Tuesday, November 30, 2010

THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION - THE ALTERNATE FREAK OUT

I mentioned this bootleg a couple of weeks ago, but I really have to get back to this. I was able to take a closer look & listen to this album, and I have to admit that it is a beauty.
The package is awesome. Nice artwork & 2 posters.
And the music is amazing as well. I'm no specialist but there's a couple of different versions on it, and the sound is very clear. It might indeed be an alternate version that was intended to be the "Freak Out" album some fifty years ago...

ZAPPA - CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW...



Data of Zappa's "Congress Shall Make No Law..." has been added to the United Mutations Archives.

I do like this album. There's only snippets of music, and that's a pity, but I do enjoy listening to FZ's Congress speech a lot.
A 2CD set would have been nice though... With the the bonus disc being all Synclavier material. Now THAT would have been something.

NEW ZAPPA BOOTLEG, SORT OF

The counterfeit / vinyl bootleg of "Joe's Xmassage" has been spotted in blue vinyl !

CHRIS NORTON

You know, the guy that plays keyboards in Dweezil Zappa's ZpZ band:

ZAPPAFEST IN MILWAUKEE


2010/12/04 "Zappafest"
The 10th annual tribute to Frank Zappa on December 4 !!

at 'Linneman's' 1001 E Locust St, Milwaukee, 8pm sharp.

Five local bands doing all Zappa music.
  • Gorzortenplat
  • The Tempermentals
  • Dr. Chow's Love Medicine
  • The Danglers
  • Sleazeanova

Here's a sample of what The Danglers can do with Zappa's music.

SINISTRE FOUTOIR & GUACAMOLE'S GREEN

The latest newsletter from Les Fils De L'Invention mentions two French bands that perform the music of Frank Zappa: Sinistre Foutoir and Guacamole's Green !
They both have been added to the Others Of Inventions list over at the United Mutations Archives.

There's some really nice stuff over at their MySpace sites.

Sinistre Foutoir goes for the 70's Zappa sound. A fat guitar sound with lotsa horns.
http://www.myspace.com/sinistrefoutoir

Guacamole's Green takes a more jazzy approach.
http://www.myspace.com/guacamolegreen

SUN RA ACETATE FROM 1955

Here's a great story by Robert L. Campbell, he published it on the Saturn Newsgroup earlier today.
I just love these kind of stories...


Saturnites and Saturnians,

Recently I acquired a few acetates that once belonged to Jimmie Davis. At various times Jimmie Davis ran roller skating rinks, skate shops, and record stores at different addresses on the South Side of Chicago. From the beginning of 1955 through some point in 1957 Jimmie and his wife Lillian operated a small record record label called Club 51, which we keep a page on at the Red Saunders Research Foundation.

Club 51 accumulated an extensive inventory of acetates and lacquers, some at 78 rpm and some at 33 1/3, by various singers and vocal and instrumental groups, many of them still unidentified. (A few vocal group acetates were included in the Relic Records LP of Club 51's vocal group output.)

Some of these acetates were very cheap direct-to-disc recordings made in the back room of the Davises' record store, where vocal groups often made demos (not always intended for Club 51; a bigger company like Vee-Jay was known to send groups to the store to make their demos). These are often in truly dire sonics.

Others, varying widely in sound quality, were made in a variety of other venues and seem to have ended up in the Davises' hands because the groups in question were making a bid to record for Club 51.

A few, which naturally sound pretty good, were actively considered for release by Club 51 (a label that put out just seven official singles) and even circulated in small numbers to DJs.

The items being considered for release had stick-on Club 51 labels ("Disc Jockey Advanced Sample") attached to them. The rest carried labels provided by the company that made the recording blanks. Sometimes Jimmie Davis wrote in the titles and artists; sometimes the
person responsible for the demo wrote them in; other times the labels were left blank.

Among the acetates with blank labels provided by the Gould-Moody company, a supplier, was one that featured a Wurlitzer electric piano on both sides. I picked this one up on the assumption there weren't terribly many musicians in Chicago playing electric piano during the Club 51 years, so it might be by someone interesting.

Sure enough, the acetate is by Sun Ra and various members of an early Arkestra.

One side consists of Ra in a trio with a string bass and a drummer using brushes (probably Richard Evans and Robert Barry) trying out a piece that I can't identify. It could be an unreleased Ra composition. There's a 2-minute runthrough, a false start, then another two-minute runthrough. (Although the lacquers are 10-inch blanks cut at 78 rpm, there are about 4 1/2 minutes of music on each side, pushing recorded grooves right up to the edge of the label.)

The other side consists of a fairly polished performance of "Out of Nowhere." Here Ra, Evans, and Barry, are joined by John Gilmore, soloing on tenor sax, Pat Patrick, soloing on baritone sax-then a muted trombone (probably Julian Priester) helps to take the piece out. The horns are a touch recessed, and the Wurlitzer a little too prominent (some of bass notes are, well, formidable), but the recording is really not bad, even as heard through some acetate crackle.

Jimmie Davis knew Sun Ra, because a doowop group that he called the Four Buddies (there were actually five of them) recorded for Club 51, and he referred the Buddies to Sunny to work on their interpretations of standards. (The Buddies, who did some rehearsals with him, were
instructed to address Sunny as "Lucifer.")

My guess is that in the fall of 1955, after buying an early-model Wurlitzer (the "electronic piano" was mentioned in ads for Sunny's appearance at the Grand Terrace Ballroom, in October 1955), Sunny gave the demo to Davis in the hopes of a getting an offer from Club 51 to record his early-model Arkestra (we know that other jazz combos submitted acetates to the label). None materialized, and Sunny and Alton Abraham went on to open Saturn Records instead.

-- Robert Campbell

Monday, November 29, 2010

NAPOLEON MURPHY BROCK WITH DÄHN, BRUHN & SCHMITZ

Here's a little snippet of the performance of Napoleon Murphy Brock with Dähn, Bruhn & Schmitz:

http://www.youtube.com/user/dbsgbr

There will be a private release, limited edition promo-CD and DVD of the concerts in a few weeks. If you want a copy write to roman@daehn-bruhn-und-schmitz.de or look for news on www.daehn-bruhn-und-schmitz.de.

SUN RA POETRY BOOK SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY

Norton Records will publish a book of Sun Ra science fiction poetry and prose. It should be available in January.
Keep an eye out on http://www.nortonville.blogspot.com.

NEW SUN RA ALBUMS ON NORTON RECORDS ARE VINYL ONLY

Yes, you heard it right. The three new Sun Ra albums that have been released on Norton Records are vinyl only.
"Strange Worlds In My Mind", "The Sub-Dwellers" and "The Outer Darkness" will only be made available on vinyl (and as downloads as well). They will not be released on CD !!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

ANDY SUMMERS - A WINDHAM HILL RETROSPECTIVE


In 1991, Ed Mann and Chad Wackerman contributed to Andy Summers' "Charming Snakes" album. A couple of track can be found on the above mentioned 1998 compilation.

For a taste, try
http://overdoseoffingalcocoa.blogspot.com/2010/11/andy-summers.html

-- info: Jan van Kemenade

NEW BOOK ON ZAPPA


German Reclam Verlag has published a book on Frank Zappa, written by Ingo Meyer.

-- info: Thomas Dippel

SUN RA RE-RELEASES ON VINYL

The italian Get Back record label has re-issued three Sun Ra titles on two 2LP sets:

"Reflections In Blue" with "Hours After" on a 2LP set, and also "Mayan Temples". The latter one with a new album cover.

