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
About this Song In this part of the rock opera, the wrongful king, the younger twin prince, has been crowned, leaving the rightful heir hopeless, until he meets Wisdom. The message here is when unjust life situations create uncertainties that are of such a scope as to be beyond our control, Wisdom encourages us to be patient and not reactive and comforts us with the knowledge that ill-gotten gain is temporal and truth, eventually, will be known.
The Law of Ages highlights the subtle and powerful range of vocalist Beau West and the classical influence of Shane Atkinson’s compositional prowess. Introspective and powerful, with notes as varied as Coldplay, The Scorpions, Kansas, and Queen, this single is a good power ballad suitable for modern, classic, acoustic, and progressive rock programs.
The Uncrowned King – Act 2 will be released on October 14th.
About Evership Rock band Evership is the conceptualization of composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer/engineer Shane Atkinson, along with lead vocalist Beau West. Few recent acts have made a bigger splash than Evership in the world of modern art/progressive or symphonic rock. Their impactful 2016 self-titled album catapulted them to the forefront of the rock world. This led to main-stage performances at the largest of US Art/Prog rock festivals RoSFest and ProgStock and over 50 glowing national and international reviews and interviews. Each successive album has been honored in the yearly “Best of’s” by critical reviewers. The response to The Uncrowned King – Act 1 was astounding. Highland (Issue #108) hails Evership as “firmly establishing themselves in the Progressive American Landscape” and UK’s ProgRadar sites “Evership is the new face of American Prog”.
As Martin Springett says ‘I am so fortunate to work with two brilliant musicians/producers in Kevin Laliberte and Norm Macpherson. I have wide musical interests and don’t care to be hemmed in by labels or listener expectations. With Kevin and Norm, I can travel to new and unexpected ports of call, and to many different musical worlds. A Bridge of Spirits connects them all.’
Bridge of SpiritsTracklist
1. Forever Leaving Home 06:05 2. The Sister of Theft 02:50 3. Woman In the Waves 05:56 4. Finding Home 01:48 5. Rare Birds 03:51 6. A Dance to the Music of Time 02:49 7. Bridge of Spirits 05:41 8. The Owl (long form) 17:04 9. The Gift 02:24 10. Strange Kingdom (Bonus Track) 04:49
Musicians on Bridge of Spirits
Kevin Laliberte – Flamenco Guitar, Electric Guitar, and Electric Bass Norm MacPherson: Slide Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin & Bassoon Dave Wilkie: Vocals Denise Withnell: Vocals Drew Birston – Fretless Electric Bass and Acoustic Bass Martin Springett – Guitars, Bass, and Vocals Sari Alesh – Violin Wayne Kozak: Soprano Saxophone
On Friday, August 26th the rock band Evership publishes the third and final single from their upcoming conclusion to the Rock Opera The Uncrowned King! The Law of Ages highlights the subtle and powerful range of vocalist Beau West and the classical influence of Shane Atkinson’s compositional prowess. Introspective and powerful, with notes as varied as Coldplay, The Scorpions, Kansas, and Queen, this single is a good power ballad suitable for modern, classic, acoustic, and progressive rock programs. A music video for The Law of Ages will be released on Sept.14th. The Uncrowned King – Act 2 will be released on October 14th.
About this Song In this part of the rock opera, the wrongful king, the younger twin prince, has been crowned, leaving the rightful heir hopeless, until he meets Wisdom. The message here is when unjust life situations create uncertainties that are of such a scope as to be beyond our control, Wisdom encourages us to be patient and not reactive and comforts us with the knowledge that ill-gotten gain is temporal and truth, eventually, will be known.
