The Zen Hussies

DISCOGRAPHY THE CHARM ACCOUNT. LP (DUE AUGUST 2015) BREADLINE / DOUBLE SHIFT. DOUBLE A SINGLE (2013) TROUBLED FEET. LP (2010) CONTINENTAL ADAPTOR. LP (2008) FLATFOOT SHARPSUIT. LP (2004) FIVE GUYS MAIM NOTES. EP. (2004) BAND MEMBER BIOGS. Cha Cha Gabor Cha Cha is the lady responsible for providing the infra-sonic honking riffs that epitomise The Zen Hussies sound on her Baritone Saxophone. Whilst Jonny opts to communicate with the mosquitos by flying around in musical registers normally only heard in outer space, Cha Cha plumbs the depths at the other end of the scales and is able to lullaby whales and other creatures of the deep with her fine melodic explorations, as well of course as whipping them up into a frenzy of sub-aquatic gymnastics to rival anything performed by Flipper and his friends. She also adds her vocal talents to the group’s singalong choruses and has composed her own songs and lyrics, as fans will know add greatly to the band’s repertoire. We consider her the exquisitely carved figurehead of our foolhardy musical galleon, prowing the waves and storm surges we encounter on our intrepid journeys into the unchartered waters of ‘Jazz’. Jonah Flatfoot Founder member and frontman Jonah formed the prototype Zen Hussies back in the year 2000, when this kind of thing was neither fashionable nor profitable. His curiously humorous lyrics can equally be delivered with a growling blues holler or honey sweet infectiousness, and indeed his skill as a wordsmith saw him elected ‘Bard Of Bath’ in the year 2000 for his collections of poetic verse. Equally temerarious on the guitar, blues harp and clarinet, Jonah is renowned for his ‘effervescent’ stage presence and eccentric dance manoeuvres which critics have dubbed ‘a grotesque fandango’. As well as enjoying his musical life in the band, Jonah is also a cartoonist, comic actor and keen inventor of idle past-times and follies, notably the Absinthe Steeplechase (for which he is still involved in a Law Suit against thieves of this daring creation) and the Revolving Casket (for people who wish to turn in their graves) which is soon to be put up for investment on Dragon’s Den. Count Sebski Velo Count Sebski has been with the band since 2002, and his mighty skills on the Fender Telecaster guitar provide the band with a wide range of voicings. From elegant and nuanced gypsy jazz to tough and moody blues and rock riffs, Sebski is a most versatile and inventive performer whose solos continually astonish band members and audience alike. Hailing from an obscure tribe of woodcarvers from central France, our gallant Gallic guitarist has made the West Country of England his home from home since running away from the mother country to avoid national service and unsettled bar tabs. Whilst on stage you may be lucky enough to witness him perform the famed ‘Sebski Shuffle’, whereby he circumnavigates the stage in a bewildering flurry of steps somewhat akin to the choreographical abomination that is ‘Riverdance’ whilst holding a screaming guitar aloft to a wall of feed-back. Tommy ‘Rocket Pants’ Allen Tommy is the tour de force that provides the backbone of The Zen Hussies rhythm section with his strident mastery of the bass fiddle, or double bass as it is sometimes known. Flying up and down the fretless fingerboard but always keeping the groove, his deep, resonant riffs set the pace for the rest of the band to augment, and for the audience to instinctively wiggle their hips and posteriors to. His is the mighty slap that sometimes gives the sound an added dimension of frantic rockabilly menace, and the all swinging thrum and chunk of the walking bass. Tommy’s soubriquet came about via an incident at a festival in Spain some years ago, whereby his weekend’s personal undergarments were mercilessly attached to a rather large pyrotechnic and flown skyward in a shower of brightly coloured sparks never to be recovered, he has ‘gone commando’ for good luck at gigs ever since. Mikey 'Barrelhouse' Cooper Cooper is the man on whose shoulders the heavy burden of The Zen Hussies relentless musical meanderings must weigh – the drummer. A vastly experienced percussionist in the jazz world, Flambo has played with such a great number of names in that field that his memoires provide endless hours of enjoyable conversation on the way to and from gigs. As well as being a masterful percussionist, he is also a keen guitarist and devotee of Gypsy Jazz, and has journeyed far and wide throughout Europe seeking out, and indeed playing with some of the true geniuses of that most challenging genre of music. Also a keen fisherman, it is he whose skills we will depend on should our bold Jazz Titanic ever flounder on the icebergs of fashion, to keep us sustained. He considers playing with The Zen Hussies to be the most challenging musical project he has ever been involved in, however, we suspect that this may be due to the band’s erstwhile reputation as ‘The West Country’s Most Exclusive Drinking Club’ and not the subtle stylistic switches which comprise the band’s repertoire. A WORD FROM OUR MENTOR, DEVLYN SINCLAIR OBE... Dutifully administering original swing, stomp and boogie at clubs, pubs, festivals and speakeasys since 2001, when lithe frontman, Poetic Licensee and chancer Jonah Flatfoot Esquire met drummer and dog handler Dr Bunko Greyhounds on the 9.15 from Limpley Stoke to Bath one wet wednesday in february. Within but a few short months, the band that we now know and love had succeeded in persuading various other musicians into playing aside them on trumpets, saxophones, double basses and trombone to scoop their first gigs as resident roof-raisers at the now sadly defunct Hat & Feather Inn, a legendary hostelry in Bath, that when the band make their millions, they have vowed to restore to its former 'glory'. Several years, a thousand gigs, three albums, nine suspended sentences and twelve replacement livers on, and the band are renowned for their 'stamina sapping, effervescent live performances'. The horn heavy Hussies will have even the most troubled of feet flailing in the aisles and singing along to their uniquely catchy brand of song and dance. Sigh in wonder, as they straddle the jazz meridian and steer their syncopated collossus bareback through your grandads' shed... Why not then adorn your most dandy attire, fasten those braces, and cover your chest in vapour-rub for a memorable evening with The West Countrys' Most Exclusive Drinking Club... Coming soon to a dancehall / bandstand near you! Superior Stomp and Mooche Deluxe for all your dipsomaniac needs.