Ahoy!

Co-founder of Brother Joscephus and the Love Revolution in 2007 (www.brotherjoscephus.com).

 

Recipient of the Independent Music Award, Best Live Performance, 2011 for “Live at Brooklyn Bowl,” ; John Lennon Songwriting Award Finalist in 2009 (Gospel) for “A Child Shall Lead the Way”  and 2008 (R&B) “I Won’t Be That Man”

 

David was founding member and principal guitar player and songwriter for Trickside (Wind-Up Records ), touring nationally, with the single “Under You” reaching #27 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 Charts in 2001.

 

David is an alumni of the BMI Lehman Engle Musical Theater Songwriters Workshop, runs the very busy wedding and event band The Love Revival Orchestra (www.theloverevival.com), established 2011 and Grateful Dead Tribute Act Shakedown Citi, established 2023 (www.shakedownciti.com)

Charly Kay is a third generation musician and entertainer with over two decades of experience in the industry. Charly is known for her powerful vocals, ability to play around with harmony/ melody and her attention to musical detail.

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With influences ranging from jazz all the way over to rock and nearly everything in-between, Charly has an eclectic view of how music can be sung and leans into every opportunity to make every song her very own, while still paying homage to the artists that came before her and paved the way.

 

Charly Kay is also an actress with multiple credits and accolades to her name. She has performed at countless weddings, venues and festivals across the country, and beyond. She has had the pleasure of sharing her gift with the likes of Taylor Swift, Boyz II Men, Chad Smith of RHCP, and many more. Charly Kay is the lead singer of the High & Mighty Brass Band, a member of the vocal quartet The New York Belles and very proud and happy to be a Lobster.

It was meeting Henry Mancini and Leonard Bernstein in Los Angeles while studying music at California State University at Northridge that motivated Dean Fransen to dedicate his life to music. As a young multi-instrumentalist, Fransen first focused on the trumpet but was later drawn toward the piano where he began songwriting, arranging and composing. He began passionately
teaching music part time at Agoura High School (his own alma mater) while still attending college classes. Meeting producer David Foster (Josh Groban, Michael Bublé, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli) film composer Bill Conti (Rocky) and TV composer Patrick Williams (Mary Tyler Moore Show) led Mr. Fransen to study film scoring with Bob Drasnin (CBS FOX). In 1986 he became
the music librarian for composer Lee Holdridge (Neil Diamond, John Denver, and Barbra Streisand). As an apprentice to Stan Sheldon, Fransen helped prepare music notation for the ABC Television show Moonlighting (Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd)
and Elton John’s concert “Live in Australia”. He studied record production at UCLA with John Boylan (Linda Ronstadt, Boston, Little River Band).

 

Mr. Fransen has performed and directed music for over 30 years with a wide array of notable artists and groups
such as, Harry Connick, Sr, The Nelson Riddle Orchestra, The Fifth Dimension, Regis Filbin, Nell Carter, Jennifer Holliday and Rosemary Clooney. Fransen is the Co-Founder and Music Director for the New York based national touring ensemble called Brother Joscephus and the Love Revolution. He is currently the Co-Founder and Music Director of a music mentorship program
in New York called the Global Music Academy Orchestra which is powered by the Daisy Jopling Music Mentorship Foundation (a non-profit organization). Fransen co-produced, administrated, arranged, orchestrated and conducted Daisy Jopling’s Awakening Show in 2016 at The Paramount Hudson Valley Theater and in 2017 at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. The program includes
Rhythm Specialist Michael Feigenbaum, and has included special guests stars from the Broadway stage such as Joni Blondell (42nd Street) and Justin Sargent (Spider-man Turn Off the Dark).

 

Fransen currently teaches workshops and mentors musicians of
all ages and all levels. Mr. Fransen started as a professional keyboard artist and music director on luxury cruise ships and toured the world extensively
(128 countries and all 50 United States) while entertaining in a multitude of musical settings. Between tours he formed, led, and composed for his original 7-piece electric-acoustic instrumental fusion ensemble in Los Angeles called "Port Of Call". Fransen’s
band was one of the first to apply a brand new MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) technology on stage such as the KAT (MIDI mallet instrument), the EVI (Electric Valve Instrument, and the electric MIDI violin. Fransen’s writing created a very
accessible electric-acoustic blend that featured top-notch LA musicians like Glenn Garrett, Charlie Bisharat, Craig Hara, Trey Henry, Jim Donica, Billy Hulting, Brian Kilgore, Rod Harbour, Dave Hooper and Dave Tull.
 

