SHARE

Westchester Musician Hopes To Rock Third Album With Crowdfunding Help

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A White Plains musician is in the midst of a crowdfunding campaign so his band, Zion80, can create its third album.

The Zion80 band.

The Zion80 band.

Photo Credit: Ben Weitz

Zion80 live at Joe's Pub in NYC.

Photo Credit: Jon Madof

And not just any album. According to Jon Madof, his 10-member group, which has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, plays a unique blend of Jewish music – from Carlebach to Zorn and everything in between – all created through the lens of the Afrobeat funk master Fela Anikulapo Kuti, blended with the madness of the downtown New York City jazz scene.

The lineup includes musicians who play with the Grammy-winning Klezmatics, Suzanne Vega, Yo-Yo Ma and many others.

Thanks to PledgeMusic, a site similar to Kickstarter but focused solely on music projects, the group is releasing its first album of original music called "Warriors."

The campaign ends Friday, May 5. Go HERE to view.

The band started in 2012 with a weekly residency at The Stone, a club owned and operated by John Zorn, an acclaimed composer and recipient of a 2006 MacArthur Fellowship who is also the owner of Tzadik Records, the label that released Zion80's first two albums. 

After the residency in 2012, the group began performing at international festivals in Europe and North America including the Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków, Poland, the Saalfelden Jazzfestival in Austria and the Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto.

The full lineup includes Jon Madof - guitar, Frank London - trumpet, Greg Wall - tenor sax, Jessica Lurie - bari sax and flute, Zach Mayer - bari sax, Brian Marsella - keyboard, Yoshie Fruchter - guitar, Shanir Blumenkranz - bass, Yuval Lion - drums, and Marlon Sobol - percussion.

Madof is also busy focusing on starting a record label called Chant Records with his music partner (and Zion80 bass player) Shanir Blumenkranz. 

The "Warriors'" album music will be released on Chant, with a concert at the Village Vanguard in Manhattan on November 19.

G to www.Zion80.com for more information.

to follow Daily Voice Mount Pleasant and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE