JOE SATRIANI TOUR CONTINUES

Joe Satriani "Unstoppable Momentum"

2013 North America Tour

Featuring: Joe Satriani (gtr), Mike Keneally (keys/gtr),

Bryan Beller (bass), and Marco Minnemann (drums)

with special guest Steve Morse Band (and Living Colour on select dates!)

8/31 - Orpheum Theatre - Los Angeles, CA

9/1 - Talking Stick Resort Ballroom - Scottsdale, AZ

9/2 - Kiva Auditorium - Albuquerque, NM

9/4 - Historic Paramount Theatre - Denver, CO

9/5 - Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center - Midland, TX

9/6 - Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie - Grand Prairie, TX

9/7 - House of Blues - Houston, TX

9/8 - Austin City Limits/Moody Theater - Austin, TX

9/10 - House Of Blues - New Orleans, LA

9/11 - Ruth Eckerd Hall - Clearwater, FL

9/12 - Parker Playhouse - Ft. Lauderdale, FL

9/13 - Hard Rock Live - Orlando, FL

9/14 - Saenger Theatre - Pensacola, FL

9/15 - Symphony Hall - Atlanta, GA

9/17 - War Memorial Auditorium - Nashville, TN

9/18 - Chicago Theatre - Chicago, IL

9/19 - Lakewood Civic Auditorium - Lakewood, OH

9/20 - Taft Theatre - Cincinnati, OH

9/21 - Wings Stadium - Kalamazoo, MI

9/22 - Macomb Music Theatre - Mt. Clemons, MI

9/24 - The Carolina Theatre - Durham, NC

9/25 - The Warner Theatre - Washington, DC

9/26 - Beacon Theatre - New York, NY

9/27 - Orpheum Theatre - Boston, MA

9/28 - Tower Theatre - Upper Darby, PA

9/29 - Carnegie Music Hall Of Homestead - Munhall, PA

10/1 - University Of Buffalo Center For The Arts - Buffalo, NY

10/2 - Palace Theatre - Albany, NY

10/3 - State Theatre - Portland, ME

10/4 - Centre At Casino New Brunswick - Moncton, NC, CANADA

10/5 - Rebecca Cohn Auditorium - Halifax, NS, CANADA

10/7 - Capitole Theatre - Quebec City, QC, CANADA

10/8 - National Arts Center - Ottawa, ON, CANADA

10/9 - Theatre St. Denis - Montreal, QC, CANADA

10/10 - Centre In The Square - Kitchener, ON, CANADA

10/11 - Massey Hall - Toronto, ON, CANADA

10/14 - Burton Cummings Theatre - Winnipeg, MB, CANADA

10/15 - TCU Place - Saskatoon, SK, CANADA

10/16 - Northern Jubilee Auditorium - Edmonton, AB, CANADA

10/17 - Southern Jubilee Auditorium - Calgary, AB, CANADA

10/19 - Vogue Theatre - Vancouver, BC, CANADA

10/21 - Fox Theatre - Spokane, WA

10/22 - Paramount Theatre - Seattle, WA

10/23 - Elsinore Theatre - Salem, OR

10/25 - Vino Robles Amphitheatre - Paso Robles, CA

10/26 - Fox Theatre - Oakland, CA (Steve Morse Band not on this date)

THE TRIO CUCAMONGA PERFORMS THE MUSIC OF FRANK ZAPPA IN CONCERT

The Trio Cucamonga plays Frank Zappa (arr.Luc Brewaeys)

Sunday 24th November at 15:00 h

De Maalbeek
Hoornstraat 97
1040 Etterbeek
Belgium

-- info: Zjakki Willems

TOM FOWLER UPDATE

The newsflash on the Muffin Record Productions blog talks about a scheduled Tom Fowler album: "Living Songbook".
The album will feature a incredible line-up of former Mothers and Zappa allumni.

http://muffinrecordsproductions.com/muffin-records-productions-blog/

FRANK ZAPPA'S BIZARRE RELATIONSHIP WITH JAZZ

Radio Documentary, Jazzphile: "Jazz from Hell - His Bizarre Relationship with Jazz" 

A 3 part Radio 3 BBC documentary broadcast in 2003, to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Frank Zappa.

In 2003, BBC radio's Jazzphile series marked the death of Frank Zappa by taking a closer look at the jazz side of his music. Written and presented by Charles Shaar Murray, and featuring interviews with a host of former Mothers.

THE JIMMY CARL BLACK MEMORIAL BARBECUE

To commemorate five years since the passing of 'The Indian Of The Group', there will be a screening of the documentary, Where's The Beer And When Do We Get Paid (www.wheresthebeer.de), plus a performance by the Jimmy Carl Black Memorial Barbecue House Band featuring Carlo Bowry, Martin Smith, Andy Frizell & Tilo Pirnbaum.

On Saturday, November 2, 2013

At the 'Capstone Theatre',

17 Shaw Street, L6 1HP Liverpool, UK

CHROME HOOF

London based Chrome Hoof in concert at 'Koko', which might not be on this planet...

DWALMACAT 529

Episode 529 of the Dwalmacat radio show

http://www.mixcloud.com/Dwalmacat/dwalmacat-529/

• DOME - BA-DR
• ELVIS PRESLEY - Mistery train
• SHONEN KNIFE - Giant kitty
• THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN - Three changes
• FRIEDER BUTZMANN - Alle kleinen Tiere
• LORELLE MEETS THE OBSOLETE - That suit is dope!
• PINSKI ZOO - Blue jam in Paris
• AMBROSE KELLY REYNOLDS - Get the gun
• PLANNING TO ROCK - Manifesto
• THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION - Chocolate Halvah (Live in Miami)
• THE CHAP - Exalarm
• LINDSAY COOPER - Plate dance
• ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER - Echo or encore
• FAD GADGET - Diminished responsibility
• MY BLOODY VALENTINE - I only said
• ZACHTE G HARDE P - De irritante man

BANNED FROM UTOPIA ON TOUR

November 2013 will see the Banned From Utopia on tour !

• November  7: OSLO, Cosmopolite  (Norway)
• November  9: COPENHAGEN, AMAGER BIO  (Denmark)
• November 10: BERLIN, KESSELHAUS   (Germany)
• November 12: DUISBURG, GRAMMATIKOFF  (Germany)
• November 13: AACHEN, JAKOBSHOF   (Germany)
• November 14: FREIBURG, BURGERHAUS ZAHRINGEN   (Germany)
• November 16: AUERBACH IM VOGTLAND, NICOLAIKIRCHE   (Germany)

WHERE'S THE BEER ?

A message from Harald H.

I just saw a documentary about Jimmy Carl Black in the movie theatre. It was very interesting and well done. Sometimes depressing, but very funny!

Besides that, it was an exceptional experience to get an almost "private screening" as there only was one other person in the room…

“Where’s The Beer?” is showing all over Germany

http://www.wheresthebeer.de/termine/?lang=en

NIGEY LENNON - REINVENTING THE WHEEL REINVENTED

• nigey lennon: reinventing the wheel reinvented
      (2013, cd, usa, muffin record productions)

If you visit this blog every now and then, you should be familiar with the Zappa Universe. In that case, Nigey Lennon should need no introduction.

If not, let me tell you that Nigey had a personal and professional relationship with Frank Zappa. She contributed to a couple of concerts in 1971 and she also wrote a book on Frank Zappa, entitled "Being  Frank".

In 2000, Nigey Lennon released "Reinventing The Wheel", a fine album that presented original material next to remarkable versions of Frank Zappa's 'Anyway The Wind Blows' and Steely Dan's 'Brain Tap Shuffle'. The disc also featured John Tabacco, Mike Keneally and Candy Zappa, and had contributions by Urban Gwerder and David Walley.

