Mascot's Distance
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Mascot's Distance

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"A Memorable EP"

Reviews by - Marco Passarelli
http://www.musictap.net/CapsuleReviews/PassarelliCapsules1006.html ?
It would be too easy to write of Mascot’s Distance as disciples of Ben Fold Five or Keane. Sure, they all boast guitar-less line ups and ultra catchy melodies but that is as far as the comparisons should go. Mascot’s Distance is quickly becoming a staple on the NYC singer/ songwriter scene and this EP gives ample proof of the band’s talents; which are considerable. Musically, they venture into the jazz-inflected pop realm of Steely Dan, complete with all of the dark humor.
Vocalist/ pianist Jordan Rothstein even displays the sometime deadpan vocal quirks of Donald Fagan or Lou Reed. Bassist Joe Burcaw and drummer Yutaka Uchida provide a swinging, and yet thoroughly driving, back drop on “Avenue B” and “Talk Show Circuit”. Highly recommended. Go to www.mascotsdistance.com for more information.
- Marco Passarelli


"Music is such sardonic sorrow"

Toad show review by Robert Whyte…
http://www.toadshow.com.au/rob/01_cms/details.asp?ID=400

Mascot's Distance - Music is such sardonic sorrow…
-At last an original sound in that spiny, sparkling streak of sardonic American music occupied by Steely Dan. Like that sinuously sardonic duo, Mascot's Distance have pinned their barbs, bitter but somehow optimistic, on the sacred donkey of popular music. There's more than one sting in those tales. Over the pond, the use of seductive hooks and jazz influenced energy featured in the great work of the Style Council.

The characteristics I am identifying in this triumvirate (Steely Dan, Style Council, Mascot's distance) — which to some people might sound like a triumvirate of Paris (yes), New York (yes) and Muswellbrook (huh?) is a synthesis of jazzy, poppy melody hooks with lyrics like acid-etched fingernails across the blackboard of the brain. Never without humor, but always with a glittering glimpse of the darker side of apple-pie and picket-fence America. The use of sweet chords and rhythms combined with bitter lyrics, a hallmark of Steely Dan and Style Council, is a pervasive thread in the efforts of Mascot's Distance. The USA, thought by many to be an irony-free zone, has once again been proven otherwise.

I write this on the occasion of Mascot Distance's second release simply known as "The New EP".

Mascot's Distance is a three piece outfit from New York City led by songwriter/producer Jordon Rothstein (keys and vocals), Yutaka Uchida (drums and backing vocals) and Joe Burcaw (bass and backing vocals.

Talk Show Circuit is a rollicking ditty taking a swipe at that most evil of cultural phenomenon, the tell-all talk show. It starts with a keyboard intro reminiscent of the "music box" intro from King Harvest's one and only hit, "Dancin' in the Moonlight". Jordon plays harmonica and fuses that skipping, breathy sound with keys.

All Man's Land has telling echoes of Donald Fagen's 1950s "future" evoking those spandex (Brand X) jackets in IGY. Hammond XB2 organ through a rotating Leslie speaker, combines with bass and drums and piano somewhat reminiscent of Nicky Hopkins when he played with Quicksilver Messenger Service. The song is fashioned from one of those lazy, rising, spiralling progressions, seeming to climb higher and higher, giving it a strange, pervasive exuberance.

Chesterville, is more like the piano/vocal tunes featuring on the previous album, a full length CD just called Mascot's Distance. The band comes in after the first verse, and the instrumentation builds. The bass resonates with a doubled vocal and a nice choir of ooh aah backing vocals.

Avenue B. There is a very strange idea in this Randy Newman-esque song with a hint of the circus morning weather" and proposes that if you were to spend time in the cellar during the week, relinquishing your weekday sunshine, you could get that stored sunshine on to the weekends. Quiet interludes of strange observations lead about it. Jordon sings: "saving up for weekend to thumping chordal choruses, filled with shimmering high hats. Hand claps start the song (gotta love hand claps).

All in all a very fine effort with much to recommend keeping a watch on this band for future offerings.
- Toad Show Review


"Mascot's Distance- Real music"

Beyond Race Magazine Review

Mascot’s Distance-
By Delia Paunescu

The first thing Jordon Rothstein tells me, when I arrive at his Greenwich Village apartment, is how hard it was to find good musicians. The living room where we’re sitting is completely filled despite having minimal furniture: a drum set and keyboards on one end, guitars and recording equipment on the other, and a small bookcase filled with CD’s. In fact, only a true musician would sacrifice such precious space, occupying it with instruments.

“For many years I was just doing the solo thing and fantasizing about finding at least two or three other players, “Rothstein begins, “so I put out an ad and tried out a million different (people) but I was getting real tired of the whole thing.” After stories of bass players who couldn’t play bass and a drummer who “seemed to fall asleep and play slower and slower while drumming,” it appeared that good musicians are very hard to come by. When Rothstein start talking about his current bassist, Joe Burcaw, his tone changes. “When Joe answered the ad, we hit it off,” he says, “Both of us were looking at each other like, “Hey, you’re not the worst player I’ve ever played with. That’s a nice change.” Burcaw seems to share the sentiment and says, “We just gelled,” of his audition with Rothstein almost three years ago. “There was a good chemistry there. I knew in the back of my head that this was something.”