About Evership Rock band Evership is the conceptualization of composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer/engineer Shane Atkinson, along with lead vocalist Beau West. Few recent acts have made a bigger splash than Evership in the world of modern art/progressive or symphonic rock. Their impactful 2016 self-titled album catapulted them to the forefront of the rock world. This led to main-stage performances at the largest of US Art/Prog rock festivals RoSFest and ProgStock and over 50 glowing national and international reviews and interviews. Each successive album has been honored in the yearly “Best of’s” by critical reviewers. The response to The Uncrowned King – Act 1 was astounding. Highland (Issue #108) hails Evership as “firmly establishing themselves in the Progressive American Landscape” and UK’s ProgRadar sites “Evership is the new face of American Prog”.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA: The Haight Street Art Center will open The Secret Path: The Art of Roger and Freyja Dean, an exhibition of original art works by famed UK artists Roger Dean and his daughter Freyja Dean. The Secret Path will immerse visitors in an extraordinary world where life and landscape invoke the splendors of nature through the visionary imagination of the Deans. The exhibition opens August 25 and will close October 30, 2022, before touring to other venues.
The presenting sponsors of The Secret Path: The Art of Roger and Freyja Dean are Blue Planet Alliance and Chambers Obscura.
“To see the art of Roger and Freyja together in this unique, groundbreaking exhibition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for visitors to experience the magical environments created by this father-daughter duo,” said Kelly Harris, executive director of the Haight Street Art Center. “Both artists have universal appeal, and we are proud to be able to offer our patrons a chance to be a part of this stunning and psychedelic fantasy.”
Known for his groundbreaking work with Yes and other rock bands, Roger Dean’s six-decade career includes a dazzling range of media and formats. His daughter Freyja has followed in her father’s footsteps, earning international acclaim for her paintings, sculpture, and fabric art. With paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other media, this exhibition connects all facets of the Deans’ wide-ranging and restless imagination.
Visitors to the Art Center will recognize famous paintings that became the artwork for some of Roger’s legendary album covers, as well as studies of his extraordinary design work including his iconic Yes logo. Curated by Roger in consultation with Freyja, the exhibition includes more than 50 works that will furnish patrons with an imaginative and immersive environment that speaks to the challenges of the present while embracing the promise of the future.
“I am honored to help support The Secret Path coming to San Francisco and the work of the Haight Street Art Center in sharing these fantastical worlds through this remarkable exhibition,” said Brian Chambers, co-founder of Chambers Obscura. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Roger for many years, and through him I have come to appreciate his daughter Freyja’s work as well. She has her own distinctive voice, but not only does she demonstrate how deep the creative genes are in the Dean family, her work complements his in powerful and unexpected ways.”
“I’ve worked with Roger for 35 years and could not be more honored to support The Secret Path at the Haight Street Art Center,” said Blue Planet Alliance Founder Henk Rogers. “In all my years in publishing, I’ve never met an artist as talented and easy to work with as Roger. We’ve worked together on dozens of projects, starting with the cover and logo for the game Super Black Onyx to the Tetris logo, our biggest and most widely known collaboration, for a game that has sold 500 million copies. Roger’s art has enriched us in so many ways.”
Known as the “only member of Yes who doesn’t play an instrument,” Roger Dean is revered as an award-winning album cover artist, yet his talents go far beyond one medium: his work spans fine art to graphic design, architecture to stage sets, from small-scale drawings to stadium-sized vistas. Freyja Dean’s paintings, sculpture, and fabric art chart the relationships between landscapes and life. Her art reveals the narratives of those geographies and beings, illuminating the lessons they can teach us. Together, the art of the Deans guides viewers through a journey filled with stories. Those stories are about magic: the magic in nature, in natural phenomena and formations, in the seasons and the flow of time.
“This exhibition invites viewers to become participants,” Roger Dean notes. “We are all fellow travelers on the secret path of life. The signposts along the way are our art works, but the destination—the future—belongs to everyone.” For the Deans, this exhibition is an important step in that journey. “We must believe in a future worth striving for,” Freyja Dean explains. “For all of us, there is a secret or hidden path whose entirety we cannot see while we live it.”
The Haight Street Art Center serves San Francisco’s thriving poster art and artist communities with education and cultural development programs, and exhibitions. Drawing upon music, art, social and political counterculture history, we provide a space that bridges communities through social activism and artistic expression.
The nonprofit Haight Street Art Center is located at 215 Haight Street, at the corner of Laguna Street. The Center is open weekly on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 12-6 pm. Its outdoor Garden Gallery is open daily (7 am – 9 pm). Admission is always free. For more information about the Haight Street Art Center, its exhibitions, events, and programs, please visit www.haightstreetart.org
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