July 2002, Nigey Lennon and John Tabacco took part in the 13th edition of the Zappanale Festival in Bad Doberan, Germany. History will remember it as the MEGA Zappanale as it was the year that the Zappa statue got inaugurated.

In the meantime, Nigey did contribute to a couple of albums that Andrew Greenaway assembled and that got released on Cordelia Records, but other then that, things have been rather quiet.

A couple of months ago, however, Muffin Record Productions announced that they would be releasing a completely reworked edition of "Reinventing The Wheel".

The album is aptly called "Reinventing The Wheel Reinvented" and it presents remastered versions of the original recordings, a handful of demos, and a couple of bonus tracks.

One of these bonus tracks is 'Stolen Cadillac'. Sung by Candy Zappa and by the late Jimmy Carl Black, it actually is the last recording that Jimmy did before he passed away.

The other one is 'Opus 1', a piece that Nigey wrote and recorded for Frank Zappa in 1971. It's a short piece (way too short), performed on a grand piano. Nice.

By the way, did you notice the new cover? Nigey Lennon by Don Van Vliet. It's great !!

"Reinventing The Wheel Reinvented" is an excellent album. It definitely needs your attention.

Highly recommended and a good reason for  a short chat with Nigey Lennon.

UniMuta : Hi Nigey, congratulations on the new album. It sounds great and the added tracks are a treat.
It's good to see that the album will become available again. This time it will be released on Muffin Record Productions. How did that come about?

Nigey Lennon: Muffin Records originally gave me a contract to do the album in 1998. I was just starting to work on it when I was diagnosed with cancer and had to take quite a few months off for treatment. In the meantime, Muffin went out of business. The CD was released on an indie label, Dinghy Records, in 2000, but distribution was limited. When Muffin reorganized and started up again this year, Reinhard Preuss was happy to get the project back. We added the bonus material, and the rest is history. :)

UniMuta : I love 'Stolen Cadillac'. It's a fine song and Jimmy Carl Black sounds great on it. I noticed that you dedicated the album to Jimmy Carl. Could you share one of your favorite moments with him?

Nigey Lennon : At the Zappanale in Germany in 2002, he and Candy Zappa performed the song together, the first time they had done so. Jimmy came onstage wearing the suede fringed vest he had worn as Lonesome Cowboy Burt in 200 Motels. That vest had some serious history embedded in it -- I took one whiff of it and nearly passed out. :) This moment was captured on video by several German TV crews. The performance was hilarious, by the way, as you can see by my reaction to it in this photo.

UniMuta : The new tracks are a fine addition but it strikes me that, except for 'Stolen Cadillac', you did not add any recent material to the album. What have you been up to, musically? Can we expect another album? Your Facebook page mentioned a possible new release called "Ship In A Bottle"?

Nigey Lennon : I figured the original release stood on its own. Adding new material would have reduced its impact. Except for "Stolen Cadillac", which fits in with the album's overall concept because of Jimmy's vocal, each of the bonus tracks has a direct relation to the other tracks on the album.

"Ship in a Bottle", which I'm working on now, is going to be a 180-degree turn stylistically from "Reinventing the Wheel Reinvented". It will be semi-acoustic, with orchestral instruments such as violin, clarinet, tuba, oboe, English horn -- sort of a cross between chamber music and the sort of raw, often modal music I love so much: sea shanties, fiddle tunes; a nod to my Irish roots. I'm playing guitar, keyboards, mandolin, harp guitar and doing most of the vocals, with John Tabacco and Scott Pettis, the bass player. The general idea of the album will be the sea, as a metaphor. I'll be including my original songs along with recent tunes by other writers, and some 19th-century stuff to balance it out. I'm enjoying the contrast between some of the music and the arrangements. It's like Captain Beefheart, or the Fugs, meeting Erik Satie.

