One of the undeniable audio-visual highlights of that otherwise bleak late 04/early 05 season was the arrival in my mailbox, one promising morning indeed, of the latest Michael Mazzarella disc.

Now, new offerings from this good man - be they Rooks, solo, or otherwise - have for nigh on an entire decade and counting been universally acclaimed as most welcome additions to any discriminating music lover's cache. But this latest release is something even more special: a full, living colour DVD by Michael "with The Fellows of Mortimer," chronicling twenty-one numbers both familiar and fresh, newly recorded and captured in a true, stunningly understated fly-on-the-wall fashion worthy of Let It Be or, more aptly still, John and Yoko's original Imagine video album.

In fact, even those already intimately familiar with such Mazzarella gems as "Steeplechase" and the utterly genre-defining "Reasons" will sit riveted as they are herein performed anew with the always more than able assistance of Michael's fellow Mortimers Huw Gower, Greg Field, and that authentic music sound sensation himself Dave Rave. Supportive, yet never overbearingly so, these three add slyly subtle textures to Michael's brave single-vocal-and-instrument-only approach throughout, and the result is regal without ever being ostentatiously so. Compare, if you will, to Pete Townshend's Secret Policeman's Ball reinterpretations of his previously bombastic Who anthems, and you'll perhaps begin to appreciate even more so the abundant wonders this collection offers.

Of course there are those amongst us who rightfully despair at how the multi-media fixations of century 21 are cheapening - perhaps even slowly but most surely rendering obsolete altogether - the purely audio experience. But in the best of hands, and of course when armed with the sturdiest of songs as raw material, what the eye as well may now perceive serves to only enhance an otherwise purely auditory experience. And this disc is an absolute example of how to do this all, and to do it right.

So to punctuate its release, I thought it high time to virtually pepper Michael with some career-reviewing enquiries and to play catch-up, in a sense, with one of America's greatest musical treasures in the process. And, just for the record, I absolutely did know you never lived on Manhattan's East Side, sir: I swear this was just a typo on my part!

Off we go then:

E.C.: OK Michael, deep background time: Where did you grow up, and was it inside of a musical household?

Michael Mazzarella: I am from Hartford, Connecticut and although I didn't spring amid a family of musicians, the ancestral halls were a perennial jukebox.

E.C.: And when exactly did THE MUSIC first hit you? What song/group/sound in particular?

Michael Mazzarella: My first memory of any kind is that of doo-wop and rhythm and blues in our household. The Del Vikings and Jackie Wilson. How old would I have been... two or three? I don't know. The great Harry Belafonte was early as well to my memory.

E.C.: Where, When, and What was the first instrument you picked up?

Michael Mazzarella: I was a drummer for years initially and upon realization that it's problematic to be a songwriter involved with a kit, I eventually metamorphosed into a self-taught guitarist. I think that drums are an attraction for many kids for obvious hyper-active reasons.

E.C.: Can you remember the first Rock and Roll band you saw perform Live and In Person?

Michael Mazzarella: Gary U.S. Bonds in a school gymnasium.

E.C.: How long after that encounter did YOU first get up on stage?

Michael Mazzarella: I was not in a band until I turned eighteen, therefore the game started late for me regarding anything resembling a stage.

E.C.: Were there many recordings made, released or even private tapes, prior to the Broken Hearts album?

Michael Mazzarella: At age eight or nine, myself and my best friend John Bezzini wrote and recorded an album entitled Words Of Advice. John was an accordionist at that time. Many of our classic songs were recorded with one microphone directly injected into a front-loading Panasonic cassette recorder. I believe some of the titles were "Words Of Advice," "Wondering Why," "Liquid Smoke," "At The Factory," "Battlefield...Are You There?" My contributions consisted of singing and pounding on vinyl-seated chairs with drumsticks. Approximately ten minutes of tape exist from that lost masterpiece. I also have recordings made years later of my first demos as a fledging songwriting guitar player including all subsequent work thereafter.

E.C.: Care to share any memorable Broken Hearts gigs / sessions / backstage tales?

Michael Mazzarella: For a period, we were the poster band for big fish in a fishbowl in the Hartford-New Haven area. The Broken Hearts were directly related to and instrumental in cultivating and evolving whatever pop scene was present at that time.

Recording our Want One? album was quite fantastic as it was the first proper recording studio I had ever worked in. Those two or three weeks worth of sessions stamped an imprint deeply enough into me to make me want continue with this passion even today.

Backstage tales... guys puking before show time, gear being stolen, Steppenwolf ripping off a case of beer out of our dressing room while we sound-checked. Which, by the way, was our only form of payment for opening up for them.

E.C.: When we first met in 1988, you were living on the Upper East Side of New York City. What brought you there, and Why?

Michael Mazzarella: I have never lived on the snobbish Upper East Side in New York City, Gary. I've been on the Upper West Side since 1988. You must have had too many Canadian cupcakes that day.

What brought me there was the necessity to live inexpensively in a very expensive metropolis. I lived in London and upon my return to America, received a tip about a manageable dorm-room style loft on the Upper West Side to where I continue to dwell to this day. I originally moved to New York City years prior with the Broken Hearts, as our visions were directed to bigger and better dreams away from Hartford.

E.C.: Describe your life, and thought processes then, in those months you were planning what was to become The Rooks.

