
2010 02 04 on the Antipode boat.

Wasn’t his music a reason for the hold-up getting the series on DVD?
Yeah. The deal that had been worked out with Frank’s wife and their company was pretty generous, to say the least, when it came to the release of the DVD. And I only had two comments: 1) How was that justified, and 2) Who is their lawyer?
(We both laugh)
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Amsterdam-based Brown vs Brown play a mixture of avant-garde rock and jazz. "Odds And Unevens" sounds exactly like the title suggests: odd meters and uneven rhythms.
This is superb stuff.
The sax, bass, drums, guitar and vibraphone sound like they're one instrument. Beautiful melodic and angular compositions, great solos, zappa-esque twists, ...
No surprise if you consider the fact that saxophone player Dirk Bruinsma also is the co-founder of Blast. And speaking of Blast, trumpet player Bart Maris is featured on the latest Moker album.
Back to the subject, "Odds And Unevens" is a superb album.
In Michael Jackson's words: "This is it !".


Here's another addition to the Others Of Invention series: artists performing the music of FZ.
Frank Zappa's 'Ruth Is Sleeping' was performed and recorded by the Ensemble Modern as part of their "The Yellow Shark" project. It was first realised as a synclavier piece in the early '80s. Another arrangement of this piece was done by Ali J. Askin for one piano, four hands. It was premiered in this version on two pianos by Ensemble Modern in 1993.
This brand-new Zappa tribute album arrived in V.-city earlier today. Actually, I'm listening to it right now.
Filthy Habits Ensemble is a jazz band with an impressive line-up (three saxes, a trumpet, keyboards, electric guitar & bass, plus drums) performing a series of Zappa standards:
Beautiful arrangements, superb performances (love the solos !!), a nine-minute plus version of 'King Kong', ... In one word: Excellent.
What are you waiting for?

A new vinyl bootleg has been spotted. It's called "A Little Nostalgia For The Old Folks", and it's out in different versions:
- 40 copies on blue wax
- 40 copies on red wax
- 40 copies on green wax
- 40 copies on gold wax
- 65 copies on splash wax
- 30 copies on split wax
And most of these have different covers as well. I pasted a bunch of pictures into the U.M.Files.
Here's the track-list:
[1] 1970/11/02 live in the studio - kppc fm pasadena, ca
frank zappa, shuggie otis, ray agee
[2] 1972/12/02 - early show - concert 'cowtown ballroom', kansas city, mo, usa
the petit wazoo orchestra:
f.zappa, g.barone, e.dumler, t.duran, g.ferris, b.fowler, j.gordon, t.malone, m.mcnabb, d.parlato
[3] 1969/05/24 - early show - concert 'rockpile', toronto, canada
f.zappa, lowell george, r.estrada, j.c.black, a.tripp, i.underwood, d.preston, b.gardner, b.gardner, j.sherwood
[4] 1976/03/04 soundcheck 'deutschlandhalle', berlin, germany
f.zappa, n.m.brock, r.estrada, a.lewis, t.bozzio
side one
side two








A recording of this concert circulates as "Abigail Sin Plays Frank Zappa".
You can probably locate a download through Google.

Japanese band XXX Residents are an electronical version of the original. They dress up like The Residents and they use a lot of Residents' samples or patterns.
Quite weird. Quite impressive. If they were to play in my neighbourhood, I'd certainly go see them.
The bonus DVD offers three tracks. The first one is some sort of hypnotizing roller coaster animation movie. Extraordinary.
Tracks two and three were shot in concert.
In about two weeks, a lot of Zappa freaks will be gathering in Oslo, Norway, for a small festival.
Main musical act will be Jono El Grande.
Jone El Grande has three albums out, the latest one ("Neo Dada") being released only last year.
Album number two in the Jono El Grande discography is entitled "Fevergreens" and it came out in 2003.
Reminiscent of Frank Zappa's early seventies music, "Fevergreens" is right up my alley.
Oslo is in for a treat.
http://www.myspace.com/jonoelgrande

