In the year of the Black Horse, circa two thousand two, on the banks of the mighty Hudson River, a nameless band was born to the loving parents of saxophonist Jonathon Haffner, percussionist Jennifer Harris and bass drummer Kenny Wollesen. Endowed with the gifted ability to be mobile, electric, and acoustic, the band began its odyssey, producing sounds that inspire people to move in ways never thought possible, physically, mentally and spiritually. By March 2003 during the Love Not War parade, the band quickly reached maturity on the streets on New York City. Followed by a well balanced diet of gigs of astonishing variety, plus a constant influx of New York’s finest musicians, the band grew and the songbook filled too, mixed with a cache of original music from some of today’s brilliant composers(Frisell, Zorn, Bernstein Apfelbaum, Wilson, Mottel, Wieselman). Through the rings of its growth, many names came along to refer to “the marching band”, some sticking longer than others, yet each one reflecting the here and now.
Venues: multimedia performances (Anthology Film Archives); massive puppet shows (with NYC Puppeteers Collective, ImaginationExplosion, Great Small Works); cultural festivals (Lincoln Center Outdoors, CitySol, River TO River); community parades (Gay Pride, South Bronx Earth Day); Peace of Love ceremonies (RNC, May Day); music-making workshops for children of the South Bronx and Lower East Side; a spectacular 150-person performance at 2005 Celebrate Brooklyn (known then as S.L.A.M.); a month-long residency with legendary conductor Lawrence “Butch” Morris; special guest appearances (Medeski, Martin and Wood, Brazilian Girls); operas, studio recordings, and a weekly stint at the surrealist bar Zebulon in Williamsburg. Currently, the band can be seen in film great Jonas Mekas’ web film “365 films”