Stratospheerius

Artist Information

Biography

Led by electric violinist/vocalist Joe Deninzon (www.joedeninzon.com), who has been called “The Jimi Hendrix of the violin,” Stratospheerius has showcased their “frenzied mélange of alt-bluegrass, progressive rock, jazz fusion and funkabilly” throughout the world. The New York-based group has opened for Tim Reynolds, Mickey Hart, and John Scofield, among many others. Their live performances are filled with funky dance grooves, rip-roaring guitar/violin jams, and hooks that mix jazz, funk, rock with Gypsy influences. Stratospheerius was a winner of the John Lennon International Songwriting Competition, and was named “Best Jam Band” in the Musician’s Atlas Independent Music Awards. They have been featured in Relix, Downbeat, and Jazziz, among other publications. The group has just completed their fifth CD, “The Next World…” on Steve Vai’s Digital Nations label.

“…Violinist/singer Joe Deninzon presents us with this gift of hot songs from his rockin’ live shows. Think a bit of Zappa, the Dixie Dregs or Blues Traveler, with the violin being the focal point. Joe’s talents are flat out phenomenal, and the progressive rock tapestry he weaves around himself is carried out to perfection by his amazing band.”

-www.musicmorsels.com

“Deninzon shows how he has earned the nickname the “Jimi Hendrix of violin” as he tears threw a distortion heavy solo that points more in the direction of Guns N Roses’ Slash than Yo Yo Ma.”

-Justin Scro www.cashboxmagazine.com

“Memorable hooks, gravity-defying instrumental prowess and a kitchen sink move toward rock… If Bela Fleck and Frank Zappa had a love child in outer space, they might grow up to sound like these guys do.”

-David Budin, www.coolcleveland.com

Instrumentation

Joe Deninzon - Electric Violin/vocals/mandolin
Lucianna Padmore - Drums
Aurelien Budynek - Guitar/Vocals
Jamie Bishop - Bass/Vocals

Discography

Electric/Blue (Wilbert's Blues Records, 1998)
The Adventures of Stratospheerius (D-Zone, 2002)
Live Wires (D-Zone, 2004)
Headspace (D-Zone, 2007)
The Next World (Digital Nations, 2012)

Official Website

http://www.stratospheerius.com

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• MySpace
• Stratospheerius website

Audio

• RELEASE
  Listen  
• One Foot in the Next World
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• Gods
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• The House Always Wins
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• The Prism
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• Climbing
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• Old Ghosts
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• Driven to Tears
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• Heavy Shtettle II
  Listen  

Lyrics

• RELEASE
• One Foot in the Next World
• Gods
• The House Always Wins
• The Prism
• Climbing

Video

Shock Therapy

MAGIC FINGERS MOJO 5-5-12.mov

Photo Gallery

Press

• The Next World Review 5 [+ Show ]
  

  Stratospheerius – The Next World ?I’m just gonna say it, no one stop me, please: This album drove me...Stratospheerius – The Next World ?I’m just gonna say it, no one stop me, please: This album drove me absolutely nuts. So, why the good rating? It’s well done, I simply can’t argue with that. Stratospheerius is a unique band, melding blugrass, rock, prog, jazz, and funk. It’s really hard to describe. It’s got great violin happening all over the place, it breaks down to these blugrass and country moments all of a sudden, then this weird electronic bit, and all of a sudden there’s a funk guitar going, followed by classic rock guitars and vocals. Then, of course, there’s the prog elements on a variety of tracks, which prove to be quite well done (check out “Fleshbot” and “Road Rage” great instrumental driven violin rock madness). I’m not gonna lie, this violinist is really good, and really fun. If I were supersticious, I’d have to say that the devil came down and made a deal with Mr. Denizon for sure. Stratospheerius is all over the map on The Next World. Great band, not my style, but still a great band. This one’s worth checking out to see whether you love it or hate it.
  
  -Matt Di Giordano
  

• The Next World Review [+ Show ]
  

  "The Next World (Digital Nations, 2012) A leading candidate for best rock album of 2012 is the de..."The Next World (Digital Nations, 2012)
  
  A leading candidate for best rock album of 2012 is the deliciously addictive album The Next World by Stratospheerius. The wide-ranging New York-based band is the brainchild of electric violin sensation Joe Deninzon.
  
