chris opperman

Christopher D. Opperman was born November 20, 1978, in New York City. He was raised in Clifton, NJ, and schooled at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. He currently lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Chris Opperman worked together with Mike Keneally on the "Dancing" album, and more recently, he helped Mike with the orchestration of "The Universe Will Provide".

May 2004, Chris Opperman took part in the orchestrations & performances of Steve Vai's "The Aching Hunger" in Holland.

1	chris opperman: oppy music vol.1: purple, crayon (1998, cd, usa, purple cow records pcr 001) - produced by mike keneally
	mike keneally & beer for dolphins: dancing (8) (2000, 2cd, usa, exowax records) - feat.chris opperman
2	chris opperman: klavierstücke (2000, cd, usa, purple cow records pcr 003) - produced by chris opperman and mike keneally
3	chris opperman: concepts of non-linear time (2004, cd, usa, purple cow records pcr 004) - feat. mike keneally and marc ziegenhagen
	keneally - metropole orkest: the universe will provide (2004, cd, usa, favored nations fn2400-2)
	keneally - metropole orkest: parallel universe (2004, cd, usa, exowas recordings ex2407-1)
	steve vai: real illusions - reflections (2005, cd, usa, favored nations)
	kat parsons: no will power (2005, cd, usa, cleopatra records) - feat. chris opperman
	kelda: detour (2005, cd, usa, ??) - feat. chris opperman
4	chris opperman: beyond the foggy highway (2005, cd, usa, purple cow records pcr 005)

As scary as it is, I will be turning 25 in a couple of weeks, and to celebrate the Acoustic Playhouse is hosting a huge party/concert for me on my birthday and they let me fill up the roster with all my friends and favorite musicians from around town. It's going to be an extremely entertaining and fun show and we'll also be celebrating the 5-year anniversary of the release of my first album, Oppy Music, Vol. I, so we're going to be playing some stuff we haven't played in a long time as well as a bunch of new and made-up stuff. Here's the line-up for the show!

Brian McGinty - 8:00 - 8:20 pm
Brent Locke - 8:20 - 8:40 pm
Zach Sinick - 8:40 - 9:00 pm
Special Opps - 9:00 - 11:00 pm
Kat Parsons - 11:00 - 11:20 pm
Telepathy - 11:30 pm - closing

Tempest/Acoustic Playhouse
7232 Santa Monica Blvd.
W. Hollywood, CA - 18+ - $6 cover

The band line-up for Special Opps in this concert is going to be myself on piano and vocals, Todd Lieberman on guitar and vocals, Jen Kuhn on electric cello, Isaac Slape on electric bass, and Kahlil Sabbagh on the drums. Shazam! Also, Kat Parsons will be sitting in with us for one of her songs towards the end of our set. She has a really drop-jaw amazing voice and I'm really looking forward to playing music with her and seeing her play as well. She has a new song she just wrote called "How About We See Other People and You Don't" that is surely going to wind up on the radio someday. Anyway, if you haven't seen Special Opps play yet, now's the time to come check us out! The show is going to be something really special, and then when Telepathy hits the stage, it'll be time to booze up and riot and see one of the most entertaining bands out there in LA. Good vibes, great music, cool people, I'll see you there. It's going to be a blast and a half.

Mike Keneally and I spent a heavenly week in Holland in September recording "The Universe Will Provide," an original work for electric guitar & 50-piece orchestra composed by Mike and orchestrated by Mike and myself, with the Metropole Orchestra. Wow. Talk about amazing musical experiences. The orchestra played the music with even more passion during the recording sessions than they did in the live performance in Amsterdam last June and the record is really something very special. I believe that it's going to come out next Spring, so I'll obviously let you know when it does, but this is very special music. Extra props to Co de Kloet, the man who made this all happen, as well as Scott Chatfield, Pieter van Hoogdalem, Jurjen Hempel, and the Metropole Orchestra. I can't wait until this record comes out. It's amazing and I'm really very proud to have played such an important role in its creation. I listen to it and I can't even believe how good it is. It's amazing. Seriously.

Well, Scott Chatfield and I mastered my third studio album, Concepts of Non-linear Time, late last summer and I was hoping to get it out right away, but now I'm in the artwork phase and I still don't have any idea what we're going to do for a cover (although I'm thinking that the record will have a spring theme since Klavierstucke had a fall theme), or who's going to make it, or even exactly what label is going to release it. So until I solve those problems the record isn't going to come out. I'm hoping to get it all together in time for Spring, though. Sorry this stuff takes me so long, what can I say? I'm a perfectionist. A cover's a pretty darn important thing, too, albums have to have good covers. I'm getting pretty close to just attempting to paint one myself, but I think I've decided that I want it to have a photo similar to the Klavierstucke cover, but shot in the spring with a really pretty blonde girl sitting on the opposite side of the park bench that I sat on in the Klavierstucke cover wearing a really pretty dress. I really like that idea because what can I say? I really like pretty blonde girls.

* Suggested Listening
Here are some CD's I listened to last week that I really enjoyed a lot:

November 9, 2003
ATOMIC SCALES
Striking Notes of Progress on the World's Tiniest Guitar
By GEORGE JOHNSON

It was weird enough when NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory recently came across a black hole, 250 million light years away, humming a bass note 57 octaves below middle C. Now scientists have found an accompanist to hold up the treble end.

Cornell University physicists reported last week that they had used a laser beam to pluck the strings of an invisibly tiny silicon guitar just 10 millionths of a meter long. Each string of the instrument is about 50 nanometers (or billionths of a meter) wide - 100 atoms thick. Human hearing tops out at tones that vibrate at about 20,000 cycles per second. The high-pitched sound of the nanoguitar twanged forth at 40 million cycles per second, putting it 17 octaves above what human ears take for music.

Using the same kind of technology that etches the tiny wires and components onto computer chips, the researchers at Cornell's NanoScale Science and Technology Facility have also constructed a nanodrum from a crisscross diamond mesh and a nanoxylophone with tiny diamond bars.

These "nanomechanical resonant systems" demonstrate human dexterity pushed to the extreme, an attempt to revolutionize manufacturing and medicine (though perhaps not music) with artifacts as tiny and efficient as the atoms that compose the universe.

Practical applications aside, making nanothings is the ultramodern equivalent of building a ship in a bottle or carving the Lord's Prayer on a grain of rice - a feat surpassed this summer when a husband and wife team working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology inscribed the New Testament in 24-karat gold typeface on a silicon chip five millimeters (less than one-fifth of an inch) square. Each letter was the size of a single bacterium.

The micro-Bible is enormous compared with the nanoguitar, each string of which is thousands of times thinner than a single human hair, so small that it begs the question of what one means by a "thing." Scientists can say with some confidence that a single atom does not qualify, consisting, as it does, mostly of empty space, a vast nothing separating a dense nuclear core and a shimmering periphery of electrons. Even an atom's substance - if it can be called that - is elusive, the particles hovering in a quantum state where position and momentum can be described only in terms of probability.

Put trillions of atoms together and you get something solid like a real guitar, a chunk of matter you can hold in your hands. The nanoguitar, impossibly tiny as it seems, also exhibits some of the dependable properties associated with thinginess: you can pluck it and it plays. But it hovers near the brink, at a poorly understood threshold where quantum effects begin to dominate.

When the National Nanotechnology Initiative, formed in 2001 to encourage research in this new science, used a tiny carbon needle to spell out its Web address (www.nano.gov) in letters just seven nanometers wide, it pushed even deeper into the in-between world, sometimes called the mesoscale, the murkiest of scientific frontiers.

People have, of course, been manipulating atoms all along, but only in what Ralph C. Merkle, a professor at Georgia Institute of Technology and nanotech enthusiast, called "great thundering statistical herds." Manufacturing today, he has written is "like trying to make things out of Lego blocks with boxing gloves on your hands. Yes, you can push the Lego blocks into great heaps and pile them up, but you can't really snap them together the way you'd like."

