Music
Press
"Rosin Coven, the Bay Area's much beloved "pagan lounge" players, need little introduction. The classically trained instrumentalists attack strings and percussion with a blend of vaudevillian theatricality and the precise elegance of a chamber orchestra." – Tanya Feldman, Flavorpill SF (May 21, 2008) - Flavorpill SF
"A suggestive melange of tango, chamber exotica, junk opera, and bonyard instrumentals, the group lurks in the cob webbed corners of cabaret." - SF Chronicle
"This seven-, eight-, sometimes nine- or ten-piece lounge act blends cabaret, jazz, and danse macabre for an effect not unlike the soundtrack from Broadway's Sweeny Todd. The brooding strings, wailing horns, and ethereal voices of vocalists Midnight Rose and Elyea Zeker are bewitching, but it's the group's sense of humor that steals the show." - SF Weekly
"For the past seven years, this colorful troupe has been wowing audiences from the SF Bay Area and around the world with its unique fusion of musical/theatrical alchemy via performances that conjure up a late-night cabaret that channels Burning Man's love of crazy costumes and unabashed silliness...Part of Rosin Coven's charm lies in it's playful juxtaposition of the serious and the absurd. Classically trained cellists are free to brandish whips and parade around in hot pink beehives. Audiences, in turn, have license to let their hair down and revel in a no-strings attached good time." - Teaparty Magazine
"Imagine, if you will, the raw sexiness of cabaret complemented by moth-eaten aesthetic flourishes -- the operatic purring of a lead chanteuse named Midnight Rose, a gloomy bass jokily overlaid with a whiny vibraphone, and the ominous enchantment of commedia dell'arte puppetry. Naturally, we're describing Rosin Coven, the self-titled "World's Premiere Pagan Lounge Ensemble," the kind of act that has genre dogmatists scratching their heads.
An umpteen-piece band full of pale-faced, velvet-clad cool cats playing everything from cello and contrabass to accordion, the group falls on a continuum between Rocky Horror camp and medieval danse macabre. The members of Rosin Coven, a Berkeley-based troupe with a vigorous following, look and sound like well-traveled carnies with formidable heaps of classical training; the roguish ensemble is even easy on the eyes." - SF Weekly
"The rollicking rhythms and hummable melodies of "March of the Modern Pagans" and the high-drama beat of "Beyond the Crimson Planet" could very well spur devotees to strut Cat in the Hat-style around the home entertainment room." - SF Weekly
Discography
Menagerie (2004)
Live in The Pagan Lounge (2002)
SF2000: A Time Capsule (compliation - 2000)
Penumbra (1999)
Hippopotamus Polka EP (1998)
Photos
Bio
Rosin Coven is the World's Premiere "Pagan Lounge Ensemble"; eight musicians blend voices, cellos, contrabass, accordion, violin, guitar, trombone, vibraphone, drums, and percussion to create their own style of theatrical cabaret. Edith Piaf does the cha-cha with Charles Mingus, Eric Satie tangos with Sun-Ra, and Kurt Weil broods over Doris Day. Rosin Coven presents an irreverent yet elegant balance between musicianship, poise, theatricality, and humor. They're found where you least expect them...in nightclubs, theatres, parks, festivals, museums, deserts, parades, galas, and foreign lands.
"An umpteen-piece band full of pale-faced, velvet-clad cool cats playing everything from cello and contrabass to accordion, the group falls on a continuum between Rocky Horror camp and medieval danse macabre. The members of Rosin Coven, a Berkeley-based troupe with a vigorous following, look and sound like well-traveled carnies with formidable heaps of classical training; the roguish ensemble is even easy on the eyes." - SF Weekly, August 2006
And now... the Ladies:
Carrie Katz as Midnight Rose: vocals, guitar, harp, alchemy - "Welcome to The Pagan Lounge" beckons our darling host Midnight Rose. The year is 1996: she has the vision of a jazzy, loungey, dark, and strangely beautiful ensemble where everybody comes together to create that which they could not do alone: alchemy through music. Midnight's life has been filled with art and music since her earliest days; she was raised on a steady diet of Broadway and cabaret, had a brief fling with New Wave, and studied art and film at the Art Institute of Chicago. She brings her passion for alchemical transformation to her work as a somatic & expressive arts psychotherapist, working with individuals, couples, teens and children, and presenting workshops for serious play. www.embodiedbeing.net
Lila Sklar as Jasmin Garden - violin, vocals - specializes in Balkan and Middle-Eastern styles as well as having roots in western classical and improvised musics. Jasmin has been playing the violin since the age of four, and studied for many years with assistant to Jascha Heifetz and Sherry Kloss. She has toured and performed extensively throughout the US, Japan, Europe, and the Middle East playing with such groups as Joanna Newsom, Bjork, Bauhaus, The Tokyo Youth Philharmonic, The Quarta Dolce Quartet, Gypsy Caravan, Land Of The Blind, and Sherefe. Lila has also participated in a nationwide tour playing Turkish Sufi music with vocalist Latif Bolat. You can see her in several local Bay Area bands including The Toids, Za'atar, and 3Spell.
Beth Vandervennet as Gingerbread Candy Monahan: cello,vocals - Gingerbread Candy, the woman responsible for the Coven's fiery Jalousie, moody Empty Jar, and sinister Dybbuk's Dirge, is no stranger to string ensembles. She is a professional, classically trained player who performs with the Oakland East Bay Symphony, the Santa Rosa Symphony, and Marin Symphony as well as Principal Cello in Vallejo Symphony. Rosin Coven allows her to leap out of the classical world and trade her formalwear for whips, leathers, and lashes. You'll never know where her boa might land. Let us just say, look out for the lady behind the ladies, because this Gingerbread is hot!
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