Featuring Pat Mastelotto, David Kollar, Paolo Raineri – With Artwork by Tool’s Adam Jones
The genre-defying trio KOMARA returns with KOMARA II, a powerful and immersive new release that pushes sonic boundaries and challenges musical convention. Featuring King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto, Slovakian avant-garde guitarist David Kollar, and visionary Italian trumpeter Paolo Raineri, the trio weaves ambient textures, industrial grit, and jazz-infused improvisation into a dark, cinematic soundscape.
Building on the bold spirit of their acclaimed debut, KOMARA II welcomes special guests Arve Henriksen (trumpet on “Komarantino”), Bill Munyon (voice on “Not Our Way”), and Deborah Carter Mastelotto (voice on “Relocating Children” and “Burning Man”), adding further depth to the album’s rich and experimental palette. Once again, the visual aesthetic is elevated by a striking cover design from Tool guitarist and artist Adam Jones.
The band will perform select European dates this summer with special guest Trey Gunn—Pat Mastelotto’s former King Crimson bandmate—joining the lineup for an even more expansive live experience.
KOMARA II is available now in a 4-panel CD wallet and digital formats.
Track list: 1. Gerund 3:24 2. Allina Day 3:46 3. Not Our Way 1:16 4. Relocating Children 4:20 5. Gray Apples Fall 9:11 6. Judgement Day 1:54 7. Utorok Cowboy 3:44 8. Swallowing Tokyo 0:47 9. Burning Man 5:24 10. Komarantino 3:13 11. Squirm 4:26 12. The Returning (reprise) 6:51
Personnel: David Kollar – Guitars, Bass, Keys Pat Mastelotto – Traps and Buttons Paolo Raineri – Trumpet & Flugelhorn
With Special Guests: Arve Henriksen – Trumpet on “Komarantino” Bill Munyon – Voice on “Not Our Way” Deborah Carter Mastelotto – Voice on “Relocating Children” and “Burning Man”
KOMARA + GU Live
18.6.2025 Prešov - Stromoradie 19.6.2025 Bratislava - Pink Whale 20.6.2025 Trenčín - KC Hviezda 21.6.2025 Opava - Letní Slunovrat festival 23.6.2025 Praha - Palác Akropolis
David Kollar - guitar, synths Pat Mastelotto - drums Paolo Raineri - trumpet Trey Gunn - Warr guitar
Featuring Pat Mastelotto, David Kollar, Paolo Raineri – With Artwork by Tool’s Adam Jones
The genre-defying trio KOMARA returns with KOMARA II, a powerful and immersive new release that pushes sonic boundaries and challenges musical convention. Featuring King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto, Slovakian avant-garde guitarist David Kollar, and visionary Italian trumpeter Paolo Raineri, the trio weaves ambient textures, industrial grit, and jazz-infused improvisation into a dark, cinematic soundscape.
Building on the bold spirit of their acclaimed debut, KOMARA II welcomes special guests Arve Henriksen (trumpet on “Komarantino”), Bill Munyon (voice on “Not Our Way”), and Deborah Carter Mastelotto (voice on “Relocating Children” and “Burning Man”), adding further depth to the album’s rich and experimental palette. Once again, the visual aesthetic is elevated by a striking cover design from Tool guitarist and artist Adam Jones.
The band will perform select European dates this summer with special guest Trey Gunn—Pat Mastelotto’s former King Crimson bandmate—joining the lineup for an even more expansive live experience.
KOMARA II is available now in a 4-panel CD wallet and digital formats.
Track list: 1. Gerund 3:24 2. Allina Day 3:46 3. Not Our Way 1:16 4. Relocating Children 4:20 5. Gray Apples Fall 9:11 6. Judgement Day 1:54 7. Utorok Cowboy 3:44 8. Swallowing Tokyo 0:47 9. Burning Man 5:24 10. Komarantino 3:13 11. Squirm 4:26 12. The Returning (reprise) 6:51
Personnel: David Kollar – Guitars, Bass, Keys Pat Mastelotto – Traps and Buttons Paolo Raineri – Trumpet & Flugelhorn
With Special Guests: Arve Henriksen – Trumpet on “Komarantino” Bill Munyon – Voice on “Not Our Way” Deborah Carter Mastelotto – Voice on “Relocating Children” and “Burning Man”
KOMARA + GU Live
18.6.2025 Prešov - Stromoradie 19.6.2025 Bratislava - Pink Whale 20.6.2025 Trenčín - KC Hviezda 21.6.2025 Opava - Letní Slunovrat festival 23.6.2025 Praha - Palác Akropolis
David Kollar - guitar, synths Pat Mastelotto - drums Paolo Raineri - trumpet Trey Gunn - Warr guitar
Calv carries on the legacy of Moondog (aka The Viking of Sixth Avenue) with full support from the Moondog archives!
Stockton, NJ – Percussionist Julian Calv was a music major who recently graduated from Moravian University in Bethlehem, PA. He now resides in the art community of Windsor, VT. Calv can occasionally be seen on Church Street in Burlington, VT, busking much in the way Moondog, aka the Viking of Sixth Avenue, did in NYC during the 50’s and 60’s.
Calv has studied every aspect of the avant-garde musician’s creative life. In addition to composing and performing, Moondog’s life included the invention of several musical instruments, most famously the trimba (a sort of triangular drum). Calv has even built his own one-of-a-kind trimba, going to great lengths to travel to Sweden and Germany to meet with fellow Moondog aficionados, and study the design of the instrument. Moondog archivist Wolfgang Gnida states, “Julian Calv - the future of the trimba, that's what I called Julian some time ago. That may seem a bit of an exaggeration, but since the time I've been working at the Moondog archives, I’ve yet to meet a musician who has been as intensely involved with the trimba as Julian.”
Calv had this to say about his latest release, “‘Encore’ is written by Moondog and performed by Ava Bloomfield on piano and myself. The song was originally titled ‘Utsu’ and played on an instrument Moondog built having the same name. This reinterpretation of the song brings the utsu's melody to the piano keys. ‘Encore’ is one of nine songs from an upcoming album titled ‘Nonstop Motion,’ featuring the music of Moondog and Julian all wrapped up in one.”
