Stefanie Seskin - lead vocals, flute, percussion, bookings, producer, engineer, den mother, manager, webmaster Marco Accattatis - bass guitar, vocals, bookings, producer, engineer, other technical and managerial stuff Jack Gourdine - drums Igor Fejzula - guitar Morgan Fite, Nadina Mauri, Paul Munoz, Dara Seitzman - vocals with Jenny Hill - sax, Rob Susman - trombone, Lily White - sax, Shawn Thunder Wallace - sax, Chris Felts - sax; local horn players have sat in with bn9 in New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Columbus OH, Charleston SC, Bedford, PA, Pittsburgh PA, Madison WI, Egg Harbor WI, Cleveland OH & Columbus IN.
Influences
Stevie Wonder
Rufus & Chaka Khan
Average White Band
LaBelle
Aretha Franklin
Maze & Frankie Beverly
While on stage, Stefanie Seskin feels it is her mission in life to bring a smile to everyone's face.
Seskin is the lead singer of blue number nine by night, computer geek in glasses by day. She is actually shy and quiet.
But for a decade, Seskin and band have entertained audiences with their high energy shows, sexy choreography, beautiful vocal harmonies and intelligent, often funny lyrics.
Set to a mix of funk, rock, soul, R&B and jazz, Seskin's lyrics address empowering topics - speaking one's mind, showing love, not putting up with b.s. and other similar themes, she also talks about some silly, goofy stuff which annoys people who take life too seriously.
The band has opened for CHICAGO, THE AVERAGE WHITE BAND and has toured the East Coast and Midwest.
Led by vocalist/songwriter/musician Stefanie Seskin, New Jersey's Blue Number Nine is an interracial soul/funk outfit with a strong 70s influence. Seskin isn't necessarily an R&B purist where Blue Number Nine is concerned; there are, at times, traces of rock, pop and jazz in their work. But soul/funk is the primary direction of Blue Number Nine--who have sometimes been compared to the equally 70s-minded Brand New Heavies--and Seskin obviously gets a lot of inspiration from an era in which Rufus & Chaka Khan, Labelle (Patti LaBelle's 70s vocal trio with Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash), Maze & Frankie Beverly and the Average White Band reigned supreme on the R&B charts. Seskin's funk isn't the gutbucket, over-the-top funk that Parliament/Funkadelic, Bootsy's Rubber Band and the late Rick James were famous for in their heyday; rather, Seskin favors what was called "sophisticated funk" back in the 70s--that is, the sort of gritty yet polished funk associated with Rufus/Khan, Maze, AWB and Philadelphia International Records. Seskin formed Blue Number Nine in September 1995; by that time, she had a resume that included, among other things, a stint playing bass for the New York City band Bill Popp & the Tapes in the late 80s and early 90s. Seskin does most of the bass playing on Popp & the Tapes' first album, Popp This, which singer/songwriter Popp released on his own label, 121st Street Records in 1990. With Popp's band, Seskin played his songs and embraced a very British Invasion-influenced, 60s-minded style of pop-rock along the lines of the Beatles, the Yardbirds and the Zombies--and Seskin's ability to go from playing in Popp's band to forming a soul/funk outfit about half a decade later underscores her versatility.
But while there are major stylistic differences between Bill Popp & the Tapes and Blue Number Nine, the two bands have one thing in common: both of them reflect the creative visions of their leaders. Just as Bill Popp & the Tapes is Popp's baby, Blue Number Nine is very much Seskin's baby--and she has worn many different hats in her band, including lead vocalist, songwriter (she writes or co-writes most of the material), producer, engineer, flutist, keyboardist, alto saxophonist, clarinetist and percussionist. Blue Number Nine's debut album was released on Berger Platters Records in 2000; that CD was followed by 2001's Saving Spot (a live album) and 2003's On a Shoestring, both on Check Other Records.
hey what's up blue number nine? I know its been awhile but things have been crazy busy with me. I will try to catch your show in July and hope to see you all soon :-)
