All the News That’s Fit to Print about violinist/vocalist/composer Joe Deninzon
Season’s Greetings, everyone!
Hope you’re staying safe and not losing your minds yet. 2020 has been a dark vortex of misery, and I like all of you am glad to send it into the dustbins of history.
The good news is that we will all (hopefully soon) will be vaccinated, and when this thing ends, (and it WILL end), people will be hungry for live music and entertainment like never before! So whatever you do, don’t say that this its the “new normal,’ cause to me, that’s just admitting that this situation is permanent, and I refuse to go softly into that goodnight, my friends…
‘TIS THE SEASON! ALL ITEMS ON MY BANDCAMP 20 PERCENT OFF!
That’s right, folks! Please visit my BANDCAMP store and get 20 percent off when you type the code “holidaze2020” at the checkout. Get deep discounts on vinyl, mugs, t-shirts, my book, CD’s, and downloads! Available now until January 1st at MIDNIGHT!
Attention String Players and Orchestra Teachers! Joe Deninzon string arrangements NOW AVAILABLE onwww.sheetmusicplus.com!
Over the years, I’ve written string duos, trios, quartets, and string orchestra arrangements for weddings, high school and college residencies, music camps, hired arrangements projects, and just for my own enjoyment. Some people curl up with a good novel, but I love to sit with my laptop, sip a beer and crank out string arrangements. It’s my therapy & takes me to my happy place. Anyway, I have over 100 titles and will be uploading plenty more in the next few months.
Music by ACDC, Journey, Guns N Roses, Nirvana, Coldplay, The Beatles, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Queen, Van Halen, Rihanna, Tylor Swift, Katie Perry, and much much much more! I also have original pieces up there. Check it out! Arrangements for levels ranging from beginner/intermediate advanced!
Visit my store at: www.sheetmusicplus.com
It is my great honor to teach alongside such great artists and colleagues in the “multi-style” string universe. Strings Without Boundaries is a program founded by violinist Julie Lyonn Lieberman, who has been a pioneer in the field of “alternative/multi-style” string playing for over 40 years! I have contributed to her latest book, “A Festival of Violin and Fiddle Styles,” and had a chance to teach at her online symposium this past summer. She has put together an incredible world-renowned faculty to teach this virtual schmorgasbord of classes. There is no tuition and classes can be taken a-la-carte. Visit the website for the schedule and list of classes. www.stringswithoutboundaries.com Mine will include:
-Rock 101
-How to Read Chord Charts and Lead Sheets
-Getting in the Groove
-Intro to Live Looping
-Learn the solo to “Stairway to Heaven.”
This past October, Stratospheerius released one of most ambitions songs of all time, “Storm Surge.” Based on a 19th century solo piano piece by German Composer Friedrich Burgmuller, the song was co-written by me, our drummer Jason Gianni, and renowned SAGA lead vocalist Michael Sadler. The track features Michael as our guest lead vocalist, and other guest appearances by guitarist Fernando Perdomo, cellist Ruti Celli, NY-Phil Violinist (and my wife) Yulia Ziskel, and blind prodigy and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Flowers on piano and flute.
The track has been getting some love from Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services.
Finally, here’s a livestream/interview we did on October 30th
Rachel Barton Pine plays “Electric Lake of Soul”
In 2015, I was commissioned to compose a solo piecer by my good friend/world-renowned violinist Rachel Barton Pine.
The result was an 11-minute piece called “The Electric Lake of Soul,” inspired by the novel “Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates” by one of my favorite authors, Tom Robbins. On December 4th, the day after my birthday, Rachel performed this piece as part of her weekly “Family Fridays” livestream series. She plays my piece right after a caprice by one of my favorite violinist/composers of all time, Mark O’Connor. Check it out!
