No Ennui is Mrs. Fun

Mrs. Fun

Mrs. Fun is an acid jazz/free jazz duo composed of keyboard player Connie Grauer and drummer Kim Zick. Grauer and Zick are from Waukesha, Wisconsin, but recorded Mrs. Fun's first album in Nashville, where they met the Indigo Girls. They then returned to Wisconsin, moving to Milwaukee...

's third album, from 1995. It was produced by Victor DeLorenzo

Victor DeLorenzo

Victor DeLorenzo was born on October 25, 1954, and is best known as the drummer for the folk-punk band the Violent Femmes.He grew up in Racine, Wisconsin and has lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, since. He has been a drummer since the age of sixteen, but an actor since the age of five...

, and recorded by Michael Hoffman at Joe's Recording Studio, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

. Like all of their albums produced through 1998, it was self-released. The music is a bass-heavy, groove

Groove (popular music)

Groove is the sense of propulsive rhythmic "feel" or sense of "swing" created by the interaction of the music played by a band's rhythm section . Groove is a consideration in genres such as salsa, funk, rock, fusion, and soul...

-based free jazz.

The record features guest artists k. d. lang, singing background vocals on "Daughtera" (which was dedicated to Sun Ra

Sun Ra

Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...

), and Amy Ray

Amy Ray

Amy Elizabeth Ray is an American singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls. She also pursues a solo career and has released four albums under her own name, and founded a record company, Daemon Records....

 and Emily Saliers

Emily Saliers

Emily Saliers is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Indigo Girls. Saliers plays lead guitar as well as banjo, piano, mandolin, ukulele, bouzouki and many other instruments.-Background:...

, singing background vocals on "Gossip".

Track listing

1. "Love You Loud" (DeLorenzo/Connie Grauer, Kim Zick)
2. "Daughtera" (Grauer)
3. "Lulu's Walk" (Grauer)
4. "Why Are Words So Different" (Foyne Mahaffey/Grauer)
5. "Trinity" (Kathryn Korniloff/Zick)
6. "Opportunity Lane" (DeLorenzo/Grauer)
7. "Black Box" (Grauer)
8. "Epistrophy" (Thelonious Monk
   Thelonious Monk
   Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
   
   /Kenny Clarke
   Kenny Clarke
   Kenny Clarke , born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, nicknamed "Klook" and later known as Liaqat Ali Salaam, was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming...
   
   )
9. "Ennui" (Mahaffey)
10. "Gossip" (DeLorenzo, Grauer, Zick, Jim Eannelli)

Personnel

• Connie Grauer - keyboards, vocals, chimes, accordion, glockenspiel, toy piano
• Kim Zick - drums, percussion, vocals,

• Michael Hoffman - guitar
• Allen Johnson - trumpet
• Jeff Pietrangelo - trumpet
• Dave Matsen - tenor saxophone
• Juli Wood
  Juli Wood
  Juli Wood is an accomplished saxophone player who appears regularly in Chicago and Milwaukee area jazz clubs, and sometimes on tours through the Midwest with the Juli Wood Quartet. Wood makes frequent appearances at Scandinavian jazz and blues festivals. She occasionally sets her saxophone aside...
  
   - baritone saxophone
• Malcolm Michiles
  Citizen King
  Citizen King was an American music group from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whose style was a mix of hip-hop, soul and punk. They are best known for their top 40 hit "Better Days ", which peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1999....
  
   - scratching
  Scratching
  Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
  
  
• Robyn Pluer - vocal (spoken word)
• Eric Segnitz - violin
• Paul Gmeinder - cello
• Foyne Mahaffey - castanets
• k. d. lang, Dayna Kurtz, Paula Cabor, Micki Korb, Claire Morkin, Paul Cebar
  Paul Cebar
  Paul Cebar is a songwriter, singer, guitarist, and bandleader from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who has a penchant for African, Latin American and Caribbean music...
  
  , Paul Scher, Wesley Savick, Rob Gjersoe, Emily Saliers
  Emily Saliers
  Emily Saliers is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Indigo Girls. Saliers plays lead guitar as well as banjo, piano, mandolin, ukulele, bouzouki and many other instruments.-Background:...
  
  , Amy Ray
  Amy Ray
  Amy Elizabeth Ray is an American singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls. She also pursues a solo career and has released four albums under her own name, and founded a record company, Daemon Records....
  
  - background vocals

• Victor DeLorenzo - producer
• Michael Hoffman - engineer
• Tamar Zick - cover art