the big nOte files - 2003/11/09

NEWS *  NEWS * NEWS * NEWS * NEWS * NEWS * NEWS * NEWS * NEWS * NEWS

THE THURSTON LAVA TUBE COVERS FRANK ZAPPA

• the thurston lava tube:
  move over rover, let clover take over
      (2003, cd, uk, cordelia records)
  
•  "Move Over Rover, Let Clover Take Over" is the brand-new album from Alan Jenkins' Thurston Lava Tube. The cover shows you Rover (who's real name is Sable) and the nose of Clover, a cow (real name unknown). I haven't got a clue as to what Rover and Clover's connection is to the Thurston Lave Tube or to the music that they play, but I do think that it's a very funny picture.
  The music on this album is as impressive as the artwork is funny. All Surf Guitar instrumentals. You should really give this album a try and not only because it includes Frank Zappa's 'Lumpy Gravy'. Alan Jenkins and Fender Jaguar make this record swing. 'Lumpy Gravy' shows you what a band can do when covering Frank Zappa, but the other tracks are great as well. My favorites: 'Dogmatic', 'Being and Nothingness' (reminded me a lot of Gruppo Sportivo) and (because of the great title) 'Dogs are from Pluto'.
  Essential !!
  
• http://homepages.stayfree.co.uk/cordelia
  

ZAPPA PAPER * ZAPPA PAPER * ZAPPA PAPER * ZAPPA PAPER * ZAPPA PAPER * ZAPPA PAPER

Hateful Practices: Frank Zappa's Contribution to Contemporary Music Theory.

by Michael Hannan

http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/carts/contmusic/mh/zappa1.html

- Info: François

"MONSTER ROAD" - A MOVIE ABOUT BRUCE BICKFORD

2003/10/20, I received a message from Jim Haverkamp stating that "Monster Road", the movie about former Zappa animator Bruce Bickford, is nearly complete !!

Check it out at:

http://www.brighteyepictures.com

More news next time.

THE METROPOLIS ORCHESTRA * THE METROPOLIS ORCHESTRA

Italian band the Metropolis Orchestra will play a concert in Milano, Italy:

2003/11/08 concert 'alle scimmie', milano, italy (shows starts at 21.30 h)

FRANK ZAPPA ON DVD * FRANK ZAPPA ON DVD * FRANK ZAPPA ON DVD

Frank Zappa: Does Humor Belong in Music?

on DVD.

The first official Frank Zappa DVD !!!

MIKE KENEALLY * MIKE KENEALLY * MIKE KENEALLY * MIKE KENEALLY

www.keneally.com

ASKO ENSEMBLE * ASKO ENSEMBLE * ASKO ENSEMBLE * ASKO ENSEMBLE

Proms in Paradiso

Paradiso Amsterdam 20.30. Péter Eötvös - Snatches of a Conversation. Asko Ensemble, conductor Etienne Siebens, trumpet Marco Blaauw and new works by a.o. Corrie van Binsbergen, Django Bates, Astrid Kruisselbrink and Ron Ford and arrangements of works by Frank Zappa

• 2003/12/04 Asko Ensemble "Proms in Paradiso", 'Paradiso', Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  
• 2003/12/06 Asko Ensemble "Proms in Paradiso", 'Muziekcentrum', Enschede, The Netherlands
  

the program might look like this:

Zappa: Outrage at Valdez
Kruisselbrink: ??
Ötvös: Snatches of a Conversation
Van Binsbergen: ??
Zappa (arr. Van Binsbergen): Outside Now Again
Zappa: Get Whitey
Zappa (arr. Ford): Night School
Zappa (arr. Askin): Beltway Bandits and/or Zappa: While you were Art II
Bates: Some More Upsets
Zappa (arr. Bates): Jazz From Hell
Zappa (arr. Askin): G-Spot Tornado

Info from: http://www.geocities.com/pdoelder.geo/index.html

or even better, for all van Binsbergen related info: www.sofa.demon.nl

Info: Willem Schwertmann

AFROSKULL * AFROSKULL * AFROSKULL * AFROSKULL * AFROSKULL * AFROSKULL

• afroskull: monster for the masses
      (2000, cd, usa, snr 2000)
  
  • OK, funkateers, here's one for you. It's funny how some people can't hear the similarities in greasy funk à la George Clinton, Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins or even Prince, and Frank Zappa.
    I read a quote somewhere, where George Clinton said that every man (or was it black man) should listen to Frank Zappa. I don't know why he said it, but I can understand why. Every once in a while I hear Zappa in Clinton's music.
    And now there's Afroskull. A funky band, and they play Zappa compositions in concert !
    "Monster For The Masses" is their debut album. They don't play any Zappa on it. Pity, because they sure have the chops for it.
    Up-tempo, heavy and greasy.
    I like this very much. Good grief, those horns...
    
  • www.afroskull.com

ZAPPA SURF ALBUM * ZAPPA SURF ALBUM * ZAPPA SURF ALBUM * ZAPPA SURF ALBUM

THE CONCAVES * THE CONCAVES * THE CONCAVES * THE CONCAVES * THE CONCAVES

Return of the "Surf Instrumental cover versions of tunes by Frank Zappa" project
more info at: http://homepages.stayfree.co.uk/cordelia/Pages/Zappa%20Surf.htm

I asked all of the Zappa Surf album contributors the same couple of questions.
Thanks to JD, I can tell you the following about The Concaves:

The Concaves are a three piece surf band from Santa Cruz, California. They are a heavy-traditional surf band. (The real thing. They all surf.) Their rehearsal studio is located just a few short blocks from Steamer Lane, a famous surf spot where they go surfing and where they are inspired to write their songs.
The Concaves have two albums out, the last one entitled "Warning, Heavy Surf Advisory".
For the Zappa Surf Album project, they picked 'We Are Not Alone". The chose to record and submit a live version of the tune as they want to be able to reproduce it live.

BUNZAPPA * BUNZAPPA * BUNZAPPA * BUNZAPPA * BUNZAPPA * BUNZAPPA

THE PRIME-TIME SUBLIME COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA

• the prime-time sublime: (    )
      (2003, cd, usa, corporate blob)
  
  • I talked about the Prime-Time Sublime Community Orchestra a couple of weeks ago. Told you that you could download snippets of their first album from
    www.primetimesublime.com, and that you should try it.
    Well, here's their first album. It's called "(   )". Paul Minotto says: 'The title is a reference to their music which doesn't fit in any of those neat, little, square boxes created by the mass marketings minds of Music Industry executives, in order to appeal to the lifestyle ideals of the music consumer."
    Minotto's right. There is some beautiful new music to be heard on this disc: contemporary modern music, but with recognisable flavours. You can hear it all: jazz, samba, spanish music, world music, but also rock, country and very classical influences. Not that it's a mixture of styles or a cabaresque, over-the-top showcase (It's not a Spike Jones album). No, it's just a very fine album with a lot of nods in various directions.
    I like it a lot.

TERRY BOZZIO IN CONCERT WITH THE METROPOLE ORCHESTRA

Two concerts took place:

TERRY BOZZIO & METROPOLE ORKEST present: CHAMBERWORKS

• 2003/10/24 concert 'de oosterpoort', groningen, the netherlands
  
• 2003/10/26 concert 'paradiso', amsterdam, the netherlands

Let's hope one of these gets a broadcast on Radio 4.

TERRY BOZZIO BLINDFOLD TEST - BY CHARLES PATER

The game is simple. Charles plays his guest some records from his music collection and asks his guest (without telling him who the performer is) to comment on this. It will be broadcast on NPS, Dutch Radio 4.