If nanomanufacturing comes of age, something as tiny as a nanodrum or nanoharp might be mass-produced for use as extremely sensitive detectors for ultra high-frequency waves. Scientists have recently demonstrated infinitesimal nanotube thermometers and nanobalances capable of weighing a single virus. All this may foreshadow a day when doctors use nanocapsules to carry medicines, a few molecules at a time, to precise locations in the body, and nanorobots to crawl through the bloodstream and repair cells.

In the meantime this all makes for good science fiction. Last year Michael Crichton published a thriller, "Prey," in which scientists develop a swarm of flying nanobots that can flock to a distant location and form a giant camera, beaming images back to the human masters. The vermin escape, of course, and being not only invisible but also artificially intelligent and very fecund, they threaten to multiply beyond control.

This is much scarier than resurrected Jurassic dinosaurs, and some scientists are already considering how to ensure that the danger never becomes real. In his newest book, "Our Final Hour: A Scientist's Warning," published earlier this year, Dr. Martin Rees, Britain's Astronomer Royal, includes berserk nanorobots among the technological threats to the future of mankind.

Other scientists think nanotech may be the savior. In addition to being very tiny, cylindrical molecules of carbon, called nanotubes, are far stronger than steel. In September, Los Alamos National Laboratory sponsored a conference on how nanotubes might be used someday to build a "space elevator" 60,000 miles high. Cheaper than firing rockets, this could provide the first great leap off the planet. With nanobots nipping at their heels, a few brave souls could escape and explore the solar system and experience first hand the music of the spheres.

Okay, I'm outta here, music is the best. Visit oppymusic.com. See you on the 20th.

Contents:
*     Links of Interest
*     Birthday Bash Aftermath/New MP3's!
*     Upcoming Performances
*     Thank You List 2003
*     Speaking of Turkeys

Links of Interest
    * http://www.ihigh.com/0,1773,2_4__82445,00.html <-- Tiffiny Whitney's review of Josh Groban's "Closer" album (which I believe is pronounced closer as in closer to you, not closer as in the last song of a show even though that's how I keep pronouncing it in my head).
    * http://www.oppymusic.com <-- Official Chris Opperman website.
    * http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDMISS70311261631552048&sql=B8avsa9qgl23a <-- My All-Music Guide entry by Sean Westergaard. The All-Music Guide is only the single best music website out there for those of you who have never checked it out before. And I'm not just saying that because they gave Klavierstucke 4 1/2 stars, although it does demonstrate that they have exceptionally good taste. My personal favorite review is the review of Joe Mac & Eman's "One Too Many: Live from New York" album. Joe Mac, for those of you who aren't up on your boy bands, is Joey MacIntyre from the New Kids on the Block.

First and foremost, I'd like to thank everyone for all of the birthday wishes that got sent my way last week, as well as everyone who came out to my birthday party. What a fun night of music that was! Definitely the best birthday I've had since moving to LA in 2000. The audience was fantastic and all of the musicians and acts involved did a great job. Let's face it, there was a whole lotta music going on. Hooray. So thank you so much, everyone, for making that party such a huge success.

This weekend I'll be working on putting together a couple MP3's from the show for our friends across the rest of the US and overseas who were unable to attend the concert. The first will be a group improvisation we did called "Sad Teenager Wars" that was pretty inspiring. Extra props to Jen Kuhn on electric cello for that piece since she was the one who set the tone of it. The second MP3 will be the song that Kat Parsons sang with us, "To Return to You," which was also composed by Kat. That came out even better than I imagined it would. The recording quality is pretty mediocre unfortunately, but I honestly feel that the performance of that song was so exciting and vibrant that it transcends any issues with the actual audio.

Anyway, if you check the downloads section of oppymusic.com on Monday, the new MP3's should be up.

For those of you still in town this Sunday, this concert will be featuring solo performances by a lot of people whose first names mostly begin with either a "C" or an "A."

Chris Scott, Cleo Antonelli, Adam Lopez, Angela C. Stone, Steven Lomas, Adam Austin, Devin Wallace, and myself.

    Tempest/Acoustic Playhouse
    Sunday, Nov. 30th - Starting at 9 pm
    7323 Santa Monica Blvd.
    W. Hollywood, CA - 18+ - $3 cover

I'm not really sure why the cover is only $3, but I'm not in charge of making those decisions. You're probably free to give more money if you want to. All proceeds are going to The Fire Victims Relief Fund. Anyway, I figured this was the least I could do for all the poor people who lost their homes in the CA fires, so that's what I'm doing. I'm not sure how many songs I'm playing, but I'll probably at least play "T. Williams," "Melodious Monk," and something else. Maybe I'll even play "Idaho Potato" since it's kinda appopriate, but that would mean that I would have to sing, so I'm going to go with probably not.

    The Cat Club
    ** Next Tuesday! ** December 2nd - Starting at 10:20 pm
    8911 Sunset Blvd.
    W. Hollywood, CA - 18+ - $7/$5 with this e-mail

If we get 20 people out to this show, they'll review my band in some local music magazines. I think it might even be Music Connection, but I don't remember. I'll have to ask the promoter. Anyway, this will be the last Special Opps show of the year so although it'll be a relatively short set for us (40 minutes), it would still be really sweet if some or all of you could make it out. We're going to power trio it up with Jen Kuhn on electric cello, Kahlil Sabbagh on drums, and myself on piano. We might invite some friends to come play as well. Who knows?

The last time I was at the Cat Club, I asked some random girl if she'd ever ridden on the "Highway to Hell." She said no. So guys, take it from me, that pick-up line does *not* work. Just FYI.

Since I'm not sure if I'm going to send out another update this year, I wanted to make sure I gave props to everyone who helped make my 24th year as awesome as it was. This list is presented in alphabetical order and if I somehow forgot to include you although you feel like I really should have, please accept my sincerest apologies.

First, I would like to thank my parents, sister and family. Then I would like to thank Cleo Antonelli, Aaron Arntz, Bryan Beller, Nancy Braun, Michael & Lisa Canaan, Scott Chatfield, Johnny Choi, Co de Kloet, Kevin Dooley, Evan Francis, Clark Freeman, Dann Friedman, James Green, Jurjen Hempel, Kyle Kirkland, everyone at Jo Ann Kane Music Services (esp. Bonnie), Mike Keneally, Clint Kenney, Blair Kluberton, Gabi Kochlani, Jen Kuhn, Brent & AnnaDee Locke, Brian McGinty, Sheena Metal, everyone involved with the Metropole Orchestra, Melinda Mondrala, everyone at NPS Radio Holland, Kat Parsons, Michael Petersen, Kahlil Sabbagh, Zach Sinick, Isaac Slape, Todd Lieberman, Mike Sammis, Anthony Saragueta, Nicki Scott, Tanya Smith, Cosette Trombino, everyone at Universal Music Publishing Group that I didn't thank already, Steve Vai, Pieter van Hoogdalem, J Warner (who came up with "Special Opps"), Wendy Wilson, and all the rest of my friends for a truly kick-ass year. Phew. Try saying that all in one breath...or not.

I had to go into work early this morning to help my boss out. So I went to get a bottle of water and walked past the living room, which is usually blasting MTV 24/7. However, this morning, maybe just because it was early, there was this TV preacher screaming on the top of his lungs that all the other TV preacher "fools" just want more money and that they aren't really preaching the Gospel. However, this turkey was going to deliver the "buck-naked Gospel," which I thought was an utterly bizarre adjective to use. Then he asked for an "Amen!" and he *got* it! Everyone started screaming in the aisles!

Then the turkey got serious and he exclaimed, "I am going to tell you the truth! FORRRRNICAAAAATIOOOON! FORNICATION IS WRONG! IT IS BAD! IT IS EVIL! IT IS A SIN!" and all these people in the audience were grinning and agreeing and shouting after every exclamation! Then he started ranting about the perils of gay marriage (which I obviously think should be legal), but by then I had gotten my water and knew I didn't want to hear any more of that jive. All I could think about the people in the audience was, "They let these people vote?"

Anyway, in closing, I would like to say that I hope that each and every one of you manages to get it on during this festive Holiday weekend. There is *nothing* wrong about it. Just make sure you do it right. Happy Thanksgiving!

Contents:
*     Quick Links
*     Upcoming Performances
*     The Mother of Invention (Decomposing Composer)

With Special Opps
    Tempest/Acoustic Playhouse
    Saturday, December 20th - Starting at 11 pm
    7323 Santa Monica Blvd.
    W. Hollywood, CA - 18+ - $6 cover

This will definitely be our last show of the year! Featuring at least Kahlil Sabbagh on drums, Isaac Slape on electric and upright bass, and myself on piano, although we may have other special guests as well. This could be the last show for awhile, so it would be awesome to see you there. Write it down in your calendar now! Also, hello and thank you to everyone who was at the Cat Club show on Tuesday and who signed up for the mailing list.

With Steve Vai/Metropole Orchestra
    De Oosterpoort (In-/Output series)
    Saturday, May 22nd, 2004 - Starting at 8:15 pm
    Trompsingel 27
    9724 DA Gronigen
    The Netherlands
    Tel: +31-50-3680368
    Tickets: € 30,- ( service charge not included)
     www.de-oosterpoort.nl

    Paradiso
    Sunday, May 23rd & Monday, May 24th, 2004 - Starting at 8:30 pm
    Weteringschans 6/8
    1017 SG Amsterdam
    The Netherlands
    Tel: +31-20-6264521
    Tickets: € 20,- ( service charge & membership not included)
    www.paradiso.nl

So the reason why the Dec. 20th show might be the last Special Opps show for awhile is because I'll be busy, busy, busy assisting Steve with the orchestrations for his premiere orchestral work "The Aching Hunger" as well as performing all the score preparation/music copyist duties, just like I did for Mike Keneally with his orchestral work "The Universe Will Provide" this year. Steve also honored me greatly by asking me to be the pianist for the concerts. There's obviously so much I could say about how I feel about all of this but right now the most intelligible thing I can think of to say is "Wow," so I'm going to go with that. Wow.

Today, December 4th, 2003, marks the 10th anniversary of the death of the man whose music inspired me to become a composer, Mr. Frank Zappa. A long time ago I decided that the best way for me to pay tribute to Frank and his memory would be to become a composer myself and go out and play my own music with my own band and do something to keep music exciting, fresh and new. In that regard, so far I feel like I am doing a fairly satisfactory job.

Anyway, I realized the other day that there are a lot of you reading this who might not know exactly who Frank Zappa was or why his contributions to the world of music are so important. Since there are numerous sources where one could quickly and accurately learn about his life and political views ("The Real Frank Zappa Book," Frank's autobiography, would be an excellent starting point), today I'm going to concentrate on the music by picking out some of my favorite Zappa albums (out of the 60 released in his lifetime) and talking about them. Hopefully this will inspire you to go out and pick up a Frank Zappa record for your own collection.

#1 Freak Out! (1966) - This was the first album from Frank Zappa's first major-label band, The Mothers of Invention (the "of Invention" was added at the insistence of MGM). Produced by Tom Wilson (who was also responsible for producing groundbreaking albums by Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, and the Velvet Underground in the late 60's), this record was a first in many ways: It was the first full double-album in rock, the first concept album (exploring the Freak scene in Los Angeles in the mid-60's), and according to the Rolling Stone Guide to Alternative Music, it was the first "alternative" rock record. Wow. Features "Hungry Freaks, Daddy," "Who Are the Brain Police?" and "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet," which could be considered the world's very first rave.

#7 Hot Rats (1969) - Six albums and three years later saw Frank releasing his second album sans The Mothers of Invention (the first being #3 "Lumpy Gravy"). One of the albums that comes closest to being all instrumental, the only vocal tune is a tune sung by his old high school friend Captain Beefheart, "Willie the Pimp." This is a very beautiful record. "Peaches en Regalia" is so happy and exciting and it has probably one of the greatest bass lines in rock history. Anyone that plays the bass would do well to learn the bass line to this song (performed by Shuggie Otis). "Son of Mr. Green Genes" really displays Frank's arranging abilities. It really makes me smile. Out of all the records in this list, I imagine that most of you would probably like this one the best, especially since it's free of any Zappa's more satirical/scatalogical work. Everyone should go out and buy this record today. You'll be so glad you did. I'll definitely be spinning it today myself (if I can find it in my apartment).

#10 Chunga's Revenge (1970) - This is one of the Zappa albums that I listened to the most growing up and I still listen to it pretty often today. I love this record. Most Zappa fans would definitely not pick this as one of their favorites, but I think it's underrated. It starts off with "Transylvania Boogie" which I must have listened to at least 600 times. It's just so freaking cool. "Would You Go All the Way?" is really hilarious. I don't want to spoil the punchline for you, but I think my friends and I all just about had a cow at the right moment in this song. I listened to "Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink" about a million times as well. This is a fun record to sing along to and it's nowhere near as offensive as the Flo & Eddie version of The Mothers was about to get on the Fillmore East: Live 1971 album. At the end of that tour, a deranged fan shoved Frank off the stage because he thought Frank was making eyes at his girlfirend. Frank fell into the orchestra pit and broke his neck. That's why the pitch of his voice suddenly dropped a major 3rd. A week before this, they were playing and someone threw a roman candle and set the place on fire. Deep Purple saw the fire in the distance and was inspired to write "Smoke on the Water."

#15 The Grand Wazoo (1973) - While Frank was recovering from his injuries, he turned his attention almost entirely to his composing and arranging skills. This is a really fun record as well. This record features a chamber jazz orchestra as opposed to a compact rock unit (probably since Frank didn't have to worry about spending his money on tour support since he was still wheelchair-bound at this point). "Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus" has a lot of very cool brass parts and it's really funny too. "Eat that Question" is great as well. This album was conceived the same time as "Waka/Jawaka," which has a song on it called "It Might Just be a One-Shot Deal" that features Zappa's only country-rock guitar solo in probably the most unlikely place in the song. It also features some sick trumpet playing from Sal Marquez. "Hot Rats," "Waka/Jawaka," and "The Grand Wazoo" are all available in a box set called "Threesome No. 2" released by RykoDisc last year.

#16 Overnite Sensation (1973) - Allmusic.com says "Love it or hate it, Overnite Sensation was a watershed album for Frank Zappa, the point where his post-60's aesthetic was truly established; it became his first gold album, and most of these songs became staples of his live shows for years to come." Featuring the extraordinarily sexually explicit (and sexy) "Dinah-Moe Humm" sung in Frank's new low voice, it also feaures one of his best satirical songs to date, "I'm the Slime" and some very tight instrumental playing on "Fifty/Fifty," "Zomby Woof," and "Montana," which features uncredited back-up vocals by Tina Turner and the Ikettes.

Lather (1973 - 1977) - This album, now available in a 3-CD set close to the way the album was originally conceived, was delivered as a 4-LP set to Warner Bros. as a way to get Frank out of his record contract with them. Instead of releasing it the way it was, Warner split it up into genre-specific pieces. It's much more fun to listen to in it's original form, hearing Frank jump from hard rock to classical in a split second or less. There are SO many highlights on this album that I'm not even going to bother listing them all. But the whole thing is fantastic and it concentrates more on the arrangements and compositions than Frank's satirical lyrics (although such songs as "Broken Hearts are for Assholes" are also included).

#24 Sheik Yerbouti (1979) - One of Frank's most infamous (and most popular) albums, Frank earned his first Grammy nomination for "Best Male Vocal Performance" on "Dancin' Fool," a satire about disco. He also earned a lawsuit for his song "Jewish Princess," which he refused to apologize for because he insisted that "such creatures do exist." He responded on his next album, Joe's Garage, by writing a song called "Catholic Girls" to give everyone an equal opportunity to squirm. Sheik Yerbouti could very well be Frank Zappa's funniest album. It's also the most hard-rock Zappa album. "Bobby Brown Goes Down," a song about gay S&M, was a #1 single in Europe. And just in case you forgot that Frank Zappa's guitar prowess is legendary, side 4 of Sheik Yerbouti ends with "Yo' Mama" which is, well, you just need to hear it to believe it. It's intense, to say the least.

