Cosa Nostra Strings

Costa Nostra Strings
Cosa Nostra Strings

Release date: 8/18/20

Slow & Steady Records and Jazz Mafia announce the co-release of genre-bending chamber ensemble Cosa Nostra Strings self-titled debut album, Cosa Nostra Strings. A fitting Mafia-nod to the Sicilian crime syndicate, and translated as “our thing,” Cosa Nostra is a band of musical misfits who find common ground between classical and chamber music, metal, hip hop, R&B, jazz, drum & bass and EDM.

Founded in 2015, the eclectic ensemble has honed its singular sound through collaboration and a regular performance schedule, and finally entered the studio for its long-awaited debut of all original music composed by each member of the band. Featuring a cadre of superlative musicians including violinist Shaina Evoniuk, violist/vocalist Keith Lawrence, cellist Lewis Pazner, multi-percussionist Aaron Kierbel, and bassist/trombonist Adam Theis, the music showcases pretty much everything a string band can do. “Through the recording process, the band's sound really evolved into something much more cohesive than ever before,” notes Evoniuk. “Sort of like a trip around the world, landing you, in the end, at home.”

The arrival of Cosa Nostra Strings has been a long time coming. “For over a decade, I had experimented with strings in dozens of different groups and projects,” recalls Theis, founder and leader of the Bay Area’s acclaimed Jazz Mafia, and composer of the Mafia’s highly ambitious “Brass, Bows & Beats,” which premiered at SFJAZZ in 2009 and sparked a full North America Tour with his 50-piece “Jazz Mafia Symphony.” “But when Cosa Nostra first met, it really just clicked, and I quickly realized this would be a project I'd devote a huge chunk of my life to.” Indeed, Cosa Nostra Strings is only a beginning, as the ensemble sets out to shake up the chamber music world doing it’s own thing.

Shaina Evoniuk - violin

Keith Lawrence - viola, vocals

Lewis Pazner - cello

Aaron Kierbel - drums and percussion

Adam Theis - bass and trombone