All of these projects that I’m involved in cost money; Paying musicians, engineers, videographers, promoters, managers, etc etc etc. I would love nothing more than to continue making music for you and the rest of the world to enjoy and to hopefully inspire people. In these dark and uncertain times, it is harder than ever for us musicians to survive. Live gigs have all but disappeared, and I am mainly teaching and recording online, which provides a fraction of the income I had before the pandemic. It will take a long time before I build up that revenue stream to come close to what I was making in the “before time.” Patreon is a wonderful site which enables fans of artist to subscribe for as little as $5 per month. In return, you get a monthly free unreleased download, bootlegs, exclusive sneak peaks, early access to new releases, private concerts, music lessons, free swag, and more!
Notes:Joe Deninzon will be giving virtual workshops for the “Strings Without Boundaries Winter String Summit” Jan 7-10, 2021. Classes include “How to Read Chord Charts & Lead Sheets,” “Rock 101,” “Learning the solo to Stairway to Heaven,” and “Live Looping.”
It’s been a long quarantine. I hope you and your families are staying safe and healthy. I can’t tell you how much I miss performing for you all in person. The last public concert I have done was with Stratospheerius on Saturday, March 14th at our favorite haunt, Olive’s in Nyack, NY. It was the closing of a beautiful tour with our friends in Dark Beauty and Potter’s Daughter. As the pandemic was rising, every night we would take a vote about whether or not to keep going. In the end, the vibe between all the bands was so beautiful and even though people were scared and the shows were sparsely attended, those who did show up were deeply appreciative and showed us a lot of love. Though it seems like a long time ago, we are grateful that we all had that last hurrah before the quarantine.
In the meantime, being the constant workaholic that I am, here’s what I’ve been up to:
I was honored to give a bunch of livestream performances. The first two were in April for the Uncancelled Musicd Festival, organized by my dear friends Ann Rinaldi and Tom Palmieri from the Progstock Festival. In May, I performed live for an online radio show from the Uk called Beat Route Radio alongside many other wonderful prog artists. Thank you to Bob Prigmnore for including me. Last month, I had the privilege of taking part in an ongoing lunchtime livestream concert series for NY-area medical workers called “Music for the Soul.” I was nominated to perform by the NY Philharmonic, and the performance was hosted by AF of M Local 802 (the New York Musicians Union) and NY-Area Hospitals. It was an honor to be a part of a series that had also featured artists like Tony Bennet and Questlove.
Stratospheerius was “Band of the Week” twice on WRAT in my home state of NJ! Than you to Tom Hanley for interviewing me and featuring our music.
Stratospheerius released our new single, a cover of King Crimson’s “Frame by Frame.” Featuring the usual suspects, yours truly on electric violin and vocals, Paul Ranieri on bass, Jason Gianni on drums, Michelangelo Quirinale on guitar, with special guest Val Vigoda on background vocals. Engineered by Rave Tesar (Renaissance) and mixed and mastered b y Rich Mouser (Spock’s Beard, Flying Colors, Sons of Apollo).
We also have another new song mixed and mastered with special guest vocalist Randy Mcstine. Hoping to have the next single released in September.
