Joe says, the song always spoke to him with its simple lyrics and dramatic theme. Co-written by Robert Fripp, Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, and Adrian Belew, whose voice, Joe says, “is right in my range and we’ve been playing this live a lot. I also thought I’d inject it with a lot of staccato violins to give it more of an edge and put my own spin on it.”
A studio version will appear on Joe’s upcoming album, “Imposter,” slated for late spring 2024 on Melodic Revolution Records.
“Frame by Frame” appears on the boxset (2 CDs/DVD/Blu-Ray) “Behind the Curtain (Live at ProgStock)” on Melodic Revolution Records/Amplified Distribution. The box set is three years in the making; the collection is made up of Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius’ 2019 and 2021 live performances at the ultimate Northeast progressive rock festival, ProgStock.
“Behind the Curtain (Live at ProgStock)” final song titles Disc 1 (2019) 01-Behind the Curtain-Live at ProgStock 02-Release-Live at ProgStock 03-Impostor!-Live at ProgStock 04-Frame by Frame-Live at ProgStock 05-Climbing-Live at ProgStock 06-The Missing Link-Live at ProgStock 07-Gods-Live at ProgStock 08-Game of Chicken-Live at ProgStock 09-The Prism-Live at ProgStock
Disc 2 (2021) 01-Take Your Medicine-Live at ProgStock 02-Cognitive Dissonance-Live at ProgStock 03-Storm Surge-Live at ProgStock (feat. Rachel Flowers) 04-Spain-Live at ProgStock (feat. Rachel Flowers and Alex Skolnick) 05-Hysteria-Live at ProgStock 06-Heavy Shtettle-Live at ProgStock (feat. Alex Skolnick) 07-One Foot in the Next World Live at ProgStock
Joe is the new violinist with legendary rockers Kansas, now on tour celebrating their 50th anniversary. He has played violin for the Who, Bruce Springsteen, 50Cent, Sheryl Crow, and as the concertmaster for Renaissance. The other Stratospheerius bandmembers have a great heritage, as well: Jason Gianni-drums (The Ultimate Queen Celebration, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Rock of Ages, Neal Morse Band), Michelangelo Quirinale-guitar (Thrilldriver), and Paul Ranieri-bass (Mark Wood, Riot Act).
Dave Kerzner, with a new album, full band, and audiovisual experience
Matt Dorsey, with a full band
Mystery
Rachel Flowers
The Mahavishnu Project
Unitopia
Exhibitors:
Bob Moog Foundation featuring Robeone (Robert Schindler)
The Bandwagon USA
ProgRock.com
More to come!
A New Home!
After 6 years, ProgStock has a new home in 2023!
The Williams Center in Rutherford, NJ, a 101-year-old performing arts center in the heart of Rutherford, located at 1 Williams Plaza, Rutherford, NJ 07070, will be the home of the ProgStock Festival in 2023 and (we hope) for many years to come!
We bid a fond farewell to our former home, the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, NJ. We will especially miss her crew, but the time has come to make a fresh start!
Ticket sales will start on Saturday, June 3rd at 12:00PM US Eastern time with our ProgDucer passes.
Our 5-year Patron passes are already available with your choice of the best available seat this year and for future years at ProgStock, plus many other incredibly awesome perks! Contact us now for details before tickets start selling to the general public.
Access to artist meet-and-greets that day (after Prog-Ducers)
Available starting in mid-September:
Live-Streaming: $10-$15 USD (for each performance)
Can’t make it to the festival this year, but want to join in the fun from the comfort of your own home? Each main stage performance of this year’s festival will be broadcast as a separately ticketed event on the StageIt livestreaming platform. Prices for these livestreamed shows are very affordable, so feel free to throw us onto the big screen at home and join us for as many of our stellar performances as you wish!
Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius are celebrating the release of their long awaited new Double Live CD / DVD and Blu-ray Box set, “Behind the Curtain (Live at ProgStock)” with their first headline show at the Iridium.