UniMuta : That sounds like something to look forward to. More recently, you were the special guest in Episode 13 of the ZappaCast podcast. Was it fun?

Nigey Lennon : It was a blast! How could I not enjoy sitting down with a vodka-and-black cherry cocktail and three certifiable lunatics like John Tabacco, Scott Parker, and Andrew Greenaway, and free associating for an hour and a half while they laughed at all my jokes? :) 

UniMuta : Excellent ! Thank you for your time.

If you want to know more about "Reinventing The Wheel Reinvented", check out Episode 13 of the ZappaCast podcast where Nigey and John Tabacco discuss the album in detail.
http://zappacast.podomatic.com/

THE BLORP ESETTE GAZETTE

Los Angeles Free Music Society

The Blorp Esette Gazette

Volume One, Fall 2013

Compilation CD with 17 tracks by 17 artists in a six-panel digipak

Ace & Duce / Transparency 0382

UPC #716205038228

This is the Blorp Esette Gazette. Thirteen years have gone by since this project was first imagined, but it is here now, the LAFMS quarterly audio magazine. This is the first issue, filled with many varied sounds from many varied sources.

In 1977, Ace Farren Ford, one of the founding members of the Los Angeles Free Music Society released a various artists compilation album on the LAFMS label called Blorp Esette, a vinyl lp. In 1980 he released Blorp Esette Volume 2, a double lp. In 1999 his own label Ace & Duce teamed with the Transparency label to reissue these lps on cd and added 2 cds of previously unreleased contributions. In 2011 the 4 cd set was remastered by Ju Suk Reet Meate of Smegma and re-released.

In 2000 Mr. Ford came up with the concept of an audio magazine which would feature contributions of various member of LAFMS, past and present and would be a way of keeping it active. Now some 13 years later it has become the Blorp Esette Gazette, a quarterly annual audio magazine, the first edition of this to be released this fall on the Ace & Duce / Transparency label. This first volume features contributions by Keith Mitchell (Moniter, Mazzy Star), Moris Tepper (Captain Beefheart), Kraig Grady, David Cotner, Smegma, Electric Bill Robinson, Michael Intriere & Anna Homler, the Tenses, Dennis Duck, Juan Gomez, the Mystery Band, Frank Bedal, Larry Easter (Linn County) & more, with cover art by Ace Farren Ford and Ju Suk Reet Meate. The album will ship during September 2013.

To order please Paypal transfer to Transparency2013@yahoo.com the appropriate amount to include postage to your location:

-$15 includes first class postage within the United States.

-$20 includes air mail postage to Canada.

-$22 includes air mail postage to Europe, Australia, Japan or anywhere outside of North America.

INVENTIONIS MATER - DOES HUMOR BELONG IN CLASSICAL MUSIC?

• inventionis mater: does humor belong in classical music?
      (2013, cd, italy, private release)

from the liner notes:

"The Inventionis Mater duo is a project born of the encounter between the clarinetist Pierpaolo Romani and the guitarist Andrea Pennati. The purpose is write down the Zappa gigantism for a duo so little frequented as the clarinet and guitar duo is. The Inventionis Mater take the bright and eccentric rock of Frank Zappa and return it back to the audience in a duo transcription reduced to the need of essentiality. A transcription that is translation, never distortion. A trip between stylistic and trimbre versatility, from rhythm 'n blues to dodecaphonic atmospheres. A duo that tells a story in which the protagonist is an American composer who was able to draw from rock music of the XX century what the great romantic composers drew from folk music. The Inventionis Mater tells you about Zappa: an acrobat on the thin line between Art music and Pop music. A genius who created a language, a mirror of the postmodern eclectisism, not forgettin gthe pleasure of irony and intellectual taste for hearing."

I couldn't have said it better.

Essential listening !