In addition to covering Moondog material, Calv has now been creating his own percussion-based compositions in a style reminiscent of the late composer. His first release, “Route 4,” and follow up “Thorn and Roots” have been picked up on multiple Spotify playlists.
Guitar virtuosos Daniel Reyes Llinás, Harvey Valdes, Elliott Sharp are releasing their collaborative album “String Schemas” on October 6, 2023 on 7D Media.
“In April 2022, I was about to perform in Brooklyn for the first time since the pandemic. Offering a solo set didn't excite me much, so I invited my avant-garde jazz-wizard friend, Harvey Valdes, who had just released his superb recording of Bach’s lute works on the electric guitar. To complete the trifecta, I reached out to downtown legend, experimental guitarist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp, whom I have been a fan of for many years and recently reconnected with. Harvey and Elliott generously joined me, delivering incredible solo sets. Later, Elliott proposed closing the evening with improvisations. The vibe was so great that we decided to repeat the experience a few months later. ‘String Schemas’ serves as the documentation of those memorable moments.” - Daniel Reyes Llinás
Daniel Reyes Llinás, a Colombian composer, guitarist, and producer, derives inspiration from rhythmic and melodic angularity. He weaves atonal architectures with vibrant lyricism into his music. As a leader, Daniel has released two albums: “Molino,” a captivating collage of world and new music, and “En Remolinos,” a bold exploration that blurs the boundaries between improvisation and composition. His contributions can be heard on Parias Ensemble's experimental “St. Mark’s sessions” and on the eclectic collaborative EP “re:SET vol:1”. Daniel has scored films, theater productions, and dance choreographies. Most recently, his solo guitar debut, “Códices,” comprising a series of modern guitar études and improvisations co-produced by Trey Gunn, is scheduled for release on 7DMedia on November 3rd, 2023.
Harvey Valdes, a guitarist of searching, sophisticated musicality, can traverse styles from avant-jazz and Middle Eastern music to improvised film scores and the compositions of Bach. Harvey has an intrepid curiosity about the guitar’s sonic and expressive range; he is also a trained player of the Arabic oud. To date, he has released four albums as a soloist/leader: “Novare”, his interpretation of Bach Lute Suites on electric guitar, “Solitude Intones Its Echo”, a set of concise, engaging solo improvisations; “PointCounterPoint”, a bristling, Mahavishnu-meets-math-rock trio album, and “Roundabout”, his solo debut featuring lyrically inventive takes on jazz standards.
Elliott Sharp is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, author, and visual artist who leads the projects Orchestra Carbon, SysOrk, and Terraplane and whose compositional strategies encompass fractal geometry, chaos theory, algorithmic approaches, genetic metaphors, and new techniques for graphic notation. He has been awarded the Berlin Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and fellowships from the Foundation for Contemporary Art and the Center for Transformative Media. Sharp is the subject of the documentary “Doing The Don’t” and has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered. His composition “Storm of the Eye”, for violinist Hilary Hahn, appeared on her Grammy-winning album “In 27 Pieces.”
STOCKTON, NJ – Julian Calv was a music major recently graduated from Moravian University in Bethlehem, PA. He now resides in the art community of Woodstock, VT. Calv can occasionally be seen on Church Street in Burlington, VT, busking much in the way Moondog, aka the Viking of Sixth Avenue, had done in NYC during the 50’s and 60’s.
Calv has studied every aspect of the avant-garde musician’s creative life. In addition to composing and performing, Moondog’s life included the invention of several musical instruments, most famously the trimba (a sort of triangular drum). Calv has even built his own one-of-a-kind trimba, going to great lengths to travel to Sweden and Germany to meet with fellow Moondog aficionados, and study the design of the instrument. Moondog archivist Wolfgang Gnida states, “Julian Calv - The future of the trimba, that’s what I called Julian some time ago. That may seem a bit of an exaggeration, but since the time I’ve been working at the Moondog Archive, I’ve yet to meet a musician who has been as intensely involved with the trimba as Julian. His first trimba was still made from drums put together, but his first homemade trimba based on Moondog’s model soon followed.”
Stefan Lakatos, Moondog’s friend, student, and ‘the leading exponent of the Moondog method of drumming’ (as Moondog called him) accepted Julian as a trimba player. A recognition that Stefan never gave to any other musician. “Those who listen to Julian’s two recordings ‘Route 4’ and ‘Thorn and Roots’ will, if they are old enough, remember Moondog of the 50’s and 60’s, its compositions with nature sounds and the irregular rhythms. Julian follows this tradition (‘Roots’) and brings this feeling of handmade, but not easy, music to our time (‘Route’). Let’s follow him on his way.”
Calv has now been creating his own percussion-based compositions in a style reminiscent of the late composer. His first release, “Route 4,” and follow up “Thorn and Roots” have been picked up on multiple Spotify playlists. As Calv explains, “‘Route 4’ and ‘Thorn and Roots,’ these are location inspired compositions that I’m exuberant to now have in physical form. As a start to my continuation of Moondog’s legacy, I'm quite proud of how they came out. This certainly would not have been possible without the right visual artist to communicate such free-flowing music, and Garrett Flanagan is the one we have to thank for that.”
In addition to writing his original compositions, Calv can be seen performing Moondog rounds alongside fellow musicians Nabeel and Brent Blair on Youtube’s Got Media?.
You can order the Limited Edition (only 250 printed) 7” single and limited bundles here:https://bit.ly/JulianCalv
Tracklist: Side A – “Route 4” Side B – “Thorn and Roots”
This Bundle Includes: One (1) 7” Vinyl Single One (1) “Route 4” Sticker One (1) “Thorn and Roots” Sticker One (1) Julian Calv Sticker Two (2) Maraca Key Chains
Jeff Cotton of Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band fame will be releasing his first ever solo album “The Fantasy of Reality” on Madfish on August 12, 2022.
After playing guitar, lap steel and vocals with the legendary Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, appearing on the ground breaking album “Trout Mask Replica” (under the pseudonym Antennae Jimmy Semens), as well as playing on “Strictly Personal” & “Mirror Man,” Cotton withdrew from the commercial music business for nearly 50 years. Using the island state of Hawaii as a home base, he emerges from his seclusion in 2022 with his first ever solo album; “The Fantasy of Reality.”