DUTCH RADIO 4 * DUTCH RADIO 4 * DUTCH RADIO 4 * DUTCH RADIO 4 * DUTCH RADIO 4

Graag uw mening over Radio 4

Zoals u wellicht al via de media vernomen heeft, zal het McKinsey-onderzoek zijn sporen nalaten in de Publieke Omroep. Niet alleen de organisatie maar ook de programmatische inhoud wordt tegen het licht gehouden, waarbij een door de overheid opgelegde forse bezuiniging (€80.000.000 in vier jaar tijd) een bepalende rol speelt.

Op dit moment wordt wat Radio 4 betreft met de gedachte gespeeld om van deze zender een puur “klassiek station” te maken, waarin geen ruimte meer zal zijn voor wereldmuziek, jazz of geïmproviseerde muziek. Het behoeft geen nadere uitleg wat het standpunt van de muziekredactie van NPS Radio in deze kwestie is.

Bij het NCRV-radioprogramma A4 zijn ze op het Internet een onderzoek gestart naar de mening van 'de luisteraar' in deze kwestie. Gelukkig blijkt ook daar al dat de interesse voor de meer avontuurlijke en vernieuwende genres en stijlen in het algemeen bijzonder groot is.

De redactie van 4FM wil u vragen om eens te kijken naar de bewuste 'Praatpaal' op http://www.ncrv.nl/a4. Het staat u uiteraard volkomen vrij om ook te reageren met uw visie op wat Radio 4 wat u betreft zou moeten bieden: alleen klassieke muziek, of juist veel meer dan dat, van het Nederlandse aanbod tot ver daarbuiten.

Muziekafdeling NPS Radio

NIGEY LENNON interview * NIGEY LENNON interview * NIGEY LENNON interview

Nigey was kind enough to answer some of my questions:

UM: Nigey, you once said that readers' reactions to your story varied quite a bit. From people that really enjoyed reading the book to people that said that you were making it all up. What is the best or most suprising reaction that you got on your book so far?

Nigey Lennon: The best reaction I got from someone who'd read Being Frank, was when John Tabacco contacted me and sent me some of his music. He had worked with Akai tape recorders as a kid and when he read that I had used an Akai to record demos for Frank in 1972, he thought there might be some cosmic coincidence involved. He was right. We've been collaborating musically ever since. Candy Zappa also contacted me as a result of reading the book.

I have met many people and made lots of friends whom I'd never have known if I hadn't written the book. Generally, it's been a very positive experience. Initially there were some negative reactions from people, but that seems to have decreased exponentially. That happens over time, I guess. Now I'm one of the old fossils that people quote when they need a definitive source for how much coffee Frank drank, whether he snored, or what color his socks were :).

UM: Why did the new edition of your book happen? Were you asked to update & republish it? Or is it something you wanted to do / decided yourself?

Nigey Lennon: It originally went through two printings, and by mid-2003 it was out of print. Orders were still coming in, so we decided it was time to reprint it in a new edition. Greg Russo (author of Cosmik Debris) had made some corrections regarding dates, etc., so I took the opportunity to make those changes for the new edition. The first printing of the new edition is now sold out and the book will be reprinted again this month (October).

UM: I attended 'your' Zappanale last year (2002). I'm using the word 'your', because you were responsable for a bigger part of the program than one might think. How are you looking back on the festival?  

Nigey Lennon: For a description of my Zappanale experience, you can go to:

http://nigeylennon.diaryland.com

Click on the "Older" tab on the top lefthand corner of the page, and scroll down to "Holiday in Bad Doberan." There are several entries.

In brief, Andrew Greenaway (of the Idiot Bastard Son website) suggested I contact the Arf Society about performing at the festival. Since John, Candy, and I first met Ed Palermo a couple of years ago, we have been performing together in various situations. Lennon/Tabacco/Zappa was going to be working with Ed's rhythm section (Paul Adamy on bass and Ray Marchica on drums) at the Zappanale, and our sax player Joe Meo also played with Ed, so I suggested that Ed bring a band over to the festival as well, as it would be fairly cost effective.