WINNE - ZONDER STRIJD

Dutch rapper Winne's "Zonder Strijd" album got released in three different editions. Until recently, I only knew of the 'plastic case' release, but there's also a limited edition digipack, and even a limited edition bamboo pack.
Yes, you read it right. A bamboo case.

THE ED PALERMO BIG BAND PLAYS ZAPPA AT THE IRIDIUM SEPTEMBER 6 & 7

IRIDIUM, SEPTEMBER 6+7, 2013. Friday and Saturday.

1650 BROADWAY (51st St.)

NEW YORK, NY 10019

212-582-2121

www.theiridium.com

featuring Napoleon Murphy Brock

Ed Palermo adds:

TWO nights of madness! I've written a bunch of new ZAPPA arrangements including CAN'T AFFORD NO SHOES, FOR CALVIN, and many more.

And of course, a ton of surprises.

We hope to see you there!

ed

ELLIKA, SOLO & RAFAEL - NOW

• ellika, solo, rafael: now
      (2013, cd, sweden, country & eastern ce26)

Mexican percussionist Rafael Sida has teamed up with Swedish-Senegalese duo Ellika Frisell and Solo Cissokho to record an album for the Swedish Country & Eastern label.

Country & Eastern is known for its fine jazz and world music releases. Label manager Bengt Berger’s journeys to India and Ghana are the reason for Bengt’s interest in world music. As the C&E website says: “Country & Eastern will produce live music and albums with what we consider Great music regardless of style. The common factor is quality.”

So if you thought that a Swedish-Senegalese duo is not an everyday combination, wait untill you will hear this Mexican-Swedish-Senegalese trio.

Ellika Frisell plays the violin and the viola. Her roots are to be found in the Swedish folk tradition. Solo Cissokho’s main instrument is the kora, an instrument that looks like a guitar and sounds like a harp.
Ellika and Solo met in 1998 and already made two albums together. Together with percussionis Rafael Sida, they present their first album as a trio, entitled “Now.

On “Now”, one can hear a beautiful mixture of three different cultures. Closer listening shows that each instrument has its own sound, carrying its own history, and adding this to the whole.

This is nice. This is very nice.

Both Solo Cissokho and Rafael Sida Huizar added vocals to the recording. My favourite track is “Skänklat frank Bingsjö / Sahadougou / Kelefapolska / Kelefaba”, a very impressive song in which the three instruments and the vocals all blend.

http://www.countryandeastern.se

Here's the trio in concert with Sigge Krantz:

ZAPPANALE 2013 - - - PART NINE : AUGUST 1 - THE WARM-UP PARTY

Sometimes people ask me if I attend a lot of festivals. The answer is quite simple: I only go to Zappanale. Sure, the German Burg-Herzberg Festival sounds like fun (especially the Freakstage concerts!), and the line-up of the Italian Altrock Festival always impresses me, but I just stick with Zappatown Bad Doberan and its Zappanale Festival.

As far as I can remember, the Zappanale festival kicks off with a warm-up party in the centre of Bad Doberan, about 5 kilometers from the actual festival grounds. The warm-up party starts in the late afternoon and has a number of bands playing on a stage in the town’s park.

It’s a fine tradition. You get a lot of the local folks checking out what Zappanale is all about, while the little town welcomes music freaks from all over the world.

As I arrived in Bad Doberan around noon, I had enough time to visit the expo and to take a walk to the Althof park. When I got back to the centre, I ran into Auke, Heidi, Freek and their families. A bit further away, I said hi to Hank and his lovely wife, and to Danny and Paul (who came all the way from Australia). At a local pub (where else?), I dropped across my zappateer buddies Luuk, Audrey, Dave and Nicola.  It’s hard to describe, but seeing all these fine people again always an incredible feeling. It’s like coming home.

