Sunday, May 29, 2011

THE ZAPPAMUNDO FESTIVAL 2011


It looks like Lisbon will be the place to be on June 18.
The Zappamundo Festival 2011 will be hosting 5 bands that will be performing the music of Frank Zappa.

And a very impressive list it is. Here we go:


  • Karma My Dog

  • Solistas de Metropolitana de Lisboa

  • Zappa Odyssey

  • Filthy Habits Ensemble

  • Tarentatec




http://www.zappanoia.org/
zappamundo@gmail.com

DWALMACAT 429

This week at Dwalmacat...

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


  • ANIMAL COLLECTIVE – Peacebone

  • RENALDO & THE LOAF – There’s a cap upon the lawn

  • KEVIN BLECHDOM – Always frank

  • SOLEX – Solex’s snag

  • ERIC RANDOM – Fade in

  • CHROME – New age

  • DAPHNI – Ye-Ye

  • JOHN COOPER CLARKE – Evidently chickentown

  • JOHN ZORN – Bass and the treble

  • ART ZOYD – Le bruit du fer

  • RONNIE HAZLEHURST AND THE GG BAND – Ku-Ku

  • DJ SHADOW – In-flux

  • HOLGER HILLER – Happy to go shopping

  • BETH B. & SCOTT B. - Angel’s theme

ZAPPATIKA IN CONCERT IN LEIDEN 2011 06 18

Saturday, June 18, Zappatika will be performing the music of Frank Zappa in Leiden. At the "Q-Bus". I received the flyer, and it looks like this:

KENYATTE ABDUR-RAHMAN

Last week, I went to see the Frank Zappa Ensemble in Brussels. It was a pretty good concert, but I'll get back to that later.
First, I want to talk about Keneyatte Abdur-Rahman, who was at the concert as well. To be quite honest, I had never heard about Kenyatte before, and we only chatted for a brief moment, but when I got home I found the following little youtube movie.

Here's Kenyatte Abdur-Rahman on drums with Knoel Scott (of Sun Ra Arkestra fame) on saxophone, and Sebastien Bara on guitar, with Alphonse Anougna on bass, as the Alphonse Anougna Quartet.

I don't have a clue on the when and where of this recording, although it looks like it was recorded a little while ago...

HALL OF FAME RECORDS

Here's an update on a couple of Hall Of Fame Records artists.

March 4, Caballero Reynaldo appeared on the radio for an interview.


  • 2011/03/04 radio show 'Colina 45', Radio Mislata
    interview & tracks from the "Traca / Matraca" album

And more recently, The Filthy Habits Ensemble got featured on spanish Radio 3



  • 2011/04/17 radio show 'Tres en la Carretera', Radio 3, Spain
    with two members of the band, and a preview of the concert that will be broadcast on 2011/04/24.

  • 2011/04/24 radio show 'Tres en la Carretera', Radio 3, Spain
    including parts of the 2011/04/01 concert that the band did at the Jazz Festival in Pamplona

JON LARSEN AND JIMMY ROSENBERG

Norwegian guitarist, composer, painter and surrealist Jon Larsen has produced a number of albums with various ex-Zappa bandmembers.

The fist one was called "Strange News From Mars" and got recorded in L.A. at Arthur Barrow's Mar Vista studio.
A follow-up album got released in 2008: "The Jimmy Carl Black Story".
And earlier this year, Jon Larsen released "Willie Nicerson's Egg", a project with Tommy Mars.

Larsen also is the man behind the Hot Club de Norvège ensemble. They have released over 25 albums to date.

Last year, Bjørn Ola Bjørntoft and Lars A. Hellebust made a documentary entitled "Jon and Jimmy", about the friendship and the collaboration between Jimmy Rosenberg (the Hendrix of Gypsy Jazz) and jazz guitarist Jon Larsen. The documentary got released on DVD in February 2010, and got broadcast on dutch television last week (May 24, 2011). Very impressive. And touching.

Here's one of my favourite Jimmy Rosenberg clips. Not from the documentary. Just a wonderful clip.

Jimmy Rosenberg - Guitar
Hady Mouallem - Violin
Renier Voet - Guitar
Simon Planting - Bass

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

PROJECT/OBJECT EUROPEAN TOUR CANCELLED?

U.S. band Project/Object wants / wanted to do a small european tour after their Zappanale gig in a couple of months.
I just heard that this little euro-tour might be cancelled. That's too bad.
Let's hope that their Zappanale gig will be happening.

