Jean Mazzei and Flying Venus: Bio
FLYING VENUS grows up
December 2001 - Jean writes a bunch of songs and starts to play her guitar again. she teams up with Frank Buhrmann and Rod Gilchrist to form the first inversion of still to be named Flying Venus. Other names considered: "the jeans" and "the holy diaphrams" and "soilent jean."
Jan 2002 - Frank, Rod, and Jean start practicing. Frank is still umemployed and has just had a new baby.
March 2002 - Frank and Jean start playing coffeehouses. Rod leaves the band because he's too busy. Jean keeps writing new songs.
April 2002 - John Mazzei joins the band on keyboards.
May 2002 - Fl;ying Venus has their first full band gig: Jean on lead vox and guitar, John on keys, Frank on bass, Elliot Nemzer on guitar, and Lyric on drums.
June 2002-Oct 2003 - Flying Venus plays lots of gigs and develops a fan base. Dori Petrie comes in as a backup singer. Frank leaves the band because he has a 60 hour work week and a baby boy. Rique joins the band. Rique leaves the band. Amelia joins the band on bass. Dana comes in as drummer. Flying Venus is ready to take off.
Oct 2003 - Wild Heart Girl CD release party at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco.
Nov 2003- Feb 2004 - Lots of gigs in San Francisco and LA.
March 2004 - Amelia leaves the band. Xavier comes in on bass. Flying Venus is getting ready to soar. Bigger and better gigs, more fans.
August 2004 - BC Cliver comes in on lead guitar. Kate Laws comes in for behind the scenes stuff. Flying Venus is going full steam.
January, 2005 - Fred Harris joins the band on drums.
Feb 2005 - Guy Lowman comes from England to work with us in the publicity and promotion department!
March 2005 - Guy goes back to the U.K. to spread the gospel of Venus.
May 2005 brings in Julie Clark as our official swag seller and research assistant, and Maria Halyna as our festival booker and public relations woman.
October 2005 - we start recording a new cd.
December 2005 - we've got 4 songs recorded and mixed for all the world to hear.
March 2006 - we finish tracking the cd.
April 2006 - Xavier leaves the band for personal reasons. the hunt for a new bass player begins.
May 2006 - Clinton Day comes in to save the day on bass.
October 2006 - We travel to Phoenix and So Cal, packed in a van with all the gear. Sardines anyone? AFter that, we have our official cd release party at the Little Fox Theater for FACE OF A NATION.
Nov 2006 -- the band takes a hiatus while Jean promotes Face of a Nation. she also starts writing material for a solo cd.
July 2007 - Jean goes to LA to track the cd. She works with Victor Bisetti (Los Lobos), Ian Sheridan (Jason Mraz), GE Stinson (Shadowfax.) They track 12 songs in 2 days. They also really liked the songs, so it was really fun and creative! Jean feels like she's home.
August 2007 - Jean goes down to track her guitar parts and lead vocals. She tracks the guitar in 2 days, and sings 13 songs in 2 days. Her producer, Ronan Chris Murphy said she was "a Machine!"
October 2007 - BREATHING UNDER WATER is finished. Flying Venus as a band dissolves, and Jean is free to fly solo, duo, or however many she wants, whenever she wants.
Jean Mazzei - singer, songwriter, instigator
Jean Mazzei (singer, songwriter, instigator) came out of the womb singing and began playing piano and guitar in grade school. She graduated cum laude from Mt Holyoke College with a double major in music and dance and was hired in a dance company called The Susan Warden Dancers directly out of college. She left the company to become co-artistic director of Kansas City's "City in Motion Dance Theater," and taught and choreographed for the resident company, as well as charged the dance school. After 7 years, she found her way back to music and started writing songs again with her husband-to-be, John Mazzei, a jazz player and budding film composer. In order to perform with John, she poured herself into jazz and became an accomplished jazz vocalist. Knowing in her heart that her true love lies in rock and roll, Jean started taking classes with Bonnie Hayes. She got so inspired, she bought an electric guitar and started playing again. A year later, she had enough original songs and birthed the band "Flying Venus."
Her song "Face of a Nation," the title cut of Flying Venus' 2006 release, won 4th place in the Unisong International Song Contest in the LUNCHLUNCH category.
Jean is a recipient of the WCS "Best Performance" award, and has put out 2 CDs, one of which hit CDbaby's best seller list in February 2004. May of 2005, her 3rd CD "At Last," a treasure trove of jazz standards and originals, featuring John Mazzei on piano, Anton Schwartz on tenor sax, Dan Feiszli on bass, Vince Lateano on drums, is now available on CD baby. A couple of the cuts feature the Paul Nagel Trio. (Paul Nagel, John Schifflett, Jason Lewis), who are touring with Boz Scaggs..
