Getting to know the musicians: Eric Biondo-Trumpet (tracks 2,3,4,5) Flugelhorn (track 1) Drums (track 5) Qy-100 Sythesizer ( 1,2,3,4) Cochemea Gastelum-Baritone Saxophone (track 2) Charlie Hunter- Bass, Guitar (track 2) Josh Sitron- Melodica, Bass, Guitar, Piano, Organ, Glockenspiel, recording, production (track 5) Eric Biondo-Trumpet Eric's genre bending trumpet playing can be heard in around New York City and beyond. He has toured with The Monkees, Antibalas, Spoon and Charlie Hunter Quartet. Eric can be heard playing trumpet on recordings such as Dear Science-TV on the Radio (Interscope) Yeah Yeah Yeah's-Zero (Interscope) Manners-Passion Pit (Warner Brothers) Security-Antibalas (Anti-) Antidotes-Foals (Interscope) Bat for Lashes Antionette Costa-(Okplayer) Chin Chin-Flashing the Fancy (Definitive Jux) Techicolor Health-Harlem Shakes (French Kiss) The Monkees-Live Tour DVD (Universal) The Monkees-Live in Las Vegas (Independent) Tribute to Duke Ellington-Teo Macero (Independent) You may also have seen him play trumpet on national TV with Pete Yorn-Good Morning America (2009) TV on the Radio-The Late Show with David Letterman (2008) TV on the Radio-The Colbert Report (2009) Duke Spirit-The Late Show with David Letterman (2008) The Monkees-The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2001) The Monkees-Regis and Kelly Show (2001) In 2003 Regina Spektor licensed a portion of Eric's song Your Daughter for her 2005 release Soviet Kitsch (Sire). Eric has also independently released 6 records as a singer for a project called Beyondo. Eric also performs regularly in New York City with a popular kids band called FunkeyMonkeys lead by Dora the Explorer theme song composer Josh Sitron. Eric Biondo has a degree in Jazz and Contemporary Media from the Eastman School of Music. He has also studied at The Banff Center in Alberta, Canada. Eric also studied acting at the Gotham City Improv in New York City. Cochemea Gastelum- Baritone Saxophone...These are some of people I have been fortunate enough to perform and/or record with over the years: Archie Shepp, Les Mcann, Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, Antibalas, Public Enemy, Paul Simon, Budos Band, Menahan Street Band, Spoon, Rudy Van Gelder, Dr.Lonnie Smith, Oliver Lake, Hamid Drake, Charlie Hunter, Donald Harrison, Reuben Wilson, Joel Dorn, Mocean Worker, IsWhat!?, Mike Clark, Paul Jackson and Bill Summers (The Headhunters), Leo Nocentelli, George Porter Jr. and Zigaboo Modeliste (The Meters), Guillermo E. Brown, Napoleon Maddox, Fred Wesley, Bernie Worrell, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Greyboy Allstars, Soulive, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Cyril Neville, Ivan Neville, Melvin Sparks, Henry Butler, Kirk Joseph, Anders Osbourne, Papa Mali, JJ Grey and Mofro, CREEDLE, Dj Logic, Les Claypool, Derek Trucks Band and Common. Hunter was born in Rhode Island. When he was four his mom packed him and his younger sister in an old yellow school bus and headed west. After several years living on a commune in Mendocino County they settled in Berkeley, California. Hunter graduated from Berkeley High School and took lessons from famed guitar teacher Joe Satriani. At eighteen he moved to Paris. Returning to the Bay area, Hunter played a seven-string guitar and organ in Michael Franti's political rap group, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. In 1992, they were one of the opening acts for U2's Zoo TV Tour. Charlie Hunter performs at the Bennett Alliance Music Fest in Rochester, NY (July 21, 2007) Since the debut of his self-titled Charlie Hunter Trio in 1993, Charlie Hunter has recorded 17 albums. He co-founded Garage A Trois, a jazz fusion band with Stanton Moore and Skerik. He has collaborated with Bobby Previte for an ongoing project entitled "Groundtruther." He also recorded and toured for Bobby Previte's The Coalition of the Willing in 2006.[3] He appears on acclaimed jazz bassist Christian McBride's Live At Tonic. On both The Coalition of the Willing and Live at Tonic he plays 6-string guitars. His earliest known released recording without unusual guitars is as a guest bassist for the band Sweet Potato from California's East Bay. The song "Crankshaft" can be found on the Ubiquity Records compilation Mo Cookin from 1994 and the song "Monkey Wrench" can be found on the Ubiquity Records compilation Still Cookin from 1995. He also plays guitar on the track "Me and Chuck" from the Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel album, Highball with the Devil, released in 1996. Charlie played in the band T.J. Kirk active 1990s that merged the music