GARY LUCAS / DEAN BOWMAN - CHASE THE DEVIL



On his latest release, Gary Lucas collaborates with Dean Bowman. The result is a very impressive album. "Chase The Devil" blends blues and gospel into a powerful mixture. Great vocals by Dean Bowman, and some superb guitar playing by Gary Lucas.
The devil should be warned. If this duo catches up with him, it won't be his best day.



Adding data to the Gary Lucas discography, here's "Street Of Lost Brothers" in data and pictures. From 10 years ago. On John Zorn's label. And Zorn also guests on one track!
Nice.

MARSHALL ALLEN AT THE UNCOOL FESTIVAL

The Swiss UNCOOL Festival will be featuring Marshall Allen.
June 21 -> June 26

http://www.uncool.ch/2011/program.php

-- info: the Saturn newsgroup

SUN RA SPECIAL ON WMBR-FM 2011 05 23

The 'sun ra show' that charlie kohlhase does each year at around this time on his 'research & development' program got broadcast on monday, may 23, 2011 from 2pm to 4pm on WMBR-FM.

Here are some links

http://wmbr.org/m3u/Research_%26_Development_20110523_1400.m3u
stream it

http://headphones.mit.edu/archive/Research_&_Development____5_23_11_1:58_PM.mp3
download it

-- info from the Saturn newsgroup

Monday, May 23, 2011

THE YELLOW SNOW CRYSTALS - - - TOURMÄDELS

Thanks to Luuk, here's a fragment of the Yellow Snow Crystals at Mosae Zappa.

THE YELLOW SNOW CRYSTALS - ZAPPN'




If you visit the United Mutations blog every once in a while, you'll probably know that I visited the Mosae Zappa Festival in Maastricht in early May. It was a very fine festival with two nights of Zappa and Zappa-related music. I loved it.
Each and everyone of the bands that performed did a superb job.
One of these bands was The Yellow Snow Crystals. This german quartet combined Zappa and jazz and mixed it with a fine dose of humour. Lots of instrumental material, but also some very funny vocal songs (translated and sung in German). Great.


Trombone player Paul Hubweber told me that the band was working on an album. If the album will be something like the "Zappn'" demo that he gave me, we'll soon all be dancing to the music of The Yellow Snow Crystals.
The Zappateers among you should check out the audience recording of the Mosae gig. It gives a fine idea of what the band is about. And we should all try to catch these guys in concert again. As I said, this was great.
Keep an eye out for their album!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

JIM FIELDER & ABSOLUTELY FREE

from http://www.rdrop.com/users/rickert/fielder.html

[1967]

Q : How was the first album with Tim followed by work with Frank Zappa?

A: Let me explain this a little. My first year properly in the business I played with & Mastin & Brewer, Zappa/Mothers, and Buffalo Springfield in that order. The first of these developed into Brewer & Shipley, another known name. Anyway, for the original Mastin & Brewer, one time Mastin did not show up for a gig at the “Whisky A Go Go” club. This made me have doubts, but our drummer Billy Mundy knew Zappa and recommended me. There, I really wanted to specialize in bass but Roy Estrada was already playing.
This meant that though I can be heard on all tracks for the “Absolutely Free” album, it is on rhythm guitar.
Don’t expect to find my name credited on the album, though. Frank had all my credits omitted from the cover because I moved on to Buffalo Springfield before it was released.

Q : So then, how did you come to pitch to Buffalo Springfield? If you wanted to focus on bass, why are only a few such tracks on each album ?

A : Buffalo Springfield had the same managers as Mastin & Brewer, I got to know them that way, then auditioned. Even taking into account the non-appearance of my credits on the Zappa album, I chose to make the move in order to focus in the area I wanted.

The lifespan of Springfield was just 2 years or so, during that time three albums were released, and the very nature of things meant most playing was live. Recordings were not done in dedicated fashion. Because production costs were not so astronomical as now, often just a couple of tracks were recorded after each tour, and not all tracks required bass. When there was enough material for an album, it was released, simple as that.
By the way, my first electric bass was a Rickenbacker longneck solid-body with a big head with a super De-Armond pickup, and I continued to use it well into my time with Springfield.

KIMONO DRAGGIN' - - - THE FAREWELL PERFORMANCE

Better sit down for this...
Here's 40 minutes of Kimono Draggin'.
Live in concert;

Kimono Draggin' - Farewell Performance (FULL SET) from Cristof Almondy on Vimeo.

