john fumo - trumpet,
kelly fumo - vocals.
With the help of various artists and dear friends along the way:
ON DIFFERENT PLACE & TIME- scott farr - guitar/ john clement wood - keys/ vic momjian - bass/ON RECORDINGS IN PROGRESS, WE HAVE mitchito sanchez - percussion/m.b. gordy- drums/joe rotundi - keys & bass/don markese - indian flutes/nick rosen - bass/tim kobza - guitar/brad dutz - percussion
Influences
so many...
miles davis, pink floyd, natacha atlas, etta james, ella fitzgerald, billie holliday, chet baker, any of the jazz greats, the funksters, indian music, middle eastern music.
JOHN AND KELLY FUMO
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FUMOSONIC BIO
Fumosonic, a collaboration between trumpeter John Fumo
and his wife singer-songwriter Kelly Fumo, is a truly
unique group, one whose music is both explorative and
very accessible. “Our music has a very positive
message and is groove-oriented without being
predictable,” says John. “Throughout my career, I have
always been open to other musics beyond jazz. I have
spent my life playing parts in a wide variety of
settings. In this situation with Fumosonic, we have
songs, lyrics, rhythms and grooves. I find my part and
I get to solo and be creative. We hope that our music
will uplift people’s lives.”
John Fumo first met Kelly when they were playing
together in the band Delaney Bramlett and Friends;
John was in the horn section while Kelly was singing
background vocals. After they got married, they began
writing music together and the result was Fumosonic, a
melding together of their varied musical interests.
While John’s background was based in jazz (including
Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman), he enjoyed the rock
of Pink Floyd, James Brown and the modern classical
music of Mahler and Ives. Kelly loved groove music,
hip hop, dance music and funk in addition to jazz.
Together the Fumos have the potential of mixing
together virtually all styles of music to form their
own unique genre.
“First we write the song,” says John Fumo. “My wife
contributes the lyrics, we think of the rhythms we
want to utilize, and we begin recording some parts.
Over time we add the other musicians, redo our parts,
and then we have the song. From there, the composition
develops over time as we perform it live.” Combining
together accessible and catchy but unpredictable dance
rhythms with electronics, John’s trumpet, solo and
group improvising, and Kelly’s haunting vocals, the
music of Fumosonic is both unusual and distinctive.
Born in Wisconsin, John Fumo literally began his
musical life playing free jazz. “My father was a big
jazz fan and he played me records of all of the greats
like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis
throughout my childhood. At one point he asked me if
I’d like to play an instrument and I said sure. I was
going to play saxophone but I couldn’t get a sound out
of it. I picked up a cornet, made a few sounds, and
the band director at school suggested that I play it
because they needed brass soloists. My father and I
used to play freely improvised duets on cornet and
drums. I didn’t know what I was doing at the time, I
could barely hold the cornet, but it was a great deal
of fun, so one could say that the first music I played
was free jazz.”
John Fumo took private lessons starting in the seventh
grade, attended the New England Conservatory of Music,
and moved to Los Angeles in 1978. He worked with
Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, met
multireedist Vinny Golia, and recorded both as a
sideman and a leader (1986’s After The Fact) for
Golia’s Nine Winds label (an association that
continues up to this day), displaying a higher
original and spirited style on trumpet. Since that
time, he has appeared on a dozen film scores and
played with a remarkably wide variety of artists
including Tito Puente, Japan’s Inner Galaxy Orchestra,
Mel Torme, Neil Young, Brian Setzer, Rudy Regalado,
Wayne Peet’s Doppler Funk, Brian McKnight, Dianne
Reeves, Faith Hill, James Brown, Tower of Power, U2,
Celine Dion, Smokey Robinson, Michael Bolton, Whitney
Houston, John Tesh, Flora Purim, Phoebe Snow, Lou
Rawls, The Four Tops, K.D. Lang, Babyface, Al Jarreau,
Bon Jovi, Neal Diamond (with whom he extensively
toured in 2006) and pianist George Kahn. In addition,
he teaches at Cal Arts.
But clearly the project that is closest to John Fumo’s
heart is Fumosonic. The group has thus far recorded
All That Is, Strange And Wonderful and Different Place
And Time, and the Fumos are currently working on a new
recording. Kelly Fumo had previously worked
extensively on television jingles and film scores
while immersing herself in contemporary music. Her
memorable vocals and inventive lyric writing are major
assets to Fumosonic. “Kelly puts a lot of heart into
her singing and uses space like Miles Davis or Chet
Baker used to. She knows a lot more about contemporary
music and grooves while I bring in my jazz knowledge,
a combination that works well together. Musically we
are on the same page.”
The expertise of such musicians as the masterful
electronic percussionist Brad Dutz, Don Markese on
reeds, pianist Joe Rotundi, guitarist Tim Kobza,
drummer Eli Hludzik and percussionists MB Gordy and
Mitchito Sanchez add colors and inventive ideas to
Fumosonic alongside Kelly’s vocals, guitar, keyboards
and loops and John’s trumpet and flugelhorn.
For the future, the Fumos plan to perform live on a
monthly basis in the Los Angeles area with Fumosonic
and hope to take their unique group to Europe, Japan
and many other places throughout the world. Although
there have been other attempts to combine jazz
improvising with dance rhythms, few are on the level
of Fumosonic, and no band sounds quite like this one,
the musical dream of John and Kelly Fumo.
All is well here in K-Town. Spot burgers are still cooking and sunnyside is still tapping.
Neil Diamond! very cool. I will try and get tickets to that show. Last Tuesday I had a big band gig in Racine and there was a going away partying being held for a lady that was supposedly flying to europe to do security for Diamond. I think her name was Dianna or diane?? she is from Racine-- small world.
Yeh!! i feel the same way! i miss u too (tu me manque) It's a shame that i'm gonna miss your comming party...and i'm sorry to leave new friends so quikly! Hope we'll have the chance to see each other again... who knows!
HI JOHN WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR DIAMONDVILLE MATES AS YOUR TOP FRIENDS NEIL.KING.RONNIE.LARRY, ALSO KINGS SON DANE AND NOT TO FORGET RICHARD BENNETT ALL TO BE FOUND IN MY TOP 40 PHOTOS. www. myspace. com/diamondville102 CHECK MY BLOGS IF YOU GET TIME AMBROSE
FUMOsonic!!! Yeah, man...that about describes your horn playing....like a JET bombing thru the sound barrier.... ...truth be told...you've always been one of the greatest and most versatile cats on the horn I've ever met....and you can read fly sh*t at 30 feet.....always impressive! Keep the group happ'nin'always...and get that new CD out so i can jam on it!!! Dave C N