Michael Mazzarella: Post London, I was without a group as The Broken Hearts were disbanded. In fact, I moved to London to experience a new surrounding or adventure, if you will. I thought it might be a buzz to play over there for a while. When I returned to New York City, I found myself caught in a blizzard of songwriting frenzy and soon recognized that I would need an outlet for all of that new material. I toyed with the prospect of enlisting myself with like-minded sorts a la The Broken Hearts. I quickly learned that trying to uncover consistent songwriters whom could sing well was a lofty ambition.

On the advice of Richard X. Heyman, I decided to abandon the idea of the "group" prospect, as he convinced me that I had enough good songs to not have to rely on others for songwriting contributions. The Broken Hearts had three lead singers whom delivered their own songs to the band. My mentality was such that I hoped to find that same luxury again. I was delusional. After considering RXH's suggestion, my aim then was simply to record a batch of songs and look to have them released somehow.

I planned on taking good musicians in to back me. Kristin Pinell had recently moved to New York City from Boston at just the right time for us to begin working together. We knew each other very well from the Hartford days. She moved to Boston about a year after the Broken Hearts left for New York. Following our reunion, events fell into place naturally one after another and before too long we had about half an album on the shelf.

E.C.: Tell us how you put that band together, leading to the initial Rooks recordings and performances.

Michael Mazzarella: The genesis of anything that would eventually evolve into The Rooks started in my apartment with Kristin. I played for her "Reasons," "Apology," "Night Writer"... a song called "Love" that we worked on, "Down"... our working relationship started then. Soon following we went into Soundscape Studio on 52nd Street with Richard (drums) and Nancy (bass) Heyman to start an album. It was Kristin's idea to eventually form a proper band around the first six songs that were recorded. I was happy to just be in the studio at that time. She pushed for the band thing and I acquiesced.

E.C.: How did you hook up with Bruce Brodeen and Not Lame Recordings?

Michael Mazzarella: Bruce Brodeen connected with me. I received a phone call in early 1995 and he proposed that we work together. The Rooks album had been released and somehow, somewhere our music came into his consciousness.

E.C.: What is the current state of The Rooks? Would you say there is any unfinished business / places to go / music still left unmade by that particular unit?

Michael Mazzarella: The current state of The Rooks is exactly what it has always been from the beginning. If you closely study the lineage of this band, you will learn that it has perpetually consisted of different musicians at various times. We already had two bassists in our history (Michael Nunziata and Annemarie Gatti) before the first album (The Rooks) was even out. Our original drummer, Patrick Yourell only plays on half of that first album. Certain members were there longer than others surely, but on the other hand, The Rooks has forever been a band in transition. Unbelievably, there have been four bass players and four drummers since the commencement of the band. That's eight different players right there! Think about that.

The only constant from day one is I've steadily been the songwriter and lead singer in this unit. As for The Rooks and unfinished business, there will always be something for them to do and there is a lot of music that will eventually come to fruition. Fully written, yet, unrecorded albums wait to someday see the light. We have one halfway completed now called Something Blue. It will be finished when we can afford to finish it and it will be another Rooks album.

E.C.: The Fellows of Mortimer: Who, What, How and Why?

Michael Mazzarella: The Fellows Of Mortimer is the end-result of an experiment having traveled many different avenues. An idea was proposed some time back where I would be placed in a studio-surrounding to be filmed with a camcorder, performing solo. The original idea was to sell it on VHS format. At that particular time, as a band, The Rooks decided to take the summer off from rehearsing as our drummer had other musical commitments on his calendar and Kristin was off doing her thing. We were in between bass players because Lauren Agnelli stepped down to pursue her teaching career. Rather than sit idly, I decided to pursue this plan and began to formulate ideas as to how, where and when to actually proceed with it.

Through a casual conversation with friend and producer Bill Maura, it was then decided to take up his offer to utilize him and other friends in Hartford, all of whom had something to lend... recording and editing facilities, a professional camera, lights and good ideas to support the project. Then, talk began of making it a DVD release because of the advanced equipment we had to work with.

The initial day's filming was just me. Weeks later, after mentioning to friends like Dave Rave and Huw Gower as to what was in progress, they also offered to donate their services. The entire DVD shoot took place at Greg Field's Outer Realm Studio in Hartford over numerous road trips. I asked Greg to play with me also, as he is a fine musician too. From there, events unfolded and we just kept adding songs to the list during a period a little over a year.

It took so long due to ongoing scheduling conflicts between all the participating parties. No pre-rehearsals were conducted and often times, the other guys wouldn't know what I planned on doing in advance. I even played piano for songs that I'd never played piano on prior to these shoots. They were mainly trial-and-error takes including informal arrangements. Being completely live, there was a tightrope-walking-without-a-net-air in the studio and I could sense the freedom and bond with my fellow musicians as tape rolled. There was an element very liberating working with an unrehearsed act.

Regarding the Fellows Of Mortimer name, for whatever unknown reason after a performance of "Down," something came over me to shout out the name Mortimer. I was as surprised as everyone in the room whom immediately asked me what it meant. I had no answer. A few days later, I decided to capitalize on that circumstance by tying my sudden fit of Torette's Syndrome into logical sense. From that point on, Mortimer became my backing band. To take it one mysterious step further, I added to their name "The Fellows Of." Now it appeared as if I were merely referring to the band's name at the end of the take. Happy accident.

Only Hope For Winter by Michael Mazzarella with the Fellows of Mortimer is available right now, right there at http://www.therooks.com/store/store.html Better Start Right Now!