In retrospect, it was a lot of fun to go to Germany and play at the festival. Neither John nor Candy had been to Europe before, so it was a real adventure for them. Candy was thrilled to see the whole municipality of Bad Doberan honoring her brother's life and work. John found out that you could actually order chicken and broccoli at a German restaurant.
Eric Weaver, my significant other, loved the local beer and finally had a chance to exercise his textbook German in a "real time" situation. Most of the time we were there, Ed had an expression like a kid in a candy store.

There were some things to complain about, but I think we were all glad we did it.

UM: What have you been up to lately, musicwise? Your (very fine) album "Reinventing The Wheel", dates from 2000. Do you have plans for a new album? Other musical projects? Do you still play Zappa compositions every once in a while?

UM: Thank you, Nigey, and good luck with your career !!

Nigey Lennon's book "Being Frank" is available online in America and Europe through Amazon.com and also in major book stores like Borders, Barnes and Noble

ED MANN ON THE REPERCUSSION UNIT CONCERT IN GERMANY

A message from Ed Mann to alt.fan.frank-zappa

From: "Ed Mann"
Newsgroups: alt.fan.frank-zappa
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2003
Subject: Repercussion Unit Plays ZAPPA

Greetings Everyone -

Some news w/re to yet another FZ cover band - although this one is a little different.

I just returned from Germany with my old friends Repercussion Unit where we played an unusual set of Zappa music at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival- all percussion, and not particularly loud, but with a big groove played mostly on hand drums and some nice melodic and harmonic elements from the mallets. Different than of course Frank would have done it - but we worked hard to make the performance up to standards that Frank would have been happy with. Anyway - this is a new branch of activity for this 30-year old band, and it came off so well that we have decided to continue to bring Frank's music to venues and situations that may desire an alternative approach to keeping the music of FZ alive with musical integrity and respect for the composer and his family. Any interested parties can contact me directly: edmann@paiste.com

the one thing that occurs to me at this time - based on  my own perceptions and noticing those around me - is that even though we all think we understand Frank and his music - I am starting to think that now we are just beginning to get it.  FZ was so far ahead of his time that I think it will literally take the world a good century from the time of his professional activities to REALLY just begin to get it. It goes way deeper the stuff you see on the surface - and I believe that those concrete things (notes on paper and words in verse ) are serve as a gateway to a bigger picture that transcends language and the execution of musical passages. Anyway the guy was a genius - and the message is good, and having had the opportunity to hear other non-traditional renditions of his work (there was a sax 4tet that played a killer FZ set) I think we are entering a new phase of vitality for Frank and his great body of work, in both duplicate and alternative instrumental situations.

best

Ed

FROGG CAFE COVERS FRANK ZAPPA

• frogg cafe: frogg cafe
      (2001, cdr, usa, private release cd 01)
  
  • Frogg Cafe released their debut album in 2001, so it's a couple of years old already. The band plays some impressive progressive rock. Fans of Keneally and/or Mats and Morgan will enjoy this album as well.
    During the guitar solo of the last track on the album, 'Questions Without Answers', the guitar shifts into Zappa's 'Inca Roads' theme. The band follows for a short while and then both guitar and band go back to 'Questions Without Answers'.  Very nice!
    Interesting Point: before "Frogg Cafe", the band was called Lumpy Gravy.

NEW BOOK ABOUT ZAPPA

We have today a new Zappa 's book in FRANCE

"Zappa in France 1968-1988"

editions paralleles - christian rose- philippe thieyre
isbn 291129003858 -2003
      Parallèles
47 r St Honoré 75001 PARIS  33 1 42 33 62 7

Info: Pat

THE REDWOOD SYMPHONY PERFORMED ZAPPA

random notes

The Redwood Symphony, under the direction of Eric Kujawsky, will start the classical music season on the Peninsula side of the Bay with an especially colorful concert at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Los Altos United Methodist Church, 655 Magdalena Ave., in Los Altos.