  • sun ra: "reflections in blue" + "hours after"
    (2010, 2lp, italy, get back records get0721dlp)

  • sun ra: mayan temples
    (2010, 2lp, italy, get back get0722dlp)

THE FUNKIEST PLACE IN THE WORLD

Prince came back to Belgium earlier this month.
This time, he performed in Antwerp (and he did another aftershow in Brussels).

2010/11/08 concert 'Het Sportpaleis', Antwerp, Belgium
The Concert
Controversy, Sexy Dancer Vs. Le Freak - Controversy (Reprise), Uptown, Raspberry Beret, Cream, Cool, Let's Work, U Got The Look, Free, Pearls B4 The Swine, Love... Thy Will Be Done, Shhh, She's Always In My Hair, Let's Go Crazy, Delirious, Let's Go Crazy (Reprise), 1999, Purple Rain, Kiss, Sometimes It Snows In April, Dreamer, Dance (Disco Heat), Baby I'm A Star, I Feel For You, A Love Bizarre, Peach, Forever In My Life, The Love We Make, Stratus

an audience recording of this concert circulates

= "Antwerp - The Funkiest Place In The World" (Confusion Records), downloadable bootleg

ANDRE LEWIS UPDATE

Not much has been heard from Andre Lewis after his period with Zappa in the late seventies. He did make four solo albums (as Mandre) between 1977 and 1980, but that's about it.

This changed when Rush Hour re-released his "4" album earlier this year. Even more recently, Rush Hour released 'Solar Flight' on 12" with a remix of the Mandre composition.

  • mandre: solar flight
    (2010, 12", nl, rush hour)

NEW SUN RA ALBUM ON ART YARD

Art Yard will be releasing a new Sun Ra album very shortly. It's called "Space Probe" and is said to contain historical material!!

Here's what the announcement says:
"An unusual record, mostly recorded in the early ‘60s with Ra, Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, James Jacson, Nimrod Hunt and Thea Barbara that explores stripped back forms and colour combinations - very far from jazz - and includes the extraordinary Conversation Of J.P. for piano and percussion. This and the opening track - probably recorded in 1970 - an 18-minute Moog solo, made just after Ra had newly acquired the instrument and was putting it through its paces, would make this an essential release in the Sun Ra canon – even without the rest of this excellent CD."

FRANK ZAPPA RADIO SPECIAL


2010/12/12 "Frank Zappa Radio Avond..."
radio special dedicated to Frank Zappa

on Dutch regional radio 'Stadsradio Breda', also broadcast on the internet.
http://www.stadsrtvbreda.nl/zappa

ALAN JENKINS AND THE THURSTON LAVA TUBE


Do you remember the inspiring album cover of Alan Jenkins And The Thurston Lava Tube's "Free Surf Music no.1" from 2000?
Or maybe your recall that the album featured their version of Zappa's 'Lumpy Gravy'?

Volumes 1 and 2 of "Free Surf Music" have now been put on one single CD.
More info soon.

THREE NEW SUN RA ALBUMS ON NORTON RECORDS

It got mentioned a couple of months ago, but now they're finally out: the three new Norton Records Sun Ra albums.
For the moment only available on vinyl.
Covers and tracklists have already been added to the Sun Ra entry at the U.M.Archives.





Saturday, November 27, 2010

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE - THE NIGHT BEFORE THE SKY FELL IN AMERICA


  • acid mothers temple & the melting paraiso u.f.o.: the night before the sky fell in america
    (2004, download, argentina, mandarinas records mr008)

The AMT is not the easiest band to follow. They tour a lot in lots of different permutations but they also release records on various labels all over the world.
The above mentions "The Night Before The Sky Fell In America" is a download-only album on the Argentinian Mandarinas Records label. The official AMT discography states that it was made available as a CDR, but I didn't find any info to confirm this.

Anyway, this release is just one track: a 39-plus-minute version of 'Pink Lady Lemonade (Explosion of Love)'.

It's all yours at:

http://mandarinasrecords.com.ar/?s=acid+mothers+temple

THE GLOBAL BROAD BAND - WADDYA WANT


A couple of days ago, I received a copy of The Global Broad Band's "Waddya Want" EP. Unfamiliar with the band or with the Stone Premonitions project, I didn't really know what to expect.

Written and performed by The Reverend Rabbit & Paddi (= Tim Jones & Paddi Addison), "Waddya Want" offers three fine tracks. These are up-tempo, rock songs with great guitar work and fine drumming. Comes with some heavy social commentary.

Here's a YouTube movie of "Free Palestine", one of their other projects. It should give you a good enough idea of what the band sounds like.
I like it.

Friday, November 26, 2010

NEW ZAPPA BOOTLEG - MUFFIN MAN GOES TO COLLEGE


Another Zappa CD-bootleg set has been spotted: "Muffin Man Goes To College".

1975 04 26 - providence college, providence, ri, usa
frank zappa, denny walley, captain beefheart, tom fowler, terry bozzio, napoleon murphy brock, george duke, bruce fowler

KOMMISSAR HJULER UND FRAU PERFORM SOFA NO.2

Here's another little Zappanale movie.
Kommissar Hjuler Und Frau bring you their version of Zappa's 'Sofa no.2'.
Not for the faint of heart.

B'WANA DIK IS BACK

Dutch band B'wana Dik is back!!
I saw them in concert a couple of times around 2003 / 2004, but I just got a message that they'll be playing in Eindhoven tonight (26/11).
FYI, B'wana Dik plays the music of Frank Zappa.

http://www.united-mutations.com/b/bwanadik.htm

LEBOCAL AT JAZZ AUX CARRES 2010 12 03

Collectif LeBocal will be performing at the Jazz Aux Carrés festival. They will also be performing some pieces from their forthcoming album.

www.mjc-annecylevieux.com

Thursday, November 25, 2010

ZAPPA'S DANCIN FOOL BY THE MARCHING 110 BAND

Here's Frank Zappa's 'Dancin' Fool' by the Marching 110 marching band!!!

ZAPPA'S INCA ROADS ON CALLUAR HARMONICA

Hilarious YouTube movie...

UGLY RADIO REBELLION UPDATE

Scott Schroen says:
"Due to circumstances beyond my control the rest of the URR tour has been cancelled for Nov... heartfelt apologies to everyone..."

CHAD WACKERMAN UPDATE

From the James Taylor website:

"On February 26, 2011, in Tulsa, OK, James will kick off a series of intimate and unforgettable performances across the US.
...
Band members for the 2011 tour will include James's close friends: Mike Landau, Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Babko, Chad Wackerman with additional players and singers to be announced soon."

-- info: Jan van Kemenade

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

UFO ATTACK IN GRAN CANARIA

My friend Till shot this little absurd movie.
"UFO ATTACK IN GRAN CANARIA: THE GOBLIN KINGS VERSUS THE KILLER HAND"
I think it's great!
Till says that it was inspired by the Science Fiction Opera 'Help, Help The Globolinks'. I guess I have to check that one out as well.

TERRY BOZZIO ONLINE MASTER CLASS

On the DrumChannel:

"Terry Bozzio’s Master Class Rhythm 1 gives you access to view all 7 online drum lessons on DrumChannel.com, including a workbook download. This is a Beginner level class."
"Beginner, 7 lessons, 1 hour 56 minutes, 3 month subscription."

http://www.drumchannel.com/dc/product_detail/30

JACKIE MCLEAN

There's this beautiful Jackie McLean documentary on vimeo:
"Jackie McLean on Mars".

Check it out:
http://vimeo.com/12192828

-- info & link: Saturn newsgroup

WHATKINDAGIRLS (ZAPPATIKA)

The Return Of The Son Of Zappatika...

