Thanks to everyone who came out to Ace of Clubs last night for our CD release party.  It was an unforgettable night! 

The new album from Afroskull, "To Obscurity and Beyond," is now available at Afroskull.com.  Three tunes from the album are now up on our myspace player (Spyplane, Dance of the Wild Koba, and the Curse).  Check 'em out, and then get your copy today! 

Friends and fans of Afroskull – if you have followed the band over the past few years you are no doubt familiar with the saga of the mythical new CD.  Well we are proud to announce that the CD is finally finished!  To Obscurity and Beyond, our first CD of new music in nine years, will be released on November 7th!





The new CD features nine mind-blowing Afroskull originals. Jazz legend Ronnie Cuber joins an expanded horn section to breathe fire into Joe Scatassa’s high-wire horn arrangements while the rest of the band pours on the gasoline. To Obscurity and Beyond is the culmination of four years worth of writing and recording specifically designed to melt your face!

Join us for the CD release party on Saturday, November 7th, at Ace of Clubs in New York City.  Come down early for great sets from our friends Wounded Buffalo Theory (8:30pm) and Blue Food (9:30pm) before Afroskull blows the roof off.  We’ll be doing two epic sets, including the new CD in its entirety, with a special five-piece horn section and special guests.  THIS is the Afroskull show you have been waiting for.

TO OBSCURITY AND BEYOND
The new CD from Afroskull
Available at Afroskull.com starting November 7th, 2009

CD RELEASE PARTY
Saturday, November 7th, 10:30pm
@ Ace of Clubs – 9 Great Jones St., NYC
Also appearing:  Wounded Buffalo Theory (8:30) and Blue Food (9:30)

We are happy to announce that we have finished mixing the tracks for our first studio album in nine years, "To Obscurity and Beyond."  We'll be announcing details soon including a release date.  Get ready!

We have recently uploaded some more tracks to both Myspace and Archive.org. 

In our Myspace player, there are three new mp3s:
1)  Funky Miracle - recorded live at the Bowery Poetry Club in 2007, featuring Bearded Jon on the bass and a righteous jam.

2) A National Acrobat - from the infamous Afroskull Does Black Sabbath show, recorded live at the Mermaid Lounge in 2001.  Featuring Big John Shaffer from Cosmic Arc and Chaddy 1 P.U.S. from Iris May Tango on vocals.

3) Marksville Slide - this was our contribution to the CD "Boozoo Hoodoo," a tribute to the pioneering zydeco musician Boozoo Chavis.  Featuring Mark Mullins on trombone.


ALSO, check out these recent uploads to the Live Music Archive:
Parkside Lounge, August 8, 2008
Bowery Poetry Club, June 21, 2007
Parkside Lounge, February 24, 2006

Please join us for our next show, July 24th at the Parkside Lounge, and stay tuned for more news on the CD, which we swear is almost done.  Seriously, for real this time.

Enjoy!

Just a quick note to let you know we will be appearing at the Parkside Lounge in NYC at 8pm on Halloween.  That's a Friday night and we're going to try to cook up something special for the occasion.  See you there.

yes yes yes... it's close. If you sniff hard enough, you can smell the funk wafting over the Atlantic. Joe is hard at work mixing and editing in London and soon will be making his return stateside. The album is nearing completion, and we're excited for you all to hear it.. bask in it.. really take your shoes and socks off to it. We'll be returning to the stage 8/8, and stay tuned for a cd release party show later in the fall. Until then, we thought we'd give you a live taste of a rarely played tune that will be featured on the upcoming album. It's gone thru the writing mill a few times since the posted version, but we hope you enjoy... The Curse.

Hi everybody.  Since our last post here we have done another half-dozen recording sessions. I'm psyched to say that recording is just about finished.  No, really!  Joe is now in London for the next couple of months, and we'll be doing some editing and mixing on both sides of the pond. 

In other news, Afroskull is now on Facebook. So for all of you who are also on Facebook, add us! 

We'll be back to performing live sometime in July.  Details will be posted here and on our Facebook page as soon as we get 'em.

peace

-Jason

    We spent another productive day in the studio today.  Horns are done for three more tunes, leaving only three remaining. We should be able to knock that out with one more session, and then only some touch-ups will remain before we can start mixing.

    Today's session was extra thrilling for us due to the presence of the great Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax.  You might be familiar with Ronnie from his work with Frank Zappa (on Zappa in New York), Charles Mingus, Lonnie Smith, B.B. King, Dr. John, George Benson, Eric Clapton, and many others.  Ronnie is a long-time musical hero of ours and as expected, he completely nailed our tunes.

Just hang tight for a little longer folks, we're almost there!

-Jason

The end is in sight.   It's still off in the distance, just barely coming over the horizon ... but we are getting closer.

Tracking is basically done for three tunes (out of nine).  We are scheduling sessions in the next few weeks to record horns for the remaining six tunes, as well as some other embellishments.  Our goal is to get all the tracking done by the end of March.  Then all that will remain is mixing and mastering.  We are extremely happy with what we've recorded so far and we know you all will be pleased with the finished product, to put it mildly.  Once again, we thank you for your patience.

By the way, we want to give a big thank you to everyone who came out to the Parkside Lounge a couple of Fridays ago.  We'll be back there on Friday, March 21st for another colossal set of Afroskull goodness.

peace

-Jason (the drummer)

AFROSKULL CELEBRATES TENTH ANNIVERSARY
Twin blowouts in New York and New Orleans to commemorate a decade of hair-raising funk

New York based funk/rockers Afroskull have announced a pair of shows to celebrate the band's 10th anniversary, on October 12th at New York's Parkside Lounge, and October 20th at the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans.

Afroskull formed in New Orleans in the summer of 1997 around a core of well-schooled musicians who had first met in the suburbs of NYC years earlier. Using the music of Funkadelic, Frank Zappa, Charles Mingus and Black Sabbath as their guides, they developed a unique style that is equal parts funk, hard rock and jazz.  A devoted local following quickly followed along with a reputation for unrelenting funk-drenched sets that lasted well into the wee hours.  In 2002, after the release of the locally acclaimed CD "Monster For the Masses," several national tours and two legendary "Afroskull Does Black Sabbath" sets, the core of the band pulled up stakes and got back to their roots in New York City.  In the years since, Afroskull has gained a whole new audience (along with several new band members) thanks to their red-hot live shows and is now becoming known among hard-core live music fans as one of the city's best-kept secrets.  And now October 2007 brings a 10th anniversary party to each of the band's hometowns, featuring special guests from throughout Afroskull's history.  

October 12, 2007 @ the Parkside Lounge
317 E. Houston St (corner of Attorney St.), New York City
8:30pm
The New York version of the 10th anniversary brings the band back to their long-time homebase on Manhattan's Lower East Side, and will feature Jason Marshall on bari sax (of Roy Hargrove's RH Factor), bassist Bearded Jon Stonbely, and a special appearance by NYC guitar mercenary The Wild Koba.

October 20, 2007 @ The Maple Leaf Bar
8316 Oak St., New Orleans
11pm
The New Orleans party will be an epic Afroskull marathon, a true melding of the NOLA and NYC lineups, featuring original bassist Funky Dollar Bill Richards (of I Tell You What fame), and the Horns of Doom: Chuck Arnold on trumpet, Rick Trolsen (of Bonerama) on trombone, and Jason Mingledorf (Papa Grows Funk) on tenor sax.  Other scheduled guests include Big John Shafer on vocals and the Madd Wikkid a.k.a. Earl Scioneaux on keyboards.

For more info and mp3s, visit:
www.afroskull.com
www.myspace.com/afroskull
http://www.archive.org/details/Afroskull