THE ESSENESS PROJECT: GUITARS: STEVE SMYTH,
DRUMS: ATMA ANUR,
BASSES: STEVEN A. HOFFMAN,
JAZZ DUALITY: PIANO: OLI FRAENKLE
ACOUSTIC BASS: STEVEN A HOFFMAN
.CORE.: KEYBOARDS AND SOUNDS: OLI FRAENKLE,
DRUMS: MATT MCGLYNN,
BASSES: STEVEN A. HOFFMAN,
SWEETLEAF: VOCALS: LANCE OZANIX,
GUITARS: STEVE SMYTH,
DRUMS: CHRIS NEWMAN,
BASSES: STEVEN A. HOFFMAN
Influences
My influences are greatly varied . . . I really like to play all kinds of music and there are many sides to me.
ROCK/METAL: Early influences would be The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Rush, Yes, on into bands like early Metallica, Megadeth., King's X, Dream Theater, Steve Morse Band, Dixie Dregs, Primus, still the The Beatles, all good 70's funk: James Brown, Larry Graham, Louis Johnson, along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc . . . But then there is also, on a personal level, Jaco (OF COURSE!), Geddy Lee is a God! Stanley Clarke, Michael Manring, Stuart Hamm, Les Claypool's Primus, Steve Harris, Cliff Burton, and many others. I'm sure I'm forgetting many more, but as I remember them I will add them on. . .
CLASSICAL: All the greats as I have been fortunate enough to have performed many of the classics: Bach is huge. One of the funnest and most difficult to play. There are many more Baroque composers that I like: Vivaldi, Corelli, Handel, to name a few. Mozart is another one of my favorites. His music is so difficult to perform accurately. Symphony 40, 36, 25, 39, 41, are masterpieces. His operas are grueling, beautiful and satisfying to play!! Other Classical composers would be Haydn, and of course the big daddy: Beethoven. This IS heavy metal! One of my most favorite orchestral moments: Beethoven 9th symphony, after the march-this fugue is brutal!! I like to to do solo recitals as well, and there is a lot to choose from for the Double Bass. The two main dudes would be Dragonetti and Bottesini-and believe it or not-they have myspace accounts. Fuck yeah for the dead!! I also really like to play Brahms, Mahler, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Hindemith, among many others. And then there is OPERA!! Mozart, Verdi, Rossini, and on and on. . . I love to play opera! It is so exciting, exhausting, fulfilling, and stress-filled that at the end of each show I'm spent, trying to figure out how I made it for the last three hours, but feeling killer because I DID make it!!!--I know -weird. . .
JAZZ: Too many to say. All the greats: Duke, Monk, Miles, Dizzy, Bird, Louis, and of course all their bass players: Chambers, Brown, Carter, Blanton, Heath, and so on and so on. If it has good swing and groove, it is OK in my book. I must say I do prefer the classic sound. Jazz in and of itself is an influence on me.
Sounds Like
The Esseness Project draws from different influences to mold their sound. There is definitely the Shrapnel shred factor. Also the 70's era prog-Rush, Yes, Kansas-somewhat keyboard driven. But then there is the heavy, thrash metal. Both "esses" dig jazz-especially electric jazz fusion, with bands like the Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band, Return to Forever. A very unique and varied sound.
Core lends itself to the more jazzy, avant garde side of life. They take their sound from the masters like Monk and Duke and mix it with the sounds of Weather Report, Medeski, Martin, & Wood, along with full on experimental/jam. Core likes to invite different players of different instruments to join their "Core" ensemble. Also a very unique sound, every show is different as they never really know where their jams are going to lead them.
Steven A. Hoffman graduated from University of California Berkeley with a B.A. in Music Composition. He also attended Berklee college of Music. Steven A. plays bass in numerous groups throughout the Bay Area, in many different styles. One such group is The EssenEss Project, an eklectic , progressive instrumental blend of rock, metal, jazz, and whatever else their freaky minds can conjure up. The EssenEss project has just released their debut, self-titled album in November of 2007.
www.theessenessproject.com--
www.myspace.com/theessenessproject
Steven A. plays regularly in the piano/bass jazz duo Jazz Duality with Oli Fraenkle on the piano.
Another group to take notice of is .Core. This power trio specializes in experimental jazz, taking the standards to a new universe. The combination of jazz, fusion, and psychedlic groove make .Core.'s sound completely addicting and mind bending. What's even cooler about .Core. is that these guys can play straight-ahead acoustic jazz at your wedding or winery! They are a completely versatile unit.
Steven A. also plays classical upright bass in orchestras and opera companies as well as solo recitals around the Bay Are. He regularly performs with the Vallejo Symphony and the Cinnabar Opera Theater in Petaluma, California. Steven A. has also performed with: Berkeley Opera, North State Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Symphony Of The Redwoods, Napa Choral Society Baroque Ensemble, Ukiah Symphony, Solano Symphony, Diablo Valley Orchestra, Golden Gate Opera, University Of California Symphony, Berkeley Lyric Opera, American Philharmonic, 6th Street Playhouse
Do you dig Black Sabbath? Steven A. plays bass in the Bay Area's first and best Black Sabbath/Ozzy tribute band: Sweetleaf. Formed in the early '90's, these guys will blow you back to walls of your mind with their fierce and faithful renditions of all the classic Black Sabbath and Ozzy tunes.
--www.myspace.com/sweetleaftribute
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Hi Steven, it was a pleasure to visit your page, thanks for the invitation. Very nice to be connected/friends, wish you good luck and musical enjoyment. Best regards, Ruud.
Hi Steve, Thanks for the invite. Sorry I missed your Govinda's gig. Say hello to Ari for me - I used to take clarinet lessons from him years ago. Peace, Alison
thanks for finding us, Steve... your work is highly respected in this camp! I hope you get a chance to stop over at Quincy's on July 17th. We are doing our first hometown show in about a year and we really have been honing our show. It would be good to have fellow MUSICIANS in the audience. Markus would love to see you Sincerely, Rebecca aka "HayBeck" (BeccasBiz) Forever's End
Steven,
Hi back and thanx for checking this out! Like it? There are 4 CD reviews & 5 live Audio Interviews about everything Metal and ... Violins... and bow ... and NO GUITARS on our MySpace page under 'Blogs' and the beginning of our rock journal at www.metalmonthly.com/RockJournal.html ;)
You can follow our up to the minute news and/or daily activities on twitter.com/ArmandVio7
Thank you,
..,,/- Armand
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