NEW SERIES OF SUN RA EP'S ON THE KINDRED SPIRITS LABEL


The Dutch Kindred Spirits label will be releasing a series of four 10"-EPs with unreleased Sun Ra material. Straight from the Art Yard vault.
Volume one will be out next December (and that's in a couple of weeks, already)

-- info: the Saturn newsgroup

ED PALERMO NEWSFLASH

Ed Palermo says:

AHHH, I LOVE the Christmas gigs!

This is going to be a great one, folks! I've written some new arrangements for the occasion and the band sounds better than ever.

ED PALERMO BIG BAND
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8
IRIDIUM NIGHTCLUB
8:30+10:30

VALBONNE 1970

Our dear friends of the Zappa In France blog have posted about the Zappa/Ponty concert that took place in Valbonne in 1970.
An audio recording turned up about a year ago and got distributed through the Zappateers website.
Those of you who are unfamiliar with bittorrent programs can now download a copy of the recording over at the Zappa In France blog:

http://zappainfrance.blogspot.com/2010/11/pub-festival-de-valbonne-70-rock-folk.html

-- info: Jan van Kemenade

DWALMACAT 405

This week's special: episode four - o - five of the Dwalmacat radio show.

Go to
http://www.fmbrussel.be/programmas/dwalmacat.aspx

and click on “Luister”
  • PERVERTED – Thousandaire
  • MURMANSK – The surgical assistant
  • THE FALL – O.F.Y.C. Showcase
  • SWANS – Reeling the liars in
  • DIRTY PROJECTORS – The bride
  • GONJASUFI – Hezus
  • THIEVERY CORPORATION – Radio retaliation
  • M.I.A. - Born free
  • DARRYL JENIFER – Black Judas
  • LEE SCRATCH PERRY – International broadcaster feat. Roots Manuva & L.S.K.
  • ORCHESTRE POLY-RYTHMO DE COTONOU – Gbeti Madjro
  • THREE MILE PILOT – Grey clouds
  • DE LEGENDE – Zwart ondergoed
  • WHITETREE – Ulysses and the cats
  • PERVERTED – Jindabyne

NEW SUN RA VINYL ALBUM OUT - LIVE AT RED CREEK


The italian Sagittarius label released a 1986 Sun Ra concert on vinyl.
In a limited edition of 200 copies! And the first 26 numbered copies have different artwork and a different color insert, plus stamps on back cover.
A very nice cover, by the way.

-- info: the Saturn newsgroup

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

BROKKENMIDDAG IN AMSTERDAM

November 28, Sunday-afternoon, 'Zaal 100' in Amsterdam will host another Brokkenmiddag (Brokken Afternoon).
This time with the Brokken Orkest, and with Alan Purves (percussion) & Ernst Reijseger (cello).

ZAPPA'S THEM OR US (THE BOOK) HAS BEEN RERELEASED

Adding data to the United Mutations Archives, here's the cover of the recent Them Or Us (The Book) rerelease.
Published by Pinterandmartin in the UK.

PORTUGAL CELEBRATES ZAPPA'S 70th BIRTHDAY

Portugese band Zappanoia and German band Aufrichtiges Zappa will be celebrating FZ's 70th birthday with a concert at the katakumbas do Lyceu Camões, Praça José Fontana in Lisbon, Portugal !!

NEW ZAPPA BOOK ANNOUNCED


Volume four of Scott Parker's "The Recordings Of Frank Zappa" focusses on the years 1973 - 1974. It's subtitled "The Hook" (and the fine cover art is by by Robert Ross).

http://spbpublishing.webs.com/

ZAPPATIKA BLOG

Zptkablog, as they say, will give you the latest info on Zappatika, the English/Dutch band that is known to perform a Zappa tune as well, every once in a while.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Sunday, November 21, 2010

DWALMACAT 404

Tune in to Dwalmacat.
Go to
http://www.fmbrussel.be/programmas/dwalmacat.aspx
and click on “Luister”
  • ERIC COPELAND – Doo doo run
  • !!! - Wannagain wannagain
  • YELLO – Take it all / The evening’s young
  • STEREOTOTAL – Wir tanzen im 4-Eck
  • THE FALL – O.F.Y.C. Showcase
  • BRIAN ENO – Baby’s on fire
  • THE VETERANS – I’m jogging
  • SUPERPITCHER – Rabbits in a hurry
  • STRAFE FÜR REBELLION – Fliegen fressen
  • TOUCH RADIO CUT-UP – Departing platform 5
  • HARMONIA – Watussi
  • ES HIRSCHT UHU IM LAND – Echter lachs / Ich nicht mich dich
  • C. SCHULZ – Party disco
  • DAS NEUFUNKD – Sexual intercourse with a banana
  • JAKOKOYAK – Eira

RTP QUARTET IN CONCERT IN SAO PAULO 2010 11 22

Rainer Tankred Pappon's RTP QUARTETO will be performing a concert tomorrow:

no TEATRO ANCHIETA
Rua Dr. Vila Nova 245, SescConsolação
Sao Paulo, Brazil
segunda dia 22/nov, às 19,00hs

GRÁTIS!

venha prestigiar a música instrumental
uma mistura de r&b e música européia
  • Mario Conte - bateria
  • Caio Goes - baixo
  • Jimmy Pappon - teclados
  • Rainer T. Pappon - guitarra

www.rtpappon.com
www.myspace.com/rtpappon
www.scrutinizer.com.br

ARKESTRA CONCERT TONIGHT

The Sun Ra Arkestra and the West Philadelphia Orchestra (WPO) are performing a concert tonight, 2010/11/21, @ 8:00pm at 'The Rotunda' in Philadelphia.

http://www.therotunda.org/calendar/sun-ra-arkestra-and-west-philadelphia-orchestra-wpo-very-first-time/

-- info & link from the Saturn newsgroup

NEW ZAPPA BOOTLEG : VIVA ZAPPA


Not brand-new as this title got released a couple of months ago, but here it is: "Viva Zappa", presenting the 1984 10 13 Padova, Italy concert.
And before you start asking for download links, please note that there are no download links. This is just a little piece of info.

If you're looking for Zappa concert recordings, check out the Zappateers website.
If you're looking for the real thing, go to zappa dot com and get yourself the new Hammersmith Odeon album.

DÄHN, BRUHN & SCHMITZ FEAT NAPOLEON MURPHY BROCK

Napoleon Murphy Brock with Dähn, Bruhn & Schmitz GBR, Live in Hamburg on 2010/11/13.



-- info & link: Mick Zeuner

PIERRE VERVLOESEM AT RECYCLART

Thursday, November 25 2010, Pierre Vervloesem's CACA project will be performing at Recyclart in Brussels.

http://www.recyclart.be/content/view/14202/10/lang,nl/

STEVE VAI AND JOE SATRIANI FEATURED IN THE NOVEMBER ISSUE OF GITARIST MAGAZINE


Issue number 236 of Dutch Gitarist magazine has Joe Satriani and Steve Vai on the cover. The mag includes a 2-page Steve Vai article, and a 1-page Joe Satriani interview.
Steve talks about VaiTunes, and there's some info on the Groningen Steve Vai Festival, while Joe is asked about his new album.

LE SUN RA & HIS COSMO DISCIPLINE ARKESTRA - A NIGHT IN EAST BERLIN


June 28, 1986, Le Sun Ra & His Cosmo Discipline Arkestra landed in East Berlin.
Straight from outer space, Sun Ra and his Band showed the world what music sounds like on the planet Saturn.

Originally released on his own label (on cassette only), and on vinyl (on Leo records) in 1987, this remarkable concert got re-released on CD in 1995. Also on Leo Records.
The 1995 CD-release does have a bonus track: 'My Brother The Wind & Sun No.9'. Previously released on an obscure Saturn release, this 20-minute piece has been labeled as originating from a 1988/01/30 Knitting Factory concert.
Data & picture have been added to the United Mutations Archives.

Here's what the start of the Berlin gig looked like: the band entered the stage and started with some fast jazz lines, making room for wild saxophone improvisations...

NEW ON VAITUNES (AND MORE)

It looks like Steve Vai's VaiTunes Project is really going somewhere.
Through VaiTunes, Steve is offering new (or alternate) material on a separate basis.

The two latest additions are "Underground Garden" and "The Burning Bush".
Both tracks are available as downloads, or (for the freaks) as one-track-CDR-on-demand.



And there's loads of extra Steve Vai news on his website.
All of the Steve Vai albums are now available for purchase as high quality downloads * * * there's a couple of nice YouTube movies / interviews & lessons * * * and there's news on the on-line 12 week course that Steve and the Berklee School Of Music are offering... Starting in January. * * *
Check out:
http://www.vai.com/News/

AMIRI BARAKA & THE SUN RA MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA


The Amiri Baraka / Sun Ra collaboration / LP, "A Black Mass", got released on in 1968. It got re-issued on CD on the Sonboy Records label in 2000.
Since it has been out of print for a while, Sonboy will be repressing / re-releasing the album!

"The play A Black Mass was written in Harlem in 1965, much of it probably at my desk at The Black Arts Repertory Theater School at West 130th Street and Lenox (now Malcolm X. Blvd.). It was first performed at the RKO Proctors Theater, Newark as a companion piece to J-E-L-L-O, a satire on the Jack Benny show where Rochester turns militant. The reason it was Newark is because late in 1965, I decided to walk away from the BARTS because with the mounting internal strife, the phenomenon of 'diminishing returns' had set in so disruptively that the vision of bringing Black Art into the community and creating what we were later to understand as Cultural Revolution could no longer succeed at that venue. Black Mass shows the heavy influence of the Nation of Islam even though, after Malcolm's murder, I became alienated from that Nation, essentially as a means of registering my allegiance to Malcolm. Even the Jacoub story I had gotten from Malcolm when he was still more directly motivated by Elijah Muhammad's teachings. Sun Ra was one of the most consistent and supportive artists associated with the BARTS. He was there several days a week, teaching all who would listen. At any rate, when I conceived of doing Black Mass to music, Ra was the only musician in my mind. Not just because of the 'otherworldliness' of the tale, but the sensuous 'outness' I knew Ra, with his Myth-Science Arkestra, would bring, which I felt would give a material life to the text. The work was recorded in The Spirit House, on the first floor theater we had created by tearing down the walls of my rented one-family house, just as we had done at The Black Arts. With Sylvia Robinson (Amina Baraka, a Newark artist who would shortly become my wife), Yusef Iman (a BARTS original), Newark's Marvin Camillo (he and Yusef are both gone now), and Barry Wynn (Amun Ankra), we tried to recreate the staged version which we had just done. And while there is something to be desired in our collaboration, the recording stands not only as a! record of what The Black Arts was doing, but points I think into the future of the spoken word and the possibility of expanding what can be recorded and what kind of collaboration between word and music can come. The theme 'The Satellites Are Spinning' is the dramatic musical mise-en-scène throughout, though close listeners will hear some of the music which characterized the Myth-Science Arkestra rising and falling through the mainly improvised music-drama. In total, the music is rich and evocative by itself. Heard with the text of The Black Mass, both connect and extend each other with a dramatic gestalt of Myth-Science music and the mythologized history deepens our emotional perception of what is being told. For me, re-heard with the benefit of study and another kind of thoughtfulness, it even projects a rationale that's more scientifically based, 'search-lighting' some evasive facts of human history as well as projecting the premise which I have long held, that art is c! reation, and that we must oppose the 'creation of what does not need to be created."
--Amiri Baraka, 9/6/99

Saturday, November 20, 2010

HAN BENNINK 2010 11 14

I saw The Han Bennink Trio in concert at 'De Singer' in Rijkevorsel (Belgium) last week. I had never seen Han Bennink live before, so this was a fine opportunity to catch Han (and his new trio).
Besides Han (on drums), the trio consisted of Joachim Badenhorst (saxes) and Simon Toldam (piano).

Here's a YouTube movie of a 2009 gig by the same trio:

THE SUN RA ARKESTRA - LIVE AT PRAXIS '84


February 27, 1984, the Sun Ra Arkestra performed at the 'Orpheus Theatre' in Athens, Greece. One year later, the first part of the concert, "Live At Praxis '84 Vol.I", was published on Kostas Yiannoulopoulos' Praxis label. Volumes II and III came out the subsequent years on the same Greek label.
In 2000, however, the complete recording found its way to a 2CD set on the Leo Records label.

Besides the fabulous Sun Ra themes, there's quite a lot of beautiful standards on this set as well: 'Mack The Knife', 'Cocktails For Two', '(Somewhere) Over The Rainbow', 'Days Of Wine And Roses', ...

Data & pictures have been added to the United Mutations Archives.

THE MOJO ZAPPA SPECIAL

Pretty impressive tribute.

mojo classic
(2010/12, magazine, uk)


o the ZAPPA special
* p.3 'Welcome', Alice Cooper
* p.6-7: '1940s & 1950s'
* p.8-12: 'Plastic People', Kirk Silsbee
* p.13. 'The Worst Music In The World', Alan Clayson
* p.14-15: 'the 1960s'
* p.16-17 'Mother People', Kris Needs
* p.18-19 'Freak Out', Kris Needs
* p.20-21 'interview Kim Fowley'
* p.22-27 'Hungry Freaks', Mark Paytress
* p.28-29 'interview Don Preston'
* p.30-31 'We're Only In It For The Money', Jon Savage
* p.32-34 'Sugar 'n' Spikes', Mike Barnes
* p.35 'interview Art Tripp', 'interview Gary Lucas'
* p.36 'Lumpy Gravy', Richie Unterberger
* p.38-46 'Insided Dr.Zircon's Secret Lab', Miles
* p.44 'Zappa vs The Velvet Underground', Richie Unterberger
* p.47 'interview Chris Darrow, 'interview Denny Walley'
* p.48-49 'Hot Rats', Martin Aston
* p.50-51 'the 1970s'
* p.52-53 'Pretty Things, Alice Cooper
* p.54-60 'The Torture Never Stops', Chris Ingham
* p.59 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh', Mark Paytress
* p.61 'The Grand Wazoo', Chris Ingham
* p.62-66 'Direct From Hollywood', Dave DiMartino
* p.65 'Over-Nite Sensation', Martin Aston
* p.67 'Apostrophe ('), Dave DiMartino
* p.68-70 'interview Gail Zappa'
* p.71 'Roxy & Elsewhere', Mark Paytress
* p.72-75 'The Brain Police: Cal Schenkel'
* p.76-77 'Zoot Allures', Martin Aston
* p.78-80 'Are You Hung Up?', David Fricke
* p.81 'interview John 'Drumbo' French', 'interview Ian Underwood'
* p.82-83 'Joe's Garage', Chris Ingham
* p.84-85 'interview Howard Kaylan'
* p.86-97 'I'm So Cute'
* p.98-99 'the 1980s & 1990s'
* p.100-101 'interview Steve Vai'
* p.102-112 'Stick It Out', Peter Doggett
* p.107 'Sheik Yerbouti', Peter Doggett
* p.113 'Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch', Chris Ingham
* p.114-115 'interview Jello Biafra'
* p.116-118 'We Are Not Alone: Matt Groening'
* p.119 'interview Scott Thunes', 'interview Joe Travers'
* p.120-123 'Welcome To The United States', Zappa interviewed by Phil Alexander in 1991
* p.124-126 'Boy Wonder: Dweezil Zappa', Martin Aston
* p.127: 'interview Jeff Simmons'
* p.128-132 'The Last Symphony', David Sheppard
* p.133 'The Yellow Shark', David Sheppard
* p.134-137 'Stalking The Oracle: Ben Watson'
* p.138-143 'You Call That Music?', John Reed

SUN RA & HIS INTERGALAXTIC ARKESTRA - STARDUST FROM TOMORROW


Adding another album to the United Mutations Archives, here's the 1996 release "Stardust From Tomorrow" on the Leo Records label.
This 2 CD set takes us back to a 1989 Austria concert where Sun Ra and his Arkestra treated the listener to an impressive mix of chaos, improvisations and some classic Ra humm alongs.
Exceptional moment: 'Discipline 27' includes a violin solo by June Tyson!

