Added another picture to the Zappa > Books section.
Now here's a surprise.
Don Preston wrote (and performed) the music for three Murray Mednick plays.
And it gets even more interesting as these soundtracks have been released on CD by MsMusic Productions.
There are some great jazz tunes on this disc, and some excellent contemporaty stuff as well.
Recommended listening.
CD available from CDBaby.
The Outsidemen were a jazz power trio, featuring Ralph Humphrey on drums (yes, Ralph Humphrey on drums !!), the late Jim Lacefield on bass, and Mike Miller on guitar.
Mike Miller could /should be known to you as the guitar player in the Band From Utopia, or in the Chad Wackerman Trio.
"Band Overboard" captured the band live in concert.
Most of the pieces on this album are by Ralph Humphrey and/or Mike Miller, the exceptions being a Jan Hammer piece and a John McLaughlin composition.
This is great stuff. Beautiful compositions and all of the musicians get enough room to do their thing. I really like Mike Miller's guitar playing. It has a great tone and he plays great jazz lines and melodies.
http://www.myspace.com/mikemillerguitar
I mentioned this album a couple of weeks ago.
On the KMFDM album "Don't Blow Your Top", in the track with the same name, no fewer than five different Zappa tunes contribute lyrics: 'Son Of Suzy Creamcheese', 'I'm The Slime', 'Dirty Love', 'The Orange County Lumber Truck' and 'Bow Tie Daddy'.
And that's about it. The only Zappa reference that you will find on this album is in the lyrics.
Wiki says that this kind of music can best be described as "industrial rock". I wouldn't have a clue. Same Wiki says that this is a very succesful band, having sold over 2 million records worldwide...
Still, my ears say no ..
Thanks to Håkon Busterud I was able to add some nice pictures to the Captain Beefheart discography. Check these out:
Kimono Draggin' has two new albums out. Details of the first one, "Space Orphans" can be found a bit further below.
"We Are The Dudes" got recorded shortly after "Space Orphans". The album sounds a bit less experimental than "Orphans", but is still all about high-energy, powerful, guitar-oriented punk-rock.
Angular rhythms, hyperactive vocals, ... it must be Kimono Draggin'.
Who needs Champions if you've got Dudes.
"We Are The Dudes" is the latest Kimono Draggin' release and it needs your attention.
Rick Olson (Bogus Pomp) says:
Recently, Hurricane Ida pummeled El Salvador killing several hundred and leaving many others homeless and hurting. We have organized a benefit concert to help in the small way we musicians can and hope you will too. Consider the one dollar means one meal to someone in need the Thanksgiving weekend.
Rick Olson and Jerry Outlaw are members of the Latin Rock band Point 6 and urge you to join us. Please.
Here's the data:
SUNDAY NOV 29
Benefit Concert For the People Of El Salvador
For nine years, a team of doctors, nurses and volunteers from the Tampa Bay area have brought medical supplies, free health care and hope to thousands of impoverished and sick people in El Salvador. Founded by Dr. Roberto Araujo and known as the Mission of Mercy, the group travels to the mountain town of Jucuapa in the eastern part of the country. There they do everything from dispense vitamins to perform surgeries that enable patients to see and walk. About 60,000 Salvadorans have been helped since the mission started in 1993. Read more in this story from the St. Petersburg Times. Performers include:
4PM $10 SUGGESTED MINIMUM DONATION
That's today.
A new Mike Keneally album is always celebrated over here, at UM HQ.
Few artists have been able to sustain such a high degree of quality throughout their career.
Mike's latest is called "Scambot 1" and it's the first in a trilogy.
And there's not just "Scambot 1" - the standard edition, there's also "Scambot 1" - the limited and numbered edition that comes with a bonus disc of songs and stories that were inspired by "Scambot 1".
The music on "Scambot 1" is quite diverse. It blends rock, jazz and contemporary music in a beautiful, recognisable Mike Keneally mix.
Compared with his previous albums, Mike Keneally succeeded in raising the bar again.
"Scambot 1" is the best Keneally I've heard so far.
The Zappa imprint is unmistakable, and I can even hear a bit of Steve Vai influence, but most of all, I hear beautiful & playful Mike Keneally music.
Did I mention that there's also an edition with a bonus disc?
Essential !!
www.keneally.com
Belgian band Zita Swoon has a new album out.
"To Play, To Dream, To Drift" is a 2CD set. The first disc can be considered as some sort of 'best of' as it's an anthology of released material.
It's an impressive choice. One finds material from A Beatband and Moondog Jr. (two earlier incarnations of Zita Swoon) next to Zita Swoon classics.
The second disc is the most interesting one. Subtitled "the unreleased anthology", it presents unknown songs and demos from 1990 until 2009. Beautiful.
Forget about witlof, waffles and Brussels sprouts.
There's just three things that Belgium should be proud of: beer, chocolates and music.
Essential listening.
The year was 2007, and Kimono Draggin' kicked ass at the Zappanale Festival in Bad Doberan, Germany. Joe Nolan, Joshua Hatton and Chris Swirski showed us what an energetic gig is all about.
We're 2009 now and the Tremendous Trio is all ready to take another go at the old continent.
"Space Orphans" shows that the band has evolved quite a lot the last couple of years. The power and the Beefheart approach are still there, but it's all more balanced.
I really like this.
I played "Space Orphans", and for one reason or another, it made me go search for Pere Ubu's "Dub Housing" album. So I played "Dub Housing", and now I'm back to "Space Orphans".
If you're into experimental, avant-garde rock music, Kimono Draggin's "Space Orphins" will be right up your alley.
Highly recommended !
(Did I tell you that they're on my Zappanale wish-list ?)
It looks like november and december will see a number of new Sun Ra releases:
August 22, 2002, a select group of musicians gathered in Arthur Barrow's studio for an occasional improvisation / jam.
These kind of free form sessions have been taking place in Arthur Barrow's Lotek Studio every now and then since the early ninetees. As Arthur Barrow stated in his liner notes, the MVP jams got their start as a memorial musical get together shortly after Miles Davis died.
Most noteworthy about this August 2002 event, is that Vinnie Colaiuta joined the group that particular night.
Just imagine:
It is hard to imagine that the music on "No Forest Fire" is the unedited recording of the music that was played that evening. This is top notch.
And I'm not just saying this because most of these guys have played with Frank Zappa. This is great music.
The four long pieces that you can find on "No Forest Fire" will take you on a journey. Great melodies and solos emerge as the pieces develop. The setting and the improvisations makes one think about Miles Davis' bands, while the backing (rhythm & horn section) smell like Zappa.
Fabulous !! This is a must-have !!
& before I forget: Tommy Mars rules !
ZONIC ENTERTAINMENT is a subdivisjon of Jon Larsen's HOT CLUB RECORDS
www.myspace.com/jonlarsenguitar
http://www.hotclub.musiconline.no/
I just love these kind of projects. This is fun. This is great music (written by a bunch of fine musicians), performed by my favourite big band.
Highly recommended !!
"Space" is a very impressive album. Not only because the Chris Abelen Quintet is made up of Chris Abelen, Tobias Delius, Corrie van Binsbergen, Wilbert de Joode and Charles Huffstadt, but also because "Space" features the Zapp! String Quartet, and has Ad Baars as special guest.
The result of having the quintet, the string quartet and Ab Baars' free jazz clarinet is astonishing. There's melodic passages that could creat their own movies, there's spacy free jazz (Ab!), great guitar work, and high energy trombone solos, contrasting with the strict string parts.
If you're not familiar with Chris Abelen's music, "Space" would be a good place to start.
Essential listening.
-- info: Hans-Peter Schmidt
Watching a Residents concert, or performance if you prefer, always is an exceptional event. The "Bunny Boy" show that I saw in Leuven last year was no exception.
With the help of The Residents, Bunny was looking for his brother Harvey.
Building up to The Residents' "Bunny Boy" tour and releases, the band published a number of videos on the internet on which Bunny could tell his story.
The same videos were used during the "Bunny Boy" concerts.
"Is Anybody Out There?" collects these videos.
A perfect addition to my memories of the concert...
In The Residents' story, "The Ughs" are the charactars that The Eyeballed Ones invented when they wanted to compose the music for "The Voice Of Midnight".
In their words, the recordings on this album are the original musical ideas that, two years later, led to the music that accompanied the narrator on "The Voice Of Midnight".
True or not, it's a nice invitations to give "The Ughs!" a listen.
I've only listened to this album once, but I like it a lot. It's a mixture of mysterious sounds and familiar tunes.
Essential listening.
The latest Residents album in this batch is "Ten Little Piggies", subtitled: "Tunes From Future Projects".
The CD offers some reworked pieces, a couple of instrumental versions, a couple of tracks from recent live performances, and some absolutely new stuff. All part of ongoing projects.
It's a beauty.
As you can see, both albums were released recently.
-- info: Danny Mathys
Guitar player and composer Mike Miller has worked and recorded with Chick Corea, George Duke, The Yellowjackets, Vinnie Colaiuta, Peter Erskine, and many more.
And two years ago, German ESC Records re-released Mike's first album, "Save The Moon", with three bonus tracks.
U.S. tuba virtuoso Tom McCaslin recorded two versions of Frank Zappa's 'Outside Now Again' on his "Inside Out" album.
The first take is the original version, the second one uses multiple harmonizer and phaser effects. Effects that were also used by Zappa on various albums.
The arrangement for solo tuba was made by Roger Bobo, who had met Frank on several occasions.
Take out your copy of "The Perfect Stranger"; play 'Outside Now Again', and imagine it being played as a solo tuba piece. That's what you will be getting with "Inside Out".
Wowie Zowie...
Incredible...
Belgian ensemble Aranis is lead by composer and double bass player Joris Vanvinckenroye. The band combines classical music, rock, jazz and folk into a typical mix.
On Aranis II, their second album, the septet sounds like a rock version of a chamber music ensemble. The music itself is quite uptempo, almost haunting.
Nice.
You can check out soundsamples on the Aranis website:
ZpZ will continue as DZpZ. Here's the dates:
I have received a couple of questions regarding the whereabouts and the availability of the latest Bogus Pomp CD.
You know, the album that got recorded last year in Hamburg.
According to Danny Mathys, you have to got the Der Spiegel website, and you can buy the album in their shop.
Thank you, Danny.
Tomorrow's show in Montclair has been reschudeled, but the series of shows that will be starting later this month, should happen:
The band will be performing at Magasin 4 in Brussels on November 14.
http://www.myspace.com/magasin4