ZAPPATIKA AT THE ULTIMATE PRE-SUMMER BALL - JUNE 18 - 2011

Zap McInnes says:

THE LEAGUE of ORDINARY GENTLEMEN -ULTIMATE SUMMER BALL - Full Line up :
The first band of the night will be THE MODERN AGE -a young up & coming band who have won some local pop/rock events in South Holland. The second band of the night will be the nicest Dutch loony rockers ever- RAAH & THE SEEDS, and the 3rd band of the night will be ZAPPATiKA playing a whole bunch-a -stuff for you to get down to ! Inbetween will be a ROOTSDJ pumpin out da sounds at ya !!

League of Ordinary Gentlemen-Q-Bus Leiden
Uiterstegracht 142
Leiden, Netherlands

THE ED PALERMO BIG BAND PLAYS ZAPPA - JUNE 3 - 2011

Friday, June 3, 2011, the Ed Palermo Big Band will be playing at The Falcon in Marlboro, NY.

Ed Palermo adds:

Hello, folks!!

Our next concert is at my favorite club EVER!
It's called the FALCON in Marlboro, NY.
The food is great, the vibe is SO relaxed, and there is NO COVER CHARGE!
Just a donation box for the band.
I love this club. We've played there 3 times in the past year.

Phone: 845-236-7970
LIVE AT THE FALCON
1348 9W
MARLBORO, NY

2 SETS STARTING AT 7 PM
DINNER STARTS AT 6 PM

I hope to see you there!

-- ed

GRETCHEN PARLATO

Dave Parlato's daughter, Gretchen, has a new album out, and she's touring Europe as well.

http://www.gretchenparlato.com/

You can give it a listen at
http://laspikedelycmusic.bloguez.com/laspikedelycmusic/1880506/Gretchen-Parlato-The-Lost-And-Found-2011-VBR-0-

Tourdates


  • may 20 - norfolk & norwich festival, uk

  • may 21-23 - london, uk

  • may 24 - queens theatre, barnstaple, uk

  • may 25 - new morning, paris, fr

  • may 26 - la passerelle, saint-brieuc, fr

  • may 28 - kerprat à guidel, bretagne, fr

  • may 31 - théâtre nat'l de bretagne, rennes, fr

-- info: Jan van Kemenade

SPECIAL EDITION OF THE NEW WHITESNAKE ALBUM FEATURES STEVE VAI ON BONUS TRACKS

The new Whitesnake album got released in various forms and shapes. One of them is the so-called "Snake Pack" edition. Published by Future Music, you get a magazine, a poster, a set of pick-ups, a button, AND a CD of the new album, with two bonus tracks.



And it's the bonus tracks that made me mention this album in these very pages. The two tracks, "Slide It In" and "Cheap And Nasty" are from the band's 1990 Donington Festival concert.
This concert will be released on DVD and on double CD in a couple of weeks, and we already can get a little taste of it on the Snake Pack package.
In 1990, Steve Vai was part of the band, and he performed with the band at Donington. Should be a nice DVD...
And in the meantime, the Snake Pack edition of "Forevermore" got added to the U.M. Archives.


MIKE KENEALLY'S NEW ALBUM AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER



The new Mike Keneally album will be a DVD / CD set. Recorded in concert at The Baked Potato, and featuring Bryan Beller, Joe Travers, Rick Musallam and Griff Peters, this is something that I really look forward to seeing and hearing.


It's available for pre-order at MooseMart.
http://store.moosemart.com/servlet/StoreFront

SUN RA DEDICATION NIGHT IN AMSTERDAM 2011 05 21

The Kindred Spirit record label organised a Sun Ra Dedication night !!

http://www.kindred-spirits.nl/index.php?idxNews=398

-- info from the Saturn newsgroup

BROKKENMIDDAG WITH CORRIE VAN BINSBERGEN 2011 05 29

Next weekend, Corrie van Binsbergen will host another Brokkenmiddag in Amsterdam, NL.

MARC GUILLERMONT

In 2004, Marc Guillermont recorded his "Zappostrophe" album, his tribute to Frank Zappa.
"Zappastrophe" is a superb album. I've you come acrosss it, you shouldn't hesitate.

Yesterday, Marc Guillermont played with Randy Brecker in Tilburg, NL.
At De Paradox, which is one of my favourite clubs. And it isn't too far away either.
Didn't go though. Too much other stuff to do.
But I did enjoy the links that I got with the invitation for this concert.

Meet Marc Guillermont !!