#26/27 Joe's Garage, Acts I, II, and III (1979) - A musical about a government that makes music illegal, this album is really amazing. It also features "Watermelon in Easter Hay," Frank's best guitar composition. I can't tell you how many times I listened to that solo following along with my Zappa Guitar Book. It's so beautiful. The marimbas, the chimes, the guitar tones, the drums, wow, wow, wow. This also features some of Frank's most hilarious songs although by the time the 3rd act rolls around it concentrates mostly on lengthy guitar solos.

#28 - 30 Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar Box (1980) - Frank shuts up and plays his guitar. 'Nuff said.

#33 Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch (1982) - Frank scored his biggest hit with this record, the single "Valley Girl" recorded with his then 14-year-old daughter Moon Unit. It introduced the entire world to the concept of the Valley girl and to such phrases as "Gag me with a spoon," and "bag your face." "Drowning With" is easily Frank's most difficult rock instrumental composition, but easily one of his most beautiful as well. "Envelopes" is really amazing and it segues into "Teenage Prostitute," a song that blends hard rock with opera music and features some extremely sick guitar work from Steve Vai.

#42 Jazz from Hell (1986) - Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Frank's true love, the Synclavier. The Synclavier was like the Mercedes-Benz of sequencers (Frank used to say that lots of rock artist took their millions and stuck it up their nose, but he took his and stuck it in his ear) and Frank was more than a little excited about the possibilites that this machine could bring about. Finally, thanks to the computer, he could hear his music the way he heard it in his head performed with 100% accuracy. After London critics complained about the lack of "human element" on this record, Frank released "London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 2" which was riddled with wrong notes and mistakes and said, "Here's your human element." Frank won his first (and only, in his lifetime) Grammy for this album, for Best Rock Instrumental Composition for the song "Jazz from Hell." Frank was shocked considering that was the most dissonant, out there piece on the album. This is a very bizarre record in general, but I love it.

#53 The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life (1991) - One of three albums culled from the 15-piece 1988 "Broadway the Hard Way" tour (the other two being "Broadway the Hard Way" and "Make a Jazz Noise Here"), this album features, of all things, off-the-wall covers of songs such as Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" (in which the entire horn section doubles the original guitar solo), Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze," Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love," and the "Theme from Bonanza." It also features big band arrangements of some of Frank's classic songs such as "Who Needs the Peace Corps?" "Andy," and "Inca Roads." The playing on this album is so ridiculously tight that I can't even believe that it's actually live. This tour also introduced the world to guitarist Mike Keneally. The guitar solo on "Zomby Woof" is so good that it makes me freak out every time I listen to it. This was the best live ensemble Frank Zappa managed to pull together, and is easily one of the best live outfits of all time. The '88 band knew how to play upwards of 300 songs and they played them with an enormous amount of skill and finesse. I can't even tell you how amazing that band was. Wowie zowie, for sure.

#57 You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 (1992) - Disc 1 of this two-disc set is dedicated to live renditions of all of Frank's songs about sex. Disc 2 is dedicated to more instrumental affairs and is one of my favorite Zappa albums to listen to. "Thirteen" is of particular interest since it features electric violinist L. Shankar and introduced a 15-year-old me to a world of polymetric time since Frank explains how to count in 13 at the beginning of the song. Other highlights include "The Illinois Enema Bandit," "Crew Slut," and "Black Napkins."

#59 The Yellow Shark (1993) - Released only a month before Frank Zappa passed away from prostate cancer, the album is culled from the 1992 live performances of Frank's classical works by the Ensemble Moderne. This is an essential release. The Ensemble Moderne was the only classical ensemble to play Frank's music with the kind of accuracy and "eyebrows" that Frank was looking for. Every song on this album is a highlight, but I especially love "Outrage at Valdez," "The Girl in the Magnesium Dress," "Ruth is Sleeping," "Food Gathering in Post-Industrial America, 1992," "Welcome to the United States," and "G-Spot Tornado." There are a million and five things to love about this record.

#60 Civilization: Phaze III (1994) - The first album to come out after Frank's death, this was the last album he completed before he died. 99% recorded with the Synclavier (it also includes some improvisations with the Ensemble Modern), this piece features dialogue recorded for his first solo album, "Lumpy Gravy," interspersed with new recordings from 1991. 10 years later and I'm still in awe every time I listen to this record. It's a very creepy album to listen to because it just reeks of impending doom and you can almost feel Frank fading away. If you go to zappa.com today you can read the liner notes and listen to the very last song on Frank Zappa's very last album, "Waffenspiel." It's interesting that Frank chose this as his final composition, since he sort-of returns to his roots with it. Frank was inspired to be a composer in his teenage years by Edgard Varese's piece "Ionization" for 15 percussionists. "Waffenspiel" is very much a percussion piece since it features mostly gunfire, chirping birds, and barking dogs. The absence of "music" from this piece makes it extremely chilling and the liner notes about the crop-dusting plane coming and spraying toxic substances on the audience is especially creepy now. Overall, this is definitely Frank Zappa's master work, wrapping up some of the themes he began with "Freak Out!" and is a fitting end to Frank's prolific career as a composer.

From: Chris Opperman
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2004
Subject: [Chris Opperman] "No Memories, Please" Pre-order Announcement!

I'm happy to announce that we are now accepting pre-orders for my third studio album, "No Memories, Please." Produced mostly by myself and Mike Keneally, the album is comprised of duets recorded during the sessions for "Klavierstücke" and features Rachel Arellano on vocals, Robert Thomspon on violin, Ben Adams on vibraphone, Marc Ziegenhagen on mini-moog, and Mike Keneally on acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar, vocals, and piano. It's a really beautiful album and I'm very proud of it. Hopefully you will be too.

To pre-order, simply visit this page: http://www.onesheet.com/chrisopperman.html. The price is $15, plus $2.50 for domestic shipping and $5.00 for overseas shipping. I will be happily signing the first 250 pre-orders. I'm counting on being able to sell out of the pre-orders in order to pay the manufacturing costs for the album, so I would appreciate it greatly if you would order one and tell your friends to do the same! Our target release date is Tuesday, April 20th. If you have any problems ordering, please do not hesitate to e-mail me @ chris@madphat.com.

After I get this album out, I will be finishing up a live compliation of some of the cool performances we've captured over the last two years that will feature various incarnations of Chris Opperman & Friends as well as some solo material and material from Special Opps for release this summer. We're hoping to make enough money from these two releases to fund the recording of the "Special Opps" studio album, which will hopefully be released in the first quarter of 2005.

In the meantime, I'm still working, working, working on the Vai orchestrations and getting ready for the Holland performances this May. For those of you who have been waiting for another L.A. performance, the "No Memories, Please" CD release party has been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, April 21st at The Mint in Los Angeles. More information will be posted when available.

For a complete track listing and more info regarding "No Memories, Please," there is a rough draft discography entry that you can check out @ http://www.oppymusic.com/nomemories.html. From that page you can also download two of the songs from the album for free: "Kamp Keneally" and "Cynthia H."

From: Chris Opperman
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2004
Subject: Chris Opperman @ The Cat Club This Tuesday!

Quick update to let you know that I will be playing a solo set at The Cat Club on Sunset (8911 Sunset Blvd., W. Hollywood, CA, on Tuesday starting at 8:20. The cover is $5 with this e-mail and I hope to see you there! You can tell me what you think about my beard.

Also, I'd like to thank everyone who has pre-ordered "No Memories, Please." The response has been really terrific. However, I'm not quite at where I need to be to be able to afford to manufacture the CD's, so if you've been waiting to pre-order, now would be an excellent time! Or if you do not yet have "Oppy Music I" or "Klavierstucke," now would also be an excellent time to pick those up and complete your collection!

From: Chris Opperman
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2004
Subject: [Chris Opperman] Greetings from the Oppycave.

I'm about to take some No-Doz and wash it down with some Mountain Dew so Tom Trapp and I can finish up the parts for the stuff that needs to go out to Holland tomorrow. So while I'm doing that, I figured it'd be a good time to let Tom say hello to all you fine people, so here he is:

Oh crap, Tom just put Vanessa Carlton on the CD player...uh oh...that can't be good. <crack>:

"When you hear the Dew can crack... Trouble is brewing. Chris drinks a strange amount of Mountain Dew. He drinks more Dew than an old lady do. Copius. You are all apparently already interested in Chris' personal life, because you're all a bunch of old ladies and you're on the mailing list - so allow me to be the harbinger of a strange bit of information. He's Dew-o-sexual. Late at night, when he thinks I'm sleeping, I've got one eye open. Let me tell you folks, it's not a pretty sight.

I did hear bits of Chris' new album. You should purchase that album. It has Keneally, another wonderful old lady. The cost is negligible compared to the other ways you waste money. Just steal some cash out of your father's wallet or knock an old lady down and take hers. You're heavier than an old lady, aren't you?

So far, since I've been in LA this trip, I've seen Chris help 2 old ladies cross the street, buy 2 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, drink 2 glasses of wine, get 2 lap dances, and put 2 items into other people's shopping carts. That was just on the way back from the airport! The old lady thing was a fib.

The Vai work is well. The concert will be well. Vai is swell. This concert will bust your nancy-asses wide open."

Hi, I'm back! Wow, it's hard to think straight when you're high on Mountain Dew and Vanessa Carlton's drummer is laying down some of the illest drum tracks you've ever heard. Anyway, I figure that you're all wondering where the heck I've been the last couple months, so I'm about to give you the low-down.

Steve was nice enough to fly my friend Tom Trapp out here and put him on salary to help me finish up the massive amount of work that needs to be done to get these orchestrations and parts out to Holland in a timely fashion. We just finished formatting the parts for a piece called "Ballerina" which is the first one that I finished and let me tell you, it was a really nice feeling to *finally* be able to put the world "Complete" in a cell on my "Vai/Metropole Orkest - The Aching Hunger Movement Status Log" Excel spreadsheet. I'm really proud of the job that I did orchestrating that piece. Steve gave me free reign with it and I really think I came up with something special. We've got to finish a couple other movements tonight that we got approvals from Steve on and we're still waiting for him to call us back on a couple other movements (I told him to call us as soon as he wakes up...he's been working really hard as well and his sleep schedule's even weirder than mine). However, I want to get as much stuff out tomorrow as possible.

I'm really looking forward to the day when I'll be able to look at my "Movement Status Log" and see the word "Complete" all the way down the line. Co de Kloet was nice enough to have mercy on our souls and give us an extra two weeks, so apparently that day is going to be Monday, April 5th. Of course, that's two less weeks that I get to go to the gym and practice up. However, the music has to get done and it has to be right and that's it. The end.

For those of you wondering about the status of the impending release of "No Memories, Please," I've decided to postpone the actual CD release party until June when I come back from Holland so I can allocate all of my "spare" time to practicing and working out until then. However, Rich Pike is busy getting the packaging finished so I can send puffy little packages to all of you who were kind enough to pre-order the album by April 20th, which is the actual release date.

Oh! Here's a thing: I managed to find enough time while growing a beard and drinking 42 servings of Mountain Dew a week to lay down a couple piano/trumpet tracks for Kat Parsons's new album "No Will Power" which will be coming out soon. The fact that I was willing to pick up the trumpet again and play it on her album should tell you everything you need to know about how amazingly special that girl's music is to me and how wonderfully talented she is. The sessions were really fun and her producer Paul Maylone is more than capable. It's going to be a really great record and her songs make me smile, so you should go to www.katparsons.com and pre-order her album if you are so obliged.

Oh, and props to the following people who have been very cool and supportive of me in this endeavor: Co de Kloet and everyone at NPS Radio Holland, The Metropole Orkest, Steve Vai, Tom Trapp, Amie Margoles, Kat Parsons, Charlotte Towne, Tanya Smith, Mike Keneally, Bryan Beller, Tiffiny Whitney, Cosette Trombino, Nicki Scott, my bosses at Universal, Usagi Yojimbo, my parents, family, and friends, and Stacy's mom.

Okay, Vanessa Carlton's seen "Twilight" and that means that it's time to get back to work. Peace. Music is the best.

[Chris Opperman Mailing List - May 27th, 2004] - Episode #19: Did Somebody Mention Bees?!

I'm still totally hyped up from the concerts with Steve Vai and the Metropole Orchestra in Holland this past weekend. What an unbelievable experience that was. I'll be writing an essay soon about my experiences with photos and everything, but I'm really still way too close to it to say anything but "Wow." 3,000 people saw me play my ass off on the piano this weekend and listened to the orchestrations that Tom Trapp and I did. Countless more people will hear it when it's broadcast on NPS Radio Holland this September and eventually released. That's incredible. The orchestra played great, I played mostly great, the audiences went completely insane (if we hadn't gone out and played "Kill the Guy With the Ball" again at the end of the first Paradiso show, I swear they would have rioted), and Steve was utterly inspired with every note that came out of his fingertips. There were so many great things about what transpired. Wow. Hopefully we will be doing this again next year.

Extra special thanks to Steve Vai, Co de Kloet, Marja Quak, Els le Febre, Dick Bakker & the Metropole Orchestra, Bryan Beller, Tom Trapp, and everyone else involved with making these concerts happen. Wow. We did it.

P.S. If you ever decide to turn off your electricity before you go on a long trip, please remember to at least leave your fridge turned on. Just FYI.

I know this could be confusing to some of you (especially those of you who are new), but after some thinking, we decided to change the name of my new album back to "Concepts of Non-linear Time" which was the original title. So if you put in a pre-order for "No Memories, Please" already, don't be confused, it is the same album as "Concepts of Non-linear Time." Barring any additional unforseen delays, Rich Pike and I will be getting together this weekend to put together the artwork for the album and we are pretty darn determined to finally get the CD's to your mailboxes by the beginning of July. I'm not going to announce another release date until I actually have the CD's in my hands, but that's the plan, Stan. If you haven't pre-ordered yet, you can still get in on the signed/numbered copies, by going here:

Thank you so much in advance for your pre-order. If you'd rather wait until the CD has actually been released, I totally understand and I apologize for the delay. I really wanted to get it out before I went to Holland, but these kinds of things have a way of happening when they're meant to.

While I was in Holland this month, the NPS Output/Favored Nations label was officially launched with a press-only pre-release of Mike Keneally's "The Universe Will Provide" featuring Keneally and the Metropole Orchestra, composed by Mike Keneally and featuring orchestrations by Mike and myself. I was late for the party because I was practicing "The Murder - Prologue" although I eventually did go because my fingers started to hurt and I was hungry and I figured there'd be free food (There was. Yay!). I missed the part where Mike thanked me, but that's okay because "practicing is much more important than having smoke blown up your ass" as Mike so eloquently put it. Ha ha, I love that guy. Here's the info on the album from www.moosemart.com:

Mike Keneally's first foray into orchestral composition, The Universe Will Provide is Mike's stunningly beautiful imaginary collaboration with himself at age eight. Commissioned by NPS Output and recorded during a sunny, dreamlike week in Holland, TUWP features the talents of the 52-piece Metropole Orchestra supporting Mike on guitar and keyboards. You have never heard any music like The Universe Will Provide.

And that is very true. There really hasn't ever been music that has sounded like this before. I'm really extremely proud to have had played such an important role in making something like this happen. It is a truly remarkable album and the packaging is really beautiful. I loved everything about this project, from start to finish. It's a shining example of what can happen in the world when everything goes right. It's perfect.

The album will be released in the Benelux countries in June and released in the rest of the world in August.

So if you want to be a musician mostly full-time, you've gotta sell records, and if you want to sell records, you've gotta go on tour. So that is what I am going to do. Starting in September I'm going to embark on a 2+ month mostly solo piano tour of the continental United States to promote my catalog. Also, while I'm out, I'm going to interview people that I meet (one or two from each state) for a book called "Discovering America" that I hope will be an accurate, bi-partisan portrait of the American people leading up to the 2004 Election. The interviewees will all be anonymous and listed only by their age, location, and occupation (ex. "Schoolteacher - 47 - West Virginia"). This will be coupled with a collection of selected improvisations from the concerts as a soundtrack for the book.

More information on this will be posted as it becomes available. However, if anyone has any ideas of venues that I should play (all ages venues with in-tune pianos preferred), promotion ideas, places that I should see while I'm driving around the country, places to crash, or anything else, please do not hesitate to e-mail OppyTour04@aol.com. Thanks!

    NoneRadio
    Monday, May 31st, 2004
    Live broadcast airs 9 pm PST
    www.noneradio.com

I will be returning to NoneRadio this Monday as a guest host along with Philip Bynoe who was Steve Vai's bass player during the late 90's. Jamming will likely ensue.

    The Kat Parsons Experience
    Saturday, June 5th - 9 pm
    The Hotel Cafe
    1628 1/2 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
    Hollywood, CA

Bodacious singer/songstress extraordinaire Kat Parsons will be playing a big, bad show with her bombastically bitchin' band just because I like words that start with the letter "B." Seriously, if you haven't yet seen Kat live, you need to go and have the Kat Parsons experience. I think she must have a third lung hidden somewhere and I love all her songs, especially "Better than Cheesecake," a song she wrote for her grandmother, because the song title starts with a B. See www.katparsons.com for more information. Okay, sing with me: "Bee bee bee bee beeeeeeeeeeee."

    Human Life Index
    Tuesday, June 8th - 8:30 pm
    The Knitting Factory - Main Stage
    7021 Hollywood Blvd.
    Hollywood, CA 90028

Human Life Index, an extremely cool middle-eastern rock band led by my friend Ali Shayesteh on guitars, bouzouki, saz, and oud. Special Opps veteran Jen Kuhn also plays electric cello with them. At this very special concert, they will be having two cello players, so Ali has kindly asked me to do some orchestration work for the two cellists, which I will happily do. They also have a cool new vocalist named Amanda Albertoni that's supposed to be pretty stunning. I'm really looking forward to seeing them in their new expanded line-up. See www.humanlifeindex.com for more information.

    Mike's Ba'rock
    Friday, June 11th - 10 pm
    Black Box NorrlandsOperan
    Operaplan 9, Umea, Sweden
    Info: +46 (0) 90-15 43 47
    Email: biljetter@vbrn.se

In addition to performing with London Baroque, Ensemble Ambrosius, Jaan Wessman, Schroeder, and Napoleon Murphy Brock as part of the Umea International Chamber Music Festival, Mike Keneally will be premiering two brand-new original compositions (which I will be orchestrating with him) currently called "Madge" for septet and "Crumb" for septet and female soprano. I believe that this will be the first time that any of Mike's "classical" works are performed without him and that should make for a very interesting experience. Boo-yah. That's another B word. AND speaking of people whose initials are comprised only of the letter "B":

    Bryan Beller Live Band Debut Performance
    Thursday, June 24th - 10:30 pm - $10
    The Baked Potato
    3787 Cahuenga Blvd.
    North Hollywood, CA 91604
    (818) 980-1615

Bassboy Bryan Beller, who appeared with Vai and myself as the guest bass player for "The Aching Hunger" will be having his first ever performance of his own music from his album "View," which I did the music copying work for. The band is going to be Rick Musallam on guitar, Griff Peters on guitar, Mike Keneally on guitar and keyboards, Joe Travers on drums, Bryan Beller on Bass, Keyboards, and Vocals, and Wes Wehmiller on bass (presumably when Bryan isn't playing bass). I've played with all of those guys before (except Griff) and they're all ridiculously good musicians. This should be a great show.

It looks like Chris Opperman's newsletter had some trouble finding my mailbox. As Chris said: "It turns out that a couple of the major mail sites (AOL, Hotmail, etc.) thought that my madphat.com e-mails were spam and they weren't getting to their intended recipients. However, I called AOL and talked to them and I think I've solved the problem"

[Addendum: In addition to the Special Opps show on July 16th, I'll be playing a mostly solo set on Saturday, July 10th @ 6 pm @ The Space on 2020 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90404 as part of TJ Moore's Los Angeles Art Gallery Debut. Also performing will be Co-Pilot, Candybox Violence, Hijack the Disco, Andy Mitton, Dan Rocket, and Arden Kaywin. The show is being sponsored by the Sight Unseen Theatre Group and is an RSVP-only reception (with hors d'oeuvres & an open bar from 6 - 9!). Cover is $10.]

* The release date for my third solo album, Concepts of Non-linear Time (which was very briefly known as No Memories, Please), has been set for Tuesday, July 20th provided nothing goes wrong at DiscMakers (http://www.discmakers.com/)! Finally! Still time left to pre-order a signed copy! www.onesheet.com/chrisopperman.html Thank you so, so much to everyone who has already pre-ordered. The response has been fantastic.

* On Friday, July 16th, my band Special Opps will be headlining the CD release party for Concepts of Non-linear Time along with live performance newbie Cosette Trombino (8:00), the sweet & sexy (or is that sexy & sweet?) Nikki Katt (8:30) (whom I will also be sitting in with), bodacious Brent Locke (9:15), and the eclectic Zach Sinick (10:00) at Room 5 Lounge @ 143 N. La Brea (between Beverly and 1st Street), Los Angeles, CA 90036. Special Opps starts at 11 and we will be having Mike Keneally (http://www.keneally.com/) as a special guest on guitar and Talia Mays from The Golden Ratio (http://www.g-ratio.com/) as a guest vocalist. The show is also being professionally recorded and videotaped, AND OppyList members get in for the discounted rate of $5! So you really should do your darndest to make this gig. Seriously. You'll be sad if you miss it. And it's all ages. I might even play Idaho Potato, but don't hold your breath.

* In Late July/August, we will be compiling my 4th album and 1st live album, tentatively called Made-up Songs: Live in Los Angeles containing songs culled from my LA performances over the last three years. Special guests include the criminally underrated Andre LaFosse (http://www.altruistmusic.com/) on guitar, the more-appreciated-but-not-appreciated-enough Mike Keneally (http://www.keneally.com/) on guitar, Kat Parsons (http://www.katparsons.com/) on vocals, and more! Also includes performances by Chris Opperman & Friends and Special Opps. I guarantee you something from the July 16th gig will be included on this compilation. Between us, I'm hoping to get a completely outrageous full-band version of Kamp Keneally as well as lots of other musically mind-blowing things.

* Last-minute/Secret Shows List: In order to build a solid fan base, you have to play all the time. However, if you play all the time, then you wind up always playing shows for 5 people because you've oversaturated your market. SO I've decided that I'm only going to promote the bigger shows (like the 7/16 show) and do several last-minute and/or secret shows to introduce new people into the music. That having been said, I would hate to exclude anyone who wants to know every single time I'm playing! So if you would like to be on my secondary list for last-minute shows, simply e-mail MrOppy@aol.com and let me know. Thanks for your extra interest!

* Opulent Music Services: I've started a new division of my corporation, Mad Phat Enterprises, Inc., called Opulent Music Services which includes engraving/music copying, orchestration, arranging, and production services. Therefore, should you need any of those services, please don't hesitate to let me know. I am also interested in licensing out my compositions/recordings for use in film & television, so if there's a specific composition you would like to use for your project, e-mail me and we can work out a deal for that as well. I'm doing music full-time now so I need all the help I can get!

* The Official Oppy Music Website v. 3.1 is coming! It's going to be a fairly massive update and I think the website will be a whole lot more fun and content-rich then. I'm looking forward to it. Check out http://www.oppymusic.com/ if you haven't already.

Okay, that's all I have to report right now! Thank you all so much for your support. Music is the best. Hopefully I'll see a lot of you on the 16th!

From: Chris Opperman
Sent: Monday, August 23, 2004
Subject: [Chris Opperman] Special Opps Tuesday Night

Just a quick reminder that my band SPECIAL OPPS will be taking the stage Tuesday night @ 9 pm. Andre LaFosse and Kat Parsons will be guesting with us and it's going to be a great show. Hope to see you all there!

Special Opps @ Level One
6311 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90048
21+, $7 ($5 for mailing list subscribers)
With Nikki Katt (8:00), Libbie Schrader (10:00) & The Astra Heights (11:00)

From: Chris Opperman
Sent: September 7, 2004
Subject: [Chris Opperman Mailing List - Tuesday, September 7th, 2004]

The first part of Steve Vai's "The Aching Hunger" (composed by Steve Vai for the Metropole Orkest including myself on piano and Bryan Beller on bass guitar) makes it's broadcast debut tomorrow, Sept. 8th, on 4fm Radio, The Netherlands. You can listen to a webcast of the concert by going here: http://portal.omroep.nl/radio/mplayer4. All broadcasts are 22:30 - 24:00 Dutch time, which translates to 4:30 - 6:00 pm EST, 1:30 - 3:00 pm PST. This will be the first in a series of radio specials that will also feature specials on Mike Keneally, Terry Bozzio, and myself. All shows are included in the calendar below.

To make a long story short: The Level One show last Tuesday rocked so hard and the video came out looking and sounding so great that Johnny D. has successfully talked me into just releasing the entire hour-long concert on DVD, so that is what we'll be working on next. Pre-ordering information will be available in the next e-mail update (price will likely be $20 plus shipping), but here is the set list:

1. Johannah (C. Opperman/A. LaFosse/J. Kuhn/I. Slape/K. Dooley)
2. Haasis (C. Opperman)
3. Beware of the Random Factor (C. Opperman)
4. Miles Behind (C. Opperman)
5. Electric Jihad (A. LaFosse/C. Opperman/K. Dooley/I. Slape)
6. Sophia's Dream (C. Opperman)
7. Kamp Keneally (C. Opperman/M. Keneally)
8. Tanya's Song (C. Opperman)
9. Someone to Watch Over Me (G. & I. Gershwin)/To Return to You (K. Parsons)

The band that night was myself on piano, Andre LaFosse on electric guitar, Jen Kuhn on electric cello, Isaac Slape on bass guitar, and Kevin Dooley on drums with special guest Kat Parsons on vocals. Bonus tracks will include uncompressed versions of the three videos Johnny D. and I made from the 7/16 show for No Drinks for Libbie, an alternate version of To Return to You featuring Kat Parsons, and White Willow featuring Mike Keneally.

This will be my first official live release and I'm pretty excited that it's going to be something I can be proud of. MAJOR props to Johnny D. and Steve Laub (the latter of which drove up from San Diego just to videotape the show) without whom this would not be possible, everyone in Special Opps esp. Andre who came and played the gig without even the benefit of a rehearsal. Thanks also to Kat Parsons, Sebastian A. Bach, Nikki Katt, Libbie Schrader, The Astra Heights, Tanya & Brian Smith, Gabi Kochlani, Mike Grey & everyone at Level One. What a happy surprise.

We're aiming for a Thanksgiving release. This release will (probably) replace the "Made-up Songs" live compilation, at least in the short term.

We just finished the 4th major upgrade of http://www.oppymusic.com/! Why not go check it out for yourself? It still needs some tweaking on my part, but it's up there.

Over the past summer, I've been rehearsing with world music superstars Shankar & Gingger to be their right hand music man on their upcoming world tour beginning with some U.S. dates this fall (including a performance at the World Peace Music Awards in San Francisco with such legendary musicians as Lionel Ritchie, Gloria Gaynor, Hootie & The Blowfish, Jon Secada, Peter Yarrow & more. All proceeds will go to Orphans of War and Terrorism.

Their latest album, "Celestial Body" on Mondo Melodia has been added to the playlists of over 1,000 U.S. radio stations in its 6th week of release. S&G were prominently featured on the soundtrack to "The Passion of the Christ" (coincidentally, Shankar also appears on Peter Gabriel's soundtrack for "The Last Temptation of Christ"). Their last album, "One in a Million," featured special guests Phil Collins, Steve & Mike Porcaro (Toto), David Paich, Guy Allison, Tony Levin, Mike Porcaro, Steve Vai, and Steve Lukather.

Shankar himself boasts an impressive list of credits, having invented the 10-string stereophonic double violin, a unique instrument that features the entire range of the string orchestra. He has also worked as a composer, arranger, producer, singer, violinist and performer with artists and bands like Frank Zappa (which is how I became aware of him), Peter Gabriel, Shakti, Phil Collins, Trilok Gurtu, Talking Heads, Van Morrison, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, The Pretenders, and many others.

We've been having a lot of fun in rehearsal and the shows are going to be amazing.

Steve Vai - Metropole Orkest
Wednesday, Sept. 8th (1:30 - 3:00 pm PST, 4:30 - 6:00 pm EST)
THE ACHING HUNGER, PART ONE - www.4fm.nl
You can finally hear it! The world broadcast premiere of Steve Vai's "The Aching Hunger," composed by Steve Vai, orchestrated mainly by Steve, myself, and Tom Trapp, featuring Steve on electric guitar, myself on piano, and Bryan Beller on bass with the Metropole Orchestra as performed in Holland this May. Sponsored by 4fm. You can listen to the live broadcast by clicking here: http://portal.omroep.nl/radio/mplayer4.

Steve Vai - Metropole Orkest
Friday, Sept. 10th (1:30 - 3:00 pm PST, 4:30 - 6:00 pm EST)
THE ACHING HUNGER, VAI INTERVIEW - www.4fm.nl
Spotlight on Steve Vai: Vai & De Kloet discuss "The Aching Hunger." You can listen to the live broadcast by clicking here: http://portal.omroep.nl/radio/mplayer4.

Steve Vai - Metropole Orkest
Wednesday, Sept. 15th (1:30 - 3:00 pm PST, 4:30 - 6:00 pm EST)
THE ACHING HUNGER, PART TWO - www.f4m.nl
Second part of "The Aching Hunger." You can listen to the live broadcast by clicking here: http://portal.omroep.nl/radio/mplayer4.

Shankar & Gingger
Saturday, Sept. 18th & Sunday, Sept. 19th
BOSTON, MA - The Regent Theatre
7 Medford St., Arlington MA 02474
Showtime: 7.30 pm. Reserved seats: $50, $100, and $150 VIP
(VIP Ticket includes premium seating and dinner at the Bombay Classic Restaurant)

Shankar & Gingger
Saturday, Sept. 25th
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - World Peace Music Awards

Special Opps
Wednesday, Sept. 29th
SAN DIEGO, CA - Lestat's
Special Opps's San Diego Debut!

Shankar & Gingger
Saturday, Oct. 2nd
AUSTIN, TX - Roundrock Performing Arts Center

Shankar & Gingger
Sunday, Oct. 3rd
ALBANY, NY - Egg Center For The Performing Arts
Empire State Plaza
Showtime: 7.00 pm. Tickets $24 - call (518) 473-1845

Shankar & Gingger
Sunday, Oct. 10th
PAINTED BRIDE, PA - Venue TBA

Mike Keneally - Metropole Orkest
Monday, Oct. 11th (1:30 - 3:00 pm PST, 4:30 - 6:00 pm EST)
THE UNIVERSE WILL PROVIDE - www.4fm.nl
Mike Keneally & Creative Catalyst Co de Kloet discuss "The Universe Will Provide," the orchestra piece for electric guitar and 50-piece orchestra composed by Mike Keneally and orchestrated by Mike Keneally and Chris Opperman which was recently released worldwide by Favored Nations Entertainment/NPS Output. You can listen to the live broadcast by clicking here: http://portal.omroep.nl/radio/mplayer4.

Chris Opperman
Friday, Oct. 22nd (1:30 - 3:00 pm PST, 4:30 - 6:00 pm EST)
SPOTLIGHT on CHRIS OPPERMAN - www.4fm.nl
Creative Catalyst Co de Kloet & I discuss and play Oppy Music, including an exclusive version of "Miles Behind" only available on this show. This is an excellent program which provides a great overview of my career thus far. You can listen to the live broadcast by clicking here: http://portal.omroep.nl/radio/mplayer4 and the entire show will be available soon as a download from www.oppymusic.com.