This year, four bands made their appearance at the Zappanale warm-up party. Ukulele Overnite was the second band to take the stage. Led by Kiki Smith, Ukulele Overnite wanted to show the world that Zappa’s music can be played on a ukulele. Fun.

line-up 

Kiki Schmidt - ukulele, lead vocals 
Hartmut Schmidt - accordion 
Reiner Kümpel - vocals 
Wolfgang Schmidt - bass ukulele 
Mattes Heimann - drums 
plus special guests 

setlist 

Let's Make The Water Turn Black, Camarillo Brillo, Dirty Love, Bobby Brown, I'm The Slime, Anyway The Wind Blows, WPLJ , Cosmik Debris, Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?, Uncle Remus

Next up was Zappnoise. The Stralsund-based band had performed at the previous two Zappanale warm-up parties, but had undergone quite a change in the line-up. To their advantage, I might add. Especially the horn section (two saxes plus a trumpet) was quite impressive.  Nice.

line-up

Jörn Bantow - bass
Agnete Granitzka - keyboard, vocals
Kevin Nestler - trumpet
Andreas Safran - alt sax
Zbyszek Koscianski - tenor sax
Hansi Lüder - drums
Stefan Berg - percussion, drums
Peter Görs - guitar

setlist

Weasels Ripped My Flesh (I), Heavy Duty Judy, Chunga's Revenge, Watermelon In Easter Hay, Peaches En Regalia, Mr.Greene Genes > Muffin Man, Willie The Pimp Theme + Improvisation, Apostrophe, Eat That Question, Weasels Ripped My Flesh (II), Chunga's Jam

Bad Penny closed the evening. I had never heard of them before,but as Burkhard had told me that he liked them, I made sure to give them a listen.

And fun it was. The guys played an impressive blues rock set. Around that time, I guess about 300 people were enjoying the music, their friends, and the local beverage.
And, yes, people were dancing...

ROAD TAPES

Jambase mentioned Zappa's new Road Tapes release as well.

http://www.jambase.com/Articles/119242/Frank-Zappa-Road-Tapes-Volume-2-Helsinki-1973

Nothing new to mention, really, but it's good to see that the release is getting some attention.
This Road Tapes thing should definitely become a series!

NEW ZAPPA FANSITE

There's a new Zappa fan site (in the czech language).

Check it out : www.zappa-mypage2.webgarden.cz

ENSEMBLE KONTRASTE IN CONCERT IN NUREMBERG (GERMANY) ON 2013 10 11

Chato says:

" I didn´t expect such a tight ensemble/orchestra (because we all know how little orchestras rehearse)

And guess what: They play the same program again in Nuremberg on October 11th (location: Tafelhalle). If I could, I would go see it again."

ZFT PAYS TRIBUTE TO KONGAR-OL ONDAR

I had never heard or seen this.
Saw the link over at Zappateers:


In Memoriam
Kongar-Ol Ondar

http://www.zappa.com/whatsnew/ofconsequence/kongar-ol-ondar/index.html

NEW ZAPPA ALBUM ANNOUNCED

Volume Two of Zappa's Road Tapes series has been announced.

According to the Zappa website, it should be the 1973/08/23 Helsinki concert(s).

THE ARF DOSSIER

The Arf Dossier is the Zappa fanzine that's published by the Arf Society. That's the same gang that's organnises the Zappanale festival every year.

Earlier today, I added three new scans to the United Mutations Archives.
Arf Dossier n's 34, 37 and 45..
From 2003 - 2005.
Here they are:

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART - THE LOST TAPES 1966 - 1970

• captain beefheart: the lost tapes 1966 - 1970
      (2013, dvd, ??, laser media lm 017dvd)

Last week, I mentioned the "In Performance" DVD, a questionable release that presented video material from various tv-broadcasts.
So now there's "The Lost Tapes 1966 - 1970". I received the disc earlier today, and when I started playing it, it didn't make me too happy.
This is exactly the same disc as the "In Performance" disc. Same intro screen and all. They only put it in another box.

In short : who's the guy on the cover of this release? Why do they call it "The Lost Tapes 1966 - 1970" as a lot of the material is from the seventies?
It's rubbish.

Here's the tracklist.

[1]  cannes beach, 1968 midem pop festival.

[2]  beat club, 1972

[3]  the "tragic band" live hec, jouy-en-josas, paris, france may 24, 1974

[4]  old grey whistle test, 1974

[5]  dutch "pink pop" festival, 1974

[6]  bataclan, paris, 1972

* electricity  [1]

* sure nuff yes i do  [1]

*  i'm gonna booglarize you  [2]

* mirror man  [3]

* upon the my o my  [3]

* full moon  [3]

* crazy little thing  [3]

* improvisation  [3]

* peaches  [3]

* take me to your house  [3]

* you're gonna need somebody  [3]

* upon the my o my  [4]

* this is the day  [4]

* mirror man  [5]

* click clack  [6]

Here's an in-depht review, at the bottom of the page :
http://www.amazon.com/Captain-Beefheart-Lost-Tapes-1966-1970/dp/B00C2U6HJ4/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1377093087&sr=1-1&keywords=beefheart

THE MUFFIN MEN IN CONCERT IN WORCESTER (UK) TOMORROW

Tomorrow, Saturday, August 24, 2013, The Muffin Men will be playing at the Marrs Bar in Worcester, UK.
Performing the music of Frank Zappa.

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/229963

And there's more dates on their website:

• leeds, new roscoe, sun 20th october
• preston, the continental, fri 29th november
• sheffield, greystones, sun 1st december
• portsmouth, the cellers, sat 14th december

MIKE KENEALLY - YOU MUST BE THIS TALL

• mike keneally: you must be this tall
      (2013, cd, usa, exowax)

A new Mike Keneally album always makes me happy. When Mike releases a new album, you know that you're in for a treat. With "You Must Be This Tall" expectations are again met. In fact, the album is even better than what I expected.

"You Must Be This Tall" reminds me a lot of MK's first albums. It is also very laid-back, almost jazzy at times, and it does include a fine number of zappa-esque twists and turns.
Love it.

This new album is great. It presents a bunch of excellent tunes and although MK plays most of the instruments, there's guest appearances by Bryan Beller, Marco Minnemann, Rick Musallam and Joe Travers.



Essential listening.

http://www.keneally.com/

My favourite track is the openingstrack: 'You Must Be This Tall", or 'ユー・マスト・ビー・ディス・トール' as my windows media player calls it.
This is the piece that Mike wrote for Peter Tiehuis and The Metroplole Orkest, comissioned by Co de Kloet.
Here's an audience recording of the live performance of this particular piece by Peter Tiehuis and The Metropole Orkest, from 2006.



By the way, over at Mike's website, there's two EP's available for free download.
Check them out.

ZAPPANALE 2013 - - - PART EIGHT : HELMUT KING

Graphic artist and sculptor Helmut King has a very specific and recognizable style. The last four years, a number of Helmut's artwork have been exhibited at the various Zappanale expos.
His latest work focusses on The Yellow Shark and on Zappanale.

Here are some pictures of some of his more recent work, displayed at the recent Zappanale expo.

"Riding With The King - The Yellow Shark" (2012) by Helmut King

"Gestrandet" (2012) by Helmut King

At the 2013 Zappanale expo, every visitor received an oversized postcard with Helmut King's "Zappanale" (2013). A very nice surprise.

"Zappanale" (2013) by Helmut King

ENSEMBLE KONTRASTE

August 8, 2013, the Ensemble Kontraste performed excerpts from Frank Zappa's Yellow Shark, as well as compositions by Gene Pritsker, Michael Gordon, Joe Duddell and Steve Martland.

http://www.fuerth-veranstaltungen.de/veranstaltung114901

In Dinkelsbühl, Germany.

LUNAR NOTES IS BACK IN PRINT

Captain Beefheart Guitar Legend Zoot Horn Rollo's Biography 'Lunar Notes' Now In Print Again!

