A New Fairwell

We're going to kick off this new year of new beginnings by saying a final farewell to last year and perhaps beyond. We sometimes post works here by musicians other than the Stratos Ensemble, if those works or musicians somehow relate to the ensemble in a way that we consider significant. In 2017 bassist Doug Lunn passed away. He was a member of the Stratos Ensemble for over a year. Both he and Stratos founder Dean De Benedictis also played together in a different band previously, which is where they met. That band is called Zen Land. Zen Land is run by Michael Zentner, who among other things was the guitarist and violinist for known progressive rock band The Muffins back in the 70s. While Dean was in Mike's new band Zen Land, he played keyboards and did a lot of production for them, including a fraction of the video work. Much like the Stratos Ensemble, Zen Land is mostly improvised electro-acoustic music, but among other differences, a lot more tranquil and repetitive than The Stratos Ensemble. There is never any drummer in Zen Land. But Zen Land's music still holds a beauty that's virtually undefinable. Both Dean and Doug seemed to fit right in. Below is a video of the last performance they gave with Zen Land, a couple of years ago. And once again, for Auld Lang Syne and whatever else, here's a farewell to meaningful old acquaintances and a welcoming to new chapters.

Musicians in this video:

Tim Young - guitar

Doug Lunn - bass

Michael Zentner - violin

Vonette Yanaginuma: Harp

Dean De Benedictis - synths