Beautiful.

ADRIAN BELEW ON THE COVER OF GUITAR PLUS MAGAZINE

Adrian Belew is performing in Erfurt, Germany, today, ending a short European tour.
The above picture shows Adrian on the cover of Dutch Gitaar Plus magazine, December 2010.
The magazine includes a 4-page piece on Adrian (interview by Nicky Moeken).

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

DENNIS REA - VIEWS FROM CHICHENG PRECIPE


American guitarist and composer Dennis Rea has lived in China and in Taiwan from 1989 and 1993. He has also done numerous concerts and tours in Eastern Asia, introducing modern jazz and experimental music to curious audiences.

We know Dennis Rea from his work with rock band Moraine and with the Iron Kim Style free jazz ensemble. On "Views From Chicheng Precipice" however, we learn to know another side of Dennis Rea. Meet his tribute to the music of the far east.
"Views From Chicheng Precipice" presents 5 beautiful pieces. The first one is composed by Dennis. The other four are adaptations of traditional Taiwanese and Chinese melodies.

This is very nice. It's obviously done with a lot of respect and love for the music of the far east.
Each composition / arrangement is instantly identifiable as an eastern piece of music. It's only upon closer listening that one detects that it's actually played on a combination of eastern and western instruments.
This album takes you on a trip. Here are some of my favourite moments:

  • The first piece, 'Three Views From Chicheng Precipice" slowly moves into an almost experimental and free improviation. A great transition. Transcending cultures.
  • The duo of trombone and chinese flute in 'Tangabata'.
  • The nice balance between the percussion and the melody in 'Bague'.

An adventure !
Recommended listening.

Out on MoonJune!
http://www.moonjune.com/

Below YouTube video is an audience recording of 'Kan Hai De Re Zi' as performed by Dennis Rea.

MIKE KENEALLY / MARCO MINNEMANN - ELEMENTS OF MANATEE

Mike Keneally has made "Elements Of A Manatee" available as a download-only album from Exowax recordings.
"Elements Of A Manatee" is an audio version of the DVD that was included in the recent "Evidence Of Humanity" set. It's an audio version of the Mike Keneally & Marco Minnemann improvisation that was included on this DVD.

http://www.exowax.com/

In the meantime, MK is still touring with Joe Satriani.
and Mike will be doing another live Ustream video chat on November 21.

This Sunday, November 21 at 7 p.m. European time
(6 p.m. UK time, 1 p.m. Eastern time, 10 a.m. Pacific time)
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mike-keneally

And there's more as Dutch Radio 6 will be airing parts of the Steve Vai festival that was held in Groningen, NL, recently.
December 6 and 13, 2010 - 11 pm

P.V.PRESENTS

"P.V.PRESENTS" stands for "Pierre Vervloesem Presents", and it's a little part of the Off Records Label.

Pierre Vervloesem is a Belgian guitar player, composer and producer who makes all kinds of beautiful and interesting music.
The latest release on P.V.Presents is a 4CD Box, including:

  • OPV003 : Codswallop / Grotesque
  • OPV004 : The Claude Zac Ensemble / SSShhhttt
  • OPV005 : John Koening - a strictly limited edition of an extremely rare recording of the fantastic John!
  • ORT001 : Caca / Sketches of pain

http://www.myspace.com/offlabel

Sunday, November 14, 2010

ZAPPANALE REQUEST

Each year, the Zappanale festival ends with a jam on the main stage. Fun, although mostly very chaotic.

As the tradition wants, the 2010 Finale had members from various bands on stage, including a number of rather familiar faces.

Arf president Thomas Dippel is looking for video footage of the finale.
Is there anyone out there who video-taped the whole thing?

Here's a short snippet, featuring Robert Martin, Ray White, Ike Willis, Denny Walley, and a cast of many more...
(thanks to Bazbo for shooting the vid and for youtubing it)

ROBBY KRIEGER - SINGULARITY


Arthur Barrow co-wrote and co-produced the latest Robby Krieger album, "Singularity". And besides Arthur Barrow there's quite a number of ex-Zappa bandmembers contributing to this disc: Tommy Mars, Vinnie Colaiuta, Sal Marquez, Walt and Bruce Fowler and Albert Wing.

There's great variety on "Singularity": there's two solo guitar / flamenco pieces (both intros to other compositions), there's some bluesy slide guitar tracks, a couple of jazzy tunes, and even a george benson-esque track.
A nice collection of songs, but for my taste a bit too predictable, a bit too clean and too tidy, ...

The YouTube movies of the recent concerts that Robby Krieger did with Tommy Mars and Arthur Barrow had me hoping that the album would contain a bit more free and improvised stuff.
Still, it's a pleasure to hear both Arthur Barrow and Tommy Mars in action!

Friday, November 12, 2010

SOFT MACHINE LEGACY - LIVE ADVENTURES


Seeing the Soft Machine Legacy live at Zappanale in 2006 was a revelation for me. I was familiar with the band's first releases (up to the "Seven" album), but I didn't really know what they had been doing lately.
The Zappanale (August 2006) line-up consisted of John Etheridge (guitar), John Marshall (drums), Theo Travis (sax) and Hugh Hopper (bass), and they made an everlasting impression.

"Live Adventures" captures the band in the same spirit. This new MoonJune album presents live recordings from October 2009. The late Hugh Hopper has been replaced by Roy Babbington, and the band still mixes older, familiar material with new compositions (at least to my ears!).

The band has been around since the late sixties, and some of these compositions might be over thirty years old, but "Live Adventures" sounds as fresh and contemporary as it can get.
Timeless might be a better word for it.

This prog rock / fusion at the highest level.
If any other band would display such a high quality in musicianship and composition, they'd be the discovery of the year.

Superb. And, yes, again great guitar playing by John Etheridge!
Hghly recommended.

www.moonjune.com

Here's the Carl Jenkins penned 'The Nodder', recorded in Rome. Taken from the same tour:

ASPHALT ORCHESTRA - S/T


The Asphalt Orchestra is a U.S. 12-piece marching band. The spectacular thing is that these boys and girls don't just march around while they're playing music, they're doing it with a lot of show, AND they play some great contemporary material at the same time.
The band's eponymous debut album got released on the Bang On A Can label a couple of months ago, and it includes tunes by amongst others Björk, Charles Mingus, and Frank Zappa ('Zomby Woof')

Superb!
And their name fits the package perfectly.

Check out the video and watch it to the end. There's a couple of nice surprises.