Her song "I Wanna Be Bad" was recently picked up by Troy Tipton of Applecore Entertainment and is being licensed by east coast prodigy, Amy Rapp. "Darkness" placed 3rd in Bump Your Song Live" out of Texas, where scads of songs are played before a live audience and then voted on! Music for the masses baby! She has produced many shows, including "Girlz Who Rock," a vehicle for female fronted original bands. In 2004 she produced "Girlz Who Roll," at the Broadway Studios, which included female indie filmmakers in the mix.
She also teaches Rock Star Yoga, her own blend of sweaty, fun, and spiritual.
John Mazzei - keyboard god
John Mazzei started as a vocalist when his rendition of "O Holy Night" brought down the house. Then his voice changed... and he discovered the piano. From there he started playing in bar bands at age 12, and proceeded to attend the "Holiday Inn School of Music" where he toured with top 40 cover bands for decades. He is also an accomplished jazzcat, and brings an extensive wealth of musical know-how to the table. His smokin' solos contain influences from rock legends laced with Herbie Hancock. If that's not enough, his studio skills as a producer/engineer/arranger come in extremely handy. An avid gear hound, he is constantly improving their studio, Palace View Studios, named after the very important and large venue, the Cow Palace in San Francisco. John is married to the lead singer.
Clinton Day - bass
Clinton Day (bass), is proud to be named "the One" and the newest member of Flying Venus. A professional bassist in the Bay Area, Clinton has been playing jazz, funk and blues for the past 20 years. Clinton’s first bass teachers were Marc Van Wageningen (Pete Escovedo, Cornelius Bumpus) and Paul Jackson (Herbie Hancock). Clinton began studying music at Columbia College in California in 1982 under Dr. Rod Harris. He finished his studies at San Jose State University in California, receiving his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1987, and earning his Master of Arts Degree in 1990. As an accompanist/arranger for the Columbia College Music Program he had the opportunity to perform with numerous artists including Bobbie McFerrin, Carl Anderson, Cornelius Bumpus, Clare Fischer, Don Shelton, Bobby Shew, Grant Geissman, Phil Mattson, and Richie Cole. He can often be found sitting in on bass and piano with Bay Area jazz artists Kelly Park, Reid Whatley, John Witala, and Jim Grantham.
Dori Petrie - backup vox, dancer
Dori (backup vox, dancer) brings her own special mix of talents to Flying Venus. Her perfectly blended backup vox, coupled with her dance moves, are like really good chocolate frosting. A science person by day, rock goddess by night, Dori is all about chemistry. Dori is a latecomer to the music biz, having joined Flying Venus (her freshman effort) in early 2003. But her musical sensibilities far precede that. Dori remembers comments on her dancing as early as age 7, and she’s been approached in dance clubs countless times, with people either commending her talent or asking for lessons. The most common question is “Where do you get all that energy from?” She usually says, “I never gave up my teenage angst!”
A past “groupie” of more than a few bands, Dori dubs Gene Kelly, Elvis Presley, and Ann Miller as a few of her influences while growing up. Her voice has been compared to the likes of Anne Murray, Karen Carpenter, and Julia Fordham. Finally following her dream to be a singer in a band, she took the plunge and auditioned for Flying Venus. Jean’s music is right up her alley… it’s fun, moody, and the lyrics are quirky. Good girls gone bad? What a fabulous outlet for her teenage angst!
B.C. Cliver - electric guitar
Marshall amps, personal trainer - she's got it all. BC's tone has really beefed up the sound. Musical vegans - beware...
Combining the precision of her classical training with the inspired heart and guts of rock-n-roll, B.C. brings audiences to their feet with her original songs and covers. Her favorite style is hard-driving old-school rock, but she plays, writes and sings in a range of genres, including opera, blues, folk and spirituals.
B.C.'s rock style is flavored by her physical strength, which comes from years as a personal fitness trainer and body builder. ?Heaving Marshall amps up and down several flights of stairs is a non-standard but highly effective form of weight lifting! She still does training as her "day job" but who knows for how long, so watch out!
B.C. has performed in and written for a range of events in San Francisco and other parts of California, from women's theater to fund raisers to arts festivals, including the prestigious Queer Arts Festival of SF.
Fred Harris - drums
Fred is a drummer to be reckoned with. His rock chops and musicality, not to mention his ability to mind read, astound audiences and band members. No slacker in the piano department - he's played jazz with about every heavy hitter you can think of. To name three: Chico Freeman, George Cables, Kurt Elling. He's like Aerosmith meets, hmmm.... Fred is also a touring artist for Steinway pianos. He's a true crossover artist, nailing classical, jazz, rock, what DOESN'T he do?
