DENNIS CRONIN :: VITAMIN-D

If you’ve never thought of the trumpet as a "hip" instrument, then you’ve never heard the music of Dennis Cronin. The Massachussetts-born, Virginia-raised multi-instrumentalist is currently brewing his relentlessly inventive sounds with his ensemble Vitamin-D.

Growing up in a creative household, Cronin was inspired early on by a piano-playing father and a craft-crazy mother. He started playing trumpet when he joined the school band in the fourth grade. Cronin gravitated naturally to the trumpet because "it was easier to carry than the tuba, but not too girly like the flute." One of the top instrumentalists in his junior high school, Cronin was accepted into a summer program where he studied jazz theory under the legendary Ellis Marsalis.

He joined his first rock band in high school while taking classes in composition, theory, and ear training at the Governor's School for the Arts in Norfolk, VA, where he wrote his first Sonata for trumpet. Cronin later scored that piece for the College Wind Ensemble at Virginia Tech.

After earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Cronin took a brief detour into the real world before coming to his senses, moving to Nashville and diving into that city’s diverse music scene as a recording engineer. For the next few years he recorded and produced countless local bands, putting together a critically acclaimed jazz compilation for F. Scott’s, the most respected jazz venue in town.

Cronin hadn’t picked up the trumpet in years when, while helping out on a collaboration between alternative darlings Vic Chesnutt and Lambchop, he dusted it off when the musicians needed an extra horn. Not only did Cronin play on the album, he was soon touring Europe with Chesnutt, Lambchop and indie rockers Calexico. With Lambchop and Chesnutt, Cronin performed on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Cronin then toured the U.S. with Josh Rouse and appeared once again on Conan O’Brien with the critically acclaimed singer/songwriter. During this time and since, he has played live and/or in the studio with a variety of acts including Rouse, Chesnutt, Guster, Yo La Tengo, Lambchop, Will Kimbrough, and The Ladybug Transistor.

Looking for new creative challenges, Cronin then headed north to Boston where, working with his brother, he launched the Mount Hood Classical Music Series. He also bought himself an accordion and toured the UK with Boston’s Willard Grant Conspiracy and Thalia Zedek.

These days Cronin is based in Brooklyn, NY and is heading Vitamin-D, an eclectic ensemble that combines smooth, soulful grooves with indelible, hook-filled melodies. Vitamin-D’s debut CD, Build Another, is a unique collection of intriguing pop songs and stunning musical interludes that drips with smooth trumpet. Vitamin-D's music is essential for strong bodies and healthy minds.