NAPOLEON MURPHY BROCK IN CONCERT IN HAMBURG 13 & 19 NOV

Napoleon Murphy Brock will be doing two concerts with Dähn, Bruhn & Schmitz GBR in Hamburg shortly.

2010/11/13 Napoleon Murphy Brock & Dähn, Bruhn & Schmitz GBR - concert 'Bachsaal, St. Michaeliskirche, Englische Planke', Hamburg, Germany

2010/11/19 Napoleon Murphy Brock & Dähn, Bruhn & Schmitz GBR - concert 'Platzhirsch', Hamburg, Germany

more info:
http://www.daehn-bruhn-und-schmitz.de/gig.htm

-- info: Mick Zeuner

Thursday, November 11, 2010

LUUK'S ROUNDHOUSE YOUTUBE MOVIES

My pal Luuk is back from his little Roundhouse journey where he attended the Zappa Festival.
It looks like he had a good time.
Here are some of the videos that he shot:





CLARON MCFADDEN ON DUTCH TV 2010 10 24

A couple of weeks ago, Dutch TV show "Vrije Geluiden" had invited the Konrad Koselleck Big Band. To my suprise, one of the songs they performed featured Claron McFadden.

I have seen Claron McFadden with "Over De Bergen", the Corrie van Binsbergen / Josse De Pauw project, and this lady sure has a great voice.
I'm still hoping that the "200 Motels" performance that Claron McFadden did with the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, years ago, will get a release...

TOHPATI ETHNOMISSION - SAVE THE PLANET


Tohpati might be known to you as the guitar player of simakDIALOG. Since 1998, Tohpati has also been releasing solo records.

His latest project is called Tohpati Ethnomission and it has a brand-new album out on MoonJune Records. "Save The Planet" combines beautiful electric and midi guitar fusion lines with indonesian percussion. It's a treat.

Tohpati has mentioned John McLaughlin, John Scofield and Robert Fripp as his influences, and that's exactly what you should expect when you give Tohpati Ethnomission a try. This is top jazz-rock.

What stands out for me on this album is the excellent rhythm section: percussionists Demas Narawangsa and Endang Ramdan plus bass guitarist Indro Hardjodikoro lay out a very exotic, energetic basis. Combined with the guitar of Tohpati, at its best moments in unison with the suling (wooden flute) of Diki Suwarjiki, Tohpati Ethnomission takes off for an impressive journey.

Essential listening.

http://www.myspace.com/tohpati

www.moonjune.com


JUMPY'S ZAPPANALE REVIEW

Here's Jumpy's little "The Muffin Men & Zappanale 2010" movie.

Great. Watch it !!

BTW, the 'contract' & '10 euros' jokes refer to a certain celebrity that wanted to get paid for every song that he performed with a band at Zappanale.
No wonder that we didn't see him that much...

TIES MELLEMA PLAYS PRINCE

Ties Mellema has been awarded "De Nederlandse Muziekprijs" (The Dutch Music Award), the most prestigious prize in The Netherlands.

Ties Mellema performed on last Sunday's "Vrije Geluiden" tv-show. The second piece that he performed was 'In The Beginning', a composition by David Dramm, but actually a tribute to Prince.
Ties added that for his latest project, he has asked various composers to do something with the music of Prince. Ties says that it was a choice not to work with arrangers, but with composers. The result are / will be a set of new compositions, inspired by Prince.

As a first, here's David Dramm's 'In The Beginning', performed by Ties Mellema.

HANGGAI

Hanggai is a Chinese-Mongolian band that mixes western rock music with traditional Mongolian melodies and throat-singing.
Reason enough for me to watch the excellent Dutch tv-show "Vrije Geluiden" last week, as the band was performing a couple of songs.

This first YouTube movie has Bagan demonstrating throat singing.
The second one is "Four Seasons", the second tune that Hanggai performed on Vrije Geluiden.



DWALMACAT 403

On
http://www.fmbrussel.be/programmas/dwalmacat.aspx

go to “Luister”

and listen to this week's Dwalmacat radio show:
  • JOSé PARRONDO – It’s midnight
  • LIARS – Scarecrows on a killer slant
  • NEVEN – Voodoo dance manifest
  • BARRY ADAMSON – Rag and bone
  • FRANK ZAPPA & THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION – Help, I’m a rock
  • HET – Penis / Phallustrade
  • TORTOISE – Crest
  • PETER JEFFERIES & JONO LONIE – Tarantella
  • RADICAL SLAVE – Before we get rich
  • THE POPGROUP – Forces of oppression
  • RANDY GREIF – The age of epilepsy
  • THE ANIMATED EGG – Sock it my way
  • ARCHIE SHEPP – Blues for brother George Jackson
  • KLIMPEREI & PIERRE BASTIEN – Morceau en forme de pinces
  • JANDEK – European jewel (unfinished)

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

ZAPPAFRENZY DOT COM

Did I mention http://www.zappafrenzy.com/ already?

A superb collection of pictures.
If the pictures didn't have the "zappafrenzy" logo in the corner, I would paste them all in one of the corners of the United Mutations Archives...
Beautiful.

"ZappaFrenzy is a webpage for collectors and those, who are interested in Frank Zappa/Mothers and related singles. Everything from 7" to 12" maxi singles are covered here. This site is not intended to be a complete discography, but a database with images of labels and covers of every single we can get our hands on."


http://www.zappafrenzy.com/

GRUPPO SPORTIVO UPDATE

Daniel Silverman's Gruppo Sportivo web page has moved.

http://seedyroad.com/grupposportivo/

-- info: Charles Ulrich

ZAPPAWEEN XV IN RETROSPECT

Here's a message from Fred Hemmer on the subject of Zappaween XV.

Hey gang,

Zappaween XV is in the books. Bogus Pomp put on their usual great show and I am sure we all are looking forward to Zappaween XVI. Following are two links to pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/belovedhoneygirl/tags/zappaween15/
from Deborah Serrano

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70933315@N00/sets/72157625179450761/
from Jeff Moellering

...

Following are the setlists:

2010/10/30 concert "Zappaween", State Theatre', St.Petersburg, FL, usa

Jerry Outlaw & Friends....

  • Pound for a Brown, Big Block, 21st Century Schizoid Man, Black Page, Miles Beyond, Echidna's Arf, Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?, Boink Velocity, Clowns on Velvet, Event Horizon, Theme for an Imaginary Plesiosaur
the Bogus Pomp band
  • Chunga's Revenge, Florentine Pogen, City of Tiny Lites, Advance Romance, Illinois Enema Bandit, Easy Meat (Niagara Falls), Tell Me You Love Me, Magic Fingers, Dupree's Paradise, Approximate, Dupree's Paradise, The Torture Never Stops, Doreen, Absolutely Free medley, Trouble Every Day, The Grand Wazoo, Cosmik Debris, Zomby Woof, Yo Mama

ALEX MACHACEK - 24 TALES


Drummer and percussionist Marco Minnemann, who is touring with Adrian Belew right now, offered a fifty minute drum track / improvisation to various musicians, and asked them to compose music to it.
Having a déjà vu? Well, that's probably because Mike Keneally was one of these artists. The Keneally / Minnemann collaboration was entitled "Evidence Of Humanity" and got released on MK's Exowax label a little while ago.
Austrian guitar wizard Alex Machacek was one of the other artists that received Marco Minnemann's question.

So here's "24 Tales", an album that uses the same drum track as that latest Keneally album.
Alex Machacek experienced Marco's drum solo as 24 different pieces, hence the title.

"24 Tales" is a beautiful, contemporary jazz / fusion album with a lot of zappa-esque twists and clusters.
I think this is a great album. It reminds me a lot of FZ's "Jazz From Hell" !!

