Wheels Are Turning Again

The Stratos Ensemble has been a complex beast to manage, even creatively, often demanding careful timing and careful placement of many component parts both literally and conceptually. The Stratos Ensemble basically prefers solidifying our approach with our rhythm section before developing the lead section again. A Stratos rhythm section typically includes a drummer (Coco Roussel), a bassist (Bob Gross) and a keyboardist who bridges most concepts together (Dean De Benedictis). We refer to this configuration as our core trio, even though the term "core" is slightly more subjective and dependent in this situation than what that word would usually infer. All members of the band are still just all members of the band, regardless of any given order of operations.

So, we are happy to announce that our core trio finally managed to outrun the pandemic and it's shutdowns-and-cancellations enough to have our first rehearsal in quite a long time, last weekend. The rehearsal sounded cool and it was a massive relief to play together again, like a drink of cold water in the proverbial live-music desert, as always. After a month-or-two of this we will focus on the lead section again. We just have plenty of trio shedding ahead first. We may be out-of-shape, perhaps even in more ways than one, but we are shaking the dust off and digging in and starting to work it. And sure, perhaps we have a long ways to go, but we know where we're going and we are already enjoying the journey. Greetings from the beginning.

-Dean, Coco, Bob

P.S. More good Stratos news is coming soon as well. Basically, welcome back to welcoming us back!