Spirit On The Rise

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #99cc00;"><strong>About KarismaKatz</strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;">Originally a 4-5 piece band formed in 2004, it is the Gosper/Carlsen collaboration that has resulted in the most enthusiastic accolades, particularly for the duo&rsquo;s superb synchronicity and crowd-pleasing commitment to their songs.&nbsp; <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;">Together they are an original acoustic anomaly&mdash;equal parts blues, jazz and roots, with an irresistible art-house appeal.&nbsp; They have been described as &ldquo;world class&rdquo;, &ldquo;spellbinding&rdquo;, &ldquo;refreshingly original&rdquo;.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #99cc00;"><span><strong>About DJ</strong> <strong>(vocals, harmonicas)</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0cm; line-height: normal;" class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span>DJ studied piano for eleven years and began writing her own songs at age 9.&nbsp; She still plays piano at home for fun and song-writing.&nbsp; She got into trouble for singing too loudly in school choirs so she kept quiet for many years.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0cm; line-height: normal;" class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span> She first picked up a harmonica fifteen years ago, fell hopelessly in love with the pesky little instrument and has been performing in bands ever since.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0cm; line-height: normal;" class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span> 1998 &ndash; 2001, DJ sang and played with various groups covering folk, light rock, blue-grass, country-rock, pub rock, blues genres. <br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0cm; line-height: normal;" class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span>2001 to 2005, DJ played and sang with Ernie Van Veen&rsquo;s roots-inspired originals band.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0cm; line-height: normal;" class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span> As member of renowned vocal trio The Blues Cowgirls from 2002 &ndash; 2005, DJ has played at various Australian blues and folk festivals. The independent release of &lsquo;Ask Any Woman&rsquo; was awarded "Best CD of the Year" by Canberra Roots Music.<br /> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0cm; line-height: normal;" class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span>In 2004, she was awarded &ldquo;Best Instrumentalist of the Year&rdquo; by Canberra Roots Music.<br /> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0cm; line-height: normal;" class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span>In November 2007 DJ scooped the Canberra Blues Society Awards winning three of the six music categories: "Best Vocalist", "Best Instrumentalist" and "Best Song" (for 'Burn Baby Burn', co-written with Christo).<br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0cm; line-height: normal;" class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span>Since her return to the stage following surgery and treatment for breast cancer in 2006/07, DJ is now a full-time musician making her mark in the blues, jazz and folks scenes.</span><span><br /></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0cm; line-height: normal;" class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span>Good stuff good people have said:</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;">&ldquo;Since her return to the stage, breast cancer survivor, DJ Gosper, performs with a passion that knows no tomorrow.&rdquo;<br /><span style="color: #99cc00;"><a href="http://www.thefolkus.org.au/" target="_blank" title="Bill Arnett, 2008 The Folkus Room"><span>Bill Arnett, 2008 - The Folkus Room</span></a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span>&ldquo;DJ Gosper showed us that as well as being a great blues singer, she is one of the hottest harp players around&hellip; &ldquo;<br /><span style="color: #99cc00;"><a href="http://www.canberrabluessociety.com/" target="_blank" title="Dom Melano, 2007 Canberra Blues Society"><span>Dom Melano, 2007 - Canberra Blues Society</span></a></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span>&ldquo;DJ is one of Australia's best harmonica players and has the voice of a blues diva. &ldquo;<br /><span style="color: #99cc00;"><a href="http://www.merrymuse.org.au/" target="_blank" title="Guy Gibson, 2007 The Merry Muse"><span>Guy Gibson, 2007 - The Merry Muse</span></a></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span><span style="color: #99cc00;"><a href="http://www.merrymuse.org.au/" target="_blank" title="Guy Gibson, 2007 The Merry Muse"><span><br /></span></a></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;"><span><strong><span style="color: #99cc00;">About Christo (vocals, guitars)</span><br /></strong></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span>A veteran of the Canberra music scene, Christo Carlsen was born in Nottingham in 1952, moving to Australia with his family a few years later. His father was an alcoholic toolmaker and jazz musician who joined to RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) to escape the devastation of post-war Britain. His mother was a housewife, part-time nursing sister and reluctant librarian; a kindly soul, dismally embittered and ultimately defeated by her lot in life. The young Christo vowed never to become a drunk like his dad but, as is often the case, wound up just that.