Whimsical, playful and tongue-in-cheek – Cotton delivers a psychedelic journey that will delight Beefheart devotees while bringing plenty of new ideas to the table across the sprawling 22 track, 66-minute runtime. “Trout Mask Replica” cover designer Cal Schenkel collaborates once again as he returns to contribute to the internal artwork of the album to continue the Captain Beefheart canon into the 2020s.
Across the decades, the Magic Band’s power and influence has only grown in might, and the cult following of 1969’s “Trout Mask Replica” still excites fans to this day, in part due to the mystery and enigma of members such as Antennae Jimmy Semens (aka Jeff Cotton). In 1967, Cotton was scoped by Don Van Vliet – Captain Beefheart himself, replacing Ry Cooder on guitar. He then went one to help craft some of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band’s most vibrant recordings and later contributed to the cult band MU.
Now blending together musical strands such as jazz, delta blues, Hawaiian and the avant-garde to create a melting pot of ideas, Cotton will astonish fans with his comeback.
Track List: 1. Does It Work For You 2. It Never Ceases To Blow My Mind 3. Ivy 4. Green Bamboo 5. He Made The Eagle 6. Elvirus 7. This Gentle Earth 8. All Things New 9. Crusin` Hamakua 10. Together We Sail 11. The Space Between Us All 12. On The Thread 13. Aloha 14. The Liberation Song 15. The Breeze Of Oblivion 16. Heavy 17. The Season Of The Awakening 18. Mother Earth Needs Healing 19. Together 20. Hear The Word 21. It Would Take An Angel 22. Clean In Nature`s Stream
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Taken from the forthcoming new album Departure Tapes released on Kscope on July 2, 2021
With his new album Departure Tapes released July 2nd on Kscope, UK based Italian composer, multi-instrumentalist and visual artist Giancarlo Erra has revealed the 3rd single and video for “Previous Tape”. He comments, “Whatever music I write, whether for a soundtrack or for a rock band, for me, songwriting and melody are always something that must be there (I grew up listening to Beatles so I can't escape that!). At the same time I'm not a big fan of solos, but I'm obsessed with vocals, even if synthesised. I own a couple of synths dedicated almost exclusively to that.
So on 'Previous Tape', I used a Seaboard (keyboard/synth) because it allows me to play instruments and sounds without quantised pitch, like a vocal (or a theremin), while at the same time with a dynamically controlled expression of other parameters, exactly like I would while I sing."
The new studio album Departure Tapes, the follow up to 2019’s Ends I-VII, consists of 6 contemplative recordings, written while travelling between the UK and Italy and reflect the extremely difficult year Giancarlo experienced due to the death of his estranged father. Erra comments “In 2019 my first solo album was just being released, and I already had the view that I wanted to be more experimental with the second one, but no precise idea how at that point. Then my father suddenly got ill with cancer, and everything changed. I found myself taking care of this man, someone who I have been distanced from for so long. During this time both of us came to terms with many things. I wanted to get closure, but a positive one, for him and for me.
Creatively it was an interesting period for me – writing this album without realising I was actually writing it, as it is so intrinsically linked to one of the hardest and yet more healing parts of my life. The end result is the most experimental, and at the times, the darkest material I have ever written, without compromise or set plan. It contains all the elements of my music in a very unconscious free flowing way.”
Departure Tapes sees Erra using a wide mix of analogue synths and digital plugins though he is keen to highlight the unsung hero of many of his albums, “The 1979 monophonic Korg MS10, deserves a mention because this synth has a wicked filter, a squelching and screaming one that can really do some unique stuff once you use it with the modular part of the synth. In Departure Tapes and in possibly all of my albums, any bass synth part is performed on the MS10, and I believe is the one sound I use it for most of the times. Once you manually tune down the synth and then you tune and move the filter at resonant peak around the notes you need, this thing is able to make not just walls shaking bass sounds, but also ones that contain enough upper medium frequencies to cut through the mix: I would be lost without this little gem.”
Max Richter, Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm and the more electronic / ambient recordings of Brian Eno may offer a reference point by which to enter Erra’s world, but the depth within his recordings is truly original.
Departure Tapes track listing 1. Dawn Tape [06:15] 2. Previous Tape [01:48] 3. 169th Tape [02:51] 4. Unwound Tape [08:24] 5. Departure Tape [16:51] WATCH VIDEO 6. A Blues For My Father [07:31] WATCH VIDEO
Departure Tapeswill be released on the following formats and is available to pre-order HERE (https://GiancarloErra.lnk.to/DepartureTapes) • A gatefold LP on oxblood coloured 180g vinyl • 2-disc CD/DVD with the DVD-A/V including high resolution stereo & 5.1 mix: DVD-V: stereo 24/48 LPCM lossless mixes, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, DTS 96/24 5.1 Surround and DVD-A: 5.1 Surround 24/48 LPCM lossless mixes • Digitally (with digital pre-orders receiving the single “Departure Tape” as an instant download from 22nd April)
Giancarlo will be hosting an album listening party on Tuesday 6th July at 1:30 PM EST (6:30pm BST) on his YouTube channel. He will be listening to the album live and answering your questions.
2 viewers will be in with a chance of winning a free signed copy of Departure Tapes in any format.
Taken from the forthcoming new album Departure Tapes released on Kscope on July 2, 2021
With his new album Departure Tapes released July 2nd on Kscope, UK based Italian composer, multi-instrumentalist and visual artist Giancarlo Erra has revealed the 3rd single and video for “Previous Tape”. He comments, “Whatever music I write, whether for a soundtrack or for a rock band, for me, songwriting and melody are always something that must be there (I grew up listening to Beatles so I can't escape that!). At the same time I'm not a big fan of solos, but I'm obsessed with vocals, even if synthesised. I own a couple of synths dedicated almost exclusively to that.
So on 'Previous Tape', I used a Seaboard (keyboard/synth) because it allows me to play instruments and sounds without quantised pitch, like a vocal (or a theremin), while at the same time with a dynamically controlled expression of other parameters, exactly like I would while I sing."