Redwood's opening program, to be preceded with a lively pre-concert lecture at 6 p.m., is billed in its season brochure as "wicked, wistful, wild, wacky and wow!" Among the works these words describe are Frank Zappa's "G-Spot Tornado"; Beth Anderson's "Minnesota Swale," conducted by George Yefchak; Edgard Varese's "Density 21.5," with Michelle Davis as flute soloist; Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G-Minor; and Peter Schickle's "P.D.Q. Bach: Bach Portrait," with Maestro Kujawsky serving as narrator and Kristin Link conducting.

            Saturday, September 20, 2003, 7 P.M.
Los Altos United Methodist Church, Los Altos
Pre-concert lecture at 6 P.M.

• Frank Zappa: G-Spot Tornado

• Beth Anderson: Minnesota Swale
    George Yefchak, conductor

• Edgard Varèse: Density 21.5
    Michelle Davis, flute

• P.D.Q. Bach: Bach Portrait
    Eric Kujawsky, narrator -- Kristin Link, conductor

• W.A. Mozart: Symphony No. 40

• ...and other chamber works

Info: Hoodude

EUGENE CHADBOURNE PLAYS BEEFHEART

• eugene chadbourne: click clack
      (2002, cdr, usa, private release)
  
  • Eugene Chadbourne's "Click Clack" is the third volume in a series of solo banjo collections. It includes Don Van Vliet's 'Click Clack'. It's a private release packed in his well-know self-fabricated artwork. A must-have for the Chadbourne and/or Beefheart fan.

line-up:

• Eugene Chadbourne: guitar, banjo, vocals
• Martin Klapper: toys & theremin
• Herman Muntzin: prepared bass

THE ABSOLUTE ENSEMBLE

Info: Hoodude

ZAPPATISTAS * ZAPPATISTAS * ZAPPATISTAS * ZAPPATISTAS * ZAPPATISTAS

Here's the setlist:

THE SONICS * THE SONICS * THE SONICS * THE SONICS * THE SONICS * THE SONICS

• the sonics: fire & ice
      (1996, lp, spain, munster records mr 205)
  
  • In 1967 (!!), the Sonics recorded a coverversion of ‘Anyway The Wind Blows’. Actually, they recorded two versions of it. These two versions could be found on the 1996 "Fire & Ice II / The 'Lost' Tapes" album.
    Apparantly, around the same time, spanish Munster Records released a vinyl album called "Fire & Ice" that also has these two tracks.

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE - GRACE SLICK

• jefferson airplane: crown of creation
      (2003, cd, eu, rca / bmg 82876 53226 2)
  
  •  In 1968, Grace Slick, lead vocalist for the Jefferson Airplane, recorded a freeform piece with the Mothers Of Invention.  'Would You Like A Snack' (Zappa, Slick) was initially intended for the "Crown Of Creation" album and can be found on the 1992 "Jefferson Airplane Loves You" album / box by the Jefferson Airplane.
    The track can also be found as a bonus track on the 2003 "Crown Of Creation" cd rerelease.

ZAPPA MEMORIAL CONCERTS

• 2003/12/04 movie "Zappa: Phase II - the big note" - by Frank Scheffer
  • Second part of his Zappa documentary
• 2003/12/06 concert Corrie van Binsbergen / VJ Rachel de Boer
  • Dutch guitarist and composer Corrie van Binsbergen will perform toghether with Rachel de Boer (on samples and videoclips)
• 2003/12/06 concert The Foolz
  • Dutch zappa (re)coverband. I mentioned them a short while ago in this very newsletter. They have a brand-new album out.
• 2003/12/07 performance "Denzprojekt"
  • Modern dance. Music by Frank Zappa
    (Evelien Ansing, Anja Boer, Natascha v/d Lint, Hiskia Lups, Jet Schaftenaar, Truuske van der Schalie, Ester van der Stam, Harma Zandinga, Ginie Klaassen (director))

More (dutch) info at: http://www.amc-tonpors.nl/zappa

THE PAUL GREEN SCHOOL OF ROCK MUSIC

The Paul Green School of Rock Music will be opening for Project/Object in Philly !!