Shankar & Gingger
Friday, Oct. 22nd
PORTLAND, OR - First Congregational Church

Shankar & Gingger
Sunday, Oct. 24th
SOUTH BAY, CA - Campbell Heritage Theater, Bay Area Performing Arts Center

Shankar & Gingger
Sunday, Oct. 31st
WASHINGTON, DC - George Washington University Listener Auditorium

As if that weren't enough, I'm currently booking Tuesday nights at Level One in Los Angeles. It's an ultra-swank 200-person nightclub, great for showcasing your band or just putting on a kick ass show. If you're interested (or you know anyone who is interested) in playing there, please e-mail me.

Requestable playlist also has several Oppy tracks featuring Mike Keneally including "Ain't Got No Beef" from "Oppy Music, Vol. I," and all the movements of the "California, 2000" suite from "Concepts of Non-linear Time."

From: Chris Opperman
Sent: October 9, 2004
Subject: [Chris Opperman Mailing List - Saturday, Oct. 9th, 2004]

Hi! I need to make this real quick because my friend Charlotte will be here any minute to take me to the airport. So!

* 1
The Keneally/Metropole Orkest album "The Universe Will Provide" that I did the orchestrations for (along with Keneally) has been getting rave reviews! The latest is a review in Guitar Player magazine that you can find at www.guitarplayer.com by searching for "Keneally."

Anyway, Co de Kloet and our friends at NPS Radio Holland will be running a special on The Universe Will Provide this Monday, Oct. 11th starting at 2:00 PST (5:00 EST) that you can listen to at www.4fm.nl. The Oppy special is on October 22nd, but I will send you another reminder before then.

* 2
The next concert with Special Opps is going to be rather, well, special. It's going to be @ Level One in Los Angeles and it is going to feature opening sets by Andre LaFosse, Jen Kuhn's band Triple Helix, Kelda (on whose record I just played), and then Special Opps will be presenting a piece called "A Very Space Opera" as a Halloween special. I'm still working out all the details, but please mark Tuesday, October 26th on your calendar. This will be my last Level One show as a booking agent, because I tried it and realized that it's really not for me.

March, 2005 will see us touring in Japan, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Colombo, India & more! I'll keep you posted as the dates come in.

Okay, gotta shove a bunch of stuff in a suitcase and get to Charlotte's car. Bye!

[Chris Opperman Mailing List - Tuesday, Oct. 19th, 2004]
Episode #26: VERY Space Opera

This Friday, NPS Radio Holland will be broadcasting an hour-long special interview between creative catalyst Co de Kloet and myself where we discuss my musical upbringing in Clifton, New Jersey and at Berklee College of Music, Oppy Music I, Chris Opperman & The Random Factor, Klavierstucke, Mike Keneally's The Universe Will Provide, Steve Vai's The Aching Hunger, Concepts of Non-linear Time, Chris Opperman & Friends, Special Opps, Made-up Songs, and Kat Parsons, among other things. It also features a performance of "Miles Behind" that will stay unique to this radio special and a sneak preview of "Sad Teenager Wars" and "To Return to You" from the Made-up Songs live compilation which will be coming your way [hopefully] before Christmas. It's really a very, very cool show.

ALSO, thanks to a special arrangement between myself and NPS Radio Holland, the entire show can be downloaded from oppymusic.com by following this link!

So as thanks for this present to you all, Co de Kloet would appreciate it very much if you could e-mail 4fm@nps.nl and tell them how much you enjoyed the broadcast and that you would like to hear more of me on NPS Radio Holland. That would be supremely helpful so that they can continue to bring my music to the fine people of the Netherlands. Thank you very, very much!!!

Next Tuesday we will be doing something completely different @ Level One (6311 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048)! After opening sets by Andre LaFosse (8:00), Jen Kuhn's band Triple Helix (8:30), and Kelda (9:00), Special Opps (with special guests Arden Kaywin, a seriously trained opera singer who is now a stunning pop singer/songwriter, and Talia Mays who is what Bjork would be if Bjork were an improvising R&B soulstress) will be making a one-time performance of "A Very Space Opera," a special one-time Halloween musical event based on my music. "A Very Space Opera," told through music, chronicles the events that lead up to the demise of Captain Columbus and his crew on Mars and how it affects those who love him at home. This will all be followed by a 70's/80's dance party. Woo hoo!

The concert is also going to be a fundraiser for The Sight Unseen Theatre Group, whose play "The Graves of San Andreas" opened to rave reviews last year (I saw it and it was fantastic) and who is currently putting on a production called "Monster" about Frankenstein that is also very cool. For more information about their productions, please go to www.sightunseentheatre.com.

You know the saying about how if you don't have anything nice to say that you're better off not saying anything at all? I quit Shankar & Gingger's band and that's all I have to say about that. However, I do want to apologize to all of you who were excited to finally get a chance to see me perform, especially to my friends in D.C.. Hopefully I'll get a chance to get out to the right coast sometime soon.

[Chris Opperman Mailing List - Monday, November 15th, 2004]
Episode #27: Welcome to the Purple States of America

I know that a lot of you were probably expecting me to say something before the election, but I was really sick that week (I'm better now, thanks). Anyway, now that the election is over there's a lot of talk about blue states and red states. Well, I propose that we end all of this partisanship and all work together as the Purple States of America for a better and brighter future. I hope that didn't come out as cheesy as I just imagined it did. Um, anyway, let's get on with it, shall we?

It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone, but what a year it was! Once again, we'll be celebrating my birthday with a concert. So come on down THIS SATURDAY, November 20th as we celebrate @ Room 5 (143 N. La Brea, 2nd Floor) with opening sets by Leenore (8:30), Nikki Katt (9:15), Ben Weinthraub (10:00), and myself (10:30).

I will be doing a mostly solo piano set for the first two-thirds of the concert for those of you who have been fiending to see a live performance of compositions like "Sharel's Lullabye II," and "T. Williams," among other things and then for the end of the program a scaled-down version of Special Opps is going to take the stage for a few songs for those of you who enjoy the rock stuff more. They actually have a decent piano @ Room 5 so it'll be excellent for those of you who have been wanting to see me perform on a real piano. The cover is $5 with a print-out of this mailing list entry and I believe it's all ages (you just can't sit at the bar if you're under 21). Anyway, I hope to see you there.

What would I like for my birthday? I'm so glad you asked that question. I would actually really like to sell some extra CD's! So I have put the entire catalog on sale for the special sale price of $30 (plus shipping), which includes Oppy Music I, Klavierstucke, and Concepts of Non-linear Time, so it's basically buy 2 and get 1 free.

Here is the link to order! They make great stocking stuffers! (You will need to copy this entire link into your browser...if you need any help, just e-mail me).

Speaking of stocking stuffers, I now have enough material for the live compilation that I'm working on called "Made-up Songs." Scott Chatfield and I are going to master it in early December at Chatfield Manor. Once the master is complete, the music will be immediately available either by pay-for-download from oppymusic.com for $15 (including an Acrobat document of the artwork) or for $25 (plus shipping) I will burn it myself and draw a unique sketch for you on the back of the CD booklet. Here are some of the tracks that will (probably) be included on the compilation:

Now, I will let you know up front that the recording quality of some of the songs is better than some of the other songs, hence the "bootleg" clause. These are live tracks recorded throughout Los Angeles/San Diego and I have been at the mercy of whomever was working sound that night to get these songs recorded, so I am grateful to have an aural document of this stuff at all. There are only a couple of moments that offend me, but Scott Chatfield and I are going to do the absolute best we can to clean those moments up.

That having been said, this is going to be a very cool record featuring music ACTUALLY PERFORMED LIVE by REAL MUSICIANS AND SINGERS with NO OVERDUBS. And why is everyone so surprised that Ashlee Simpson was busted for lip synching? They've ALL been doing it for YEARS. That's why they're ENTERTAINERS and not MUSICIANS.

Johnny D. and I have finished editing 8 of the 9 songs that will appear in the main feature of the Special Opps live DVD that we're working on! The DVD will include the ENTIRE August 24th Special Opps concert @ Level One as well as a ton of bonus features and videos. You will enjoy it immensely and this will be coming your way in Spring, 2005. Boo-yah. Track list: