Vitamin-D
New York City, New York, United States
Music
Press
vitamindDownbeat Brooklyn Collective with a Williams and Chesnutt Fixation. OK, so they’re no Husky Rescue and they’re no Earlies, but Dennis Cronin and chums have made an attractive, blue and groovesome disc with beats, trumpets, cellos and other paraphernalia which suggest that they have their heads in multiple musical worlds and genres. Here’s to Brooklyn, then, the real musical heart of NYC (Manhattan? Pahh…!), which along with Hoboken and Jersey City seems to be doing more interesting things than the “island at the centre of the world” at the moment. Recorded in their own borough, but also in Boston and Nashville, “Build Another” gets under you skin without too much notice and when you’re not really expecting much of it. It sparkles in places, rhythmically determinedly just above mid tempo but never too happy, and as well as the usual electronic and folk influences, you can’t help thinking that rather like Interpol, The Stills and The Dears, Vitamin-D spent some of their youth with unholy trinity of Morrissey, Marr and Curtis. Having said that, “My Eyes Are Still Blue” is a stuttering, lofi “Why Don’t You Love Me?” by Hank, recorded on a answer machine, just like that other Brooklyn collective led by Yauch, Horovitz and Diamond used to. The title track has me in Northern England more than any other song with it’s mournful vocal and cello figure, and yet it’s followed by “Gympnopedie No 3” (what..?), which is pure late horn blowin over friends greeting each other and talking, like on “What’s Going On?”. Chesnutt’s “When I Ran Off and Left Her” makes a visit, reminding me of Rennie Spark’s style, with it’s opening line: “When I ran off and left her, She wasn’t holding a baby, She was holding a bottle and a big grudge against me…”. “Build Another” ... it’s well written, strongly performed and inventive. www.vitamindmusic.com - Americana-UK
Metroland, Dec. 2004
by David Greenberger
The trumpet never found a comfortable voice in rock & roll. The lung-powered instrument that was there from the start was the saxophone. Its ability to convey rebellion and breathy gritty sex made it a natural in everything from surf combos to the carefully contrived Dave Clark Five. Flutes? We won’t even mention them. But the trumpet was only to be found as part of a horn section, the polite friend brought along to the party by Mr. Saxophone. It wasn’t until the second decade of the genre, when “& roll” fell by the wayside that the potential for the instrument was explored. Thank the nonrocker himself, Herb Alpert, and thank the pocket trumpet solo on “Penny Lane” for opening brass doors. The trumpet’s sonorous imprint adds a regal bearing, and its human-scaled expressiveness can tug at the heart in the way a guitar never can.
Which leads me to the debut release by Vitamin-D, a Brooklyn-based ensemble built around trumpeteer, guitarist, singer an songwriter, Dennis Cronin. His playing has graced such pastoral entities as Lambchop and the Willard Grant Conspiracy. Here he’s surpassed the works of some of his peers, creating a gently undulating set that moves gracefully from the instrumental opener “Valentine,” a beautiful melody over foundation of austere piano cords, to the sly rhythmic tug of the unembellished electric guitar riffing on “Clear.” The set’s two covers perfectly describe the breadth of Cronin’s interests: Erik Satie’s “Gymnopedie No. 3,” hereoffered up in the midst of party buzz audio verite, and Vic Chesnutt’s “When I Ran Off And Left Her.” - Metroland - review by David Greenberger
by Jessica Padykula
Brooklyn-based Vitamin-D is not your standard rock band. With a trumpet as the lead instrument, they’re not really your typical band either, but they knew how to engage the audience.
This show had an intimate feel, like the audience was in a friend’s living room watching their band practice. There was a laid-back, relaxed vibe that carried over into the band’s music.
Frontman Dennis Cronin flipped effortlessly between guitar and trumpet, playing mellow pop songs intertwined with soothing horn solos. Each song melted into the next, with a sweet, almost lullaby-like effect. The between song banter was amusing and added to the friendly atmosphere created by the band.
It’s the kind of music you listen to on a rainy day, relaxing to the jazzy softness. Cronin’s voice was just as soothing as his trumpet playing and seemed to lull the audience into a contented bliss. - SceneandHeard.ca
Discography
Bridge, December 2009 (full length cd);
Build Another, 2004 (full length cd);
mp3s on web site
Photos
Bio
If you’ve never thought of the trumpet as a "hip" instrument, then you’ve never heard the music of Dennis Cronin. The Massachussetts-born, Virginia-raised multi-instrumentalist is currently brewing his relentlessly inventive sounds with his ensemble Vitamin-D.
Growing up in a creative household, Cronin was inspired early on by a piano-playing father and a craft-crazy mother. He started playing trumpet when he joined the school band in the fourth grade. Cronin gravitated naturally to the trumpet because "it was easier to carry than the tuba, but not too girly like the flute." One of the top instrumentalists in his junior high school, Cronin was accepted into a summer program where he studied jazz theory under the legendary Ellis Marsalis.
He joined his first rock band in high school while taking classes in composition, theory, and ear training at the Governor's School for the Arts in Norfolk, VA, where he wrote his first Sonata for trumpet. Cronin later scored that piece for the College Wind Ensemble at Virginia Tech.
After earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Cronin took a brief detour into the real world before coming to his senses, moving to Nashville and diving into that city’s diverse music scene as a recording engineer. For the next few years he recorded and produced countless local bands, putting together a critically acclaimed jazz compilation for F. Scott’s, the most respected jazz venue in town.
Cronin hadn’t picked up the trumpet in years when, while helping out on a collaboration between alternative darlings Vic Chesnutt and Lambchop, he dusted it off when the musicians needed an extra horn. Not only did Cronin play on the album, he was soon touring Europe with Chesnutt and Lambchop. With Lambchop and Chesnutt, Cronin performed on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Cronin then toured the U.S. with Josh Rouse and appeared once again on Conan O’Brien with the critically acclaimed singer/songwriter. During this time and since, he played live and/or in the studio with a variety of acts including Rouse, Chesnutt, Guster, Yo La Tengo, Lambchop, Ladybug Transistor and Will Kimbrough.
Looking for new creative challenges, Cronin then headed north to Boston where, working with his brother, he launched the Mount Hood Classical Music Series. He also bought himself an accordion and toured the UK with Boston’s Willard Grant Conspiracy and Thalia Zedek.
These days Cronin is based in Brooklyn, NY and is heading Vitamin-D, an eclectic ensemble that combines smooth, soulful grooves with indelible, hook-filled melodies. Vitamin-D’s debut CD, Build Another, is a unique collection of intriguing pop songs and stunning musical interludes that drip with Cronin’s beautifully smooth trumpet. Vitamin-D's music is essential for strong bodies and healthy minds.
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