Album Notes

Festive, acoustic and enchanting; Moat Jumper is a musical group that blends Renaissance, Medieval, Traditional Celtic and Middle Eastern styles. Multi-instrumentalist Joe Matzzie, drawing upon his experience playing music at Renaissance festivals, created Moat Jumper.

The debut CD Christmas at the Renaissance Fair brings together all that's great about music at Renaissance-type festivals, played by a super-group of musicians with backgrounds in the festival circuit. Joe Matzzie first met Stefan Mark Dolak while performing at the New York Renaissance Faire, where Stefan was accompanying the maypole dances on pipe and tabor, and Joe was playing guitar in the group Mince Pye. Stefan plays a myriad of unusual early-music instruments on Christmas at the Renaissance Fair, most notably the hurdy gurdy and the bladder pipe. Stefan is a member of the goup "Bartholemew Fair" which performs regularly at Devonshire Renaissance Faire in Mesa, Arizona.

Adding hand percussion from all over the globe, master world percussionist Reid DeFever has performed at Ojai Renaissance & Pirate Faire as well as in many other venues and productions. In his spare time Reid can be found building percussion instruments such as the cajonbek (featured on this album) and flying power planes and gliders.

Also featured on Christmas at the Renaissance Fair are Mindy O’Brien on violin, a veteran performer of the Texas Renaissance Fair; and Paul Nowell on trombone, aka sackbut. Matzzie plays both guitar and hammered dulcimer on the album.