Fransen spent a couple of years in the LA theater scene as the Music Director for The Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama and Vaudeville Company. While there he conducted musical theater workshops for all ages and wrote original works for the theater with Bob Fraser (including a full-length sci-fi comedy-adventure musical). These live theater productions included elaborate
keyboard improvisations with live actors on stage. In 1998, Dean Fransen’s jazz trio, with bassist Trey Henry and drummer Kendall Kay, was awarded third place in the John Coltrane Music Competition. Soon thereafter his crafty approach caught the attention of The Walt Disney Corporation and from 1998-2000 his Jazz trio was featured on board the Disney Magic cruise ship. This led to a CD he produced in LA featuring bassist Chris Clarke and drummer Mark Ferber entitled Dean Digs Disney (due for independent re-release in 2022).
Fransen moved to New Orleans in 2000 and formed his jazz combo there featuring Jason Marsalis, Roland Guerin and Brice Winston. He became the music contractor, conductor, and Music Director for both the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and The Jimmy Maxwell Orchestra. In 2001 he appeared on stage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival with Harry Connick, Sr. In 2002 he formed and led the band for the Krewe of Rex parade float featuring the King of the Mardi Gras. Mr. Fransen also engaged in the New Orleans theater scene as Music Director for Stage to Stage Inc., where he formed the Noveau Vaudeville Orchestra, led summer workshops, and wrote a children’s musical for the stage. Mr. Fransen soon became the
Music Director for Harry Connick Sr. and traveled with a national touring show called "A Tribute To The Music Of Frank Sinatra" Featuring Harry Connick Sr. and The Nelson Riddle Orchestra.
Some other highlights of Mr. Fransen's live performance credits include a stint in 2003 as an on-stage performer for the national tour of the Broadway Show "Fosse". In 2006 he was Music Director for the US show "I Can't Stop Loving You", produced by the Spirit of Ray, Inc. featuring the Music of Ray Charles.
Mr. Fransen's recording experience is extensive. His diverse arranging, composing and keyboard artistry can be heard on recordings alongside drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, trumpeter Ken Ross, and guitarist Chris Cortez, with whom he co-led the New Orleans based ensemble Groovopolis. He has helped produced recordings for various artists in a wide variety of musical genres
ranging from jazz and blues to world, rock, folk and country music. Some examples of recordings that Mr. Fransen has produced in New Orleans and Los Angeles and Co-Produced in New York include: “Up from New Orleans” - Doctor Dean and His Music Machine
“Addicted to Love Songs” - Deb Bowman
“Revolution of Love” - Brother Joscephus and the Love Revolution

When not making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Lavondo is a Grammy nominated bassist, composer, and music director out of New York City. 

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He has performed for audiences around the world ; 30 plus countries from Europe, Asia, Australia, and all throughout North America - with such acts as recording artist Daisy Jopling, Ana Popovic, Broadway and TV's "Survivor" stars Josh Canfield and Reed Kelly, Mitch Jarvis, Eddie Holmn (Hey There Lonely Girl), and Umar Bin Hassan (The Last Poets), Sir Graham Russell’s A Wall Apart, and 50 Shades! The Musical among many others. 

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He’s also served as Assistant musical director for Echoes of Etta  (2014 MAC Award for Show of the Year), Asst. Music Director for vocalist William Blake (New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Male Jazz Vocalist), member of Brother Joscephus and the Love Revolution (2011 Independent Music Award Best Live Performance).

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He recently did arrangements for - and played the entire ‘Vault’ movie soundtrack, starring Chazz Palminteri and Don Johnson. 

 

Signed to Ropeadope Records with his world music The Flowdown, he also served as Assistant musical director for Echoes of Etta (2014 MAC Award for Show of the Year), Asst. Music Director for vocalist William Blake (New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Male Jazz Vocalist) , member of Brother Joscephus and the Love Revolution (2011 Independent Music Award Best Live Performance) .

Pit bassist for numerous Broadway and off Broadway shows - including most recently the Tony and Pulitzer award winning ‘A Stange Loop"

Tom McCaffrey is a guitarist, singer, and producer based in New York. His projects include writing and performing the original score to the Rochester Fringe Festival Circus with his duo Mountain Girl, backing up artists like Gloria Gaynor and John Wetton of King Crimson, playing in the house band for the NASCAR awards ceremony, and running a recording studio called Rad Hazard (@rad.hazard.studios) in Brooklyn where he has produced records for a vast array of artists as well as his own projects.

