Animus is a Philadelphia based world fusion music and dance ensemble whose original music melds the Old World traditions of the Middle East, Greece, Latin America, and India with the modern forms of jazz, funk, and rock. Animus' spectacular belly dancers, whose embodiment of haunting melodies and asymmetric pulses, gives life to their music in another dimension. Our Mission: Animus is here to push the boundaries and borders of musics from all over the world. Over the years Animus has taken their fans on a continuously evolving live experience, away from the stress of everyday life, and created a relaxing and fun musical journey, mesmerizing audiences throughout the East Coast with their unique style. Animus is available to perform at a variety of events, functions and venues. What We Do & Our History: Animus is an instrumental group of culturally diverse musical concepts and traditions from ancient to modern alike. Greek, Blues, Middle Eastern, Jazz, Spanish, Funk, Latin, Rock, Indian, Jewish Klezmer, African. The unorthodox instrumentation and unique original compositions excite the mind, body and soul with an endless variety of grooves and tribal rhythms, coupled with spontaneous, passionate improvisation knows no boundaries and awakens the spirit to get everyone moving to the music. Accomplishments: Animus has produced two Tapes: SpiritDance and Eternal Within as well as two CD's: "Live at the Tin Angel" & "...world fusion music". Animus is currently working on a new recording project which will be released in on December 4th 2005 at World Cafe' Live in Philadelphia. Animus is featured on "Lurainya's Realm" DVD, "Taboo Glass" documentary video and WYBE's "Culture Shots" TV commercials and performed live on NBC 10's morning show "10!". Animus has been nominated for best Roots/World Music Performer 2000 - 2002 by The Philadelphia CityPaper. Performances: Animus has performed abroad in South Africa and Kenya with Eastern College's gospel choir, Angels of Harmony, and has also performed around the United States. Animus' diversity makes them great just about anywhere. Venues range from coffee shops, bookstores, restaurants, bars, clubs, theaters (Trocadero theater), concert halls (Kimmel Center), galleries, museums (Phila. Art Museum), community centers, churches and synagogues. Animus has performed roving entertainment in traditional festive costumes at Trump Taj Mahal and Foxwoods Casinos. *Upon request we have several traditional belly dancers, ethnic fusion dancers and Greek, Turkish and Arabic Singers who can perform with us. Animus also performs at wedding celebrations, festivals, benefits, fund-raisers, and private parties. Educational Opportunities: Animus has collaborated extensively with professional dance instructors and teachers at colleges in workshops, classes and performances. Animus also offers educators and students of all ages a unique and enriching assembly program focusing on cultural diversity and unity through music and movement. Find out more: Please visit our web site at www.animusmusic.com for more information, pictures, MP3s and more!

Jeff Madison grew up in a musical setting in rural Ohio , the son of a trumpet player and dance choreographer. He began formal study of piano at age 5 and by age 7 had picked up the violin and trumpet.  Having studied primarily classical music, involvement in the school jazz ensemble, music pits for local plays and musicals and rock bands helped broaden his pallet of musical styles.  After spending a few semesters in a music program at Ohio State University, he transferred to the Berklee College of Music in Boston to pursue a degree in Sound Engineering.  There he was exposed to all styles of music, which probably has had the greatest single impact on his song writing style today.  His band at the time, Uncle Jud, was signed to the school’s record label and a 6 song CD was produced and released at a new local band venue, Mamakin, established by rock legends Aerosmith.  After things settled from the CD release and following graduation, he moved to San Francisco where he began focusing more on acoustic guitar and performing in smaller acoustic venues.  San Francisco saw the creation of two full length CDs, only one of which, Shack, was ever published.  After finishing an apprenticeship in wood working, which helped fund the recording studio he and a group of other local musicians operated, an opportunity to pursue graduate work in acoustics led him back to the east coast to Baltimore, MD.   Performing music took a back seat for a few years, however the songwriting continued.  Now in Philadelphia, you can find Jeff playing at local acoustic venues again.  Stay tuned to Hello Philadelphia for the latest news and upcoming performances.