djambossa bios

Dean Gionis is a Canadian born musician and songwriter with a rich heritage of ethnic folk music derived from his Greek roots and immigrant parents. As a teenager, Dean stumbled across the electric guitar and was instantly awestruck by its sound. Practicing feverishly, Dean quickly formed a band in
high school and never looked back. Dean was influenced by whatever was on the radio, and specifically by legends like Todd Rundgren, Gentle Giant, Genesis, Van Halen and Al Dimeola.

In college while pursuing a minor in music, Dean played with a few hard rock bands and enjoyed covering groups like AC/DC, U2, Billy Idol, The Police, Def Leppard and many others of that era.

In 1995, Dean formed the band nancyscandy that featured his original compositions in a
pop/hardrock genre. Dean wrote and recorded three CD’s with the nancyscandy ensemble. During his career Dean had the pleasure of sharing the stage with performers such as Kim Mitchel, Rick Wakeman of Yes, Rik Emmett and Eddie Money.

In 2002, Dean did something he always wanted to do; he began studying the classical guitar and the ethnic genres associated with the timeless nylon stringed instrument. Coached by David Reed, a fabulous international musician and instructor, Dean started to learn classical pieces and bossanova’s while expanding his use of free improvisation.

In 2004, Dean visited David Reed in Barcelona, Spain. David introduced Dean to live Flamenco music and arranged for one on one instruction from a local flamenco guitar master. In 2005, Dean stumbled across a gypsy jazz band led by Stu Fuchs which would serve as another profound moment in Deans musical journey. All that was left now was for Dean to get into the game.

“I have always been drawn to the emotion of ethnic folk, whether it was music from Spain, South America, Mexico, France, Greece or even our own American blues. Even when playing in rock bands in the past, I frequently infused romantic and emotional phrases into my material. The last 5 years for me musically has been about getting more involved in the music that I love.”

Recently, with his former band mate and co-writer Bob Maulucci, the group Djambossa was born. Djambossa visits Deans ethnic roots through the exploration of flamenco, bossanova and the gypsy jazz styles. Recently inspired by the great Django Reinhardt, a guitar master of the 1930’s and 40’s, Dean is excited to play in Djambossa as a means to perform pure, uncompromised music.

Bob Maulucci is a Buffalo born musician that has played on the local music scene for over 15 years. Growing up in a rather musically destitute neighborhood on the West Side, Bob had to look beyond the pavement and outwards for musical inspiration. With the encouragement of his family, he started guitar lessons and has never looked back.

Initially enamored by the blues rock of the late 60's, Bob's interest in improvising blossomed, and he began slowly wearing out his brother's record collection playing along with the likes of Hendrix, Clapton, and John Mayall. And then, there was Jeff Beck.

Like many of the young teens in his neighborhood, Bob spent countless hours at Home of the Hits searching the bins. The UK metal scene was gaining ground, and punk scenes from both coasts where slowly infiltrating Buffalo's scene. A lot of good "old" stuff was finding its way into the "used" bin, and this is where Bob found Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow. From the brash leads of "Freeway Jam" to the tender vibrato on "Cause We've Ended as Lovers", Bob's guitar style became forever transformed.

"I've never stopped playing rock, but from that moment I knew that there was more to do, more to pursue than the simple riff or pop hook that would satisfy most listeners. I did not want to just be a band member, I wanted to be a player...an artist."

Bob has since played in many local bands, bringing his electric guitar to many venues around town. In the late 90's he was there at the inception of nancyscandy, a musical partnership with Dean Gionis that has given both players the chance to play with some of the best national and international recording artists.

"The big difference between us and the other local acts was that we were not afraid to play our instruments. We did not care if people thought we were a bit over the top. We tried to make the most of our limited chance to play our guitars. We've always had a strange symbiotic relationship on our instruments, we have worked best when working together."

All the while Bob's diverse listening has taken him into traditional jazz, free improv, Syrian, Indian classical, and other world music traditions. The complex rhythms and constant improv of artists like Shakti, Shawn Lane, and Jonas Hellborg have been a source of inspiration for Bob. Through Dean, the gypsy jazz acoustic flights of Django Reinhardt and Bireli Lagrene have made a huge impact.
After years of proudly playing electric music, Bob is thrilled to embark on this new acoustic musical adventure.

"There is nothing holding us back, we're not even bound by a guitar cord anymore (at least at small gigs). There is nothing between us and the music but a pair of spruce topped manouche guitars and 12 strings. It's scary as hell, but in a liberating way. Like parachuting without first double checking your chute. No smoke and mirrors, just 12 notes constantly rearranged and made beautiful."

photos by Bruce Supernault

It's perhaps the most important ingredient in just about any music stew. The right bass player can make a rhythm section, can urge the music toward unexpected and exciting places, can add another melodic layer, or just as easily provide the visceral thump that is so often the catalyst in making a song or a band's sound truly sublime.

Kent Weber is the right bass player. Everyone in his hometown knows it. Kent Weber has worked with Psychedelic Furs, Ian Hunter, Mars Williams of Liquid Soul, Donovan, Jimmy Fallon & Robert Smigel of Saturday Night Live, Triumph the insult comic dog, The Push Stars, Iggy Pop, Billy Idol Band, David Kane's Them Jazzbeards, Terry Sullivan, Babik, Priya Thomas & Electroman and now Djambossa.