ERIK SMITH TRIO - FINGER MAGIC



On the first of May, I linked to the ZappaInFrance blog, where they had The Erik Smith Trio's version of FZ's 'Sy Borg' up.
Today, I added the album cover and the tracklist to the U.M.Archives.
A pretty neat album, by the way. A classic jazz trio.

NEW BEEFHEART ALBUM OUT ON OZIT RECORDS

Ozit Records releases another Beefheart album.
Here's the story behind it:





  • captain beefheart: translucent fresnel
    (2011, 2lp, uk, ozit dandelion)


the ozit website says:


From the late 1960s through to 1980, John Peel collected tapes of recordings of Captain Beefheart’s live shows, particularly ones made in the UK. During a tidy-up at Nan True’s Hole in 2003, he discovered around six large reels of tape containing many of Beefheart’s live UK performances and sent them on to Ozit Morpheus Records for sorting out and release on the Dandelion imprint.

Here is Volume 1 of material from those tapes. Like all Beefheart live tracks, they are chaotic, erratic and yet charming. Because of the age of the material and sometimes crude recording techniques originally used there is the odd glitch in the recordings, but rather than trying and digitally repairing the sound, we're bringing it to you exactly as it came off the tapes, warts and all, but full of Beefheartian energy. Volume 1 contains songs mainly from the Clearspot era tour of the UK.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

SUN RADIO OMNIVERSITY 2011 05 16

info from Charles Blass on the Saturn newsgroup

Swiss Radio LoRa did a Sun Ra special.

http://www.lovevolv.org/2011/05/sun-ra-arrival-sun-radio-omniversity.html


  • Along Came Ra / Children of the Sun (Lost Arkestra Series)

  • Theme of the Stargazers / Enlightment (Cleveland 1975)

  • Saturn (Jazz in Silhouette: Images and Forecasts of Tomorrow, 1958)

  • Moon People (Sun Ra Quartet, New Steps, 1978)

  • I Am Gonna Unmask the Batman (feat. Ebah, Rocket Ship Rock)

  • Rocket Ship Rock (feat. Yochanon, Rocket Ship Rock)

  • Teenager’s Letter of Promises (Juanita Rogers, Interplanetary Melodies)

  • Untitled (Squat Theater, NYC, 17 Jan. 1981)

  • Planet Earth Day (Pleiades, with Orchestra, France, 1990)

  • Sophisticated Lady (Cleveland, 1975)

  • Exactly Like You (Sun Ra Quartet, New Steps, 1978)

  • Blue Intensity (Nuclear War, 1982)

  • Intergalactic Research (Rehearsal, 1971)

  • Sun Ra Interview intro (unidentified) / Orbiting (excerpt, Fillmore West, 14 Nov. 1968)

  • Sun Ra Interview with Detroit Black Journal, 1981 (Pt.1)

  • Enlightment / Love in Outer Space / King Porter Stomp (Montreux Jazz Festival, 9 July 1976)

  • Ankhnaton (Fate in a Pleasant Mood, 1960)

  • Planet Earth (Sun Ra Visits Planet Earth, 1957)

  • Ancient Aiethopia (Jazz in Silhouette, 1958)

  • Sun Ra Interview intro (unidentified) / Worlds Approaching (take 2, NYC July 1966)

  • Sun Ra Interview with Detroit Black Journal, 1981 (Pt.2)

  • Velvet (Janus, 1968)

  • Yesterdays (Reflections in Blue, 1986)

  • The Eternal Myth Revealed – excerpt 1 (compiled/narrated by Michael Anderson for Transparency)

  • Smile (feat. June Tyson) (Nuclear War, 1982)

  • Retrospect (Nuclear War, 1982)

  • Love On a Far Away Planet (Hours After, 1986)

  • Friend and Friendship (Sun Ra Quartet, New Steps, 1978)

  • October (Saturn single, 1958)

  • Lights On a Satellite (Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow, 1962)

  • Discipline No. 1 (Mayan Temples, 1990)

  • Space Mates (Fate in a Pleasant Mood, 1960)

  • Manhattan Undertones (solo synthesizer c.1987, from Sun Ra 1987 WKCR tape)

  • Sun Ra Interview with Detroit Black Journal, 1981 (Pt.3)

  • The Eternal Myth Revealed – excerpt 2 (compiled/narrated by Michael Anderson for Transparency)

  • Black Sky and Blue Moon (Nu Sounds, c.1954, from Sun Ra 1987 WKCR tape)

  • Holiday for Strings (Nu Sounds, c.1954, from Sun Ra 1987 WKCR tape)