of Thelonius Monk, James Brown, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. T.J Kirk is: Will Bernard - Guitar, John Schott - Guitar, Charlie Hunter - 8-string guitar and Scott Amendola - Drums. Three recordings of the time are called: T.J. Kirk August 8, 1995, If Four Was One September 24, 1996 and Talking Only Makes it Worse released in 2005. In the summer of 2007, Charlie toured with a trio that included New York keyboardist Erik Deutsch and New York/New Orleans drummer Simon Lott. This trio recorded the July, 2007 Fantasy release Mistico. In 2008, Hunter recorded his first self-release, "Baboon Strength. Featured on the record are Erik Deutch on keys and Tony Mason on drums. Hunter will return to the studio in Fall of 2009 to record with drummer Eric Kalb. Hunter was also an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists. [4] Hunter believes in free trade of his live shows. Live shows can be streamed or downloaded in various formats on archive.org. Joshua Sitron is a music composer / producer, multi-instrumentalist and sometimes filmmaker and shaman living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY with his wife and daughter. He has written music for Nickelodeon, Disney, PBS, and Showtime, including the mega-hit show, Dora the Explorer for which he served as musical director and penned the theme song. In 2000, seeking to free himself from the creative constraints and corporate agendas of TV music, Josh left 'Dora', traveled, and began studying improv and kung fu, while making several short films.In early, 2001 he began his own independent kids project, FunkeyMonkeys, who content intends to echo more conscious and spiritual values than those dictated by the marketplace. To date, FunkeyMonkeys includes 5 CDs, a live band & Off-Broadway show, and several short videos. In 2002, Josh joined the accalimed improv comedy and spontaneous theater troupe, Centralia, as accompanist and musical director, which led to the 2002 Fringe Festival Musical Generica. The masters of long form improv, the Centralia group weaves 60-minute entirely made up musical theater pieces that transcend comedy. In 2003, Josh released his first solo original CD, the deeply personal Biblical Digital, he describes as 'the soundtrack to my spiritual awakening'. CDBaby.com made it a featured editor's pick and wrote, "From epic, dramatic, thunderous and sweeping like a film score to intimate, visceral, well-directed plaintive lines, this electronic album encompasses a full spectrum of light and dark, of mind and emotion, simply rotating around creativity and musical voice rather than any particular genre indications." -CD Baby Recently, Josh has begun recording, producing and playing the music of other artist's and bands at his Bushwick studio, 'The Playground'. Artists include Antibalas members: Amayo (Fu Arkest-Ra), Eric Biondo (Beyondo, the Monkees), Stuart Bogie (TV on the Radio, Volney Litmus, Superhuman Happiness), Luke O'Malley (the Phenomenal Handclap Band) along with the bands, Thought, Hylo-fi, Wild Yaks, Lazer& the Dookers and others, some of whom he performs with at live shows. • COMPOSER/PRODUCER OF MUSIC FOR THE FOLLOWING HIGHLIGHTS: television Nickelodeon Dora the Explorer 2000-present Showtime The Best Sh*t on Television Promo Spot 2007-2008 DisneyChannel PB + J. Otter 1998-present Lifetime State of Mind 2007 PBS In the Mix 1995-present Nickelodeon Nick Jr. Is Just for Me Identity Spot 1995-present CourtTV Crime Stories 1998 Noggin 24/Seven 2001 albums Lazar & The Dookers The Show - Single 2008 Amayo's Fu Ark-est-Ra Amen Awon - Single 2008 Beyondo Lost in a World of Love - Single 2008 Thought Politics for Kids 2007 FunkeyMonkeys Mustache 2007 FunkeyMonkeys Tastes Like Chicken 2005 Joshua Sitron Biblical Digital 2003 Centralia Generica 2003 Jewish FunkeyMonkeys! 2003 Funkeymonkeys! En Español! 2002 Fairy Dust 2000 The Girl Scouts of America: Sisters Hand in Hand 2001 FunkeyMonkeys! 2001 hylo-fi Mastered Promos 2008 films Strong Island Boys (feature) 1997 Walk and Balance Productions Under the Rainbow (documentary feature) 1999 Dir. Ryan Lifchitz Tropical Charlene (short) 1998 Dir. Kiran Ramchandran The Older Man (short) 2002 Dir. Joe Schiappa and Kevin Scott Kung Fluid (short) 2000 Dir. Joshua Sitron The Watching of the Lord of the Rings (short) 2000 Dir. Joshua Sitron live shows FUNKEYMONKEYS 2001-present CENTRALIA 2001-present BROADWAY KIDS1994-95 Shining Time Station Live 1995 Arlene Smith of the Chantels 1994 toys FISHER-PRICE 2007-present Elmo’s Restaurant Ba Ba Baby Elmo Tumbling Tigger Little Miss Sunshine Rockin’ Guitar Elmo Bedtime Abby Disco Wubbzy