Author: amydenio

TRIFEKTA

Just added more music to my Bandcamp page!

Amy Denio & Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto @ The Triple Door / Photo: Dylan Randolph

My composition TRIFEKTA for Jovino Santos Neto’s Quinteto was selected by the Seattle Composers Alliance to be performed at the Triple Door in Seattle for the Live Sessions concert in January. I was thrilled to vocalize with these consummate musicians.

Amy Denio: Composer, Vocalist
Jovino Santos Neto: Piano
Ben Thomas: Bandoneon
Tim Carey: Electric Bass
Jeff Busch: Percussion
Max Holmberg: Drums

The composition came together when I fed Jovino Santos Neto’s name through my musical alphabet ~ every letter corresponds to a musical note.

The tone row made by “Jovino” spelled out the opening melody on bandoneon, the chord changes in the middle section were informed by “Santos”, which ended up pulsing in a slinky 5/4, and the notes generated by “Neto” fueled my imagination for the chaotic circus at the end, a kind of rave-up Rai waltz.

ENJOY TRIFEKTA!

Popsicles for Pessimists

Dear Friends!

POPSICLES FOR PESSIMISTS was fueled by a vivid dream-scene: My brilliant composer friend Ersilia Prosperi and I were crossing a piazza, speaking in Italian (my favorite dream-state). She was troubled, so I reassured her: Obstacles exist only in our minds.

This dream reveals the beauty of improvisation: Rather than bemoan what we don’t have or can’t do, we can act positively, using the tools we have in hand.

Happy May Day!

Onward!

Tips on Survival Techniques for Independent Musicians

Seattle Composers Alliance Expert Speakers Series

Composer Amy Denio has been self-employed since 1990. She will share strategies for survival as an independent artist, including generating royalties, distributing music, grant writing, self organization and setting goals, and much more.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 @ 7:30pm doors / 8pm start
WHAT: SCA Speaker Series: Survival Techniques
WHERE: The LAB @ Seattle Drum School of Music / 1010 S. Bailey Street, Seattle WA 98108
$10 suggested donation for non-members

Variete CD!

Tired of the incessant noise? Here’s a refreshing change.

Viennese label Klanggalerie has just published the CD of my fabulous chamber music soundtrack (12 musicians, 16 instruments)! The movie Variete won Academy Award for Best Picture in 1925, and it’s a stunner! It’s been scored many times, but I ignored all that, and did my own thing 🙂

Infinite thanks to Klanggalerie, everyone in the ensemble, and to Vicky Lee & Seattle Theater Group for the original commission, Floyd Reitsma for recording, Steve Turnidge for mastering, and especially to Executive Producer Britton Vincent.

https://klanggalerie.bandcamp.com/album/variet

Now Now Now

How’s your apocalypse going?

The other day the words to Smile On Your Brother came to mind, and I idly wondered if new protest songs had been published.

Exactly a month after the inauguration of a felon to the highest office, I was warming up my voice to overdub vocals on a new Kultur Shock song. This little melody came out of nowhere, so I decided to record that instead. Then came a sort of bass line, then the vocal percussion, followed by a flood of words. In an hour, a 15-voice vocal piece had come to life. Songs are hunters, and I am happy prey.

AMY DENIO: NOW NOW NOW

How how how
How how can they?
Now now now now
Come together

Take him on back
Put him on a rack
Take him on back
Lock him in a shack
Take him on back
Fiddle with their facts
Take him on back
With a mega hack

Virtuoso Indian Violinist Milind Raikar on 3/1/25

Renowned violinist Pandit Milind Raikar (www.milindraikar.com) will perform an evening of Indian classical music at the Water Sines Studio, in the Pioneer Square district of Seattle. An internationally renowned musician from a deeply musical family in Goa India, Raikar is known for his melodious & soulful style of playing the violin in the Hindustani style.  

He established “Raikar Academy of Violin Pt, D. K. Datar Parampara” in the year 2006 to preserve & promote Hindustani Music on violin especially to propagate ‘gayaki’ style of playing.

He will be accompanied by tabla player Manoj Deshpande, and his colleague Amy Denio (Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame) will play a raag or two with him on alto saxophone. Raikar met Denio when she studied Hindustani singing in Mumbai India in 1997; over the years they have developed a deep musical rapport.

This special concert is open to all ages, and donations will be accepted at the door.

#india #violin #improvisation #spiritual #Hindustani #virtuoso

AD: Trifekta @ The Triple Door on Saturday!

I get to sing with the Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto at the Triple Door on Saturday night, for the premiere of my new composition Trifekta. I’ll be taking a vocal solo, can’t wait.

This Live Sessions concert is presented by the Seattle Composers Alliance, for an ongoing concert series featuring the works of SCA members, played by rotating lineups of world-class musicians.

Comprised of extraordinary jazz instrumentalists from around the Puget Sound, Jovino Santos Neto Wind Quinteto will bring local composers’ works to life at the beautiful Triple Door concert hall in Seattle on Saturday, January 4.

Formed in 1993, the Latin Grammy-nominated Quinteto has become one of the most important
creative music ensembles of the West Coast. Performing Jovino’s original arrangements and
compositions, its members excel in near-telepathic musical interactions, modern harmonic
journeys, deep lyricism and high energy Brazilian grooves that never fail to excite audiences.
Voted several times as Best Acoustic Jazz Ensemble of the year by readers of Earshot Jazz
Magazine.


With Ben Thomas on vibraphone and bandoneon, Tim Carey on acoustic and electric basses,
Max Holmberg on drums and Jeff Busch on percussion, plus Jovino on piano, flute and
melodica.