Words & Melodies by Benjamin Hackman

Composed & Orchestrated by Benjamin Hackman and Anthony William Wallace
(SOCAN, 2022)

Conducted by Maestro Robert W. Stevenson



The Holy Gasp are:

Lead Vocals & Narration:
Benjamin Hackman 

The Characters: 
Jeffrey Carl ~ God
David Wall ~ The Satan

The Choir:
Anaïs Kelsey-Verdecchia ~ Soprano 
Tammy Whetham ~ Mezzo-Soprano
Zorana Sadiq ~ Alto
Nathan Smith ~ Tenor
David Wall~ Tenor 
Jeffrey Carl ~ Baritone
Richard Hrytzak ~ Baritone

The Woodwinds:
Abigail Neale ~Piccolo, Flute, Clarinet
Naomi Higgins ~ Flute, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone
Greg Bruce ~ Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxophone
Conrad Gluch ~ Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone

The Brass:
Charlotte Alexander ~ French Horn
James Rhodes ~ 1st Trumpet
Gabi Charron-Merritt ~ 2nd Trumpet
Karl Silveira ~ Trombone
Ian Tulloch ~ Tuba, Bass Trombone

The Percussion:
Jared Goldman ~ Drum Kit
Daniel Morphy ~ Timpani & Mallets 
Chris Hull ~ Bass Drum & Auxiliary Percussion
Ètienne Levesque ~ Mallets & Auxiliary Percussion
Timothy Francom ~ Mallets & Auxiliary Percussion
Nathan Petitpas ~ Mallets & Auxiliary Percussion
Kris Maddigan ~ Auxiliary Percussion
Benjamin Hackman ~ Auxiliary Percussion & Foley 
Anthony William Wallace ~ High Cardio Hand Claps & Boot Stomps

The Piano:
Yunjin Claire Lee 

The Fretted Strings:
Will Hunter ~ Classical Guitar, Electric Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin

The Violins:
Jaron Freeman-Fox ~ Principal
Elise Boeur 
Yanet Campbell
Qiyue He
Katrina Johnson
Crystal Lee
Emily Misura
Molefe Mohamid-Mitchell
Cassie Norton
Zoë Santo
Emily Yarascavitch

The Cellos:
Benjamin David Louwersheimer ~Principal
George Crotty
Mansur Kadirov
Peter Ryan

The Basses:
Andrew Furlong ~ Upright Bass, Electric Bass, Corncob Pipe
Ben Heard ~ Double Bass


Produced by Anthony William Wallace and Benjamin Hackman

Mixed and Mastered by James Paul at Rogue Music Lab

Edited by Anthony William Wallace and James Paul

Recorded in Toronto at Revolution Recording Studio (2022)
 
The Engineers:
Stephen Koszler ~ Lead Engineer
Luke Schindler ~ Senior Engineer
Anthony William Wallace ~ Foley Engineer
 Christine Stoesser ~ Assistant Engineer
Kohen Hammond ~ Assistant Engineer
Creighton Clarke ~ Assistant Engineer


This audio recording was made possible with the generous financial assistance of The Toronto Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council, The Canada Council for the Arts, and FACTOR. 

We gratefully acknowledge the in-kind support of our sponsors: Joe’s Fruit Market, Café Pamenar, Ozzy Burger, Abu Humus, Pantry Foods, The Historic Kiever Synagogue, and Revolution Recording 

And for their poetic support, without which the completion of this album would not be possible, gratitude is owed to Rita Laszlo, Rabbi Eli Cohen, Dr. Robert Cardish, Lucas Rebbick, and (if He’s reading this) God. 

In Loving Memory of
Moishe Hackman
JJ Posluns
&
Dr. Dan Merkur

...And the Lord Hath Taken Away

Written and Composed by Benjamin Hackman
Recorded by Dale Morningstar 
Mixed by Craig Saltz 
Recorded & mixed by Matt DeMatteo (Track #9) 
Produced by Benjamin Hackman 

Benjamin Hackman – Vocals, percussion 
Sebastian Shinwell – Guitar, sitar, banjo, accordion, synth, percussion, vocals
Joseph Organ – Organ, piano, vocals
Matthew Wronski – Bass guitar
Oso – Drums, percussion
Karen Ng – Saxophones, flute
Christopher Weatherstone - Alto saxophone (Track #9)
Robert Stevenson – Clarinets
Nicolas Buligan – Trumpet, tuba
Tom Richards – Trombone
Natalie Wong – Violin
Nathan Smith - Violin
Cory Latkovich – Cello 
James McEleney – Double bass, vocals
Michael Davidson – Vibraphone, xylophone, glockenspiel  
Jessica Upton Crowe - Vocals
Sara Ostrowska - Vocals  
Nixon Boyd – Vocals

The Love Songs of Oedipus Rex

Words & Melodies by Benjamin Hackman

Composed & Orchestrated by Benjamin Hackman and Anthony William Wallace
(SOCAN, 2022)

Conducted by Maestro Robert W. Stevenson

Lead Vocals:
Benjamin Hackman 

The Choir:
Anaïs Kelsey-Verdecchia ~ Soprano 
Tammy Whetham ~ Mezzo-Soprano
Zorana Sadiq ~ Alto

The Brass
Charlotte Alexander ~ French Horn
James Rhodes ~ 1st Trumpet
Gabi Charron-Merritt ~ 2nd Trumpet
Karl Silveira ~ Trombone

The Percussion:
Jared Goldman ~ Drum Kit
Ètienne Levesque ~ Tubular Bells
Nathan Petitpas ~ Suspended Cymbal
Benjamin Hackman ~ Tambourine 

