AKI TAKASE AND ALEXANDER VON SCHLIPPENBACH

Aki Takase and Alexander Von Schlippenbach.
The duo will be performing in my favourite jazz club in a couple of weeks.
('De Singer' in Rijkevorsel, BE)
Wonder if they'll be performing Zappa's 'You Are What You Is'.
They used to perform it in the early ninetees and even released it on their "Piano Duets" album in 1995.

ADRIAN BELEW - FLUX VOLUME ONE

• adrian belew: flux - volume one
      (2016, cd, usa, private release)

Adrian Belew has just released the first volume in his "Flux" series.
Forty-four snippets of music. Little pieces that vary in length from a handful of seconds to a couple of minutes. Some are soundscapes, others are little songs.
Meant to be played in random order, to be re-constructed every time it gets played.

Beautiful.
Amazing.

http://adrianbelew.net/

HOT RATS !

Frank Zappa's "Hot Rats" album, you know, the one with the cover of Miss Christine in the swimming pool, has been re-issued on vinyl !

Continuing the reissues, FZ’s classic "Hot Rats" has been released on 180-gram vinyl - cut directly from the original analog master tapes by Bernie Grundman! Recorded in 1969, Zappa's second solo album is widely known for its pioneering fusion of jazz and rock and contains one of his best known songs,“Peaches En Regalia.” Mostly an instrumental album, sans “Willie The Pimp” which features Captain Beefheart’s craggy vocals, the six-song LP is filled with complex musical passages, breathtaking playing and some beautifully melodic moments.

Here's Fattore Zeta with one of my favourite "Hot Rats" tunes, 'Little Umbrellas' !!

-- info: Philippe Lamoot

ZAP - AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

ZAP Feat. Zappa Vocal Legend Ike Willis, Chip Z'Nuff  and Sean McKee Release Digital Single “Air Traffic Control” on Steve Vai's Favored Nations

Chicago, IL - New band ZAP has released a digital single called “Air Traffic Control” on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label. The band is made up of Emmy-nominated composer Sean McKee, who is also collaborating with Jon Anderson from YES on a concept album project, Ike Willis, the voice on numerous Frank Zappa albums, and Grammy-nominated bassist Chip Z'Nuff (Enuff Z'Nuff, Missing Persons, Adler's Appetite).

“Air Traffic Control” started as a 60 second piece that was commissioned by Lee Abrams (Co-Founder of XM Radio) to have McKee write a piece of music in the style of Frank Zappa, and produce a video to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his passing. McKee wrote and performed all instruments, including recording the keyboard parts using a then-prototype Lineage MIDI guitar from Inspired Instruments.

Besides being a musician, McKee is known as a pioneer in the field of image processing, creating technology used for new movies and classic film restorations, along with 2D to 3D conversions, with the technology he led development on being used daily in Hollywood. For several years, one of his clients was Gail Zappa, Frank's widow, and he worked on restoring film elements from Frank's archive, and also helped to recover lost video masters that Gail hadn't seen in years.

According to McKee, “When I heard the news of Gail's passing last October, I was deeply saddened, she was very kind to me, and an incredibly smart woman who pioneered the concept of artists' retaining the rights to the master recordings. I decided to take the 60 second piece and finish it as a proper song, as a memorial to Gail and tribute to Frank, who was a big influence on my playing.”

McKee crafted the song starting from the existing 60 second guitar solo, building a complete song around it, similar to methods Zappa incorporated. He then asked Ike Willis to sing on the track and add another guitar solo. Die hard Zappa fans will also notice a lyrical reference to the infamous 'White Zone'.

McKee continues, “The original solo I wrote is what ends the song, and Ike takes the first guitar solo. If you close your eyes, you can see Frank and hear the lineage. When Frank got sick, he asked Ike to carry on his music, and while this is a new, original song, his playing and voice carries the torch for both the legacy fans as well as a new generation of listeners.”

McKee then asked Chip Z'Nuff to play bass on all parts except for the bass under the solos, which McKee had recorded originally.

The end result is a modern interpretation and homage to a timeless and unique style.

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/PULjX3rAU7k

To purchase:

http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1146099690?ls=1&app=itunes

http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1146099690

JUDITH LINDBLOOM

Judith Lindbloom's artwork can be found on various releases by the Roaratorio record label.
I recently heard that Judith passed away. Condolences to friends and family.

Here's a link to pictures and artwork.
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/judithlindbloom/

Steve Lacy's "Sideways" was released in an edition of 399 copies, each with an original painting by Judith Lindbloom on the cover.

DAVE BROCK AND THE AGENTS OF CHAOS

From the Hawkwind and Related Archives :

Dave Brock and the Agents of Chaos - Armada Rock Festival Banstaple 30/07/1988

Line up:
Brock, Bainbridge, Richards, Mills, Hardey, Bannister, Copeland and Kelsall

The overachieving Dave Brock went out with members of the Hawks and Tubilah Dog in 88/89 and played some dates as AOC (sometimes referred to as 'Hawkdog'). The set consisted of a mixture of Hawks, Dog and other covers. This is a pretty decent recording and includes Zappa's 'City of Tiny Lights' and Floyds 'Lucifer Sam'. Included in the band is of course Hawk in the making Jerry Richards. The band sound a little under rehearsed, but clearly all involved are having a great time!

Many thanks to Captain Deli for the upload.

Uploaded 26/02/2010

http://hawkstuff.ratsauce.co.uk/hawkwind.asp
Go to "Friends And Relations" and do a search.

-- info: Danny Mathys

NEW ALBUM BY DWIKI DHARMAWAN ON THE MOONJUNE RECORDS LABEL

NEW RELEASES BY CHARLES BOBUCK

A couple of new tunes have turned up on Charles Bobuck's Bandcamp page.
Charles Bobuck, as you probably know, was the composer for The Residents.

All of these are free or 'name your price' downloads.

August 21,


August 26,

August 31,

September 4,

MOSAE ZAPPA - - NOVEMBER 26 IN LANDGRAAF, NL

Landgraaf, NL, will be the place to be on November 26 as the third edition of the MOSAE ZAPPA will be taking place at 'De Oefenbunker'.

http://www.oefenbunker.com/

With a kick-off part on Friday the 25th

With a pre-party (14h00 - 18h00)

And with a fabulous line-up...
  The Foolz
  Bits From Hell
  The Wrong Object
and
  John's Got A Sausage

Regular tickets available for the festival,
VIP tickets available for the complete package (and more)

http://www.mosaezappa.com/

I was at the previous editions and I had a blast. I know where I'll be on November 26 !

PRINCE - - - THE EVERLASTING NOW (2002)