece that strains the most), Alice in Chains’ “Heaven Beside You,” and even Radiohead’s “The Tourist.” And these guys make it all work so you may not even realize that this isn’t the original genre for those tunes. The one vocal is by guest Luba, whose silky smooth voice slides comfortably over an original, “Sun Goes Down.” Over an hour of cool jazz.
![Exuberance: Sea of Tranquility [2011]](https://joedeninzon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/sea_tranquility1.jpg)
by Joe Deninzon | Nov 22, 2011 | Exuberance, Reviews
Joe Deninzon Trio: Exuberance
Even listeners familiar with progressive seven-string violinist Joe Deninzon might be surprised when the first two tracks from Exuberance — the latest album to feature his instrumental trio — spill out of their speakers. Steely Dan’s “Bodhisattva” and Alice In Chain’s “Heaven Beside You” subtly echo the originals, but Deninzon, bassist Bob Bowen and guitarist Steve Benson make them their own by embracing the musical nuances of both songs. Sans vocals, these pieces give off pleasures both new and odd. On the other hand, the trio underwhelms with its low-key take on “Wichita Lineman” (which remains a beautiful song, regardless of who performs it and how). There also are covers of “Nuages” by the trio’s major influence Django Reinhardt, as well “The Tourist” by Radiohead and Chopin’s “Nocturne in Eb Op. 9 No. 2.”
Several originals stack up well next to the other artists’ material, with Deninzon’s electric violin dominating, especially on “Surreptitious Soliloquy” and the kinda-sorta title track “Exuberance, in the Face of Utter Anguish and Despair.” “Sun Goes Down,” the album’s only vocal piece, featuring Luba’s singing, was included in the indie film What’s Up, Scarlet? and wouldn’t sound out of a place in a smoky nightclub around 1 a.m.
Exuberance was recorded with all three musicians in one room, playing live with no overdubs or fancy production. You can’t really hear the rawness over the professionalism, but you know it’s there. Sometimes sparse, but always engaging, these 13 songs should please long-time fans of the trio and Deninzon’s rock band Stratospheerius, as well as newcomers.
Track Listing:
1) Bodhisattva
2) Heaven Beside You
3) Nuages
4) Exuberance, the Face of Utter Anguish and Despair
5) Ellipsis
6) Night Coast
7) Sun Goes Down
8) Surreptitious Soliloquy
9) Wichita Lineman
10) The Last Days of Scorpio
11) Chopin Nocturne in Eb Op. 9 No. 2
12) Jitterbug (Used to be a) Waltz
13) The Tourist
![The Daily Times [June 2011]](https://joedeninzon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/thedailytimes.jpg)
by Joe Deninzon | Jun 12, 2011 | Articles
Stratospheerius reaches for the clouds with atmospheric mix ofblues, funk, rock and more
By Steve Wildsmith
It’s difficult to say what sort of music, if any, Joe Deninzon would be playing had the Russian native’s family stayed in St. Petersburg, but one thing’s almost a certainty — it wouldn’t be the funk-blues-rock-classical concoction he does today as founder of the band Stratospheerius.
Deninzon’s family emigrated to the United States in 1979, he told The Daily Times during a recent phone interview, to escape discrimination toward Jews. He was 4 when they came to America.
“My dad wanted to leave there, wanted a better life for his kids,” Deninzon said. “We moved to Cleveland, and almost immediately my dad – who also plays violin – got a job with the Cleveland Orchestra.”
It was a given that Deninzon would wind up with a violin in his hand, given that both of his parents were classical musicians. When he was 6, his father gave him one and he began to learn to play … but American culture began to work its magic on the youngster, and listening to the radio, he fell in love with rock ‘n’ roll and, later, jazz.
“All of the sudden, violin wasn’t cool anymore,” Deninzon said. “I took up guitar and bass while still studying violin in my ‘other’ life. I took a big journey and came back to the violin.”
Two things occurred that helped change his mind. One was musician Michael Stanley, a name unfamiliar to most outside of Cleveland but something of a hometown hero to music fans there. He would consistently sell out arenas in his hometown, and his twin daughters attended school with Deninzon.
“He heard me play at one of our high school concerts, and at 16 he invited me to play with his band,” Deninzon said. “I knew the notes and the music, because I could do it on the guitar, so I just translated it to the violin. And I got a great response and some media attention from that concert.”
The second was a recording given to him by his father by the legendary Gypsy-jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli. That led to his discovery of other eclectic and groundbreaking artists, and suddenly the violin didn’t seem like such a stodgy instrument.