The new studio album Departure Tapes, the follow up to 2019’s Ends I-VII, consists of 6 contemplative recordings, written while travelling between the UK and Italy and reflect the extremely difficult year Giancarlo experienced due to the death of his estranged father. Erra comments “In 2019 my first solo album was just being released, and I already had the view that I wanted to be more experimental with the second one, but no precise idea how at that point. Then my father suddenly got ill with cancer, and everything changed. I found myself taking care of this man, someone who I have been distanced from for so long. During this time both of us came to terms with many things. I wanted to get closure, but a positive one, for him and for me.
Creatively it was an interesting period for me – writing this album without realising I was actually writing it, as it is so intrinsically linked to one of the hardest and yet more healing parts of my life. The end result is the most experimental, and at the times, the darkest material I have ever written, without compromise or set plan. It contains all the elements of my music in a very unconscious free flowing way.”
Departure Tapes sees Erra using a wide mix of analogue synths and digital plugins though he is keen to highlight the unsung hero of many of his albums, “The 1979 monophonic Korg MS10, deserves a mention because this synth has a wicked filter, a squelching and screaming one that can really do some unique stuff once you use it with the modular part of the synth. In Departure Tapes and in possibly all of my albums, any bass synth part is performed on the MS10, and I believe is the one sound I use it for most of the times. Once you manually tune down the synth and then you tune and move the filter at resonant peak around the notes you need, this thing is able to make not just walls shaking bass sounds, but also ones that contain enough upper medium frequencies to cut through the mix: I would be lost without this little gem.”
Max Richter, Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm and the more electronic / ambient recordings of Brian Eno may offer a reference point by which to enter Erra’s world, but the depth within his recordings is truly original.
Departure Tapes track listing 1. Dawn Tape [06:15] 2. Previous Tape [01:48] 3. 169th Tape [02:51] 4. Unwound Tape [08:24] 5. Departure Tape [16:51] WATCH VIDEO 6. A Blues For My Father [07:31] WATCH VIDEO
Departure Tapeswill be released on the following formats and is available to pre-order HERE (https://GiancarloErra.lnk.to/DepartureTapes) • A gatefold LP on oxblood coloured 180g vinyl • 2-disc CD/DVD with the DVD-A/V including high resolution stereo & 5.1 mix: DVD-V: stereo 24/48 LPCM lossless mixes, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, DTS 96/24 5.1 Surround and DVD-A: 5.1 Surround 24/48 LPCM lossless mixes • Digitally (with digital pre-orders receiving the single “Departure Tape” as an instant download from 22nd April)
Giancarlo will be hosting an album listening party on Tuesday 6th July at 1:30 PM EST (6:30pm BST) on his YouTube channel. He will be listening to the album live and answering your questions.
2 viewers will be in with a chance of winning a free signed copy of Departure Tapes in any format.
6 evolving soundscapes with a duration over 60 minutes in the music style of Vangelis, Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno
Athens, Greece - Experimental musician and author Billy Yfantis, releases his 3rd Sci-Fi/Space album entitled “Noises from the Outer Space”. The album features 6 instrumental tracks composed by having in mind the atmosphere of Sci-Fi movies and the science of Astronomy. The Spaced Out vibes of the album mix perfectly with the evolving tonality of the music and create an Avant-garde trip to the universe. The album was composed and recorded in Athens, Greece by Billy Yfantis who explored musically several virtual synthesizers mainly used for cinematic Sound Design. Each track represents the aesthetic and sonic perception of Space from the composer’s point of view, consequently the final result sounds as close as possible to the soundtrack of a classic Sci-Fi movie.
The cinematic atmosphere of Billy’s music has created positive feedback from important professionals of the music industry. Steve Whitfield (Producer and engineer of The Cure, The Mission UK) commented upon listening to the music of Billy Yfantis for the first time: “This music is crying out to be used in films but at the same time it's great to just sit back listen and immerse yourself in them without any moving images and let your imagination run wild!”
Noises from the Outer Space Track list: 1. Astral Noise 2. Cosmic Noise 3. Galactic Noise 4. Interstellar Noise 5. New Moon Noise 6. Planetary Noise
Billy Yfantis, except his solo recording career, has a very busy schedule with other related activities. On Jan. 27, 2021 he participated as a guest presenter at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) by presenting the nominees/winners of the “Best World Music” and “Best Lyrics/Lyricist” awards. You can watch the whole event here: https://vimeo.com/505567704 Moreover, later in 2021 he remixed a track from the Desert rockers Sons of Alpha Centauri which was included as a bonus 3-inch CD on the vinyl format of the recent album “Sky Island” by the Yawning Sons (project by members of the Yawning Man and Sons of Alpha Centauri). For the rest of 2021, Billy Yfantis plans to experiment with new instruments and technologies for the recording of his 4th full album with a release schedule in early 2022. Stay tuned for more information!
About Billy Yfantis Vasileios (Billy) Yfantis holds 2 Master Degrees in Information Technology and is a Ph.D. candidate in the University of West Attica by conducting research on e-government. Billy has been working on music since the late 1990s by experimenting with tape mixing and sound design. Billy is playing digital keyboards, but prefers to express his artistic dream through the electronic sounds that come from unusual machines. He has experimented with the recording of vacuum cleaners, electric blenders and other strange sounds that have resulted in musical releases. Moreover, Billy has authored books on music, business and science while from times to times he speaks about the electronic governance at scientific conferences all over Europe.
Famous Quotes Krautrock legend Harald Grosskopf (Ash Ra Tempel, Klaus Schulze, Cosmic Jokers): “I always like electronic music made by younger musicians who consequently follow their personal instinct, rather than trying to copy what’s already been made in the past, in the spirit of: Whenever you meet Buddha kill him. Keep on tracking Billy!”
Tom McLoughlin (Director of the movie “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives”): “I really dug his music!! VERY cool stuff!!”
Phil Lanzon (Uriah Heep): “I like the track 'Waiting for the battle.' Great riff. I can see this as soundtracks to Psycho - punk movies and the like.”