  • The Eternal Myth Revealed – excerpt 3 (compiled/narrated by Michael Anderson for Transparency)

  • Solar Drums (Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow, 1962)

  • ‘Dark Forces’ (excerpt, Cairo, 1971) / Sun Ra recitation (unidentified)

  • I Am Gonna Unmask the Batman (Lacy Gibson) (extended version, Rocket Ship Rock)

  • Space is the Place (excerpt, Helsinki, 1971)

DWALMACAT 428

go to
http://www.fmbrussel.be/programmas/dwalmacat.aspx
and click on “Luister” to enjoy


  • RED SNAPPER – Take your medicine

  • THE PORTSMOUTH SINFONIA – The dance of the sugar plum fairy

  • ANDY GIORBINO – Der Hans der hat’s

  • STEREOLAB – Silver sands

  • THE BEACH BOYS – Ding dang

  • YELLO – Great mission / You gotta say yes to another excess

  • THE GO-TEAM – Apollo throw down (star slinger remix)

  • HERBIE HANCOCK – Rock it

  • THE BROKEN PENIS ORCHESTRA – An introduction to the obvious

  • ANIKA – Officer officer

  • RIUICHI SAKAMOTO – M.A.Y. in the backyard

  • VON SÜDENFED – Dearest friends

  • MAAT – Sphaere

  • SILUETES 61 – Rein-Raus

  • SCHLAMMPEITZIGER – Konservatives Einzellzimmer

  • KIERAN HEBDEN – Pinnacles

PRINCE WILL BE PERFORMING THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW AT NORTH SEA JAZZ 2011

Hard to believe, but Prince will be doing three concerts at the North Sea Jazz festival. He'll be performing three nights in a row. Closing each day with a party...

And it's not just His Funkyness that'll be performing at NSJ.
Candy Dulfer will be performing twice, but there'll also be concerts by Larry Graham, Chaka Khan and Bootsy Collins...

http://www.northseajazz.com/en

Thursday, May 19, 2011

MUFFIN MEN UPDATE

Roddie says:

the new look muffunz website continues to be updated with new audio, video and pictures,
mostly from the recent euro tour

including the first video tour report, and a version of captain beeheart piece suction prints

http://www.muffinmen.co.uk/muffinz/welcome_home.html

DOCTOR NERVE AT ZAPPANALE?

It's not exactly confirmed yet, but it sure would be nice.

and Doctor Nerve added:

We are psyched... and we could use your help getting there!
Please consider helping Nerve raise funds for airfare by supporting our Kickstarter Project: http://kck.st/jZXwPK

PETE TOWNSEND ON COLLECTING SUN RA RECORDS

from the saturn newsgroup

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmQMLRy28uHTXJSFhIfEudGnWJl_UmJT7OEMY-DOn5SmqYl2poBEkQvIs97RwXT7p_ktuBOwQjZktFbV_MmrmhrbFvY2_m3W_UlOGrRDhds7qsdX4SKXN7046yKVUrmgCn4QO7fJqdDA/s1600/pete+on+ra.jpg

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

DALE BOZZIO - MAKE LOVE NOT WAR

November 2010, Dale Bozzio released "Make Love Not War". Unreleased / alternate / remixed material. As far as I can tell (but I did get a bit disctracted) the album was download only?
Info & tracklist have been added to the Dale Bozzio discography.



- info: Luc Reniers

MISSING PERSONS ON TOUR

Dale Bozzio and Warren Cuccurullo have reformed Missing Persons and will be doing a short tour.

The tour kicks off in June in Las Vegas.


  • 2011/06/04 concert 'Fremont Street Experience', Las Vegas

  • 2011/06/10 concert 'Dillon's Roadhouse', Palm Springs

  • 2011/06/11 concert 'The Can', Garden Grove

  • 2011/06/17 concert 'Red Devil Lounge', San Francisco

  • 2011/06/24 concert 'Boyles Tavern', Pasadena

  • 2011/06/25 concert 'Viper Room', W. Hollywood

  • 2011/07/15 concert 'The Canyon', Scottsdale

  • 2011/07/16 concert 'The Canyon', Scottsdale

  • 2011/08/20 concert 'Monte De Oro Winery', Temecula

ZITA SWOON GROUP - DANCING WITH THE SOUND HOBBYIST




The latest Zita Swoon (Group) album arrived today. The music on this album was originally written for a stage performance: music and dance.


This is beautiful. "Dancing With The Sound Hobbyist" gets me relaxed within seconds. It's all about the right atmosphere. It's laid-back, but it still has a groove.


Here's 'Girls Go Catwalk', performed live a couple of weeks ago, to give you an impression of what I mean.


ZAPPANOIA UPDATE

May 20, Zappanoia will be doing another concert / jam in Lisbon, Portugal.

FRANK ZAPPA'S 200 MOTELS SCREENING ON CONEY ISLAND NEXT SATURDAY

from the Zappateers website
CONEY ISLAND FILM SOCIETY!
FRANK ZAPPA'S 200 MOTELS SATURDAY, MAY 21, 8:30PM, $6 IN ADVANCE OR AT THE DOOR Directed by Tony Palmer and Frank Zappa, 1971.
Welcome to ConeyIsland.com!
www.coneyisland.com

FAZZUL MUSIC NEWS

Markus Stauss and Francesco Zago have recorded an album. It will be out on the Fazzul Music label very soon.


  • zauss: überall in terra straniera borders beyond
    (2011, cd, ch, fazzul music)

KIMONO MUSIC

Cristof Almondy says:
"Dudes...if you've been procrastinating on downloading Kimono Draggin's discography, now may be the time to do it. For one week only...get 25% off any Kimono Draggin' Digital Album (doesn't include CD's) on Bandcamp! Just add all the music you want and use the code "KIMONOSTUFF" at checkout for 25% off your entire order. Spread the love and tell yer palz! Thanks and enjoy!"

http://kimonodraggin.bandcamp.com/

In the meantime, I added data (the download-only albums) to the band's discography.








GLEN DROVER - METALUSION




Heavy metal guitar player Glen Drover used to be the lead guitar player of Megadeth.

On his "Metalusion" album, Glen Drover covered Frank Zappa's 'The Purple Lagoon' and 'Filthy Habits'. The same album also includes two Jean-Luc Ponty compositions: 'Don't Let The World Pass You By' and 'Mirage'.

Heavy? You bet. But I do like what he does with the Zappa and the Ponty compositions.
Data & picture have been added to the U.M.Archives.


Monday, May 16, 2011

PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF SUN RA 1956–1967, BY ED BLAND

from the Saturn Newsgroup, an excellent article that also mentions Tom Wilson a couple of times.

http://www.jazzinchicago.org/educates/journal/articles/personal-recollections-sun-ra-1956-1967

SUN RA SHOW AT WMBR-FM

from the Saturn Newsgroup

The 'Sun Ra Show' that Charlie Kohlhase does each year at around this time on his 'Research & Development' program will be broadcast on monday, may 23, 2011 from 2pm to 4pm on WMBR-FM (88.1 in the cambridge / boston listening area).
It also will be streaming live at http://wmbr.org .
The show is archived for two weeks at http://wmbr.org/www/sched-mon#research .

Sunday, May 15, 2011

VAITUNES

VaiTunes, the label on which Steve Vai makes downloads available that don't fit anywhere else, has released two new tracks the last couple of months: Amirah, and The Bodhi Tree.
Data and covers have been added to the Steve Vai entry over at U.M.



SCOTT THUNES UPDATE



Ex-Zappa sideman, and recent ZpZ special guest Scott Thunes can be heard on "November", an album by the San Francisco Free Jazz Collective.


-- info: Ulli in Arf Dossier vol.67

STEVE VAI & WHITESNAKE

The latest Whitesnake album, "Forevermore" has been issued in different editions (and formats) all around the world. Of interest for the Steve Vai fans is the so-called Snake Pack edition that got released in the UK: magazine, poster, pin and cd, of which the CD contains two bonus tracks for the upcoming "Live At Donington 1990" DVD (out next month).
You probably know that at the Donington 1990 concert, Steve Vai handled the guitars...

BRYAN BELLER - WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE DVD




Bryan Beller's "Wednesday Night Live" DVD arrived last week. I gave it a spin this morning. I've said it before: Bryan Beller (and his band) combine excellent musicianship with beautiful compositions. I love it.


The DVD also includes some nice bonus stuff: some older recordings, but also (quite funny) interviews with the other musicians.
So if you haven't ordered it already, you know what to do !!


http://www.bryanbeller.com/


Here's a little snippet

AGORIA SAMPLES SUN RA ON HIS "FABRIC 57" ALBUM




On "Fabric 57", French DJ and producer Agoria remixed Sun Ra's 'Somebody Else's Idea'. Actually, this is a techno album, so it's just the same pulsing beat that goes on for about one hour, with samples that have been inserted. One of these samples is the Arkestra / June Tyson chanting 'Somebody Else's Idea'...
I'm not really impressed.

from the FabricLondon website, march 2011:
Sébastien Devaud, aka Agoria, has been an internationally recognised producer for some 10 years, ever since his break-through single 'La Onzième Marche' and subsequent album 'Blossom' transported the young Lyon based DJ/producer into the global limelight. Now as an established artist and DJ he co-runs the electronic music label InFiné, helped to establish Nuits Sonores, (an ambitious electronic and indie event that takes place all over the city of Lyon every Spring) and now stands tall on the praise for his recently released and highly lauded third studio album 'Impermanence'. Now to cap it all off, he unveils fabric 57: a DJ mix that takes us on a techno journey as seen through the unique full spectrum kaleidoscope of this ever surprising artist.




Get lost in fabric 57: Agoria from Fabric London on Vimeo.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

GARY LUCAS - MUSIC FOR THE EDEN PROJECT




More data has been added to the Gary Lucas discogaphy. Last year, 5nakefork records (love that name) released a 7" entitled "Music For The Eden Project'.
It's a limited release of 300 copies (200 on green and 100 on orange vinyl).
I received my copies today. Haven't listened to the music yet. Still playing the new Zappa album. This will be something for tomorrow...


Don't forget, Gary Lucas will be performing at the Zappanale Festival next August !!

THE MAHAVISHNU PROJECT

Here's a message from Andre Cholmondeley:

Hello

Just a heads up about one of my favorite bands, The Mahavishnu Project. many of you know them well and may have seen them on double bills with Project/Object. I also book some of their US gigs. Led by drummer Gregg Bendian, They are world-class, incredible interpreters of the music of John McLaughlin & The Mahavishnu Orchestra. In fact John has seen them perform and has cheered them on, endorsing what they are doing.

Checkout video at www.mahavishnuproject.com and check them out tonite in Philly and Elsewhere...

Look for these guys out in the midwest later this year!!

P.S. Be on the Lookout for a short Project/Object run in August.

The Mahavishnu Project


  • Wed May 11, 2011 (8:00pm) - WORLD CAFE LIVE - Philadelphia, PA

  • Fri May 13, 2011 (8:00 & 10:00pm) - IRIDIUM - New York, NY

  • Sat May 14, 2011 (9:00pm) - RIVER STREET JAZZ CAFE - Plains, PA

  • Fri May 27, 2011 (9:00pm) - THE 8x10 CLUB - Baltimore, MD

  • Fri June 10, 2011 (9:00pm) - BEARSVILLE THEATER - W-oodstock, NY

  • Fri JULY 15, 2011 (8pm) - HAVANA NEW HOPE - New Hope PA

  • Thu JULY 14, 2011 (8 & 10pm) - IRIDIUM - New York, NY

FRANK ZAPPA - PENGUIN IN BONDAGE




"Penguin In Bondage" !! It's the new Zappa album.
Download only, and 26 minutes long, "Penguin In Bondage" includes a a fragment of a 1974/05/11 Chicago concert on which the band plays a fine 'Penguin In Bondage', but it also presents FZ telling the history of The Mothers Of Invention. From Paul Buff in Cucamonga to the recording of the Absolutely Free album.
Superb!!


If only this sort of material would come out on CD...

FLAT EARTH SOCIETY * * USA TOUR

Flat Earth Society will be doing a couple of concerts in the USA.
Take it from me, you don't want to miss this...


  • 2011/05/14 concert 'Tropical Heatwave', Tampa


  • 2011/05/15 concert 'The Palladium', St.Petersburg


  • 2011/05/17 concert 'Kennedy Center', Washington
    live streaming on http://www.kennedy-center.org/programps/millennium


  • 2011/05/18 concert 'Johnny Brenda's', Philadelphia


  • 2011/05/19 concert 'Atrium', Lincoln Center, New York


  • 2011/05/20 concert 'Museum Of Moving Image', New York

http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/

www.fes.be

THE WRONG OBJECT AT MOSAE ZAPPA WITH SPECIAL GUEST KE 2011 05 06

Another nice video from Luuk.
Nice? Did I say nice? This is a great video :-)

TARENTATEC AT MOSAE ZAPPA WITH SPECIAL GUEST LILO 2011 05 07

Here's another one of Luuk's excellent videos.
Tarentatec with special guest Lilo, performing Zappa's 'Dirty Love'...