Swedish drummer, percussionist, composer and producer Bengt Berger recently released "Beches Brew" on his Country & Eastern label.
The Country & Eastern record label was founded by Bengt Berger some five years ago, and specialises in high quality world music, classical music and contemporary jazz. This will not come as a surprise if one takes a closer look at Bengt's musical career.
Born in 1942, he left for India at age 22 where he studied tablas and percussion. In the mid-seventies, he went to Ghana to study african drumming techniques. After his return to Sweden, Bengt played jazz and improvised music with various artists, including the late Don Cherry.
In the liner notes of this album, Bengt "Beche" Berger explains: "So here I am with an album that only can be labeled as "Bengt Berger" or "Other Music". It's my music, but it is not MY music. The music itself has decided what I want it to be." and "I didn't intend anything in particular with it, it just turned out that way."
For "Beches Brew", Bengt Berger was joined by his friends and long-time collaborators Thomas Gustafsson (saxes), Jonas Knutsson (saxes), Mats Öberg (keyboards) and Sigge Krantz (producer). Add Lindha Kallerdahl (vocals) and Max Schultz (guitar, banjo & bass) and you get the perfect chefs for Beches Brew.
The music on this disc is indeed a fine equilibrium, a flavoured mixture, a tasty brew of various influences. It's jazz, it's world music, but it's also so much more. It completely absorbed me. Excellent stuff.
No wonder that "Biches Brew" got nominated for a Swedish Grammy.
Higly recommended.
Originially released in 1978 as a double vinyl album, "Gong Est Mort, Vive Gong" has been re-released (again) on CD.
Recorded in the Pavillon de Paris in 1977, this live album features the classic line-up of Daevid Allen, Gilly Smyth, Tim Blake, Steve Hillage, Mike Howlett, Didier Malherbe, and Pierre Moerlen.
Apparently some of the tracks had to be cut short to fit all of the songs on one CD...
and click on : “Luister”
If you google for more in fo on 'Iron' Kim Style, you get links to acrobatic sort of martial art !! If you take a closer look at the album cover, you'd go for a link towards North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il. This can only mean one thing.
More important, Iron Kim Style also is a Seattle-based jazz-rock improvisational quintet. And they have a good sense of humour.
The band has Dennis Rea (of Moraine fame) and Thaddaeus Brophy on guitar, Bill Jones on trumpet, Ryan Berg on bass, and Jay Jaskot on drums.
On their eponymous (and first) release, Iron Kim Style brings an impressive set of improvised tunes. The album carries a lot of beautiful compositions and / or improvisations. If you're in for a lot of 'electric-period Miles' vibes, you'll appreciate the excellent trumpet solos that Bill Jones throws in.
"Iron Kim Style" is a very impressive album. The interaction between Dennis Rea and Bill Jones is unbelievable. Especially since all of the material on this CD is improvised.
Check out the band's MySpace site for some samples.
http://www.myspace.com/ironkimstyle
Excellent improvised jazz-rock.
Out on MoonJune, where also Dennis Rea's Moraine project found a home.
http://www.moonjune.com/
Over at Zappateers, master clone copies of the soundboard recordings of the first set of the early show, as well as the second set of the late show, that Ed Palermo did at The Bottom Line on 1996/04/18 are being seeded.
Here are the data for the second set of the late show:
1996/04/18 - late show - concert 'the bottom line, new york city, ny, usa
// with mike keneally

Having listened to "Spaceship Lullaby" (out on Atavistic) and "The Sun Ra Singles" (out on Evidence), Norton Records asked Michael D. Anderson is he had more unreleased Sun Ra doo wop material.
Michael D. Anderson used to be the drummer of the Sun Ra Arkestra (from 1976 until 1984), and he's probably more famous as a DJ, also known as The Good Doctor on WFMU-FM Radio, but he also was Sun Ra's archivist.
It will come as no surpirse that The Good Doctor came up with a fine bag of treats: The Cosmic Rays, The Crystals, Nu Sounds and The Qualities are all doo wop bands that Sun Ra worked with in the mid-fifties. "Interplanetary Melodies" brings us a number of early Saturn singles from these bands, as well as a fine bunch of rehearsals (recorded on paper tape at the time !!).
All featuring Sun Ra.
Welcome to the candy store.