Discography 1. Noises from the Outer Space (Full album, 2021) 2. Entering the Solar System (Full album, 2020) 3. The Noisy Whispers Compilation (Full album, 2019) 4. The Mysterious Trip (Digital single, 2018) 5. Dust Not Found (Digital single 2017) 6. Crossing The Line (Digital single 2016) 7. The Electric Blender Session (Digital single, 2016) 8. The Missing Link (Digital single, 2015)
Bibliography 1. Power Ballads And The Stories Behind (2021) 2. Is Prog Rock Really Progressive? (2020) 3. Hip Hop Goes Science: Volume I – Extended Version (2020) 4. Hip Hop Goes Science: Volume I (2019) 5. Metal Goes Science: The Academic Metal Bibliography (2017) 6. Disadvantaged Populations And Technology In Music (2017) 7. City Streets Of Europe (2017) 8. Punk Goes Science: The Academic Bibliography Of Punk (2015) 9. The Lost Lyrics (2013) 10. The Commercial Exploitation Of Color As A Consumer Stimulus (2013)
“Their musicality and stage presence remind me of the glory days of vaudeville. Kim and Connie are kind of like the Bert Lahr and Al Jolson of modern music.” - Victor De Lorenzo, Violent Femmes
MRS. FUN plays nu jazz. Complex, sophisticated and adventurous, their music is a unique blend of off-center jazz, ultra-funk, spoken word rap, and their own brand of neo-cabaret. Intelligent lyrics, stellar musicianship, and a dynamic stage presence are hallmarks of their music. The MRS. FUN sound is derived from Connie Grauer's funky bass-driven keyboard playing, combined with Kim Zick's skillful in-the-pocket drumming.
“Their music is a blend of my favorite things. Especially cool jazz. They also remind me of beatniks. I'm from Berkeley and I know my beatniks!” - Martha Davis, Motels
“Grauer is a piano player with few equals whose drive and energy spills across the stage and into the audience like nitrous oxide. She's got a left hand that doesn't quit, the mark of any great pianist, and a right hand with limitless boundaries.” Zick holds court as a “heart-stopping drummer” whose “grooves get so far out, most people need a map to get back.” Voted Best Contemporary Jazz Group by the Wisconsin Area Music Industry(WAMI) three consecutive years, Grauer and Zick have also received WAMI awards for Best Instrumentalist: keyboards and drums. Grauer has also received awards for Best Female Vocalist and Best Stage Entertainer.
Improvisation is the driving force of MRS. FUN. The duo's very first gig was all improvisation. Some of the improvisations became songs. 30 years and five recordings later, they wrote the music for TRUTH and held strong to their original mission statement. In every recording, they include one or two cover pieces, usually a Thelonious Monk song. On TRUTH, “Soulful Strut” and “Light My Fire” were selected being a great fit to their original material. All of the instrumental tracks were recorded live. The only overdubs were vocals.
“MRS. FUN stomps the jazz terra, doing exactly what Miles Davis had done throughout his whole career: breaking through old boundaries, re-establishing new ones, and then breaking through even those; so that the music can no longer be pigeonholed solely under the label of jazz.” - Shepherd Express
“Multi-keyboardist Connie Grauer and drum basher Kim Zick can play big-beat rock one moment, salute Sun Ra or Thelonious Monk the next, then launch into a groove tune that sounds like a computer getting funky. You gotta respect that.” - Tom Surowicz, Twin City Reader
“Drummer Kim Zick and keyboardist/vocalist Connie Grauer work intuitively from a jazz base, spinning out funky but thorny rhythms and memorable but subtle melodies from disparate threads of rock, pop, tango and the most venturesome explorations of avant-garde '60s jazz.” - Dave Luhrssen, Shepherd Express
“Connie Grauer is one of the most creative, adventurous and energetic musicians in Milwaukee's music scene.” - Visions (Milwaukee)
“Zick, propulsively polyrhythmic and invariably on time, is simply one of most talented percussionist on the scene.” - Michael Point, Austin American-Statesman
“A virtuoso duo displaying amazing energy and range, MRS.FUN wraps sharp humor and wigged-out joy around an aggressive, crunchy acid jazz center.” - JazzTimes
“MRS. FUN are post-modernist bop, the perfect lounge entertainment for the Cabaret Kerouac…Both Connie Grauer and Kim Zick are impressive players, with not just the ability, but also the agility and vision to take their music into the greenest pastures out in left field. Fun indeed.” - The Austin Chronicle
“Moe Tucker, drummer for the Velvet Underground named MRS.FUN one of her top ten bands in 1994.” - Guardian, San Francisco
“Their quirky output is equal parts chaos and tunefulness. Hanging out in left field where they do, there's a thin line between pretension and art. Thankfully, they manage to always stay on the right side of the line.” - Creative Loafing (Charlotte)
Up coming gigs & recordings:
MRS. FUN will be headlining Summerfest 2020 on the Klements stage. They will also be performing in several concert series in the Midwest beginning May 2020 along with other jazz performances throughout the Midwest.
Soon to be released on the MRS. FUN record label FunTime Records: Carnival of Souls by Outer Limits Duo: drum & sax improvisation recording; Kim Zick: drums, Juli Wood: saxophones, Produced by: Connie Grauer
In closing the band has this to impart, “Our goal in writing music for MRS. FUN is to continue writing eclectic ear bending pieces for the listener to be engaged in the complexities of each piece. That goal was most definitely achieved on TRUTH.”
To purchase: MRS. FUN/TRUTH is available through Spotify and most digital sites.
Italian music artists EMILIANO DEFERRARI & MARCO MACHERA are releasing their debut self-titled album of free-form improvisation on November 15, 2019. Long-time musical friends, Emiliano and Marco had never worked together, but always liked each other's music, and attended each other's performances. Emiliano's band Nanaue used to cover one of Marco's great tunes “The Ugly Song.” Throughout the years, the two musicians discovered very similar taste in music, from no-wave jazz, to art rock and more non-conventional styles. So, when Marco moved to Brussels from Italy, it felt quite natural to do something together. They could have started writing songs, but eventually they preferred to start with “something completely different”.