 

While not running the studio he is playing gigs around the city with his bands Civilians, 99¢ Dream, Mountain Girl, Yacht Lobsters, and many more. He’s on Instagram at @tom_mccaffrey and his various projects can be found there.

Matt Zebroski began playing drums professionally at age 16 in Pittsburgh, PA. at 18, Matt moved to New York to attend the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. There he studied with some of the world’s most notable jazz musicians including Billy Hart, John Riley, Charlie Persip, and Richie Beirach. Matt quickly developed into a highly accomplished player and instructor, taught private lessons in New York, and conducted clinics at the Litchfield Jazz Camp and in Mexico.

 

While at the New School, Matt met guitarist Alex Skolnick, of Testament. in 2001 the two formed the Alex Skolnick Trio. They have since recorded five studio albums and toured worldwide as a headliner and with the guitar duo Rodrigo Y Gabriella, playing historic venues such as Radio City Music Hall in New York City, the Olympia Theater in Paris, and Shepherd’s Bush in London. AST has just finished a new album set for a 2024 release. 

 

Matt has also had the pleasure of recording/performing with such artists as Lew Soloff, Randy Becker, Mike Stern, Bonnie Tyler, multi-platinum songwriter Jim Steinman, Grammy nominated cellist Dave Eggar, metal band Ikillya, Broadway star Rob Evan, Philippe Quint, Matt Herskowitz, Miles Davis keyboardist/producer Adam Holzman, and Grammy award winning Polka artist Alex Meixner. Matt is also a founding member of the group the Flail, a jazz quintet that has toured all over the U.S. and Europe, playing concerts at jazz at Vienne And Marseille Jazz Festival. He has toured across the U.S. and China with Broadway Rox, an exciting Broadway/rock musical review produced by Rob Evan and Thomas Schilling. He has also been working with world renowned violinist Daisy Jopling, promoting her album “Awakening” with a tour of 23 cities in China and performing in Europe at the world famous Musikverein Hall in Vienna. Matt continues to work on developing his style in a way that seamlessly incorporates all different aspects and styles of music.

Kyle Schweizer is a Bronx-born saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist, being also skilled at clarinet, flute, piano, guitar, voice and percussion. He honed his craft at Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School and New School University.

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He is a dynamic performer and stage presence who has played with bands such as Ambrosia, John Ford Coley, Brother Josephus, Angela Workman, and Mike Ogletree of Simple Minds. He also is a gifted songwriter and arranger having written many originals and song re-imaginings for the six piece swing big band Double Down. He has also appeared on the shows/movies Vinyl, The Only Living Boy in New York and Delivering the Goods.

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He performs with an infectious energy and enthusiasm and is always ready to engage with the audience.

Michael Moshan has spent four decades playing keyboards and singing in various New York bands. He collaborated as the keyboardist, backup vocalist and co-songwriter alongside David Mendelsohn in the NYC band Nonfiction during the 90’s, playing sexy sweet originals mostly to friends in iconic venues such as The Bitter End. He also played keys in the band Mental, which had one live performance and never went anywhere, despite a great demo. In the late 90’s, he co-produced and co-wrote (with Mendelsohn) Rock the SAT, a project that majestically incorporated nearly 300 SAT vocabulary words into 13 original rock songs and included a corresponding book published by Scholastic, reaching #2 on Amazon's best-seller list and Top 10 on The New York Times bestsellers in nonfiction and finding its way into classrooms nation-wide.

 

In the 2000’s, Michael became an OG member of Mendelsohn’s gospel/rock/New Orleans extravaganza Brother Josephus and the Love Revival, playing keys and singing tenor backup vox for over 10 years with the band, writing the only song not written by Mendelsohn, Big Ol’ Lushy Woman.

 

Presently residing in Irvington, NY with his wife and their two boys, Michael works in real estate, is a central player in Westchester’s advanced tennis community, and plays keys and sings in a local band, Killer Mixtape, which plays live once or twice a year, but rehearses relentlessly. He loves his family like crazy, enjoys movies, exploring great food, and gardening, all the while listening to groovy songs from the 70’s and 80’s. Michael is thrilled to be playing yachty music with these brilliant musicians.