info: Andre

DAVID BOWIE * DAVID BOWIE * DAVID BOWIE * DAVID BOWIE * DAVID BOWIE * DAVID BOWIE

Straight from the alt.fan.frank-zappa newsgroup, just to show you what sort of trivia makes up United Mutations:

On 2003/10/30 "Camillo" wrote: I just returned from today's David Bowie concert here in good old Vienna. During the band intro he noticed that his female bassist did not wear a long shirt - just a jacket above smaller  shirt - so You could see quite some skin. And DB went "Could imagine" - just as Uncle Frank did on FO!. Then he said, that this was from a song called  It can't happen here from Frank Zappa, and wanted to know how many people here tonight knew this song. He actually asked two times.

And "Shiborugu" added: I bet nobody here knew David Bowie played in a band called "the Riot Squad" in the mid-late 60's that covered "It Can't Happen Here", "Who Are The Brain Police" among others...

So I added The Riot Squad to the UM others of invention list.

Anyone has some more additions?

"WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC PLAYS ZAPPA

• "weird al" yankovic: poodle play
      (2003, cd, aus, bmg 9210632)
  
• This album is a couple of months old already, but as it only released in the u.s.a. and in australia, it took some time to get here.
  I'm not familiar with Weird Al's work. Sure, I heard his Michael Jackson's 'Beat It'/ 'Eat It' parody eons ago, but that's about all.
  And yes, I did know that one of his albums featured Lisa Popeil, but that's about it.
  "Poodle Play" is a very funny album. It has a bunch of well-known tunes on it, with Weird Al's lyrics, but it also has a couple of songs that were written by Mr.Yankovic himself. Even before I had heard the Zappa parody (last track on the disc), I was pretty convinced that this guy knows his Zappa (or Raymond Scott for that matter). Funny voices and sounds, nice guitar work... 
  'Genius In France' is written by Weird Al Yankovic. The intro guitar solo is played by Dweezil Zappa and the rest of the song is one gigantic puzzle of Zappa licks and melodies. This is not a parody. This is a tribute. And a very good one.

MERIDIAN ARTS ENSEMBLE * MERIDIAN ARTS ENSEMBLE * MERIDIAN ARTS ENSEMBLE

• 2003/11/14 concert Den Bosch, the netherlands
• 2003/11/16 concert Castle Brunch in Medemblik, , the netherlands
• 2003/11/17-19 Residency at Arnhem Conservatory, , the netherlands
• 2003/11/17 concert Arnhem, , the netherlands
• 2003/11/20 concert Eindhoven, , the netherlands
• 2003/11/22 concert Baarle-Nassau, , the netherlands
• 2004/01/18 Chamber Music America conference, New York City, usa
• 2004/01/25 concert Merkin Hall, New York City, usa
• 2003/02/01 concert (3:00 pm) Mobile Chamber Music Society, Mobile, AL, usa
• 2004/02/02 concert Pensacola, FL, usa
• 2004/02/4-6 Residency at Klein Oak High School, Spring, TX, usa
• 2004/02/14 concert Round Top, TX, usa
• 2004/02/16 concert Hammond College, LA, usa
• 2004/02/17-18 Lousiana State University, usa
• 2004/02/19 concert Nashville, TN, usa
• 2004/02/27 concert University of Rhode Island, usa
• 2004/03/09 concert Merkin Hall, New York City, usa
• 2004/03/23-24 Lafayette College, Easton, PA, usa
• 2004/03/28 concert Beacon, NY, usa
• 2004/04/24 concert Library of Congress, Washington, DC, usa
  
  

PROJECT/OBJECT IS TOURING * PROJECT/OBJECT IS TOURING

Hello... From under grey skies in seattle (shocking!)

Yes - we play tonight at the Rainbow - and it's night #2 in the hometown of Jimi Hendrix... As usual we had some James cranking on the system as we drove the final couple miles of our insane two day trek from DENVER CO... (check the map.. Yikes..)

We had a phat show the 1st night - our special guest was - Bruce Bickford (legendary Zappa collaborator/cartoonist/ claymation genius/ storyteller. We screened over an hour of rare, never seen and rarely seen film from his personal archives. Some of you may have seen Bruce's work in "Baby Snakes" or " The amazing Mr Bickford". Do a web search if you don't know his work!!

A special audience appearance by ... Guitarist JEFF SIMMONS...Zappa alumni!!
Jeff of course is on the classic Roxy and Elsewhere. It was great to meet Jeff and hear some cool stories. Like Napoleon - Jeff looks EXACTLY like he does on the "ROXY" cover art - just less hair. These guys have a time machine... Jeff of course was also on Chunga's Revenge, Waka/Jawaka, and a couple of the compilaltions and the "You Can't Do That On Stage" series - he also did a record called- Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up.

LAST WEEKEND was spectacular as well - we had a great double header at Martyr's in Chicago - a great venue, the coolest people come see us - what a crowd.. But ON TOP OF THAT.. We were graced with the keyboard presence of
J-Ro himself - Jordan Shapiro, both nights. And on SAT - the SEAHAG, Robbie Mangano - sat in for most of the show. He also ruled, of course. His mighty band "Sound of Urchin" opened the set to the crowds delight.

Anyway - hope you can catch an upcoming show - we just hit the halfway point of the tour - and we're having a blast - there are six double header shows, and they are ALL made up of TWO totally different shows, 2 diff. sets a night... What are we, nuts???

More details, updates, late changes etc at the website www.projectobject.com
Got a High speed connection??? - LIVE VIDEO....Check out several entire shows at www.dcn.com - search for project object

THANKS/....... And .. PLAY MUSIC

Andre'

NEW FRANK ZAPPA BOOTLEGS

• frank zappa: the petit wazoo
      (2003, cd, ??, frunobulax records fr003)
  
  • This is a brand-new bootleg, called "The Petit Wazoo". It's called like that because Zappa called the band The Petit Wazoo at the time. It presents the 1972/12/09 late show concert at the 'Paramount Theater' in Portland, Oregon, USA. The early show is in circulation as well.
    My timer says 77 minutes. The recording that I have on cdr says 86 minutes. All the compositions are there, but they've been cut a bit to fit on one disc.

• frank zappa: mothermania
      (2003, cd-bootleg, ??, classified records tucd 039)
  
  • Another new bootleg: the complete Mothermania album plus the Sink Trap / Gypsy Airs (the (unreleased) single) and some more extras including a live piece from 1968/01/28.

BOGUS POMP * BOGUS POMP * BOGUS POMP * BOGUS POMP * BOGUS POMP * BOGUS POMP

Stan Ivestor on Zappaween IX:

For their ninth Zappaween extravaganza, Bogus Pomp (www.boguspomp.com) did two long sets of Zappa music. Without Napi on vocals, both sets were mostly instrumental, and the guys really tore the place up, showcasing the jazzier side of Frank's music. It's a joy to see musicians who have the technical complexity of this music down cold and who bring such skill to performances that are brimming with enthusiasm. These are some hard pieces to play, but here they are, with eyebrows and exclamation points to spare. Guest violinist and guitarist Dan Campbell-who appeared with the band last year as well--added some unusual backgrounds and solos. And keyboardist Rick Olson played quite a bit of guitar, along with a Middle Eastern guitarlike instrument on "Thirteen."