“Hearing some of those guys really opened my mind that you could do a lot of cool stuff on the instrument,” he said. “That was in the early 1990s, while I was still in high school, and I thought I could pave my own way with it. There were a lot of great guitar players, and I was a decent guitar player, but I wanted to stand out and do something unique.
“There was a certain sound I heard in my head that nobody else was producing, and I wanted to make it happen. It just took a few years to figure out what I wanted to play.”
He started with the rock ‘n’ roll influences with which he first fell in love on American radio — bands like Led Zeppelin, with its roots in the blues, and Yes, one of the progenitors of progressive rock. Over time, he added in the greasy funk-blues of Frank Zappa, the jazz of Miles Davis and even classical flourishes by such composers as Stravinsky and Mahler — all filtered through his violin.
“I sort of take elements from genres that I like and put them into my music while avoiding elements I don’t,” he said. “There are certain elements of the jam band scene that I love, but a lot of times there’s just aimless noodling going on. I’m a big fan of progressive rock, and I like a lot of elements of that music, but there are some elements that I don’t like.”
Eventually, he began putting together a band that would become Stratospheerius, seeking out like-minded players who thrived on a multitude of influences and genres. Combining jam, fusion, rock, progressive, jazz, metal and more, the band sounds like a condensed version of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, with vocals added. The New York-based outfit has opened for Tim Reynolds, Mickey Hart, The Slip and John Scofield, among others, and was a winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition.
The band’s most recent album, “Headspace,” takes all of those elements and adds even more – Middle Eastern soundscapes, singer-songwriter virtuosity and a balance between the music and the vocals that’s drawn praise from critics. Next week (on Thursday, June 16), Stratospheerius will make its East Tennessee debut in downtown Maryville, a “warm-up” for the band’s showcase the following night at Chattanooga’s annual Riverbend Festival, where the group has always enjoyed a warm reception, Deninzon said.
“Performing is one of my favorite things to do in life,” he said. “I love to be in front of the audience, and I love being spontaneous. You’ll never hear a song we do performed the same way twice. From a performance standpoint, I’m really inspired by Bruce Springsteen. I love the way he pours his whole physical being into his performances.
“We’ll record a song one way, and it’ll take on a life of its own as we perform and tour with it. And it seems to go over really well with all kinds of audiences. It’s funny, because I’m not into labels – all of the sudden that puts you in a cage, and people think of you as only one thing. If any sort of audience appreciates our music, then I’m down with it and fine with it.”
![Exuberance: TheCelebrityCafe.com [January 2011]](https://joedeninzon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/celebrity_cafe.jpg)
by Joe Deninzon | Jan 24, 2011 | Exuberance, Reviews
Exuberance
by Sean Quigley
Heavily unorthodox and acclaimed Russian-born fusion violinist Joe Deninzon, best known for his jazzy trip funk jam band Stratospheerius and his 1997 solo album Electric Blue has returned with a talented trio and a new album entitled Exuberance.
Exuberance not only features a load of creative, enjoyable original songs from Deninzon and his trio but also an incredibly eclectic collection of covers. From the likes of Alice in Chains and Radiohead to Steely Dan and Glenn Campbell and further on to such performers as Django Reinhardt, Fats Waller and Frederick Chopin, Deninzon has it all covered.
With much anticipation I listened to Exuberance and within a second or two into the opening title track I began to sulk thinking I was in store for another stale violin album which would put me to sleep. But I certainly caught my tongue a few seconds later as the song picked up. Blues drenched Bass, wild yet stylish and refined violin and acoustic guitar which switched back and fourth from solid and generic to creepy, scratchy, psychedelic and undeniably cool.
Exuberance is drenched with such style. With respect for the classics and a daring avant-garde boldness Joe Deninzon’s endeavor is certainly a success. Some of their songs such as “Sun Goes Down” which features the singing talents of Canadian vocalist Luba seem almost tailor made for those lost around the poolside martini bar alone late at night as other songs such as “Surreptitious Soliloquy” sound like it was made some place where both Frank Sinatra and Frank Zappa find common ground. Both Primus or Palao could respect the talents of The Joe Deninzon Trio which to me is their greatest appeal.
Would I drive around blasting Exuberance? Probably not. Still I found this album to be truly excellent. Indeed a perfect choice for entertaining if one wishes to break free from the dreadful blandness of “Soundscapes”.
I recommend this album to anybody interested in the mastery of music as well as classical, jazz and alternative rock fans. Deninzon is only doing good for music. Breaking down barriers, opening minds, and carving a respectable niche for himself. Joe Deninzon is sure to soon be on every music snob’s list of notable artists, I can guarantee it.
Reviewer Rating: 4.00 Stars
