Majajewa
The diversity of Majajewa’s music is paralleled in the backgrounds of it’s collective members, who each bring unique interpretations with a common goal. With decidedly danceable feels drawing from various world genres ranging from ancient to electronic, Majajewa transports listeners via a timeless sound appealing to music lovers and dancers alike.
Marissa (Vocals) The most-southern Philippine Islands were Marissa’s home until she was 20. She came to Boulder via the San Francisco Bay Area. Her musical influences were the music of Java, Sumatra, Malaysia, and the Arabic music she heard growing up in a Muslim home. She studied classical and jazz vocals for 7 years. Marissa speaks Tagalog and its distinct dialects of Tausag and Chavacano, Spanish, Portugese, Arabic, and of course English. With a love of world beat, jazz, and rock, she combines these seven languages when she sings, making even standard songs unique.
Jason (Drums) Jason Dunckley’s musical exposure stems all the way back to his mother’s womb where he traveled around to gigs and concerts. His father, “Alto John”, an accomplished alto saxophone player and vocalist, moved his family from Phoenix Arizona to Boulder Colorado when Jason was five. The move further exposed Jason to a vast and diverse cross-section of music, including South American, Brazilian, and African rhythms. All of this exposure has continually fueled Jason’s passion for the primally inherent communication and intention possible through the art of drumming. Playing in diverse settings from marching band, to musical theater, to traditional jazz, to drum circles, to live freestyle Hip Hop, over the past 20 years Jason has striven to adapt his lifetime of musical exposure to the drum set, while continually integrating a fusion of new influences creating a new sound that makes you get up and shake your butt. Jason is a firm believer in the ability of music to heal, uplift, comfort and even save a person’s life. He would confidently tell you that he would not be alive today except for the power of music.
Jon Talon (Guitars) Jon believes: “Music is a part of the essence of my very life.” He often finds himself immersed in tears, entranced. He lets them drip onto the instrument, he believes in that connection. “Music and I, we have been together for so long, I can’t imagine this world without it. It cries, it laughs and it has a very strange sense of humor. I take it all, as a gift and share it freely.” His influences are deeply rooted in the past.
Steve (Bass) Steve always brings an eclectic element to the mix. With his diverse background as an accomplished musician, producer, and engineer he has a unique ability to glue the rhythms together in Majajewa. Steve’s modesty shines in his music yet his experience is extensive. He has done formal training with Oscar Carlson in jazz and classical guitar and with his father, a Julliard composition student, as well as master-classes with Ralph Towner (and members of the group Oregon), Don Cherry and Michael Ray. Steve recounts playing with – “…lots of bands, Montage, Aerial Moose, Pedestrians, Laurie Anderson, Metro, Table Manners, ULU but maybe best of all I’ve played at least a little with Don Cherry, Paul McCandles, Collin Walcott and Michael Ray.” He also enjoys composing modern instrumental, Jazz and Rock-songs and has done professional sound engineering (zengineering school thereof). His engineering work included dates for Stan Brakhage (Sunday Associates), Naram Sin, Doll Parts, Architects Office, Monochrome Blau, Ice Plants (Steve- “yes, I worked for the underground music scene”) and most recently Rogue Sound.