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span>At age 14, after hearing Dave Davies&rsquo; blistering solo on The Kinks&rsquo; <em>All Day And All Of The Night </em>Christo took up the guitar, forming his first band, the nerdishly-named <em>Runcible Spoon</em>, just two years later. The group performed a few gigs in Canberra before disbanding, the other members citing their need to get a &lsquo;real job&rsquo;. More bands followed, but Canberra, it seems, was just not ready for the blues and Christo found himself, like many others, working folk clubs and wine bars, playing James Taylor, Crosby Stills &amp; Nash and Leonard Cohen covers, tunes he still performs occasionally.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span>In 1973, 20-year-old Christo left Canberra to join the industrial-strength blues and boogie band, <em>Bad Companions</em>, working out of the New South Wales Central Coast. It was here, in this debauched, anarchic environment that Christo&rsquo;s drinking and drugging took hold in earnest. What followed was a predictable downhill spiral until, by the late 70&rsquo;s, most of his few remaining friends had written him off as a hopeless case, destined for the madhouse or, if he was lucky, an early grave.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Carlsen spent most of the 1980&rsquo;s in a substance-induced haze, wounding and alienating anyone foolish enough to get close emotionally, until, faced with ostracism and, more worryingly, immanent mortality, he made the life-affirming decision to quit the booze and the scag once and for all. Few of the folks around him thought it would last but, twenty years on, Christo thrives and survives as a testament to the fact that, difficult and frightening as it may be, recovery is possible.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">So began the long, torturous process of re-establishing himself as a functional member of the community. Unemployable in the mainstream workforce, and scarred for life by his experience amongst the dispossessed, Christo fell back on his skills as a guitarist in order to secure a living&mdash;even with the trials and vicissitudes of the preceding decades, he had never stopped playing. With his wife, classical pianist and music teacher, <a href="http://shedea.com" target="_blank" title="Shedea">Shedea</a>, Christo formed a series of blues/rock pub bands in the 1990&rsquo;s and early 2000&rsquo;s, all of which folded due to commitment issues with other members. Because, more than anything else, Christo wanted to be a full-time muso. Some things never change.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">In 2006 Christo Carlsen, now 53, joined DJ Gosper&rsquo;s 5-piece jazz/funk/R&amp;B ensemble, DJ &amp; The <a href="http://karismakatz.com" target="_blank" title="KarismaKatz"><em>KarismaKatz</em></a>, replacing guitarist/singer, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/royrodgersandtherodeoclowns" target="_blank" title="Bob Rodgers">Bob Rodgers</a>, who had been called overseas on service with the RAAF. The new line-up clearly had great potential but was cut short when, in May of that year, DJ was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was during her long illness and recovery from the combined effects of surgery, chemo and radiation therapy that the musical collaboration showcased on <em>Spirit On The Rise</em> came to be. DJ&rsquo;s lyrics, and the themes they embrace, are complex, multi-layered and highly personal. So it comes as no surprise that, in the course of crafting the songs, Christo found himself drawn into some unfamiliar and not entirely comfortable emotional spaces. It has been worth the effort, he says; fascinating, challenging and, at the same time, deeply moving.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #99cc00;"><strong>About 'Spirit On The Rise'</strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;">This is the first KarismaKatz album.&nbsp; It is a selection of 14 songs picked out of the song-writing suitcases of DJ Gosper, Christo Carlsen and Lynnie Gosper, at last making their way onto disc.&nbsp; 10 of the songs are penned by DJ and provide an insight into her life over the past 20 years.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;">Recorded and mixed at Yurt 66 by me, Christo and Kev under&rsquo;s Kev&rsquo;s guidance and supervision. Mastered by Kev.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;">The recording of &lsquo;Spirit on the Rise&rsquo; took place between April 2007 and July 2008.&nbsp; During this time DJ was recovering from major surgery and debilitating treatment for breast cancer.&nbsp; And her mother was diagnosed with cancer in June 2007. DJ and her family cared for her at home until she left this world in January 2008.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;">2 songs are from Christo&rsquo;s collection, one written on the back of a beer coaster over 30 years ago!&nbsp; Another 2&nbsp; from Lynnie Gosper&rsquo;s (also a cancer survivor) vast collection. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;">The Gosper/Carlsen connection has resulted in many of DJ&rsquo;s songs finally being realised, as Christo has understood the emotion fuelling the lyrics.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;">DJ sings, plays blues-harps, a little bit of chromatic harmonica and bass harmonica (polyphonia).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #c0c0c0;">Christo sings and plays acoustic guitar, 12 string guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #99cc00;">"This album is something special... superb performances... a strong message of getting on with life through adversity... the spirit and adaptability of love shine through beautifully..."<br /></span><span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; color: #99cc00;"><em>Phil Birch-Marston (Artsound FM92.7)</em></span></p>