The Piano:
Yunjin Claire Lee 

The Guitars:
Will Hunter ~ Electric Guitar 
Andrew Furlong ~ Electric Bass Guitar

The Violins:
Jaron Freeman-Fox ~ Principal
Elise Boeur 
Yanet Campbell
Qiyue He
Katrina Johnson
Crystal Lee
Emily Misura
Molefe Mohamid-Mitchell
Cassie Norton
Zoë Santo
Emily Yarascavitch

The Cellos:
Benjamin David Louwersheimer ~Principal
George Crotty
Mansur Kadirov
Peter Ryan

The Bass:
Ben Heard ~ Double Bass

Produced by Anthony William Wallace and Benjamin Hackman

Mixed and Mastered by James Paul at Rogue Music Lab

Edited by Anthony William Wallace and James Paul

Recorded in Toronto at Revolution Recording Studio (2022)
 
The Engineers
Stephen Koszler ~ Lead Engineer
Luke Schindler ~ Senior Engineer
Christine Stoesser ~ Assistant Engineer
Kohen Hammond ~ Assistant Engineer
Creighton Clarke ~ Assistant Engineer

Cover Art & Design by Yesim Tosuner 

This audio recording was made possible with the generous financial assistance of The Toronto Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council, The Canada Council for the Arts, and FACTOR. 

We gratefully acknowledge the in-kind support of our sponsors: Joe’s Fruit Market, Café Pamenar, Ozzy Burger, Abu Humus, Pantry Foods, The Historic Kiever Synagogue, and Revolution Recording 

And for their poetic support, without which the release of this single would not be possible, gratitude is owed to Rita Laszlo, Rabbi Eli Cohen, Dr. Robert Cardish, Lucas Rebbick, and (if He’s reading this) God. 

In Loving Memory of:
Moishe Hackman and Dr. Dan Merkur

In Amsterdam

The Merry Man of Uz

The second single from The Holy Gasp's forthcoming album, dropping April 7, 2023, on Roar Records via Slammin Media.

LYRICS:

To each man God gives His breath.
To each worm God gives a man.
No one halts a gust of wind.
Every breath, it blows as planned.
Mourn more, you’ll come to know:
If it can rain it can surely snow.
Ask for nothing,
Hold on to nothing,
And the Lord, He won’t take it away.

All you’ve built will be undone.
All you’ve earned will not be spent.
What you have beneath the sun
Is far less than you have dreamt.
And those whom you hold dear
In due time shall disappear.
Ask for nothing,
Hold on to nothing,
And the Lord, He won’t take it away.

You are a house of clay.
From the dust do not discern.
What you are you must obey.
To the earth you shall return.
You will not possess the wind.
All you are God will rescind.
Ask for nothing,
Hold on to nothing.
You came with nothing,
You’ll leave here with nothing.
You are nothing.
You’ve always been nothing.
And the Lord cannot take you away.

Oh, dear Lord, do not take me away.
credits
releases February 24, 2023
CREDITS:

Lyrics & Melody by Benjamin Hackman

Composed by Benjamin Hackman & Anthony William Wallace (SOCAN 2022)

Conducted by Maestro Robert W. Stevenson

THE PLAYERS:
Benjamin ~ Lead Vocals
Anaïs Kelsey-Verdecchia ~ Soprano 
Tammy Whetham ~ Mezzo-Soprano
Zorana Sadiq ~ Alto
Nathan Smith ~ Tenor
David Wall~ Tenor 
Jeffrey Carl ~ Baritone
Richard Hrytzak ~ Baritone
Charlotte Alexander ~ French Horn
Yunjin Claire Lee ~ Piano
Chris Hull ~ Bass Drum
Kris Maddigan ~ Triangle
Nathan Petitpas ~ Sleigh Bells

Produced by Anthony William Wallace and Benjamin Hackman

Mixed and Mastered by James Paul at Rogue Music Lab

Edited by Anthony William Wallace and James Paul

Recorded in Toronto at Revolution Recording Studio (2022)


THE ENGINEERS:
Stephen Koszler ~ Lead Engineer
Luke Schindler ~ Senior Engineer
Anthony William Wallace ~ Foley Engineer
Christine Stoesser ~ Assistant Engineer
Kohen Hammond ~ Assistant Engineer
Creighton Clarke ~ Assistant Engineer

Cover Art by Yesim Tosuner

This audio recording was made possible with the generous financial assistance of The Toronto Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council, The Canada Council for the Arts, and FACTOR.

We gratefully acknowledge the in-kind support of our sponsors: Joe’s Fruit Market, Café Pamenar, Ozzy Burger, Abu Humus, Pantry Foods, The Historic Kiever Synagogue, and Revolution Recording

And, for their poetic support, without which the completion of this recording would not be possible, gratitude is owed to Rita Laszlo, Rabbi Eli Cohen, Dr. Robert Cardish, Lucas Rebbick, and (if He’s reading this) God.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF:
Moishe Hackman
JJ Posluns
Dr. Dan Merkur

הבל הבלים

הבל הבלים (Havel Havalim)

...And the Lord Hath Taken Awat

The House of Mourning

Leviathan

A Daily Affirmation

The Holy Gasp is a damn-the-man beatnik revival conga revolution, a boxcar and a jug of wine, a groove, daddy, and the farthest thing from a king sized bust. Often likened to punk rock versions of Tom Waits and Frank Zappa, The Holy Gasp make music for fans of theatrical, off-centred, darkly comical, genre-defying entertainment, and they try and make it all sound like a bunch of hopped up jazz junkies singing Surfin’ Bird with a bad case of the shits.

The Holy Gasp

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks