eikangerbjorsvik

	eikanger-bjorsvik musikklag: best by farr, vol. 2 (1998, cd, norway, doyen bandstand series doy cd 077) – incl. ‘dog breath variations’ (frank zappa)
	eikanger-bjorsvik musikklag: art of the states (2003, cd, norway, doyen) – incl. ‘holiday in berlin’ (frank zappa)

from: charles pater (charpa@flevonet.nl)
it always amazes me to see what other composers are shown next to frank's name on a cd like this. this one does it! a brass band from norway (and if you are familair with brass band arranging of the last say 10 - 15 years you know that these people can really play!).
ok, lots of cornets, horns,trombones, tubas, percussion,etc. doing the arrangements of ray farr of compositios by harold arlen(over the rainbows just after frank's dog breath variations), leonard bernstein , ruggiero leoncavallo, gioacchino rossini, gustav mahler and another fz link barry manilow.

>from the booklet:
"ray farr was born in hereford, england and comes from a very musical family. his father conducts the local s.a. band and his brother plays the horn in the stavanger symphony orchestra. he studied at the birmingham school of music and the royal academy of music in london. after ten years as a trumpet player with the bbc orchestra he started to work as a conductor(...)
in 1990 ray moved with his family to norway, where he is in great demand as a conductor."

about the dog breath variations he wrote:
"guitarist & composer frank zappa wrote amazing music in a variety of styles. sometimes he would perform zany rock songs, other times his music would be extremely creative & complex. often his music would carry a poliltical or humanistic message. my two sons (craig & gary) were my motivation to arrange this music. it has been an exciting and rewarding experiment."

from: peter van laarhoven
the eikanger-bjorsvik musikklag is a norwegian brass band. according to my nephew, ray farr is one of the top arrangers for brass and he (ray farr, not my nephew) is now conducting the eikanger-bjorsvik musikklag. they play brass versions of everything (manilow, mahler, rossini, bernstein,...), including zappa. farr's arrangement of the dog breath variations is great. of course, it's one of zappa's best tunes, especially when you play it all evening (uncle meat, yellow shark,...). according to the liner notes, ray farr arranged the zappa piece to please his two sons. thank you guys!