Before it came time for his fantasy group to come together, Rothstein, who majored in music at Syracuse University, still needed a drummer. “I had seen Yutaka (Uchida) play at the Bitter End and I was blown away,” says Burcaw of Mascot’s Distance’s current drummer, calling him an “excellent, excellent musician.” He then recommended Uchida, a grauate of Boston’s Berklee School of music, to Rothstein. “When we met Yutaka, we thought, “Ok, we’ve got something here,” says Rothstein. “He is a brilliant musician.” But brilliant could easily describe any of the three members of Mascot’s Distance, as they have managed to self-release- and, for the most part, self-record-and EP and a full length album (which can now be found on I tunes and Cd Baby.

“We love the music so much and we love the whole state of musicianship. We don’t care what people think of us because we love playing as a group together. “It’s hard not to believe Burcaw, as he recently became a full-time musician, devoting his time between Mascot’s Distance and another band. “We have a great joy playing,” assures Rothstein, who also teahes piano and song writing, in addition to performing solo. “If other people enjoy it, that will certainly only add to our enjoyment.”

As a reward for staying true to their craft, it appears that the future looks bright for these three who, despite their varied backgrounds, all think Steely Dan is the best group ever. There are plans for a full-length album and the possibility of bringing in a guitar player. “I really see something positive coming out of this,” Burcaw says, “I think the musicianship and the songs are way too strong not to.”

As I step onto the streets of Manhattan, once again surrounded by the noise of the city, I realize that he’s completely right. When you meet real musicians, you just know it. Mascot’s Distance has got three of them.

- Beyond Race Magazine


Discography

Mascot's Distance has released two albums. A 4 song EP and a Full length album..Both are available at Cdbaby.com and Itunes, as well as available for listening at Pandora radio.
The song Avenue B has been receiving medium rotation in Albany's The EXIT WEXT FM and New Jersey’s WTSR-FM..

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Bio

Contact: jordon@jordonrothstein.com (917)796-2881

Mascot’s Distance is a trio/quartet composed of drums, bass, (most recently guitar) and piano created and fronted by Jordon Rothstein. Recently the song Avenue B has been receiving medium rotation in Albany's The EXIT WEXT FM and New Jersey’s WTSR-FM.

Mascot's Distance has been describe as sounding like Steely Dan meets Randy Newman, Josh Ritter, Keane, Ben Folds Five, Phish and Leon Russel. Their influences range from the Beatles, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and Billy Joel, to Miles Davis and Bach.

There draw in Manhattan is generally around 50 people.

Jordon is an award winning singer-songwriter/ composer and producer from New York City. He has worked with some of contemporary music’s biggest recording acts including Ian Gilian (of Deep Purple),Taye Diggs (from the musical Rent), Dan The Automator(The Gorillaz), Russell Simins (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion), John Legend, Kim Sozzi and Pete Yorn, as well as some of New York’s most promising up and coming artists such as Bill Mcgarvey and Cassandra Reed. In 1998 Jordon won best film score for the film Union, in the NYU Film Festival and was music supervisor for an independent film called Falling Sky, starring Karen Allen and Britany Murphy. From 2000 to 2005 he was selected to participate in three ASCAP Songwriter’s workshops. Jordon has had success writing jingles for Carnation Instant Breakfast, Volvo and Folgers Coffee, and recently sold a peice of meditation music to Bed Bath and Beyond. Currently Jordon is doing the score for an MTV reality show called "Legally Blond", while also scoring a feature length documentary starring Houston Rockets Tracy McGrady. Jordon earned a BA in music from Syracuse University and a Masters Degree in music education from Columbia University. Humorously Jordon appeared on the t.v. show Scrubs in February of 2007.

The trio’s drummer, Yutaka Uchida, a jazz composer in his own right, is from Tokyo Japan and attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music. At Berklee, Yutaka won the annual Louie Bellson Award (sponsored by Avedis Zildjian Co.) in recognition of his outstanding performance. In 2005, he received the Performing Arts Award from The Council of the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island. In addition to his performances with Mascot’s Distance, Yutaka can be heard every Sunday evening at the jazz club Cleopatra’s Needle.

Bassist Danny Zanker is a top New York City jazz musician who teaches and plays in many groups in and around New York City.

Guitarist Laurent Medelgi hails from Paris and brings a very original mix of rock, jazz and classical to the band. Laurent has studied with Wayne Krantz and Mike Stern, among many other lesser known yet legendary guitarists. When not playing with Mascot's Distance Laurent can be heard playing in various Broadway pit orchestras in addition to scattered performances at New York's famous 55 Bar. (Laurent is an amazing yet brand new addition to Mascot's Distance which is why he is not in any photos on this site)

Recently Mascot’s Distance’s song Avenue B of there 4 song EP has been put into medium rotation at Albany’s WEXT-FM and New Jersey’s WTSR-FM. Mascot’s Distance has played at The Bitter End, The Cutting Room, Kenny’s Castaways, Arlene’s Grocery, Pianos, The C Note, The Triad, The Knitting Factory, Crash Mansion, The Living Room, Matchless, Lemon, Snitch, Baggot Inn, The Delancey Lounge and The Red Lion.