ImproVyZed Music for Movies - Streams of Highly Creative Musical Energy with Visuals "We jam. We flow. We vyz. Every time we play, everything is new. We first record the music and then produce the movies." —John Pritchard "VyZ" is all about improvised, spontaneous music...music performed freely in the moment...no rehearsing... no writing songs... just the pure, uninhibited sound created on the spot... not to mention, the sheer joy of playing with an amazing group of talented musicians. "Freedom" is the fourth time Miles Davis keyboardist, Adam Holzman, has been a special guest on our album/DVD projects. As a multimedia band, VyZ began playing together in the spring of 2003. The band has always had a cinematic quality to its sound and the "music for movies" slogan quickly became a way to classify the VyZ style. While initially producing live imagery with the amazing G-force visualization software, the group soon began improvising with movies from the Prelinger Film Archive, NASA, and the Library of Congress. On their new FREEDOM DVD (2015), the visuals are a mix of original video, motion graphics, and computer programming. VyZ has previously produced three "Music for Movies" DVDs: UNUM (2003), NOVUS (2004), and STAR CYCLES (2006). A Note from the Band: As astronomy has proven for centuries, the Universe operates with amazing precision, balance and harmony ...it has a life of its own ...everything spinning ...everything vibrating in motion. While analytical science and mathematics provide an excellent understanding of our physical existence, modern man remains largely ignorant to the reality of human intuition and imagination. We leave the subject of world religions to others to discuss. Our experience in playing music is an artistic endeavor we would rather not label as "religious," although it is definitely full of spirit. Having an open mind to new ideas and experiences is always the playful method we prefer: we do believe anything can happen! In the 21st century, we are just beginning to increase our understanding of the more mystical, sixth sense. To any genius in history, especially the great artists and scientists, the reality of using their sixth sense is a pre-requisite for success. Intuiting the whole picture, "seeing" the answer, is a natural result of connecting the dots in anything we do. It is indeed a very "normal" human process and as an improvisational band, one we enjoy putting into practice. It is only in recent years that the world is seriously discussing spirituality in science, or the advanced study of the invisible forces that are everywhere present in our Universe. Tesla called it "Radiant Energy." Quantum physics calls it "Cosmic Rays." While the many religions around the world refer to this Universal energy as "God," the all-embracing and culturally diverse American tradition, simply calls it FREEDOM... ... and just like the American motto "In God We Trust," it is IN FREEDOM WE TRUST. It is this very freedom that allows us to play our music with such spontaneous synchronicity. Freedom is the attitude that provides us with the opportunity to grow and thrive as a band! It is in this optimistic light of free expression that we members of VyZ celebrate our improvisational music and unique filmmaking efforts. We hope you enjoy our creative efforts and look forward to your feedback at any time. John, Rich, & Charlie info@eternalways.com BAND BIOS BIO Rich Damone - bass Rich is a world-class bassist who innovates with electronic technology. He has performed with jazz legends such as Sam Rivers, Archie Shepp, Dave Liebman, Kenny Kirkland and the infamous Sun Ra drummer, Clifford Jarvis. Rich was the co-founder of The American Music Workshop and also a founding member of the highly acclaimed "Pure Sound Collective." He began his music career as a regular performer in the legendary "jazz-loft" sessions at Studio RivBea with Sam Rivers in New York City. Rich has also performed with other great musicians such as Jimmy Giuffre, Rob Zantay (Mr. Lyricon), Douglas Zantay, Gary Goldfarb, Val Michalski, John Simon, Jameel Moondoc, Ray Anderson, John Wolf, Royal Hartigan and Kenny Aronoff. Rich is R & D Director at the Pritchard Digital Arts and is responsible for special projects and managing the band. Charlie Tokarz - sax, flute, clarinet, wind controller (EWI) Charlie is a multi-talented horn player and one of the only musicians who plays two saxes at the same time with multi-layered electric effects. He has performed with guitar master, Larry Coryell, Ed Mann of the Frank Zappa band, and Charles Neville of the Neville Brothers. He has also played with bands at the White House, Today Show, 92nd Street Y, MASS MOCA, Merce Cunningham Studios, Club Helsinki, as well as, recorded music for HBO. He has performed regularly with master drummer Bob Weiner at Earth Dance and Kripalu Yoga Center, and recorded and performed with the group Shakti Fusion in New York and the Caribbean. When he is not playing music, Charlie teaches at Hotchkiss School in CT and the Steiner School in Great Barrington, MA. John Pritchard - drums, percussion, keyboards, and visuals John is a multimedia pioneer and an award-winning digital artist and filmmaker (eternalways.com). He is also an electro-acoustic drummer who plays an acoustic set with midi drums and keyboards simultaneously. He has performed with "Blood, Sweat & Tears" saxophonist, Fred Lipsius; Native American flute master, Ken Littlehawk; and with legendary drummer, Jack DeJohnette at St. John The Divine Cathedral in NYC. In 2001, John launched Pritchard Digital Arts as a training and consulting company for specializing in digital filmmaking and interactive design for dvds and the web. He has traveled all over the world since living in Argentina from '69 to '72 and was awarded his first grant to film in China in 1983. He has produced commercial CD-ROMs for Microsoft, Canon, and McGraw-Hill, as well as, live concert webcasts, digital movies and award-winning flash web sites. In addition to the VyZ DVD movies, John is currently in post-production on an Australian documentary about the 40,000 year old Yolngu people (onehearttribe.com) and will be soon releasing an online training program for his REAWAKEN film (reawakenproject.com). In addition, John has collaborated with Adam Holzman on a website project celebrating the amazing animation of the Fleischer Brothers' 1941-43 classic Superman films: www.pritcharddigital.com/superman. John also runs the www.jazz-rock.com site with Adam whenever they find some free time (which is hardly ever, but it's a true labor of love for a small core audience of adventurous and progressive fusion fans). Special Guest: Adam Holzman - keyboards Adam Holzman is simply one of the most innovative musicians on the planet. (adamholzman.com). "Keyboard" magazine named him one of the top 10 players in the world, "Down Beat" lauded his "killer groove" and the "New York Times" and the "Washington Post" have praised his live performances. Adam currently tours the world with the Steven Wilson band. He has played and recorded with legendary artists such as Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, and Grover Washington. In addition to his incredible keyboard work, he has produced several Miles Davis projects for Sony and Warner Bros., Adam has also worked with the Mahavishnu Project and produced several albums with his own band, Brave New World. He also played with the amazing Wallace Roney quintet with Lenny White and Buster Williams. Adam is a faculty member of the Jazz and Contemporary Music Program at the New School University in NYC. His phenomenal contribution to the VyZ music/soundtracks is nothing short of genius!