Love the titles as well. There's 'Eau de Conlon', 'Anamika' and 'Sweet Torture' that might give you some clues, but there's also the 'Minnemaus in da House' (which even has some vocals).
Fun. Love it.

http://www.myspace.com/alexmachacek

AN UGLY RADIO REBELLION UPDATE

U.S. band Ugly Radio Rebellion performs the music of Frank Zappa.
New dates have been added to their touring schedule

Franksgiving Tour 2010
  • 2010/11/18 Ugly Radio Rebellion - concert 'Local 506', Chapel Hill, NC, usa
    www.local506.com
  • 2010/11/19 Ugly Radio Rebellion - concert 'The Brewery', Raleigh, NC, usa
    www.thebrewerync.com
  • 2010/11/20 Ugly Radio Rebellion - concert 'Jewish Mother', Virginia Beach, VA, usa
    www.jewishmother.com
  • 2010/11/21 Ugly Radio Rebellion - concert 'The Soapbox LaundroLounge', Wilmington, NC, usa
    www.thesoapboxlive.com
  • 2010/11/22 Ugly Radio Rebellion - concert 'The Island Bar and Grill', Myrtle Beach, SC, usa
    www.theislandbarandgrill.com
  • 2010/11/23 Ugly Radio Rebellion - concert 'The Wormhole', Savannah, GA, usa
    www.wormholebar.com
  • 2010/11/24 - off
  • 2010/11/25 - off
    HAPPY FRANKSGIVING!!!
  • 2010/11/26 * noon * Ugly Radio Rebellion - WDVX 102.9 radio
    Radio/Webcast with The Grassabillies, Knoxville, TN
    www.wdvx.com
  • 2010/11/26 Ugly Radio Rebellion - concert 'Stanleys Pub', Cincinnati, OH, usa
    www.myspace.com/stanleyspub
  • 2010/11/27 Ugly Radio Rebellion - concert 'The Downtown', Morristown, TN, usa
    www.thedowntown.net

www.uglyradiorebellion.com

Monday, November 8, 2010

DZPZ SETLISTS

Here are the setlists of the two most recent DZPD concerts, including the London Roundhouse one.

2010/11/06 Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa - concert "Frank Zappa At The Roundhouse", London, UK

DZPZ with special guests Jeff Simmons, Scott Thunes & Moon Zappa

setlist
Gumbo Variations, Yellow Snow, Nanook Rubs It, St Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast, Father O'Blivion, Cosmik Debris, Exentrifugal Forz, Apostrophe, Uncle Remus, Stinkfoot, Inca Roads (with Frank), Dumb All Over (with Scott and Frank), Montana (with Scott and Frank), Pick Me I'm Clean (with Scott), RDNZL (with band solos), Wonderful Wino (With Jeff Simmons), Cruisin' for Burgers, I Promise Not To Come in Your Mouth, Baby Snakes, Moon/Matilda dance number, Valley Girl (with Moon and Scott Thunes), Muffin Man (with Frank)


2010/11/07 concert ‘Het Depot‘, Leuven, Belgium

setlist
Gumbo Variations, Yellow Snow, Nanook Rubs It, St Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast, Father O'Blivion, Cosmik Debris, Exentrifugal Forz, Apostrophe, Uncle Remus, Stinkfoot, DRNZL, Inca Roads, Drum Solo, Montana, Peaches En Regalia, I Promise Not To Come In Your Mouth, Cruisin' For Burgers
encores
Baby Snakes, Chrissy Puked Twice (= Titties 'n Beer), Muffin Man



-- info & scan: la biesta

ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA IN LONDON ON YOUTUBE

Here's Moon and daughter Mathilda with the DZpZ band (with Scott Thunes on bass).



'Wino Man' with Jeff Simmons



'Dumb All Over' with FZ on the big screen, and Scott Thunes on bass

THE RESIDENTS - RANDY'S GHOST STORIES


  • the residents: randy's ghost stories
    (2010, dvd, --, cryptic)
Somewhere between the various "download albums" and the recent CD-on-demand albums that The Residents have released, "Randy's Ghost Stories" saw the light of day.
It's a DVD that tells the stories and shows the movies of Randy's little horror stories.
It's a nice addition to the "Talking Light" series.

FRANK ZAPPA - HAMMERSMITH ODEON


Recorded at 'The Hammersmith Odeon' in London in 1978, this brand-new Zappa album shows a band that is in great shape, playing a great bunch of tunes.
I'm listening to disc two right now ('Audience Participation' time), and this is fabulous.
The discs got their premiere at the Roundhouse last weekend, and ZpZ is bringing copies along on tour. You can get if from the Zappa dot com site as well, of course.

ESSENTIAL

  • frank zappa: lead guitar, vocals
  • terry bozzio: drums & vocals
  • patrick o'hearn: bass & vocals
  • adrian belew: guitar & vocals
  • tommy mars: keyboards & vocals
  • peter wolf: keyboards
  • ed mann: percussion

produced by gail zappa & joe travers
mixed by frank filipetti

all compositions by frank zappa

disc one

  1. convocation / purple lagoon
  2. dancin' fool
  3. peaches en regalia
  4. the torture never stops
  5. tryin' to grow a chin
  6. city of tiny lites
  7. baby snakes
  8. pound for a brown

disc two

  1. i have been in you
  2. flakes
  3. broken hearts are for assholes
  4. punky's whips
  5. titties 'n beer
  6. audience participation
  7. the black page #2
  8. jones crusher
  9. the little house i used to live in

disc three

  1. dong work for yuda
  2. bobby brown
  3. envelopes
  4. terry firma
  5. disco boy
  6. king kong
  7. watermelon in eater hay [prequel]
  8. dinah-moe humm
  9. camarillo brillo
  10. muffin man
  11. black napkins
  12. san ber'dino

www.zappa.com

Sunday, November 7, 2010

SUN RA ARKESTRA TO PERFORM AT NUBLU JAZZ (NYC) ON NOVEMBER 12

The Sun Ra Arkestra will be perorming at the 2nd Annual Nublu Jazz Festival in NYC on November 12, 2010.

www.nublujazzfestival.com

FRANK ZAPPA'S JOE'S CORSAGE ON VINYL PICTURE DISC BOOTLEG

Early september, I mentioned that Zappa's "Greasy Love Songs" had been released as a vinyl picture disc bootleg.
Actually, it was a series of three new counterfeit bootlegs that came out at the same time: "Greasy Love Songs", "Joe's Corsage" and "Joe's Xmasage".
Each of these titles got the bootleg treatment and was released as a picture disc. But all three titles have also been spotted on multi-coloured vinyl and on plain black vinyl.

Here are the pictures of the "Joe's Corsage" picture disc bootleg:




FRANK ZAPPA'S JOE'S XMASAGE ON VINYL PICTURE DISC BOOTLEG

Here are the pictures of the picture disc vinyl bootleg of Zappa's "Joe's Xmasage".
It also got released on multi-coloured vinyl and on black vinyl.



THE MONKEES' HEAD

Volume 19 of Shindig Magazine has The Monkees on the cover.

It also says: Rachel Lichtman and Andrew Sandoval take you inside the mysterious black box for an intimate look at the secrets and stories behind The Monkees' movie Head.

Isn't that the little movie that Frank Zappa participated in? Wonder if he's mentioned in the article.

AT THE ROUNDHOUSE

The Roundhouse Extravaganza continues...

Yesterday, it was Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa that took the stage at The Roundhouse.

Tonight, it's time for the London Sinfonietta.

