Inasense may be the most powerful, unique, and original jam band in the country. Like the Dead or Phish, the stage is where they shine. Listen to Inasense and you'll hear rock, blues, country, jazz, and middle eastern rolled into one thunderous, original sound. Lead guitarist, C Lanzbom, and guitarist, lead vocalist Noah Solomon Chase, write all the songs. The thunder erupts with Mark Ambrosino on drums. The sound is riveted together by their explosive bass player, Jay.

C Lanzbom, grew up at the Jersey Shore and besides memorizing most of the solos of Jerry Garcia, Duane Allman, and Eric Clapton, he studied with Jazz Keyboardist Lenny Popkins, a direct descendent of the great Be-Bop Keyboardist Lenny Tristano. Why would a guitar player want to study his instrument from a keyboard player? For as pure a reason as his sound is today--he wanted to absorb the essence of music, not the technique. He reasoned that feeling for music should come first and technique will surely follow. It did. Today, C is one of the most powerful, creative, and emotional players in the country.

But the birth of Inasense is as fascinating as the band's music. Back in the early 80s, when music was stagnating in the states, C felt the need to explore the world and its music, so he traveled, eventually landing in Israel where he became one of the top studio and performing musicians in the country. Because of his reputation, kids would beg him for guitar lessons, and C took on a student named Noah Chase. Having much in common--particularly a love for jam bands like the Dead--C and Noah bonded immediately. Noah eventually became C's best student, but when C discovered that Noah had an incredible voice, their fate was sealed, the seed for what would be Inasense was planted. Noah went from student to partner. Plans were made, bags were packed. C and Noah moved to New York, took some of those exotic Middle Eastern influences with them, particularly the rhythms, and applied them to rock music. They eventually met Mark and Jay and the rest is history: from a chance meeting in a foreign land to selling out the Wetlands. h

Inasense blends American sounds, sounds you might hear on any corner of any city in this country. Their music melts the sharp boundaries between rock, jazz, country, and east-west, causing those boundaries to fade, and declare new life. Listen and you'll hear it, an incessant influx of musical color into a world that has tolerated its share of dullness. Under the influence of jam bands like Inasense, rock music is beginning to spread its wings again and break out of its stale cocoon. How could I know that the little band with the big sound, which I happened to stumble upon one icy winter night, would be a vital force in claiming back rock music? Times have changed.