SCREAMING HEADLESS TORSOS
Screaming Headless Torsos is the genre-bending jazz-funk-rock band founded by guitar virtuoso, professor, and Guggenheim Fellow, David Fiuczynski. Listeners will find the “twelve-tone beats and atonal heat” break-neck grooves, soul shrieking, and middle eastern micro-tonal guitar melodies all seasoning the band’s signature rock recipe.
Though the debut album in 1995 (Warner Discovery) was supposed to filed in the rock-pop category, the band’s rock abandon and creativity with just the right amount of improvisation won fans and critics in both the rock and jazz camps. The Torsos were chosen by Musician Magazine as one of the top bands of 1996, described as “brilliantly blending jazz know-how with a love for heavy riffs.” Guitar Player wrote that [Torsos] “combines a hip handle on high culture with wicked knack for the raw groove.” Shortly after the release of debut album, SHT went on to tour Japan, the Americas, and Europe, and released a live album recorded in Japan in 1996.
The Torsos took a hiatus in the late ’90s fueled by creative and personal differences and in 2004, a new Torsos was beginning to form. Fronted by new lead singer Freedom Bremner — fresh from his collaboration with symphonica artist/producer Moby — the Torsos began to tour Europe and Latin America. A new studio album was released, “Torsos 2005”, (which featured original vocalist Dean Bowman and 2 tracks with Bremner), a hits compilation called “Choice Cuts” (2006), and a live DVD recorded at the New Morning Club in Paris and the Knitting Factory in New York City. The resurgence was followed by European and Latin American tours.
The Torsos raised the bar very early in its career and released more quality than quantity. It earned the band that elusive international cult status, with fans posting YouTube tribute performances and blogging about when the next release would come and what it would sound like.
In 2010, the band released “Dead Christmas Trees”, its first video single with Bremner. Produced by New York producer Gregg Fine, the band was back with a vengeance. With this energy fueling more music, the band released the new album “Code Red” in 2014. This was album filled with “firsts.” Code Red was the first full album in 9 years, the first to feature Freedom Bremner on vocals , the first to feature new member David Ginyard on bass, the first to employ two drummers veteran Torsos Gene Lake and Skoota Warner and the first to feature guest artists. Code Red was co-produced by The Torsos, Gregg Fine and legendary Bad Brains producer and multiple grammy winner Ron St. Germain. The Torsos band members have said that “Code Red” is driven more by songs than “chops”, with inspiration spanning drum and bass, electronica, rock, hip-hop, and Middle-Eastern jazz.
Code Red also features appearances by the late Bernie Worrell on keyboards (Parliament/Funkadelic), James Valentine guitar (Maroon 5) and Casey Benjamin (keys) Robert Glasper Trio.
The band line-up features, David Fiuczynski on guitar, Freedom Bremner on vocals, Daniel Sadownick on percussion, David Ginyard on bass and James “Biscuit” Rouse on drums and vocals.