Emiliano explains, “They call it non-idiomatic free improvisation. We don’t agree 100% with the definition, it’s a philosophical quarrel, but that is what we do. We are both improvisers, inspired by free-form music and wanted to perform together this way. The album is documenting an excerpt from two recording sessions on cold mornings in March and May 2019 in Brussels, at Monty Studio. Two condenser microphones in the room plus a dynamic one pointed on a twin reverb, to capture the sound of us on prepared acoustic and jazz guitars, baglama, violin and objects found in the studio. No overdubs, no post-production, a rough mixing and a transparent pre-mastering. The beauty of the moment without pre-ordered languages to fit into, not against but beyond rules.”
Watch the promotional video:
“We took a walk through Matonge, the Congolese neighbourhood of Brussels, and had fun mixing (us Italians), with those picturesque African vibes on a cold northern European afternoon, last October. That’s the joy of living in an open city like Brussels.”
Marco says, “We have decided to release this material outside of any self-indulgent snobbery, we just decided to give something to the listeners so they could satisfy their possible curiosity. We liked the atmosphere we created, the interplay and the amount of chance which helped the development of those four improvisations. We are eager to perform live and have fun with our audience. You may also consider this album as ‘another side of us’. In fact, for instance, we realize now that we didn't sing during the sessions, even though both of us are frontmen. We were so focused on creating the momentum that we forgot rules, roles and habits.”
From Brussels the duo will start presenting the album and performing live on November 30th at seeU, the ephemeral neighbourhood at the old 'Casernes d'Ixelles'.”
EMILIANO DEFERRARI
Emiliano was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1977. He started playing guitar at 6 and recording his own music at 11. He played and sang jazz, rock and world music with different bands in Italy. In 2005, after settling in Rome, he produced his first solo album “SO_LO” with Rattsburg Records, with good reviews. Since then he started touring Italy with his solo show with guitar, voice and effects. Between 2007/2011, Emiliano toured as The Loop Duo with Adriano Arena, with guitars, voices and live loops, producing an album (THE LOOP DUO/BMA and Rattsburg, 2009). In 2009/2010, he produced a new EP (O.S.T./Rattsburg, 2009) and LP “LIGHT EARS” (Rattsburg 2010). Since 2008 he's been working on the project Nanaue with Matteo Nahum. Between 2011 and 2017 they published 8 singles (Rattsburg Records and Gutenberg Music) and 1 album (Nanaue/Gutenberg Music, 2013) plus 3 recordings for tribute albums of Italian prog label Mellow Records. In 2014 Emiliano moved to Brussels, Belgium where he re-published his seminal album “Small Engines” (2002, Rattsburg) and in 2018 he released “MONTY” (Rattsburg) which received great recognition from the art-rock, prog and jazz reviewers.
PRESS for Emiliano
“Monty is a fascinating journey through the wild mind of a maverick.” - PROG magazine, UK
“Monty, the surprise of the year” - (tr.) Fabio Zuffanti’s TOP 5, PsycandProg, Italy
“Experimental and disturbing, Monty is a bold mix of jazz, world and avant-garde” - (tr.) Corto, Music Waves, France
“Nothing is impossible for one who’s ready to go all the way and make a strange land his own...” - Dmitry M. Epstein, DMME Let it Rock, Canada
“The music rises, it takes us up, and from up there, it shows us how we can be satisfied when listening to – finally – a disruptive album” - (tr.) Enrico Storti, Asterischi di Musiche, Italy
MARCO MACHERA
Marco Machera is an Italian singer-songwriter. He likes to say: “I don't play music – I make it happen.” He released the debut-album “One Time, Somewhere” in 2012: the recording, a unique melting pot of pop and art rock, won early stamps of approval from the likes of Peter Gabriel bassist Tony Levin and ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, who praised its “interesting atmospheres and contrasting moods.” His second solo effort, “Dime Novels” (2014), is once again a uniquely fresh take on the pop song formula, and features incredible musicians Pat Mastelotto, Tony Levin, Markus Reuter, among others. A third solo record, “Small Music From Broken Windows,” was released in 2017: an intimate and reflective concept album inspired by “The Outsider,” a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. Since 2014, Marco has also been collaborating with American bassist Julie Slick (from the Adrian Belew Power Trio) and drummer Alessandro Inolti on the EchoTest project. In the ever-evolving and experimental worlds of modern progressive rock and avant garde jazz rock, their free-flowing improvisations and strongly melodic songwriting have combined to help them shape an unique identity and garner a growing reputation for their intriguing and surprising albums and their rare and captivating live shows alike.
PRESS for Marco
“Along the way, Dime Novels finds Marco furiously pushing at the walls of musical convention. There are moments when the album sounds like prog, others when it sounds like an ambient fever dream, others still when it sounds like something that couldn’t be farther away from either construct. Dime Novels is as challenging as it is entertaining — and a huge leap forward for Machera.” - Nick DeRiso, Something Else Reviews, US
“[EchoTest] has just released its latest album, 'Daughter of Ocean,' whose nine songs form one vast movement of music that weaves thematic crescendos with ominous and dark undertones. The interplay of Slick and Machera is highly rhythmic throughout, often finding peaks in melodic moments like 'Sleep' and 'Tiger Races.' [...] the album is as enjoyable, wildly impressive, and unconventional as it gets.” - Jon D'Auria, Bass Magazine
To purchase “Emiliano Deferrari, Marco Machera”: Available for download and streaming on all major digital stores from November 15th https://show.co/5HhTWd9
Italian music artists EMILIANO DEFERRARI & MARCO MACHERA are releasing their debut self-titled album of free-form improvisation on November 15, 2019. Long-time musical friends, Emiliano and Marco had never worked together, but always liked each other's music, and attended each other's performances. Emiliano's band Nanaue used to cover one of Marco's great tunes “The Ugly Song.” Throughout the years, the two musicians discovered very similar taste in music, from no-wave jazz, to art rock and more non-conventional styles. So, when Marco moved to Brussels from Italy, it felt quite natural to do something together. They could have started writing songs, but eventually they preferred to start with “something completely different”.
