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Infusion "Music, Art & Diversity for a good cause" Saturday, May 7th, 2005 at The Downtown by Mike Ferrari and Vinny DiMarco photos by Vinny DiMarco What exactly is Infusion you may ask? <click for article condensed information> Well INFUSION is a Long Island Art Event produced by the local Long Island based freelance company, CrayonMedia. This is the 4th yearly showcase where they have promoted local artists. The mastermind of CrayonMedia and co-founder of Infusion is Stacy Spilkevitz. Stacy’s partner in artistic and organizational chaos is Erika Montaperto. Art comes in all shapes and mediums. Infusion exhibits painters, photographers, sculptors, digital artists, and performances by poets and musicians. The mission for Infusion is as follows: “We want our artists to generate business and get their names out to the public. We want our sponsors to become more visible within the community and to promote their services. We are looking to improve the overall appreciation level of the arts. Each year the response towards Infusion is overwhelmingly positive and the caliber of talent is amazing.” This years “stop” for the Infusion event was at The Downtown in Farmingdale, who agreed to host them. Amidst a multitude of exhibitors’ displays of artwork (such as Stevenski Brewster), photography, up and coming children’s artwork from young women such as Simone Smith and Faith Gambina, custom made flutes by Matt Fallon of Tribal Wind Arts, and numerous musician merch tables. The event promptly kicked off onstage at 2PM with dynamic singer / entertainer, Flo Michaels. Flo was also the emcee and master of ceremonies for Infusion "director of the fun" over the course of the day. Flo's music included singing along to mostly dance and party music. She has the ability to sing diverse styles of music and commands over 1500 songs in her repertoire. (TOP OF PAGE) Their full length CD is called “Going Down.” Upon 2nd
listen, found their lyrics to be very deep and intriguing amidst
their lush musical landscapes. Well worth checking out; watch for
this band. Frogg Cafe, another 5 piece band featuring 2 guitarists,
violin, bass, and drums was to follow. A special highlight today
was that Neil Cavanagh was sitting in as guitar / vocals in lieu
of the absent keyboardist / vocals. Not an easy trick for most,
yet for Neil... basically a walk in the park due to his extraordinary
musical training and talent. Find that upon listening to their CD “Creatures”, many of these songs are unpredictable and mysterious. Lingua Shapta was up next. This 3 piece project is quite difficult to describe / comprehend without experiencing them live: they combine free verse poetry and “electronica” from a computer along with a special female guest who quickly created a painting on an easel right there on the stage in conjunction with the music. Rich Fantasia and Jonathan Russell from Lingua Shapta sit side by side onstage with their MAC computer in front of them (which seemed to be producing the beat / music); while reciting poetry, social commentary, and even dark comedy at times. Both Rich and Jonathan from Lingua Shapta have quite a background
in Industrial Music and combined experience in Audio Engineering,
Computer Technology & Graphics, and musical education, not to
mention their unique love and extensive experience in poetry. A
standout track that they performed live which is also on their CD
is called “Counting Backwards.” (TOP OF PAGE) They went on to perform mostly cover songs with maybe 1 original mixed in. Here is what Blue Jupiter provided at Infusion for those that were fortunate enough to be in attendance - lots of amazing melodies / harmonies, a strong stage presence, beat box / drum / percussion by one of the members throughout the songs (it took several songs to realize that all music was coming from their 4 mics), and there was even a several minute vocal drum solo where probably every element of a 5 piece drum kit including cow bell was represented. As this reviewer waited within the audience near the headline act that was up next, Peat Moss & The Fertilizers / Ready In 10, Blue Jupiter proceeded to win many of us over. Two of the covers they performed were “Flip, Flop, Fly”
by the Blues Brothers and “Its Alright” which were ideal
choices of tunes for Blue Jupiter. Their 2004 tour of the US was
fairly extensive, included numerous college appearances, and Blue
Jupiter even had a special appearance at a NBA Season Game which
was a Nationally Televised Pre-game appearance. According to Jane
Pauley on Blue Jupiter - “You guys are unbelievable.”
Blue Jupiter is managed by Diana Preisler (from the prestigious
voiceover business); she is the “voice of” MTV, Nickelodeon,
and McDonalds. Their band happens to be unique because within this 5 member cover project (Sal Nastasi, Joe Milano, Jim Milano, Greg A, and Mark) resides a subset 4 member original band called Ready In 10 (formed just several months back) which is fueled by Sal’s heartfelt original songwriting and guitar melodies. Keep in mind though that each member of the band rounds out the overall sound that is produced. Both bands share quite large enthusiastic and dedicated fan bases, as has been demonstrated at many long island nightclubs on a 5 day a week basis. Some of the numerous cover songs that the band performed at Infusion were: a 3 song Green Day medley that Peat Moss arranged, “Vertigo” by U2, and a harder rock version “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon & Garfunkel, and “Are You Gonna Go My Way” by Lenny Kravitz. (TOP OF PAGE) Two original songs were played within the set by Ready In 10 called “Burn” and “Fools.” Listen to these 2 songs which were also recorded live on Mike Ferrari's webcast recently, 4/30/05, on the Ready In 10 web site, www.readyin10.com (news page), and you judge for yourself and see what you think. This reviewer has a “slight bias” due to knowing quite well the history / evolution of this band and their music both in cover and original form all the way back to several years before ’95. Ready In 10 wanted to close out the set with their original song
“Green Eyed Girl,” however, the event had to end promptly
at 7PM due to the hosting venue agreement; 1 less cover song would
have been in order (in hindsight.) The remedy though: a full original
set for Ready In 10 with their CD Release Party is scheduled at
Munchaba Lounge in Levittown on Saturday, June 11th at 7:45PM. Lets turn it over to Stacy Spilkevitz, co-founder of Infusion, for her additional comments and insight: “Infusion’s inception was out of frustration. A lot of L.I. artists and musicians didn’t have the opportunity to get a gallery or bar show in NYC without experience, and couldn’t get any. It was a never ending circle. CrayonMedia productions took that hole and filled it with INFUSION. However, it has now become something more. It is still for new, up and coming artists but it is also a community
event. We involve the local businesses and a different selected
charity. This is one of the reasons we move venues each year. We
like to recruit sponsors immediately from the around the area of
the show. We do the same with our chosen charities. We are still
a small show and are unable to donate thousands, but we like to
give what we can and we try to spread the money around. We have
donated to L.I. Breast Cancer Foundation, Island Harvest and most
recently, The Red Cross in Nassau County” - which is dedicated
to Disaster Recovery Planning for businesses and Emergency Preparedness
for Businesses AND families. The Nassau County Red Cross gets 92%
of its funding via public support through direct mail and SPECIAL
EVENTS! “Infusion’s goal is to be ever changing and
growing while maintaining the values that started this showcase.” |
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