Wednesday, May 31, 2023. Tickets are $30. Iridium is located at 1650 Broadway, New York, NY. Iridium phone number 212-582-2121 Website is https://www.theiridium.com/
Bill Hubauer, who has is playing keyboards for the group’s next studio album, will be sitting in with the band.
Guitarist/singer/songwiter Randy McStine is opening the show with a solo set.
Composers Now are co-sponsoring this concert and celebration of the release of Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius’ upcoming Double CD / DVD &Blu-ray box-set, “Behind the Curtain (Live at ProgStock)” due out May 19 on Melodic Revolution Records. “(Live at ProgStock)” features live performances of Stratospheerius at ProgStock’s 2019 and 2021 music festival, which is the top progrock event of the year in the NorthEast. The band performs songs that will be on their 2024 release, “Impostor” as well as songs from his previous 5 albums. The new live record includes covers of King Crimson’s “Frame by Frame, muse’s “Hysteria,” and Chick Corea’s “Spain” with guests: pianist/flutist Rachel Flowers and guitarist Alex Skolnick (Testament) who was a member of Stratospheerius in their earlier incarnations.
Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius
Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius’ most recent album, “Guilty of Innocence” reached #4 on the Jamband/Relix charts in North America, and broke the European Top 200 Indy releases at 72. The group, which has 5 albums out, are signed to Melodic Revolution Records. Joe and his bandmembers (Jason Gianni-drums (The Ultimate Queen Celebration, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Rock of Ages, Neal Morse Band), Michaelangelo Quirinale-guitar (Thrilldriver), and Paul Ranieri-bass (Mark Wood, Riot Act), have streamed over 3 million times on Spotify and other streaming services.
Bill Hubauer
A multi-instrumentalist hailing from Western Pennsylvania, Bill is most well known for his work with The Neal Morse Band (NMB) and in particular, for his keyboard, writing, and vocal contributions for their two landmark albums “The Similitude of a Dream,” and “The Great Adventure.” More recently Bill’s Prog/Pop band We Came From Space is starting to get a lot of attention with their release “Overlords.” https://www.facebook.com/billhubauer/
Randy McStine
Randy McStine is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter and producer whose diverse career as a solo artist and side-man has led to collaborations with members of King Crimson, Joe Satriani, UFO, Tears For Fears, Miles Davis, King’s X and many more. Randy’s solo work embraces genres such as Rock, Progressive, Blues, Singer-Songwriter, Folk, Pop, and Ambient music. In 2020, he formed McStine & Minnemann with acclaimed drummer and composer, Marco Minnemann. The duo has recorded and released two albums, and made their live debut in 2022. Randy is currently working on new solo music, while serving as a touring member of Porcupine Tree, who returned in 2022 with a new album and world tour after a 12-year hiatus. https://www.randymcstine.com
Joe Deninzon & musical friends Rachel Flowers (flute, piano) and Alex Skolnick (guitar) perform Chick Corea’s “Spain” on the upcoming Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius’ “Behind the Curtain: Live From ProgStock” via Four-Disc Box Set – Double CD, DVD & Blu-Ray to be released by Melodic Revolution Records.
“Spain” will premiere on YouTube on Friday, October 14 at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT/ 3 AM Amsterdam time (October 15, Saturday) Watch it here or on YouTube.
“Spain,” and how it came to be by Joe Deninzon
One of the perks of being a jazz musician is that you can walk into a room anywhere in the world, jump on stage with people you’ve never met who may or may not speak your language, and weave together a spontaneous concert based on a shared musical language.
On October 2nd, 2021, when the late great John Goodsall from Brand X fell ill, Stratospheerius was asked last minute to headline Progstock, the biggest prog rock festival in the Northeastern U.S. Preceding our set was the amazing multi-instrumentalist Rachel Flowers, who recently contributed her talents to our single, “Storm Surge.” Following us later that night was the bassist Percy Jones. Joining Percy on guitar was Alex Skolnick. Alex is an old friend who recorded and toured with our band in the early 2000s. I saw a great opportunity to reunite with Alex and include Rachel in a song. It was also nice to give the band a break and play something more stripped-down in the middle of our set. We decided to play Chick Corea’s “Spain,” a song we all knew well. There was no time to rehearse. Alex had heard of Rachel but had never met her. That night, Rachel and Alex met on stage, never having played together before. This performance was completely on the fly! Judging by the audience’s reaction, I think we created some magic that night and are excited to share it with everyone who couldn’t be there in person.
Discography Behind the Curtain: Live at ProgStock (2022) 4 Disc Box set Spain “Live at ProgStock” (2022) Digital Single The Prism “Live at ProgStock” (2022) Digital Single Game of Chicken (Live at ProgStock) (2021) Digital Single Cognitive Dissonance (2021) Digital Single Storm Surge (2020) Digital Single Frame by Frame (2020) Digital Single Impostor! (2019) Digital Single Guilty of Innocence (2018) LP/Vinyl Guilty of Innocence (2017) CD & Digital Album Hysteria (2017) Digital Single The Next World (2012) CD & Digital Headspace (2007) CD & Digital Live Wire (2004) CD & Digital The Adventures of Stratospheerius (2002) CD & Digital Electric / Blue (1998) CD & Digital
(Co-Write With Joe Deninzon on Song with Muhammad Ali about Leadership and Respect)
In support of Black History Month (February 2020), D-Zone Entertainment is proudly releasing the single, “The Greatest Lives” in digital stores and streaming sites on Friday, January 31.
The song is from “The Greatest Lives Songwriter’s EP,” which will be out March 21. It is sung by Thembeka Mnguni, a finalist for South Africa’s The Voice in 2016. Her name is pronounced “Them-bek-kah Mmn-Gu-Nee.” From Durban, SA, she is signed to Universal Records. Her greatest cause is as a spokesperson for Autism. She is also a brand ambassador for MUD Designer Makeup SA and for Body Confidence International. In South Africa, Universal is releasing a new song “Stimel” from her upcoming album, which will also include “The Greatest Lives” as a bonus track. Visit her on social media at instagram.com/thembeka_thediva.
The idea for the song came to Anne in 1984 when Muhammad Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. She wrote in a newspaper article, “What would he want us to know?” and filed it in her box of song ideas. “It would have been a totally different song if I wrote it then because I was more sentimental.” Instead, she worked on the song as her first assignment for when she was offered a songwriting deal during her 60th year in 2018. South Africa’s Sheer Publishing handles one of Anne’s favorite songs, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
She started watching South African news and discovered many women expressing hope for a kinder world. Many went through bullying and abusive situations, and the females were open enough to talk about their experiences. The lyrics for “The Greatest Lives” came from Muhammad Ali’s quotes and philosophies. They became a message about leadership and treating people right.
Joe Deninzon, who grew up in Cleveland, OH, went to college in Bloomington, IN and played throughout the Midwest, knew Muhammad Ali’s hometown of Louisville. He understood the Midwestern sound that Anne was looking for, made a demo, and then the two began to put musicians to work. Using John Mellencamp’s “Ain’t Even Done with the Night” as a role model, they asked Cactus and Vanilla Fudge’s Carmine Appice, who also played with Rod Stewart.
Thembeka loved “The Greatest Lives”’ message about having a strong character. Joe and Anne chose her because they thought she was one of the greatest singers they ever heard. Thembeka showed she was (as the song says) a master by being the runner up on “The Voice South Africa.”
After they heard Thembeka’s performance, they found inspiration from keyboards on albums from the late Oliver Mtukudzi, a Zimbabwean vocalist/guitarist/social activist. Joe knew the perfect keyboardist, Jeremy Beck, who used both acoustic piano and Hammond B3. Hence, the hashtag #BeckDeninzonAppice.
“Joy and optimism in this song, I think, comes from its mission and inspiration. Muhammad Ali dealt with obstacles with optimism and a wink and smile,” Joe says. Joe and Anne, and their musicians, know “The Greatest Lives” will make a difference, and are proud to—as their lyrics say–take a “Never say die” attitude in promoting it!
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