john fumo - trumpet, keyboards
kelly fumo - vocals.
With the help of various artists and dear friends along the way:
don markese - indian flutes/nick rosen - bass/tim kobza - guitar/brad dutz - percussion(dumbek,tablas,udu,riq,ect)/herman jackson - piano/eli hludzig - drums/chris bleth - duduk/mark welcome - bass and loops/bart samolis - bass/mitchito sanchez - percussion/m.b. gordy- drums/joe rotundi - keys & bass/chris wabich - drums
Influences
miles davis,
pink floyd,
natacha atlas,
etta james,
ella fitzgerald,
billie holliday,
chet baker,
gustav mahler,
dalai lama,
paramahansa yogananda,
salvador dali,
john adams,
booker little, coltrane, bird, ornette coleman,
stevie wonder,
sly,
james brown,
ravi shankar,
ghandi.
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.
Great photo of King in a "Fumosonics" tee shirt on Golfer Bob's page! Congratulations also on a GREAT special...the Horndogz rocked! Hugs, Donna in Vegas
Hi John and Kelly, Hope your enjoying the new clubs John and I really liked your contribution to King's new cd.Hope you and the family are doing well. King's comin' for a swing tune up this summer. Miss you guys! Bob
Hi, John -- LOVED your work on King's new CD ("Love Theme" is one of my favorites). Wishing you the continued success that you deserve. Hugs, Donna in Vegas
JOHN I HOPE YOU WILL JOIN IN THE CELEBRATIONS ON TUESDAY FOR SAINT PATRICKS DAY AND REMEMBER ALL THE FRIENDS YOU MADE THIS TOUR. ITS A GREAT DAY TO BE IRISH
Hi, John -- It was such a pleasure to FINALLY meet you after last night's FANTASTIC show in Vegas! You guys absolutely ROCKED -- and getting to meet all of you after the show was the "icing on the cake. " Wishing you MUCH success with your music and your golf game, Donna in Vegas
That's great John, tell Doug that he can be my resident teaching Assistant at Diamondville. Ha! Hope we'll have a chance to do it again soon too! Tell the guys I said "hello"!
Hi John, Great spending some time with you on the golf course again. Hope you enjoyed your visit with your old friends.Keep in touch and let me know if you need a little tudoring with the golf swing.King has all my numbers and e-mail.Enjoy the two week break coming up and the rest of the tour. I may see you in Florida a long the way! Be well my friend! Bob