We are putting the finishing touches on our new video for the song Impostor, again teaming up with former MTV producer David P. Levin for this one. Here are some stills to wet your appetite. Stay tuned…
Finally, there is another MASSIVE track in the works. This one with tons of cameos by folks like guitarist Fernando Perdomo, flutist/pianist Rachel Flowers, Ruti Celli, and………………………
Joe Deninzon to Teach at 4 Virtual String Camps
As many of you know, teaching is one of my biggest passions, especially when it comes to sharing my love for all things related to jazz and rock improv, electric violin, extended techniques, and gear gear gear! With the current situation in the world, EVERYONE is going virtual. I’m psyched to be a part of this great movement, which has the potential to reach people all over the world more than ever before! I always try to see the positive in everything. So here is ALL the info:
This camp is my heart. This will be my tenth year teaching at the camp that bears the name of the legendary electric violin pioneer who built my 7-string Viper electric violin, Mark Wood. This camp really feels like a family, both among the faculty and “repeat-offender” campers who come back year after year after year, and stay in touch throughout the year. I’ve seen kids grow up in this camp and become world-class professional musicians. My main class this year, “Flying Solo,” focuses on creating a solo performance in the age of quarantine, namely live looping and solo arranging. I am also giving a masterclass on Rock String arranging for trios, quartets, and string orchestras. If you are interested in this camp, please contact me and I can get you a $100 discount on tuition. My esteemed colleagues on the faculty include Dr. David Wallace, Chuck Bontrager, Mark Wood, Haydn Viterra, Greg Byers, Val Vigoda, Lila Hood, Nathan Blake, Laura Kaye, with special guest classes by Jordan Rudess (keyboardist from Dream Theater), Tracy Silverman, Alex DePue (Steve Vai), and Indian Violinist Dr. Mysore Manjunath.
Sign Up at WWW.MWROC.COM
Here’s a video from my faculty performance last year, playing a solo loop version of Mahavishnu Orchestra’s “Cellestial Terrestrial Commuters.”
Here’s one of many faculty collaborations that happen when the camp takes place in Olathe, KS, performing “Seven Bridges Road”by the Eagles.
Englewood Dwight is an amazing private school and summer camp in Englewood, NJ not far from where I live. They have a
world-class summer string program run by my friends violinist Analiessa Place and cellist Diego Garcia.
I am excited to be teaching privately on this wonderful new platform created by my friend Jeremy Cohen. No matter where you are, if you want to study with me virtually and subscribe to get all the perks this website has to offer, sign up TODAY at www.stringmasters.com!
Bandcamp & Website
I have recently revamped and overhauled my website. Check it out at WWW.JOEDENINZON.COM
In this difficult time, income for artist is severely limited, too say the least. It is next to impossible to make money from Spotify streams and youtube views, and public concerts are non-existent. Bandcamp is one of the few websites that compensates artists fairly for this products. My bandcamp includes digital downloads, CD’s, DVD’s, books, vinyl, and t-shirts. Please visit
My original string quartet, “What’s That Thang?” was published by Ludwig Masters back in 2018. Thank you to the ASTA (American String Teacher’s Association) for this wonderful review of the arrangement.
ORDER from JW PEPPER!
You can see Sweet Plantain performing the song at 7:15 in this video:
Over the years, I have accumulated over 200 string arrangements of rock and pop tunes for duos, trios, quartets, and string orchestras with and without rhythm sections. Up until now, selling arrangements of copyrighted material was a nightmare of red tape and legal fees. Recently, Sheet Music Plus has made a deal with Hal Leonard, Alfred, and other publishers to make it easy for writers and arrangers to sell their arrangements online. One of my quarantine projects was to upload all of these songs I’ve had lying around for years and be able to sell them. These are perfect for string quartets looking for pop and rock music to play at weddings and high school orchestra teachers adding rock and pop music to their programs. I have 70 arrangements uploaded so far, with many more to come! Music by Stevie Wonder, Aerosmith, Lizzo, Kansas, Smashmouth, Black Sabbath, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, Ceelo, Glarls Barkly, the Beatles, Paul McCartney, DNCE, The Weeknd, Heart, Jimi Hendrix, ACDC, Michael Jackson, Queen, David Bowie, Rick James, and much much more…
Last month, I had the honor of being interviewed by conductor Tigran Arakelyan. We talked about music, our shared experiences as immigrants when we were young children, and my electric violin concerto. Check it out!
If you want regular unreleased material, more updates, musings about the world, personal performances, free swag, please JOIN MY PATREON! You can join for as Lowe as $5 per month and I’ll love you forever!
That’s it for now! Back to work. Good to keep working and not dwell on the negative. I hope we all come out of this healthier, wiser, and more tolerant and understanding of each other.
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…