Emiliano explains, “They call it non-idiomatic free improvisation. We don’t agree 100% with the definition, it’s a philosophical quarrel, but that is what we do. We are both improvisers, inspired by free-form music and wanted to perform together this way. The album is documenting an excerpt from two recording sessions on cold mornings in March and May 2019 in Brussels, at Monty Studio. Two condenser microphones in the room plus a dynamic one pointed on a twin reverb, to capture the sound of us on prepared acoustic and jazz guitars, baglama, violin and objects found in the studio. No overdubs, no post-production, a rough mixing and a transparent pre-mastering. The beauty of the moment without pre-ordered languages to fit into, not against but beyond rules.”
Watch the promotional video:
“We took a walk through Matonge, the Congolese neighbourhood of Brussels, and had fun mixing (us Italians), with those picturesque African vibes on a cold northern European afternoon, last October. That’s the joy of living in an open city like Brussels.”
Marco says, “We have decided to release this material outside of any self-indulgent snobbery, we just decided to give something to the listeners so they could satisfy their possible curiosity. We liked the atmosphere we created, the interplay and the amount of chance which helped the development of those four improvisations. We are eager to perform live and have fun with our audience. You may also consider this album as ‘another side of us’. In fact, for instance, we realize now that we didn't sing during the sessions, even though both of us are frontmen. We were so focused on creating the momentum that we forgot rules, roles and habits.”
From Brussels the duo will start presenting the album and performing live on November 30th at seeU, the ephemeral neighbourhood at the old 'Casernes d'Ixelles'.”
EMILIANO DEFERRARI
Emiliano was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1977. He started playing guitar at 6 and recording his own music at 11. He played and sang jazz, rock and world music with different bands in Italy. In 2005, after settling in Rome, he produced his first solo album “SO_LO” with Rattsburg Records, with good reviews. Since then he started touring Italy with his solo show with guitar, voice and effects. Between 2007/2011, Emiliano toured as The Loop Duo with Adriano Arena, with guitars, voices and live loops, producing an album (THE LOOP DUO/BMA and Rattsburg, 2009). In 2009/2010, he produced a new EP (O.S.T./Rattsburg, 2009) and LP “LIGHT EARS” (Rattsburg 2010). Since 2008 he's been working on the project Nanaue with Matteo Nahum. Between 2011 and 2017 they published 8 singles (Rattsburg Records and Gutenberg Music) and 1 album (Nanaue/Gutenberg Music, 2013) plus 3 recordings for tribute albums of Italian prog label Mellow Records. In 2014 Emiliano moved to Brussels, Belgium where he re-published his seminal album “Small Engines” (2002, Rattsburg) and in 2018 he released “MONTY” (Rattsburg) which received great recognition from the art-rock, prog and jazz reviewers.
PRESS for Emiliano
“Monty is a fascinating journey through the wild mind of a maverick.” - PROG magazine, UK
“Monty, the surprise of the year” - (tr.) Fabio Zuffanti’s TOP 5, PsycandProg, Italy
“Experimental and disturbing, Monty is a bold mix of jazz, world and avant-garde” - (tr.) Corto, Music Waves, France
“Nothing is impossible for one who’s ready to go all the way and make a strange land his own...” - Dmitry M. Epstein, DMME Let it Rock, Canada
“The music rises, it takes us up, and from up there, it shows us how we can be satisfied when listening to – finally – a disruptive album” - (tr.) Enrico Storti, Asterischi di Musiche, Italy
MARCO MACHERA
Marco Machera is an Italian singer-songwriter. He likes to say: “I don't play music – I make it happen.” He released the debut-album “One Time, Somewhere” in 2012: the recording, a unique melting pot of pop and art rock, won early stamps of approval from the likes of Peter Gabriel bassist Tony Levin and ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, who praised its “interesting atmospheres and contrasting moods.” His second solo effort, “Dime Novels” (2014), is once again a uniquely fresh take on the pop song formula, and features incredible musicians Pat Mastelotto, Tony Levin, Markus Reuter, among others. A third solo record, “Small Music From Broken Windows,” was released in 2017: an intimate and reflective concept album inspired by “The Outsider,” a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. Since 2014, Marco has also been collaborating with American bassist Julie Slick (from the Adrian Belew Power Trio) and drummer Alessandro Inolti on the EchoTest project. In the ever-evolving and experimental worlds of modern progressive rock and avant garde jazz rock, their free-flowing improvisations and strongly melodic songwriting have combined to help them shape an unique identity and garner a growing reputation for their intriguing and surprising albums and their rare and captivating live shows alike.
PRESS for Marco
“Along the way, Dime Novels finds Marco furiously pushing at the walls of musical convention. There are moments when the album sounds like prog, others when it sounds like an ambient fever dream, others still when it sounds like something that couldn’t be farther away from either construct. Dime Novels is as challenging as it is entertaining — and a huge leap forward for Machera.” - Nick DeRiso, Something Else Reviews, US
“[EchoTest] has just released its latest album, 'Daughter of Ocean,' whose nine songs form one vast movement of music that weaves thematic crescendos with ominous and dark undertones. The interplay of Slick and Machera is highly rhythmic throughout, often finding peaks in melodic moments like 'Sleep' and 'Tiger Races.' [...] the album is as enjoyable, wildly impressive, and unconventional as it gets.” - Jon D'Auria, Bass Magazine
To purchase “Emiliano Deferrari, Marco Machera”:
Available for download and streaming on all major digital stores from November 15th https://show.co/5HhTWd9
Italian music artists EMILIANO DEFERRARI & MARCO MACHERA are releasing their debut self-titled album of free-form improvisation on November 15, 2019. Long-time musical friends, Emiliano and Marco had never worked together, but always liked each other's music, and attended each other's performances. Emiliano's band Nanaue used to cover one of Marco's great tunes “The Ugly Song.” Throughout the years, the two musicians discovered very similar taste in music, from no-wave jazz, to art rock and more non-conventional styles. So, when Marco moved to Brussels from Italy, it felt quite natural to do something together. They could have started writing songs, but eventually they preferred to start with “something completely different”.
Emiliano explains, “They call it non-idiomatic free improvisation. We don’t agree 100% with the definition, it’s a philosophical quarrel, but that is what we do. We are both improvisers, inspired by free-form music and wanted to perform together this way. The album is documenting an excerpt from two recording sessions on cold mornings in March and May 2019 in Brussels, at Monty Studio. Two condenser microphones in the room plus a dynamic one pointed on a twin reverb, to capture the sound of us on prepared acoustic and jazz guitars, baglama, violin and objects found in the studio. No overdubs, no post-production, a rough mixing and a transparent pre-mastering. The beauty of the moment without pre-ordered languages to fit into, not against but beyond rules.”
