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 Photo: Lazaro de la Peña |
Iconoclastic
and prolific jazz-rock guitarist David ‘Fuze’ Fiuczynski,
a jazz player who“doesn’t want to play just jazz”, has
been hailed by the world press as an incredibly inventive guitar hero,
who continues to deliver with music that is unclassifiable, challenging
and invigorating. An innovative musician who has released nine CD’s
and a double live DVD, Fuze is best known as the leader of the Screaming
Headless Torsos. In 1994 David – in collaboration with keyboardist John Medeski of Medeski Martin & Wood – woke up the sleeping jazz fusion world with a landmark CD, Lunar Crush, which was chosen by Guitar Player’s 30th Anniversary Edition as a “Disc of Destiny” – in Guitar Player’s estimation, one of the most influential albums of the last thirty years. A funky, freaky party, Lunar Crush was a wild 90’s tribute to Tony William’s groundbreaking early-fusion band “Lifetime”. Fuze’s signature palette of otherworldly guitar sounds and enormous chops received astonished accolades from critics and fans alike and landed him on the cover of Guitar Player as a trailblazer who could “change the way you play!” In 1994 David became the original guitar player in Meshell NdegéOcello’s debut band and is prominently featured on her first two Grammy-nominated CD’s. Just
a year after Lunar Crush, Fuze released another influential album as
bandleader and primary writer with his long-time group Screaming
Headless Torsos titled “1995”, for Warner/Discovery
Records. The Torsos, fronted by vocalist extraordinaire Dean
Bowman, were chosen by Musician Magazine as one of the
top ten bands of 1996, described as “brilliantly blend(ing) jazz
knowhow with a love for heavy riffs”. They inspired fans, other
musicians, and numbers of cover bands all over the world, and toured
Europe, Japan, North America and Canada. The Torsos recorded an excellent
1996 live cd, “Live!!” released in Japan on VideoArtsMusic,
and then Dean took a hiatus, during which New York vocalist Freedom
Bremner sang with the band. In 2001 David
bought back the rights to the first two Screaming Headless Torsos CD’s,
“Live!!” and“1995” and released them on his
own label, FuzeLicious Morsels. Currently both Freedom
Bremner and Ahmed
Best are fronting the band. |
Screaming Headless Torsos released a new studio CD “2005” and double live DVD “Live in New York & Paris” in early 2005. In 2006, they released a "Best Of" compilation, entitled "Choice Cuts". The Torsos have featured many of the top New York and US musicians in it’s many live performance lineups, but their recordings have all featured Dean Bowman, vocals; Fima Ephron, bass; Daniel Sadownick, percussion; Gene Lake, drums (“Live!!” & “2005”) and Jojo Mayer, drums (“1995”). Vocalist Freedom Bremner also appears on three cuts on “2005”, and the current rhythm section consists of Steve Jenkins, bass, Daniel Sadownick, percussion and Skoota Warner, drums. Recently, Screaming Headless Torsos were chosen by the 2004 Downbeat Critics Poll as “Rising Star – Electric Jazz Group”. Fuze’s recordings are an experimental mix of tradition with modern sounds and rhythms, a melange of funk-rock jazz, ambient textural improvisations, world-music elements, metal, reggae, house, dub, drum&bass and other new grooves topped with Fuze's unique writing, extraordinary soundscapes and passionate soloing. In response to the less than supportive environment for his unusual and uncompromising music in the corporate recording industry, David started a record label, FuzeLicious Morsels, to release his own recordings, with a current catalog of nine CD’s and the live DVD. The first CD, “JazzPunk”, was released to great critical acclaim in 1999. A recording of standards and covers written by Fuze’s idols and mentors, each tune was reworked in Fuze’s distinctive musical combinations. His 2000 CD, “Amandala” by Headless Torsos, is an instrumental continuation of Screaming Headless Torsos. Other releases are “Black Cherry Acid Lab", a mixture of funk-rock, rap and punk with vocalist Ahmed Best and saxophonsist Mark Shim, and “KiF” a world-funk-jazz group featuring electric five-string cellist Rufus Cappadocia, both released in June 2003. Fuze will shortly be releasing another KiF CD, which will be a continuation of his interest in blending Eastern sounds with Western grooves; and a David Fiuczynski guitar instructional DVD. In addition to being a prolific writer, arranger and bandleader, David has recorded and performed with some of the highest profile jazz artists working today. Fuze has appeared on over 95 albums by other artists, toured extensively with many of them, and with his own and other groups, has been featured at most of the world’s major jazz festivals. A full list of David’s musical career highlights follows.
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Fuze
has been enthusiastically featured and/or reviewed by DownBeat,
Jazz Times, JazzIz, Billboard, Musician, Guitar Player, Guitar World,
GuitarShop, Guitar World, Guitar Magazine, Guitar One, allaboutjazz.com,
Interview, Vibe, Pulse!, Bass Player, Modern Drummer, The New York
Times,The Village Voice, Keyboard, Audio, College Music Journal and
Audio Files in the US; Jazz Life, Guitar, Musee, Record Collectors,
Jazz Times (Japan); Rytmi, Soundi (Finland); Muziq, Jazz Man, So What,
Octopus, Vibrations (France); Gitarre&Bass, Jazzthetik, Jazz Thing (Germany); Chittare, Axe, Audio
Review (Italy); Latin Pulse! (Latin America) Oor (Netherlands); Stage
(Belgium); Jazz Quad (Belarus); Echoes, Jazz Wise, Top, Guitarist, Rhythm,
"Q" Magazine (England) and over 100 other publications worldwide. Fuze is an accomplished teacher, having taught for the past fifteen years, and is a full time faculty Professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston. David has developed his own teaching concept based on chord scale theory in jazz and especially non-jazz contexts. His emphasis is on improvised techniques and expanding creativity. |
Me'Shell
NdegéOcello |
 Photo: Nicola Porchetta |
Vinnie
Colaiuta and Kai Eckhart Max Gazze John Zorn Gongzilla with Bon Lozaga, Hansford Rowe & Vic Stevens Ronald Shannon Jackson Jamaaladeen Tacuma Steve Coleman Muhal Richard Abrams Vernon Reid Nona Hendryx and Vinx Jack Walrath and Don Pullen Greg Osby Elliott Sharp Tim Lebfvre and Zach Danziger Kif with Rufus Cappadocia, Tony Grey, Akira Nakamura, Nikki Glaspie, Gbatokai Dakinah, Jr. Screaming Headless Torsos featuring: Dean Bowman, Freedom Brenmer, Ahmed Best , Fima Ephron, Steve Jenkins, Reggie Washington, Patrice Blanchard, Daniel Sadownick, Jojo Mayer, Gene Lake, Skoota Warner, Rodney Holmes, Tobias Ralph, Adrian Harpham |
Partial
Discography:
Various
Artists "Fretless
Guitar
Masters" Press Kit with Hi-resolution photos, downloadable biography, press clips and more |