Set 1 opened with a loud and proud King Kong, featuring lively solos by Dan and Jerry. Second in line was Road Ladies, a bluesy outing with Jerry and Rick handling vocals. Dog Meat was then served, as tight as that puppy has ever been stuffed. Then came a raucous and jumpy I'm the Slime. The Black Page was next, featuring BP's own arrangement, which incorporates elements of several of Frank's versions. And then they segued into 50-50-the instrumental version! You know, there were some good things about 1973, after all. Ring of Fire (tribute to Johnny Cash) brought down the house, in a very respectful way, of course. Thirteen (Middle Eastern style) was a highlight for me, though perhaps a bit delicate for the room. This was probably the most radical departure from an original played that night and had some very interesting sonorities-I'd love to hear a studio version of this. Up next was The Torture Never Stops-the traditional Halloween favorite, including one of Jerry's best guitar solos of the evening. And then Cosmik Debris in a swinging, enthusiastic version, followed by Approximate as a duet between John Citrone on drums and David Coash on percussion. Very cool. Closing set 1 was what I'll always think of it as Side 4 of Sheik Yerbouti: Wild Love / Yo' Mama, with great interplay between lead guitar and keyboards on the latter.

A Pound for a Brown was the cooking opener for the second set, followed by the entire Hot Rats album: Peaches en Regalia / Willie the Pimp / Son of Mr. Green Genes / Little Umbrellas / The Gumbo Variations / It Must Be a Camel. All were given spirited interpretations, although Gumbo was perhaps the most successful, with lots of raw-edged soloing. David Pate's opening solo was perhaps the best of his many fine solos. Next was Zomby Woof, followed by Big Swifty in much the style of 1988 FZ band (with Lohengrin, Carmen theme, 1812 Overture theme, improvisation, Giant Steps). Providing blessed relaxation was a slow and noirish reading of 20 Small Cigars, followed by a dense and very accurate G-Spot Tornado, both played even better than in the recent BP Orchestra show. Since Campbell was here again, I was hoping for a repeat of last year's magnificent Black Napkins, and I was not disappointed. Next was BP's rollercoaster medley of Let's Move To Cleveland / Let's Make the Water Turn Black / Harry You're a Beast / Orange County Lumber Truck / Lumpy Gravy. Bringing a stately sweep to wind down the proceedings was Strictly Genteel, including band introductions. Closing the show was Muffin Man, featuring a three-guitar attack from Jerry, Dan, and Rick. What an eternally amazing riff to solo on, around, under, and on top of. And these guys used it to send a sweat-drenched crowd back out into the warm South Florida night.

--Stan

ODIN PLAYS ZAPPA TRIBUTE

• odin: odin
      (2000, cd, ger, living in the past lit 1972-002)
  
  • British progressive rock band Odin recorded a Frank Zappa tribute on their only and untitled 1970's (!!) album. The album got rereleased on cd in 2000 .
    The song is called 'Tribute To Frank' and sounds very Zappa-like. The entire album is very impressive and the guitar player is obviously influenced by Frank Zappa. There are a lot of musical references to Zappa on this album.

SHORT BITS * SHORT BITS * SHORT BITS * SHORT BITS * SHORT BITS * SHORT BITS

• Nomeansno covered 'Would We Be Alive?' (the Residents) on their "In The Fishtank" album (1996);
  (info: Ive)
  
• Remember the Various Artists "Frank You Thank" release? The second volume is out !
  contributors include:
  Harmonia, T.B.U., Metropolis Orchestra, Sandro Fresi, Sandro Oliva & The Blue Pampurio s Extravaganza, Orchestra Spaziale, Dario Lombardo, Duo Benazzi Coen, Chiuselunghe, Left Mule Syndacate and Pierluigi Castellano
  
• The Cucamonga radio show on Belgian national radio, vrt 1:
  • 2003/11/24: interviews with the Muffin Men & Ensemble 10:10 on their new release
  • 2003/12/01: it has been ten years... Cucamonga will play fragments of Zappa's 1970 and 1988 Belgian concerts.
    
• another Project/Object show added to their tour:
  2003/11/07 Project/Object concert 'winston's', san diego, ca, usa
  
• "Noisy Silence, Gentle Noise", the Dave Pike Set album from 1969, has been rereleased as mini-lp-style cardboard sleeve cd. In Japan, on MPS/UCCM.
  
• Aynsley Dunbar plays the drums on the latest Pat Travers album "P.T. Power Trio".