"Interplanetary Melodies" twin is called "Second Stop Is Jupiter". Picking from the same batch of early Saturn singles and rehearsals, we dive deeper into the Doo Wop days of Sun Ra.
We're talking 1955 - 1958.
Excellent and highly informative liner-notes by (former Arkestra drummer and) archivist Michael D. Anderson.

"Rocket Ship Rock" is the third new Sun Ra release on Norton Records.
Here's another album that takes a closer look at Sun Ra's early years. This time we get a number of early singles that got released on the Saturn label (plus one on Repetto and one on Pink Clouds) plus a huge number of unreleased tracks, both rehearsals and alternate takes from Michael D. Anderson's archive collection.
Recording artists on this CD are Yochanan, Little Mack, Lacy Gibson, Ebah and Dino Dean, all backed by Sun Ra or the Sun Ra Arkestra.
The biggest difference with "Rocket Ship Rock" and the previous two album is the sound (and performance) quality as a lot of these tracks are alternate takes, whereas "Interplanetary" and "Second Stop" also contain a lot of rehearsals.
"Rocket Ship Rock" includes two fabulous versions of "I'm Gonna Unmask The Batman". The first one by Lacy Gibson, the second by Ebah. Both from 1968.
Funny as Sun Ra recorded a Batman tribute album himself. Produced by Tom Wilson, btw.
Beautiful.
http://www.nortonrecords.com
Two days ago, the new FZ album, "Philly '76", arrived in Belgium, and I've been listening to it since...
A great recording of a great line-up.
Bianca Odin, Ray White, Eddie Jobson, Patrick O'Hearn and Terry Bozzio. And FZ.
Great songs, great vocals, great solos...
Vaulternative? You bet!
This is a Zappa album that everyone should have.
19 minutes of Black Napkins, 14 minutes of Advance Romance..., ...
Essential.

In the mid 70's, Allan Holdsworth and Alan Pasqua were part of jazz drummer Tony Williams' the New Tony Williams Lifetime, a jazz fusion band.
In 2006, Allan Holdsworth and Alan Pasqua teamed up with Yellowjackets bass guitar player Jimmy Haslip and with drummer Chad Wackerman to tour and to perform original as well as Lifetime material.
"Blues For Tony" got recorded on tour in May 2007.
The title track 'Blues For Tony' was written by Alan Pasque and immediately catches your attention. Up-tempo funky fusion... Next up is Chad Wackerman's 'The Fifth'. A beautiful piece with marvelous bass works by Jimmy Haslip and a great solo by Allan Holdsworth. The album continues with 'It Must Be Jazz', pushing the quartet to powerful, Weather Report-like explorations. And it goest on like this for over ninety minutes.
Amazing.
This is fusion at its best.
Highly recommended.
In about two weeks, the Holdsworth, Pasqua, Haslip, Wackerman quartet will start an East Coast USA tour.
check the tourdates at http://www.therealallanholdsworth.com/allanlive.htm
2009/12/27 - Sellersville Theatre - Sellersville, PA
2010/01/01 - Martyrs - Chicago, IL
2010/01/06 - River Street Jazz Cafe - Plains, PA

Recorded in Italy in 1978, this album comes from the same era as the "Disco 3000" album that got re-released by Art Yard recently.
"New Steps" got released in 1978 and has been long out-of-print. Atomic now offers this fabulous album on CD.
Sun Ra on electric piano and organ; John Gilmore on tenor sax; Michael Ray on trumpet; and Luqman Ali on drums...
Beautiful. Alongside the fabulous Sun Ra tunes one can also find 'My Favorite Things', the Roders & Hammerstein classic. I love it...

Over at http://www.residents.com/, The Residents have made another album available for download. It's the first one of 2010, and it's entitled "Tweedles (Tabasco) Instrumental".
"Following in the footsteps of the successful release of River of Crime: Instrumental and Animal Lover:Instrumental, Tweedles: Instrumental is more than just non-vocal versions of the songs. Instead, the album is a three piece suite that was originally written to represent air, earth, and water. Originally, the project's working title was "Tabasco" and over time, it evolved into "Casanova's Clown" until finally becoming Tweedles.” - (Ten Little Piggies notes) "Later this month, the city of Larvik (near Oslo, in Norway) will be hosting a Zappa festival. I know that a bunch of my Zappateer friends will be attending, and they are in for a treat:
Jono El Grande is scheduled to perform. Jono El Grande is a Norwegian artist who writes, performs and records experimental, avant-garde music with obvious Zappa influences.
Jono El Grande's latest album, "Neo Dada", is his third solo release and it's a must-have. There are no actual Zappa compositions on this album, but Jono El Grande sure knows his Zappa (or the things that influenced Zappa). The density of the notes, the angular rhythms, the instrumentation, the cartoonesque melodies, ... it's just the way I like it.
Here's a sample (though not from "Neo Dada")

The latest Flo & Eddie album, "New York Times", presents recordings from 'The Bottom Line' recorded between 1979 and 1994.
Flo & Eddie played at The Bottom Line almost every year, each time with a different theme: Halloween, Batman, ...
"New York Times" bundles the best pieces of all these concerts (taken from recordings from two mics hanging on the ceiling of the club !!).
The album includes a Zappa Medley from the 1993 show, dedicated to the late FZ: 'Who Needs The Peace Corps', 'Concentration Moon', 'The Ugliest Part Of Your Body', 'Absolutely Free', 'Peaches En Regalia' and 'Magic Fingers'.
Beautiful.
Last Wednesday, the weather report made me a bit nervous. Western Europe was going to get a lot of snow. More specific, it said that Belgium would be good for 15 cm of snow. And this would be happening during the weekend. This meant that I had to change my plans as I would have liked to drive to the Pieter Claus concert in Deinze on Sunday morning...
So this morning, I got up, took a look at the snowflakes outside, and went for the "Country & Eastern Christmas" album.
Swedish drummer Bengt Berger's Country & Eastern label released this record a bit over a year ago, right in time for Christmas 2008.
The "Country & Eastern Christmas" double album includes 26 traditionals (some of which are Christmas classics) that all got a C&E treatment.
Almost every song on this record has a different (and impressive) vocalist, backed by the so-called 'party band'. This party-band consists of Lars Almqvist (trumpet), Bengt Berger (drums), Jonas Knutsson (saxes), Kjell Westling (woodwinds) and Mats Öberg (!!) (keyboards & harmonica).
At first I thought that 'party band' was a rather strange name for a backing band, but the first track (an instrumental potpourri of various christmas tunes) soon proved me wrong. This is fun. Big fun. This party band knows how to throw... Well, you know what I mean.
There's some real gems on these discs. I really like 'Det Är En Ros Utsprungen' (with Sofia Berg-Böhm on vocals), or 'Nisse-Polkka' that features Mirja Mäkelä, or 'Father X-Mas Has A Master Plan', another party band instrumental, and these are just te first tunes of disc one.
"Country & Eastern Christmas" is a great record. It's a fine mixture of jazz and contemporary folk music.
Recommended !
The funniest thing is that this recording was made in May.
It makes me wonder if someone brought a Santa Hat...

Thanks to Håkon Busterud, I was able to add a fine picture to the Captain Beefheart singles discography.
Click on the picture or the title for a bigger picture.

Originally released in 1978, Sun Ra's adventurous "Disco 3000" album got an expanded 2CD treatment in 2007 when the entire concert got re-released as "The Complete Disco 3000 Concert" (= Art Yard 001).
A couple of months ago, Art Yard re-released the slimmed-down original album as Art Yard 101.
$.99 Dreams (ninety-nine cent dreams) was formed in Brooklyn in 2007 by drummer Matt Crane and saxophonist, synth player Adam Diller to develop the area between hip-hop and free-jazz. They build the music from layers of live overdubs using drums, analog synth, horns, strings, and percussion.
frank zappa: cosmik evolution

plus exhibitions, videos, and more !!
extra extra extra
frank zappa: corn... - cd - peak abu 04/07 - digipack (ltd.edition of 50 copies)


Go to
http://www.fmbrussel.be/programmas/dwalmacat.aspx
And click on “Luister”