Artist Information
Biography
Welcome aboard, Flying on Instruments (F.O.I) is about to take you on a flight to places like the streets of Mexico, the beaches of Brazil, the deserts of Africa, the Red Planet, and to the back alley’s of New York City. Make sure your seats are in a comfortable position as F.O.I leads you on a musical journey. Your co-pilots on this excursion are Kevin Brace on tenor & soprano saxophones and Norm Dorrell on vibes & marimba. They have been traveling the musical landscape together for the past twenty years and are joined by navigators Mike Vogelmann on bass and John DiGiovanni on drums. Each musician brings his own unique, diverse talent to F.O.I’s performances and on their self titled debut CD, resulting in music that is powerful and uplifting. Take a flight with us to satisfy your taste for musical diversity.
Norm Dorrell brings his marimba contributions to F.O.I from a strong classical music background. At Rowan University Norm studied marimba with Dean Witten and was a percussionist in the Haddonfield Symphony. Norm has written many songs which have provide launching pads for the band’s improvisations. Marimba De Puerto Vallarta, from their debut CD, is a marimba tour de force.
Saxophonist Kevin Brace studied sax with Joe Harris and Dr. Ben Christy and is a graduate of West Chester University. Kevin was a member of both the experimental fusion band Firedance and the funk/R&B group The Works. Kevin shares the composition duties for F.O.I. as well. His funky piece, Smooth Daddy, showcases the tenor sax.
John DiGiovanni has been a mainstay amongst jazz drummers in Wilmington DE. He has been playing with F.O.I for the past year, but also keeps busy with his own band Moodswings, and plays with Lili Anel in Philly and NYC. When not behind the kit John runs his own recording studio and teaches.
Bassist Mike Vogelmann is one of the most established bass players on the Philly original rock scene. He’s played with Ken Kweder, The Front Street Runners, Philly folkie Peter Stone Brown, and toured the U.S. and Europe with Ben Vaughan. In addition to playing with F.O.I, he also plays with the group Trio Nova.
With members living in Delaware and New Jersey, F.O.I is able to attract a fan base throughout the Delaware Valley. Some of their performs include playing at: The Treehouse (Collingswood, NJ), The Home Grown Café (Newark, DE), Club Shampoo (Philadelphia, PA), Swede’s Inn (Swedesboro, NJ), Villa Capri (Doylestown, PA) and John & Peter’s (New Hope, PA).
Instrumentation
Kevin Brace- Saxophones and Yamaha Wind synthesizer.
Norm Dorrell - Vibes, Marimba and Percussion.
John DiGiovanni - Drums.
Mike Vogelmann - Bass.
Discography
Flying On Instruments- self titled debut CD
Video
Press
Setlist
3 - 45 minutes sets that include original compositins from our debut CD and covers by artists such as Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, The Police and Thelonius Monk.
