| Phase One: Eos (1994-1997) |
| 1994 |
It all began when Bill Denison (guitar) and Chris Geihe (drums) formed
a band called Eos. This band started strong, only to disband after one year. |
| 1996 |
Chris and Bill joined forces again, recruiting Jeff Park (bass) and Dave
McNally (keyboards) to form the instrumental basis for this new band. They
envisioned a group that would combine unique arrangements, strong melodic
and chord structures, and improvisation in one cohesive style. |
| 1997 |
Vocalist Ken Pfeifer completed the lineup, only to see McNally part company.
Pfeifer drew on his keyboard background to fill that post while remaining
in the essential frontman position. The band chose the new name Sol. |
| Phase Two: Sol (1997-1999) |
| 1997 |
This four-piece of Denison, Geihe, Park, and Pfeifer, became the nucleus
for Sol. |
| 1998 |
The band's musical flavor had evolved rapidly, and the addition of keyboard
player Mike James finally completed a cycle in Sol's musical history. By
this point, the songs from the album Inheritance were written and
arranged, and at the end of this period, a new name, Zen Carnival, was chosen
to reflect the new lineup. |
| Phase Three: Zen Carnival (1999-present) |
| 1999 |
Although the band was gaining recognition and writing lots of material,
changes in musical style and lifestyle came quickly. After the release of
the album Inheritance, Jeff Park and Ken Pfeifer took some time off to pursue
other musical projects. Despite the loss, Bill, Chris, and Mike continued
to work tremendously, exploring more of the jazz idioms and free improvization
spectrum in their compositions. The band worked with vocalist Jonathan Brody
on some of this new material. |
| 2001 |
Ken Pfeifer rejoined Mike and Bill and the three members started recording
the second album (Bardo), exploring the common areas of interest
in their unique musical friendship. |
| 2002 |
Carl Puglisi joined Zen Carnival, playing drums and percussion for the
new album. |
| 2006 |
The new album, Bardo, is released. |