  Stratospheerius displays violin virtuoso, mandolinist and vocalist Joe Deninzon at his prime, accompanied by three outstanding musicians: Lucianna Padmore on drums, Aurelien Budynek on guitar and vocals, and Jamie Bishop on bass and vocals.
  
  The Next World mixes state of the art progressive rock, jazz fusion, Dave Matthews Band-style jam band rock, contemporary bluegrass, cutting edge electronica, blues, folk-rock vocals harmonies, and even Balkan Gypsy music. Joe Deninzon’s dazzling violin solos, creative loops and effects are clearly spectacular and demonstrate that is one of the most talented instrumentalists in the current rock scene."
  

• The Next World Review 2 [+ Show ]
  

  "Stratospheerius - The Next World... (Fiddlefunk Music) Take violinist / vocalist Joe Deninzon, a..."Stratospheerius - The Next World... (Fiddlefunk Music)
  
  Take violinist / vocalist Joe Deninzon, add guitarist Aurelien Budynek, bassist Jamie Bishop, and drummer Lucianna Padmore and you get the genre-busting quartet Stratospheerius. One moment you get a Police vibe; another song might fit in with that gonzo Tubes feel; the next some Jeff Beck-ish; yet another would be at home in the Zappa family. Sometimes all at once. The one common factor is that every number is full of invention and feels alive.
  
  The biggest jump since the last Stratospheerius album is the depth and maturity Deninzon's voice has gained. His vocal on The House Always Wins is playful and a bit of a tease. On Gods it's got an urgent edge. Earthy and open on Climbing. As for the playing, every member plays with passion and invention. Budynek is tight and bright in rhythm mode and soars when the song calls for it. Bishop, who prog fans might recall from stints with the Syn and with Francis Dunnery, is a flat out low end monster and perfectly matched with the fiery Padmore. She is that drummer every musician wants in their ensemble: a player that can blow your mind one moment, then tenderly hold your hand the next. As for Deninzon - the sounds he gets out of that violin are inhuman. His speed, precision, color, and character are just off the charts!
  
  Not a bum song to be found here. Today Ballad For Ding Bang, the Morse-era Spock's Beard-ish One Foot In The Next World, The House Always Wins, and Tech Support win the highlight honors. If you dig funk/prog/rock/jazz/jam/fusion/pretty-much-everything-but-opera - it's all right here. The Next World... is a disc you'll never get tired of spinning! Much love to dear departed Stratospheerian Bob Bowen who also provided the cover art." - Jon Wilcox (5/2012)
  

• The Next World Review 3 [+ Show ]
  

  "Perhaps despite themselves, Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius are proving the sub-genre of '70s progre..."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 like Frank 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.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." -Wessley Britton
  
  

• The Next World Review 4 [+ Show ]
  

  "Have you ever been to electric violin land? A master of four-string wonder crystallizes his vision...."Have you ever been to electric violin land? A master of four-string wonder crystallizes his vision.
  
  Over the five years that have passed since Joe Deninzon carved a personal niche in the rock domain with his band's debut, "Headspace", he made forays into jazz territory with a trio of his own on the instrumental covers collection which is "Exuberance", but it's in STRATOSPHEERIUS that the violinist holds the richest palette to take colors from. And this time he goes for a big picture, even though tango "The House Always Wins" and punky yelp of "Tech Support" might throw things to the humorous side to dissolve the wah-wah-adorned cerebral swipe of "The Missing Link" or the heavy "Gods" idiosyncrasy and, thus, blur the intent."

• Headspace Review*** [+ Show ]
  

  It’s familiar, but like absolutely nothing you’ve heard before. That’s about all this reviewer can m...It’s familiar, but like absolutely nothing you’ve heard before. That’s about all this reviewer can muster as a lead for reviewing the latest Stratospheerius release, Headspace. Lead by electric violinist/vocalist/mandolinist and former Clevelander Joe Deninzon, the quartet unleashes their fourth full-length effort with an assortment of songs that simply careen from your speakers. Following up their critically-acclaimed Live Wires disc, Headspace contains a frenzied mélange of alt-bluegrass, progressive rock, jazz fusion and funkabilly, with shades of the neo-hippie 90s and space rock for good measure. If Bela Fleck and Frank Zappa had a love child in outer space, it might grow up to sound like these guys do.
  
  Band leader Deninzon brings it from the word go, channeling every bit of voracity through his 6 and 7-string Viper electric violin. No joke, he pushes bandmates Mack Price (guitars, vocals) Bob Bowen (electric and acoustic bass) and Lucianna Padmore (drums) into the stratosphere. You know their name is fitting after the set opener “New Material,” which pinballs through an array of time signatures and chord progressions that stop on a dime. In contrast, “Old Ghosts” “Today is Tommorrow” and the manic “Gutterpunk Blues” go for a bigger, louder and faster Jam Band ethos. Pay particular attention to the inimitable cover of The Police classic “Driven to Tears” and the set closer, “Heavy Shtettle II,” which you simply have to hear yourself to believe. Even I’m a bit lost for words about it. Memorable hooks, gravity-defying instrumental prowess and a kitchen sink move toward rock and Zappa-esque fusion fill Headspace. Let it fill yours.
  

• Headspace Review Blogspot [+ Show ]
  

  Blogspot.com http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/07/27/140906.php Stratospheerius, Headspace ...Blogspot.com
  http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/07/27/140906.php
  
  Stratospheerius, Headspace
  
  There's so much going on on this CD that it could merit an "Indie Round-Up" column all on its own. Stratospheerius's music can't be pegged to one genre, but neither is it a simple hybrid of a couple of styles. For that reason, it's exciting stuff.
  
  Jazz fusion, Stingpop, progressive rock, classical strains, and jam-band spaceouts take turns running through the ten songs on this, the band's fourth album. Leader Joe Deninzon's devilish violin weaves the compositions together, and he lends his throaty vocals to some of the tunes, layering attractive melodies over odd time signatures and dynamic, unpredictable arrangements. Think of a much more adventurous version of the Dave Matthews Band, add Steely Dan precision and prog-rock inventiveness, and you'll get an inkling. There's also a Police influence that would be quite evident even without the revved-up cover of "Driven to Tears." The crack musicians deserve mention individually: drummer Luciana Padmore, bassist Bob Bowen, and guitarist Mack Price.
  
  These songs really do sidestep genre, yet one foot remains in accessible pop territory. "New Material" opens with a Celtic jam that flames into a lightspeed funk-rocker. The song is a funny take on creative inspiration and writer's block: "I need a death threat deadline panic attack/I need a big bolt of lightning to strike me in the ass/Where's my material/I need new material." "Mental Floss" is an exciting odd-time instrumental jam, while "Gutterpunk Blues" begins with a delicate-punk (a new term I just made up) mandolin solo (Deninzon again) which leads into crashing heavy-metal riffage and then devolves into wild electric guitar and drum soloing. The jazz fusion elements come to the fore in the slower instrumental "Yulia," while the pumped-up klezmer of "Heavy Shtettle Part II: Heavier Shtettle" closes the CD with a blast of technical prowess and ear-candy fun.
  
  An interesting and spirited journey into outrageous creativity, this CD is highly recommended for anyone with an adventurous ear, including fans of fusion, progressive rock, the Police, the Kronos Quartet's pop experiments and collaborations, and fiery fiddling. Sample the music at the Stratospheerius website and their Myspace page, and read a good interview with Joe Deninzon.
  
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  Jon Sobel reviews music and theater on a regular basis for Blogcritics, and occasionally comments on politics, world affairs, and life in New York City. He is also a computer professional, musician, and small-time concert promoter in New York City. (His band, Whisperado, can be criticized at will.)
  
  

• Headspace Review [+ Show ]
  

  Psychojazz mavens Stratospheerius bring their violin influenced jams out in full on their latest rel...Psychojazz mavens Stratospheerius bring their violin influenced jams out in full on their latest release Head Space. Blending their influences into a style all their own, Stratospheerius make music that teeters on becoming its own genre. Part Dave Matthews Band, part modern rock and part classical, Head Space bounces from sound to sound with total ease. The violin playing by veteran Joe Deninzon opens up the dynamic of Stratospheerius with total urgency and takes what may at first seem like normal rock songs to an entirely higher level. However, it is not just the violen that makes Head Space a great experience. The vocal performance of Joe Deninzon is on par with his stringed abilities. This is most apparent on Head Space’s far and away hit track Today Is Tomorrow. This track still features Deninzon’s trademark strings, but he holds off on bowing them and instead plucks the strings for the first half of the song. Today Is Tomorrow also shows off the bands ability to craft a radio friendly song and one that still operates perfectly within the context of the album.
  
  Opening track New Material is an interesting song to start off Head Space with. The song at first seems very Rocky Grass and a listening that does not penetrate the album may not get passed it if they are not a fan of the genre. However, as Head Space progresses, it reveals the many different sides of Stratospheerius. New Material shows a more roots rock and bluegrass influenced sound, Old Ghosts shows off the bands summer fest jam band appeal, and Today Is Tomorrow takes the band and puts them right into the best parts of the mainstream. On Mental Floss, Deninzon shows how he has earned the nickname the “Jimi Hendrix of violin” as he tears threw a distortion heavy solo that points more in the direction of Guns N Roses’ Slash than Yo Yo Ma. The other effected instruments on Mental Floss give Head Space a great push in the psychedelic direction, adding to the long list of the bands genre leaping abilities. Head Space is an exciting experience, taking the listener by the hand and whipping them around an Alice In Wonderland like journey of musical exploration.
  

• Headspace Review 2 [+ Show ]
  

  Hailed as champions of “psychojazz trip funk,” Stratospheerius leap deep into progdom with Headspace...Hailed as champions of “psychojazz trip funk,” Stratospheerius leap deep into progdom with Headspace — a smart and satsifying album in which a mandolin-powered instrumental called “Gutterpunk Blues” can straddle a frantic, spot-on cover of The Police’s “Driven to Tears,” and a Jewish heavy metal anthem (“Heavy Shtettle Part II: Heavier Shtettle”) and a solid, fiddle-fueled rocker about a songwriter pissed off because he can’t write a song (“New Material”) book-end a collection of 10 equally fascinating pieces.
  
  Fronted by electric violinist (and guitarist, singer and mandolin man) Joe Deninzon, Stratospheerius veers more heavily from its instrumental past into vocal-based music influenced as much by Bruce Springsteen and Joni Mitchell as Frank Zappa and Bela Fleck, Kansas and The Flower Kings. Hence, these songs tell stories that, coupled with some intense instrumentation that the quartet makes sound way too easy, emerge as substantial pieces of ear candy. And the three instrumentals here improve significantly upon the band’s earlier work.
  
  Despite the unusual shredding (mandolin rules, dude!) and virtuoso aspirations inherent in this music, Headspace resonates with an earthbound freshness that reflects a charming change of direction for a band that’s already established itself as critical darling. The possibilities just became seemingly endless.
  

• Joe Deninzon Interview [+ Show ]
  

  http://progsheet1.hypermart.net/deninzon.html A Few Words With...Joe Deninzon Interview by...
  
  http://progsheet1.hypermart.net/deninzon.html
  
  A Few Words With...Joe Deninzon
  
  Interview by John A. Wilcox
  
  Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Joe Deninzon has been called the Jimi Hendrix of the violin. From his work with Blackmore’s Night, Project Object, and Byron Nemeth to his prog fusion ensemble Stratospheerius, Deninzon has put his own stamp on the violin. Hot on the heels of Stratospheerius' latest release Headspace, Deninzon served up a corker of an interview for Progsheet!...
  
  PS: A good portion of kids play violin starting in elementary school, then move on to other instruments or give up music entirely. What made you want to stick with the instrument?
  
  JD: I think my parents, more so than anything else. I was raised in a household of classical musicians, and they saw it as a career path for me from an early age. I was given a violin at age 6, and put through the standard curriculum of a classical violinist. coming from Russia and entering the American public school system in the midwest, People who played the violin were perceived as geeks, and I wanted to fit in and be cool. as a young kid I was very influenced by my environment and my peers, like most kids. At one point, I was seduced by what I heard on the radio and saw it as a way to still be a musician, but connect better with the the public. I saw rock and pop music as a way to communicate with people and be "cool". I stayed with the violin because it was what I always did best, and people thought of me very differently once they heard me play. Those moments and my parents' encouragement kept me going. As I grew older, I began to appreciate classical music on a deeper level and began to realize how ignorant most people around me were.
  
  At the same time, I began hearing more intricacies in jazz and rock. When I was young, I was not aware that you could rock out on the violin, and I badly wanted to form a band and write my own music, so I took up bass at age 13, and guitar at age 15. I was always singing for as long as I can remember. During high school, I lead two separate lives: my life as a classical violin student, and my life as a guitar hero wanna-be in juvenile rock bands. When I first heard Stephane Grappelli, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Jerry Goodman from Mahavishnu Orchestra, it changed my life. I realized that I could play my favorite music on the violin, which was my strongest instrument, and I could try to do something innovative with it. I already knew the "language" of rock, blues, and jazz on the guitar and electric bass, and it was just a matter of transferring it to the violin, which came very easily to me when I first tried it.
  
  PS: What are you able to express through the violin that you couldn't with, say, a guitar?
  
  JD: First of all, the violin has an unparalleled ability to sustain notes and imitate the human singing voice. Great sustain is something all guitarists strive for but don't always get. I am also endlessly captivated by its percussive qualities. I think the violin is as much a percussion instrument as a melodic instrument. There are endless things that you could do with a bow that you just can't do with a pick. The big challenge, though, is playing chords and imitating voicings of a guitar or piano, something I'm constantly working on. As well as intonation.
  
  
  
  PS: When I think of violin in jazz/fusion/rock/pop, it tends more often than not, to sound pretty. Your playing can be heavy, rat ass nasty, & smokin' hot. What drew you to this aggressive approach to the instrument?
  
  JD: I actually got sick of the "pretty" violin sound that everyone knows. I wanted to get away from the cliches of my instrument, and I did this by using guitar pedals, chopping, scratching with the bow, imitating cuica drums, records scratching, using wah wah pedals, not always playing "notes", imitating guitar feedback, I can go on and on...
  
  I can still sound like a traditional violinist when called upon to do so, as I am 75% of the time, but it's good to be versatile. I look at it like an actor taking on different dialects. The problem is people might catch you on a gig doing one kind of thing and think that's all you do. That's human nature.
  
  The first people who inspired me to get away from the standard violin sound were Jerry Goodman on Celestial Terrestrial Commuters (Mahavishnu's Birds of Fire album), and Sugar Cane Harris's blues-harp-like solo on The Little House I Used To Live In (Frank Zappa's Burnt Weeny Sandwich album).
  
  PS: What did having the solid discipline of classical training bring into your more improvisational soloing?
  
  JD: It allows you to execute whatever is in your head, and also gives you a deeper musical vocabulary. I would encourage any musician on any instrument to get a solid classical foundation, even if their goal is to play rock, blues, electronica, jazz, whatever...
  
  Any student that comes to me and says they want to be a rock star will get the Led Zeppelin book and the Kreutzer book of violin etudes assigned to them on the same day.
  
  PS: What is the most enjoyable aspect of being part of Stratospheerius?
  
  JD: Meeting fans that drive 3 hours to see you. Travelling and playing music you like with people you like. Not knowing what mystical lands the music will take you to on any given night, Getting great energy from audiences. I can go on.
  
  PS: Are all the arrangements for the Stratospheerius material worked out on stage before you go into the studio?
  
  JD: Yes. The songs on the new album were "broken in" over the course of many months in live situations. I much prefer that before going into the studio. The songs are already a part of you.
  
  PS: How did you come to hook up with Rave Tesar as a co-producer? I first became aware of him when he played keys with Annie Haslam.
  
  JD: He was recommended to me by our old guitarist, Jake Ezra, who's band "Van Davis" recorded their last CD at his studio. Rave is an amazing musician with infinite patience. I know I drove him crazy during the mixing process. We are always on the same page and finish each others sentences when dealing with music.
  
  PS: Tell me a bit about working with Lucianna Padmore. She is one kinetic drummer!
  
  JD: She was a young student at the New School majoring in jazz. Alex Skolnick and Ron Baron, former guitarist and bassist with the group, knew her from school and brought her into the project a few years ago, and she has been with us ever since. I love her like a sister.
  
  PS: Give a little background on the tune Pleasurepain.
  
  JD: It's sort of autobiographical and deals with the dichotomy of love and conflict that exists in marriage, once you get past the infatuation/newlywed stage. You can apply it to any relationship. You gotta work at it.
  
  
  
  PS: I love the line "Try to resurrect a better version of yourself" in Long Rd. What inspired the lyric?
  
  JD: Long Rd is kind of a sarcastic song about the mixed messages you get growing up as a teenager. The self doubt and conflicted feelings you have about things, some of which carry over into adulthood. It also addresses the fact that we take for granted all the good things in our life and complain too much, hence the last verse. I guess the main message of the song is to chill out and not take yourself so seriously.
  
  PS: Of all the songs out there to cover, what drew the band to the Police's Driven To Tears?
  
  JD: We're all huge fans of the band, and it was a song that always spoke to me over the years. I like the issues it addresses, and I've always wanted to cover it. There are songs that I respect so much that I have to honor them by playing them and making them my own, and songs that I respect too much that I have to honor them by not playing them. The Police song and any other cover we've done would apply to the former, I think music by Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and the Clash would apply to the latter.
  
  PS: How did you get the gig playing with Ritchie Blackmore on Ghost of a Rose?
  
  JD: I was recommended by somebody, but I never found out who it was.
  
  PS: Did Blackmore give any specific instructions, or were you left pretty much to your own devices?
  
  JD: His producer, Pat Reilly, gave me a few general guidelines, but I came up with most of the parts myself.
  
  PS: You've played with Frank Zappa stalwarts Ike Willis & Napoleon Murphy Brock. Was Zappa a big influence on you musically?
  
  JD: Absolutely. We've covered a bunch of his songs live, and I grew up listening to his music. I think Zappa, Miles Davis, Stravinsky, and Bruce Springsteen, are my biggest musical heroes of all time. I respect anyone who makes groundbreaking music on their own terms.
  
  
  
  PS: Any plans to play with Mahavishnu Project again at some point?
  
  JD: No. Certain members of that group have a poisonous personality.
  
  PS: What's next up on the musical horizon for you?
  
  JD: Stratospheerius has been taking up most of my time and I plan to keep writing with and recording the band, but I have many different projects on the backburner that I really want to follow through on. Among them, an acoustic jazz record that is 70% done, a solo electric/acoustic violin/voice project that I want to pursue (inspired by Tim Reynolds), some kind of electronica project incorporating the electric violin, maybe some re-mixes of Stratos songs. I am also working on some psychedelic string quartets, as well as writing more commercial pop songs with my friend Chris Millaterri. Someday in this lifetime, I want to write a jaw-dropping electric violin concerto. There are definitely not enough hours in the day.
  
  PS: Please tell me 6 CDs you just never get tired of listening to!
  
  JD:
  
  Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
  Frank Zappa - Roxy & Elsewhere
  Screaming Headless Torsos - 1995 debut
  Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
  Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
  Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire
  
  

• Live Wires Review [+ Show ]
  

  Classic fusion lives and breathes via Russian-born, classically-trained Joe Deninzon and his amazing...Classic fusion lives and breathes via Russian-born, classically-trained Joe Deninzon and his amazing band Stratospheerius. Captured blazingly bright live and in the moment on this 10-song live outing, Joe and his magic band bring old music (Jeff Beck, Mahavishnu Orchestra) and new music (fans of the Dave Matthews Band's most transcendental moments won't feel lost here) together with a heavenly blend of originals from Deninzon's two previous studio affairs,Electric/Blue andAdventures of Stratospheerius, covers, and previously unreleased material.
  From the latter disc comes the inspiring "Contusion," the ass-shaking "What's That Thang" and the aptly-titled Acid Rabbits" (think Jeff Beck'sBlow By Blow), from the former; there's also Frank Zappa's "Magic Fingers," Danny Elfman's theme from The Simpsons and "Heavy Shtettle," co-written by ex-Testament guitarist and current jazz ax meister Alex Skolnick (who guests on two tracks here).
  While Deninzon's studio outings served as fine introductions to the New York-based maestro, this little sonic boom captures him unhinged and unencumbered as he leads his fiendishly good mates into strange and bold new worlds that leave now jaw snapped together, no heart beating at anything approaching a normal rate. Sounding more relaxed and confident than ever, Deninzon unleashes the fury on "Shock Therapy," "The Perfect Storm" and shines in the vocal department on the lovely and amazing "An Evening Nap In The Afternoon."
  As at home in the world of Grappelli and O'Connor as he is in the world of Steve Vai and Jimi Hendrix, Joe Deninzon may very well be our next national violin treasure.
  

• Live Wires Review 2 [+ Show ]
  

  Violin master Joe Deninzon and his magic band Stratospheerius return with the album that captures th...Violin master Joe Deninzon and his magic band Stratospheerius return with the album that captures them in the environment they seem to have been born to play in––on the stage with strings smoking and thoughts flying faster than the Concorde on amphetamines. Those already familiar with Deninzon’s work, whether Adventures of Stratospheerius or Electric/Blue already knew that he could smoke, that his compositions were living, fire-breathing monsters but this proves it once and for all, for all those who bother to pause and listen and all those who can’t help but be drawn in by Deninzon’s musical magnetism.
  
  Old favorites such as "Acid Rabbits," "Pleasurepain" and "What’s That Thing?" get wheeled out and given the once-over and what-for, while the maestro turns to past masters such as Danny Elfman ("Theme From The Simpsons"), Frank Zappa ("Magic Fingers") and Stevie Wonder ("Contusion"), lending the effort the sense of past-meets-present that Deninzon has always done so well.
  
  Alex Skolnick joins the band for two tunes (he also co-wrote "Heavy Shtettle"), while the core band of Ron Baron (beautiful bass), Luciana Padmore (smoking drums) and guitarist Jake Ezra (Where’s this guy been all our lives?) , does just fine on its own.
  
  The only regret here is that this isn’t a double live monster but there’ll be time for that. Deninzon isn’t going anywhere, except into the stratosphere where we’ll crane our necks to watch him shine.
  

• Relix Magazine On The Verge (Nov, 04) [+ Show ]
  

  Violinist Joe Deninzon is an anomaly. He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, to classical musician ... Violinist Joe Deninzon is an anomaly. He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, to classical musician parents who later joined The Cleveland Orchestra. It was in Ohio that Deninzon discovered all the great American music genres. Now based in New York, he fronts the exciting Stratospeerius, which rips across those genres with no regard for boundary lines. He has played sessions (Ritchie Blackmore) and done string arrangements for the likes of Sheryl Crow, Project Object and Smokey Robinson. Yet it’s Stratospeerius that’s creating musical sparks. The band’s latest album, Live Wires, encapsulates elements of jazz-fusion and progressive rock. Deninzon feels that the violin "has barely scratched the surface in the rock world." He cites influences such as Jean-Luc Ponty, Jerry Goodman and Sugar Cane Harris. "[Harris] really embodied the blues violin sound. He made that thing cry and sound like a blues harp at times." With further influences that range from Frank Zappa and Miles Davis to Led Zeppelin, Bartok and Stravinsky, it’s no surprise that he is a monster player. Deninzon loves jams when there is a purpose and this live album offers ample evidence of that. Although he is an accomplished classical player he says it is the freedom of rock and jazz where you can turn a mistake into a new musical idea. And it’s that that really interests him. If the violin has a future in rock and jazz it is with Joe Deninzon. The guy is a good vocalist, too! www.joedeninzon.com

• Adventures of Stratospheerius review (2003) [+ Show ]
  

  You like prog rock? Stupid question, since you wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t. You like vi...
  You like prog rock? Stupid question, since you wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t. You like violin? If you do, then listening to the Adventures of Stratospheerius will be a treat for you. It most likely will be even if you can only answer yes to one of the above questions. Joe Deninzon is a classically trained violinist that turned to jazz against his parent’s wishes (proof that parents often give bad advice…) and released the album Electric Blue in 1998. This is Joe’s second opus, and he’s accompanied by several musicians including guitarist Alex Skolnick, known for his work with Attention Deficit (and before that, Testament, a group that should be familiar to those of you who were young in the 80’s with long hair, tight jeans, and white high-top sneakers…)
  So, as I was saying, excellent jazz-rock embellished by electric violin played with Pagannini-like virtuosity. The disc offers the traditional jazz forms with their virtuosic solos and refreshing improvisations all in a fusionistic spirit. The influences aren’t limited to these elements; some of the tunes display a bit of Southern Rock influence, and there is a sublime cover of Stevie Wonder’s Contusion (from the 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life). To make all of this work, it’s no surprise that a "Zappaesque" sauce is present; after all. To marry Lynyrd Skynyrd with Jean-Luc Ponty or john Mclaughlin, you need a little craziness.
  I don’t want to scare you with all these rferences. For what at first glance might seem like a weird album, the tunes work very well together, and you don’t need to be an amatuer of weirdness to appreciate it. It should appeal to a wide audience because Joe Deninzon never forgets the importance of a strong melody.
  

Setlist

1) New Material
2) Old Ghosts
3) Today is Tommorrow
4) Release
5) Climbing
6) Mental Floss
7) Driven To Tears
8) The Simpsons Theme
9) Gutterpunk Blues
10) Heavier Shtettle
11) Contusion
12) Acid Rabits
13) Driven to Tears
14) Magic Fingers
15) Tech Support
16) Eruption on violin
17) Shake & bake
18) Little Wing
19)
Covers include Simpsons Theme, music by The Police, Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa. We have an exensive repertoire and up to 5 hours of music!

Basic Requirements

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