Sunday 7 November:
7:30pm Revised Music for a Low Budget Orchestra
8.40pm Greggery Peccary

The London Sinfonietta promise a very special evening featuring the first ever UK performance of one of Zappa's epic and most popular classical pieces, with perfomers including actor Kwame Kwei-Armah as Greggery. Alongside The Adventures of Greggery Peccary, the London Sinfonietta play Zappa's Revised Music for a Low Budget Orchestra and pieces by two giants of 20th century classical music who inspired his own compositions - Pierre Boulez (Memoriale) and Edgar Varèse (Octandre). The performance also includes a solo set by multi-instrumentalist and Zappa band stalwart, Jeff Simmons.

Watch it live at

http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/live

And also check out the reports at KUR:
http://www.killuglyradio.com/2010/10/27/zappa-at-the-roundhouse/#comment-15202
(thank you Theydon Bois !)

PONTY'S ZAPPANALE CONCERT UP AT ZAPPATEERS

Jean-Luc Ponty's Zappanale concert is being seeded over at the Zappateers site right now.
For me, this concert was the absolute highlight of the festival.

www.zappateers.com

Saturday, November 6, 2010

THE THEORETICAL FIVE

Early 2010, a couple of YouTube movies showed The Theoretical Five, recording an
improvised set at the Lo-Tek Studios in Mar Vista. The Theoretical Five were: Tommy Mars (keyboards,vocals), Warren Cuccurullo (guitar,samples), Arthur Barrow (bass), Larry Klimas (saxophone) and Andy Kravitz (drums,percussion).

Here they are:










-- info & links: Paul Gunby

TWO NEW ZAPPA VINYL BOOTLEG EP'S

Two new Zappa vinyl bootleg EP's have been announced.

The first one is called "Strictly Genteel / Black Napkins". Both tracks taken from the 1975 UCLA performance.

The second one is called "While You Were Art II / Lakshi's Deelite / Black Page No.1". Three synclavier pieces.

HAN BENNINK IN CONCERT 2010/11/14

November 14, 2010, drum legend Han Bennink will be performing at 'De Singer' in Rijkevorsel, Belgium.
Han was recently a guest in 'De Wereld Draait Door', a Dutch national TV talk show.
Something that will be remembered...

Friday, November 5, 2010

A ROUNDHOUSE UPDATE

Hi all,

We're all ready to go here - less than half hour to go.

There's been a slight programming change.
At 7.30pm the RMC will perform Wild Imaginings, then Gail will come on stage before the LCO perform Varese.

http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/live

Thanks,
RoundhouseLDN

THE RESIDENTS ON DEMAND

The Residents have quite a number of new titles out through their Download Robot.
But they also have two new CD-on-demand titles out:
"Lost In A Vacant Lot" is a sampler, and "Brava" offers a 2001 San Francisco concert.

There's also a new DVD out: "Randy's Ghost Stories". For the moment, only available at the concerts.

ZAPPA AT THE ROUNDHOUSE - LIVE VIDEO STREAM

The Roundhouse live video stream schedule looks something like this:

http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/live

* * update * *

Friday 5 November:
7.30 pm Gail Zappa intro / Varese LCO / Wild Imaginings RMC
8.40 pm Yellow Shark / London Contemporary Orchestra

Saturday 6 November:
8 pm Mighty Boosh Band
9 pm Zappa plays Zappa

Sunday 7 November:
7:30 pm Revised Music for a Low Budget Orchestra
8.40 pm Greggery Peccary


So get your live video streaming recording software out (don't ask me...) and record some of this stuff !!

ANDREW GREENAWAY - ZAPPA THE HARD WAY


  • zappa - the hard way
    by andrew greenaway
    (2010, book, uk, wymer publishing)

In "Zappa The Hard Way", Andrew Greenawy takes an in-depth look at Zappa's 1988 tour.

The tour kicked off in February 1988 in New York City and continued on the U.S. East Coast until the end of March. From April on, the twelve-piece band performed in Europe. The band started in France and played some forty-plus dates all over the old continent.

Somewhere during these concerts a couple of the bandmembers were having troubles with clonemeister Scott Thunes. (clonemeister = the one who is in charge of the rehearsals)
Eventually, this got so bad that Zappa decided to stop the tour after the last date in Europe. He cancelled three months of concerts on the U.S. West Coast, hence naming one of the albums that he released with 1988 material, "The Best Band You Never Heard".

For "Zappa The Hard Way", Andrew Greenaway interviewed almost everyone who was in Zappa's 1988 band. Everyone tells the story like he remembers it. This makes "Zappa The Hard Way" an extraordinary book. Not only does it give a behind-the-scenes look of what happened during the tour, it also gives you an idea of how Zappa and the various bandmembers must have felt. Plus, it lets you follow the musical development that happened during the concerts: the new pieces that got introduced, the arrangements that changed, the secret words, ...

Zappa knew that touring makes you crazy. He had been caught in his own "200 Motels" and there was nothing he could do about it. FZ was touring with what he considered the best band he ever had, and he had to quit.

In "Zappa The Hard Way", Andrew does not look for answers. He does not point the finger at anyone. He just tells the story of a fabulous tour, spiced with interview fragments.

This, my friends, is essential reading.
Do I need to tell you that it includes the complete 1988 touring schedule & setlist for every show?

Highly recommended !!

http://www.wymeruk.co.uk/Store/index.php

and there's more!
Tomorrow, Saturday 2010/11/06, Andrew will be promoting his book in London.
From 12:00 until 14:00 h

'The Barfly Club', 49 Chalk Farm Road, London, United Kingdom

Andrew says:
"Why not pop along to our 'Barfly The Zappa Way' soiree at Camden's Barfly club, where author Andrew Greenaway and editor of the UK's leading Zappa website www.idiotbastard.com will be
promoting his recently published book 'Zappa The Hard Way' that documents the last fateful tour that Zappa undertook in 1988. "

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

CRACKED LATIN - THE WORLD IS CRACKED LATIN


Cracked Latin is the strange little world of Lane Steinberg and his companion Luis Accorsi.
The story goes that the two men would get together every once in a while for a cup of espresso. Hanging out, they would listen to some old salsa and Stones records. One thing led to another and they started making music together.

When Michael Sheppard (of the Transparency label) heard the demos, a record was scheduled.
“The World Is Cracked Latin” is a very fine album. It’s latin music (rhythm secion, horns) mixed with a nice dose of psychedelica (guitar & vocals).
I have never heard anything like this before, and I love it!
It will get you in a good mood !!

http://www.myspace.com/michael_transparency





THE RAREST BEEFHEART SINGLE

Thanks to Hakon Busterud, I was able to add pictures of the rarest vinyl 45 in the history of Capt. Beefheart, the testpressing of "Moonchild/Here I am, I always am".

There's only one copy known to exist. It was discovered in the vaults of A&M by Jeffrey Gold in 1984 when the preparation of the release of the The Legendary A&M sessions took place.

Hakon adds:
"What is very interesting is that when you study the matrix numbers you will discover that this 45 was intended as the second CB 45 from A&M. Why they didn't want to release the 45 with 'Here I am, I always am' as the B-side and changed it with 'Frying Pan' is a mystery because I think both songs are good enough.
If they had chosen 'Here I Am' as B-side on the release it would have been 'Frying Pan' that would have ended in the vaults. Both 45's use 1228/1229 as matrix numbers. The difference is that the Moonchild/Frying pan 45 has 1228-RE/1229-RE in the matrix. You can also see that there is a space in time between the intended release and the final one because the additional matrixnumber on Here I am is 63411 and the one for Frying pan is 63923 which 512 numbers later in the production."