Watch the promotional video:
“We took a walk through Matonge, the Congolese neighbourhood of Brussels, and had fun mixing (us Italians), with those picturesque African vibes on a cold northern European afternoon, last October. That’s the joy of living in an open city like Brussels.”
Marco says, “We have decided to release this material outside of any self-indulgent snobbery, we just decided to give something to the listeners so they could satisfy their possible curiosity. We liked the atmosphere we created, the interplay and the amount of chance which helped the development of those four improvisations. We are eager to perform live and have fun with our audience. You may also consider this album as ‘another side of us’. In fact, for instance, we realize now that we didn't sing during the sessions, even though both of us are frontmen. We were so focused on creating the momentum that we forgot rules, roles and habits.”
From Brussels the duo will start presenting the album and performing live on November 30th at seeU, the ephemeral neighbourhood at the old 'Casernes d'Ixelles'.”
EMILIANO DEFERRARI
Emiliano was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1977. He started playing guitar at 6 and recording his own music at 11. He played and sang jazz, rock and world music with different bands in Italy. In 2005, after settling in Rome, he produced his first solo album “SO_LO” with Rattsburg Records, with good reviews. Since then he started touring Italy with his solo show with guitar, voice and effects. Between 2007/2011, Emiliano toured as The Loop Duo with Adriano Arena, with guitars, voices and live loops, producing an album (THE LOOP DUO/BMA and Rattsburg, 2009). In 2009/2010, he produced a new EP (O.S.T./Rattsburg, 2009) and LP “LIGHT EARS” (Rattsburg 2010). Since 2008 he's been working on the project Nanaue with Matteo Nahum. Between 2011 and 2017 they published 8 singles (Rattsburg Records and Gutenberg Music) and 1 album (Nanaue/Gutenberg Music, 2013) plus 3 recordings for tribute albums of Italian prog label Mellow Records. In 2014 Emiliano moved to Brussels, Belgium where he re-published his seminal album “Small Engines” (2002, Rattsburg) and in 2018 he released “MONTY” (Rattsburg) which received great recognition from the art-rock, prog and jazz reviewers.
PRESS for Emiliano
“Monty is a fascinating journey through the wild mind of a maverick.” - PROG magazine, UK
“Monty, the surprise of the year” - (tr.) Fabio Zuffanti’s TOP 5, PsycandProg, Italy
“Experimental and disturbing, Monty is a bold mix of jazz, world and avant-garde” - (tr.) Corto, Music Waves, France
“Nothing is impossible for one who’s ready to go all the way and make a strange land his own...” - Dmitry M. Epstein, DMME Let it Rock, Canada
“The music rises, it takes us up, and from up there, it shows us how we can be satisfied when listening to – finally – a disruptive album” - (tr.) Enrico Storti, Asterischi di Musiche, Italy
MARCO MACHERA
Marco Machera is an Italian singer-songwriter. He likes to say: “I don't play music – I make it happen.” He released the debut-album “One Time, Somewhere” in 2012: the recording, a unique melting pot of pop and art rock, won early stamps of approval from the likes of Peter Gabriel bassist Tony Levin and ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, who praised its “interesting atmospheres and contrasting moods.” His second solo effort, “Dime Novels” (2014), is once again a uniquely fresh take on the pop song formula, and features incredible musicians Pat Mastelotto, Tony Levin, Markus Reuter, among others. A third solo record, “Small Music From Broken Windows,” was released in 2017: an intimate and reflective concept album inspired by “The Outsider,” a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. Since 2014, Marco has also been collaborating with American bassist Julie Slick (from the Adrian Belew Power Trio) and drummer Alessandro Inolti on the EchoTest project. In the ever-evolving and experimental worlds of modern progressive rock and avant garde jazz rock, their free-flowing improvisations and strongly melodic songwriting have combined to help them shape an unique identity and garner a growing reputation for their intriguing and surprising albums and their rare and captivating live shows alike.
PRESS for Marco
“Along the way, Dime Novels finds Marco furiously pushing at the walls of musical convention. There are moments when the album sounds like prog, others when it sounds like an ambient fever dream, others still when it sounds like something that couldn’t be farther away from either construct. Dime Novels is as challenging as it is entertaining — and a huge leap forward for Machera.” - Nick DeRiso, Something Else Reviews, US
“[EchoTest] has just released its latest album, 'Daughter of Ocean,' whose nine songs form one vast movement of music that weaves thematic crescendos with ominous and dark undertones. The interplay of Slick and Machera is highly rhythmic throughout, often finding peaks in melodic moments like 'Sleep' and 'Tiger Races.' [...] the album is as enjoyable, wildly impressive, and unconventional as it gets.” - Jon D'Auria, Bass Magazine
To purchase “Emiliano Deferrari, Marco Machera”: Available for download and streaming on all major digital stores from November 15th https://show.co/5HhTWd9
Following up their debut of composed music “Suite for the End of the Earth,” “We Are All Branches of the Same Tree” is the second release from avant-jazz group the Oddyssey Quartet, featuring twelve improvised pieces from four musicians who have only played together a handful of times but who share the common ancient language of music, bringing them together in a cohesion of intuitive conversation, and demonstrating in real time that we all really are branches of the same tree. Featuring former Albert Ayler Quintet bassist Bill Folwell, and former Sam Rivers Rivbea Orchestra saxophonist David Pate, with Jose Cochez on drums, and Rex Shepherd on guitar and prepared guitar.
“After recording 'Suite for the End of the Earth,' which consisted of composed music, and having only played together as a group a few times, we wanted to see what we would get playing totally free. There was such a good vibe in the room with the four of us that it made playing so easy, the ideas flowed, I could respond to the sounds around me and the natural ebb and flow of conversational music happened. For me it is a spiritual thing, experiencing a wordless connection to others, when the music comes together and reveals the common thread in all of us.” - Rex Shepherd
