Fontanelle

Formed in Portland during 1998, Fontanelle emerged following the breakup of Jessamine, the prior ensemble of guitarist Rex Ritter and keyboardist Andy Brown. Expanding with a fluid roster, the project incorporated drummers Michael Faeth and Mat Morgan, along with keyboardists Paul Dickow of Emergency and Strategy plus Brian Foote, who teamed with Morgan in the IDM duo Nudge, and guitarist Charlie Smyth. Kranky, the former label of Jessamine, issued the band's self-titled debut in 2000, extending the understated and percolating aesthetic from Jessamine's concluding release, Don't Stay Too Long. Spring 2001 brought F., which highlighted the ensemble's electronic inclinations. After years of silence while members pursued separate endeavors throughout the 2000s, an enlarged iteration returned in 2012 with Vitamin F, an album immersed in the early-1970s electric jazz-funk fusion aesthetic.