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Monday, May 9, 2011

LILO AT MOSAE ZAPPA IN MAASTRICHT 2011 05 06

I'm glad that Luuk brought his video recorder !!

ZITA SWOON DISCOGRAPHY

I saw the Zita Swoon Group in concert earlier last week. They did a try-out concert in Rijkevorsel (Belgium). It was good. Actually, it was very good. The band also has a new album out, but they hadn't brought any copies along. Too bad.
So I spent my Sunday afternoon listening to some older Zita Swoon material and put up some sort of discography over at the United Mutations Archives: albums, singles, promos,...
Right here: http://www.united-mutations.com/z/zita_swoon.htm

If you're not familiar with the band, you should really check them out. It's one of the best bands that Belgium has to offer.


























Sunday, May 8, 2011

THE ARF-DOSSIER VOL.67


The latest issue of The Arf-Dossier arrived last week. Packed with info and pictures of my favourite musician.
The Arf-Dossier is published by The Arf Society. The same lot that also brings you the Zappanale Festival.


  • leserpost & tauschbörse

  • fz at the roundhouse by andrew greenaway

  • the hot platters heaven from the arf office by peter görs

  • frank zappa & die neue musik - teil 26 by thomas krampl

  • news from belgium - live from United Mutations

  • grand zappa by peter görs

  • the fine but unauthorized cd kaleidoscope by peter görs and burkhard schempp

  • the vinyl bootlegs releases

  • ullis ecke by ulli schäfer

MOSAE ZAPPA DAY TWO

Day two of the Mosae Zappa Festival was a blast!

First up were The Yellow Snow Crystals. This german quartet was a very pleasant surprise. The combination of a double bass (or tuba), a trombone, drums and vocals worked out fine.
The band brought Zappa's tunes in a German version, and even small parts in Dutch, plus some excellent instrumentals.
This might not have been everybody's cup of tea, but I liked it. I liked it a lot. The Yellow Snow Crystals brought a jazzy and humorous approach to the music of Frank Zappa. A perfect opener for day two.

The Beefheart Project, as I understood it, was a one-time event, put together by musicians from around Maastricht. This was pure energy. A great guitar player, a fine vocalist, an excellent keyboard player, and a drummer. I did have the impression that the drummer had a hard time keeping up, but then again, who wants to be a drummer in a Beefheart Band...
But still, very impressive!!
I heard at least two people say that they had been unfamiliar by The Captain's music, but that this concert had been an eye-opener.

Closing the festival was Tarentatec. With Tarentatec, you get a band that's used to playing Zappa, Hendrix and The Doors. For Mosae Zappa, the had opted for a Zappa set. This was fun. A fine set of musicians performing Zappa Classics. If it hadn't been that hot, you might even have caught me dancing...
Most memorable event was special guest LiLo on stage with Tarentatec. Swapping licks and playing some great guitar.

In all, Mosae was very impressive.
Lilo was great and I was glad to find out that he's working on a new Zappa Project. The Wrong Object did a fine job and drummer Laurent Delchambre showed everyone what drumming is all about. The Yellow Snow Crystals proved that Zappa, jazz and humour are a perfect combination. The Beefheart Project fitted in perfectly, bringing the raw and bluesy Beefheart Train. And Tarentatec was fun. Big fun.

Thank you Chantal, thank you Tim, thank you Muziekgieterij. I had a great time, and I wasn't the only one.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Happy Mothers Day Everyone.
And no, I don't mean 'Mother's Day', I mean 'Mothers' Day' !

No message on Zappa dot com. Maybe later?

Saturday, May 7, 2011

PAUL WERTICO'S MID-EAST/MID-WEST ALLIANCE - IMPRESSIONS OF A CITY



Paul Wertico is known as being the drummer on quite a number of Pat Metheny records. On "Impressions Of A City", Paul does his own thing. He gathered fellow musicians John Moulder (guitar) and Brian Peters (bass) with whom he has been performing fusion music since the mid-ninetees. He added Dani Rabin (guitar) and Danny Markovitch (soprano & tenor sax), and went into the recoring studio without rehearsing the pieces.



Markovich and Rabin, as you might know, have released two fabulous albums as Marbin. These two fabulous Israeli musicians are responsable for the 'mid-east' link on this album.

"Impressions Of A City" sounds very fresh. It mixes soundscapes with great jazz solos.



"Impressions Of A City" is an excellent album. It's a collection of hopeful, positive sounding images of a place that I would be happy to live in.



Check out the YouTube movie for a little taste!!