London, UK - Much to the excitement of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band fans around the world, the critically acclaimed biography 'Lunar Notes', by original Magic Band guitarist Zoot Horn Rollo (Bill Harkleroad) is now available again from Gonzo MultiMedia UK after being out of print for over a decade.

Bill Harkleroad joined Captain Beefheart's Magic Band at a time when they were changing from a straight ahead blues band into something completely different. Through the vision of Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) they created a new form of music, which many at the time considered atonal and difficult, yet over the years has continued to exert a powerful influence!

Beefheart re-christianed Harkleroad as Zoot Horn Rollo, and they embarked on recording one of the classic albums of all time, 'Trout Mask Replica'; produced by legendary Frank Zappa, the album remains an unparalleled work of musical inventiveness. Further LPs like 'Lick My Decals Off Baby', 'Spotlight Kid' and 'Clear Spot' highlighted what a truly innovative band they were, and what an outstanding original guitarist Bill Harkleroad had become!

Since Captain Beefheart's retirement from the music industry, and subsequent passing, many outside commentators have tried to put their finger on what was so special about the Magic Band. Now, with the reprinting of 'Lunar Notes', we get the insiders story. With the help of co-author Billy James, Harkleroad divulges the often uncomfortable and difficult workings of the band, giving rare insight into the way the music was created. At last, we find out what it was like to play, record and live with an eccentric genius as Captain Beefheart!

To purchase 'Lunar Notes - Zoot Horn Rollo's Captain Beefheart Experience' book: http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/15581/Bill_Harkleroad-Lunar_Notes_-_Zoot_Horn_Rollo's_Captain_Beefheart_Experience.html

For more information: http://www.zoothornrollo.com/ (new website coming soon!)

ZAPPANALE 2013 - - - PART SEVEN : AAGOT.NO ROKNE

In the early 1990's, Aagot.no Rokne started to paint. Some of these paintings featured Frank Zappa.

After various exhibitions all over Scandinavia, she did her first Zappa-dedicated expo in 2011 at The Yellow Snow Festival in Larvik.

This "Zappa-In-Zappa" exhibit showed paintings and collages.

In 2012, she held another Zappa-inspired art exposition at the Larvik Yellow Snow Festival, and she also contributed several works to the Zappanale exposition in Bad Doberan, Germany.

It was the first time that I saw her work in real life.
Quite exceptional.
The paintings are impressive, but it's the collages that make you go 'Wow!'.

The website says that she will have another expo at the Zappa-Union Festival, later this year.

www.aagot.no

Here are some samples of her work:

"Dumb All Over" by Aagot.no Rokne.
(graphic)

"Poodle For President" by Aagot.no Rokne
(oil paint)

"This Is The First Step..." by Aagot.no Rokne
(collage)

DWALMACAT 528

The Dwalmacat radio show presents episode 528.

http://www.mixcloud.com/Dwalmacat/dwalmacat-528/

• DJ BROKEN WINDOW - Hair, nails, percolator
• MR. BUNGLE - Chemical marriage
• PRIMAL SCREAM - Goodbye Johnny
• CLINIC - Walking with thee
• WEVIE STONDER - The lowest point of the moon
• STEREOLAB - Italian shoes continuum
• SAO PAULO UNDERGROUND - Afrihouse
• ELIANE RADIGUE - Usral (Feedback works) (excerpt)
• SEX EXPLAINED FOR CHILDREN
• THROBBING GRISTLE - Hot on the heels of love
• HARRY PARTCH - The letter
• PEOPLE LIKE US & ERGO PHIZMIZ - In the waking (Forest Embers mix)
• THE KINKS - Situation vacant
• THE SAINTS - This perfect day
• BROADCAST - Black cat
• THE RESIDENTS - Harry the head
• TELEX - Moscow diskow
• CHROMATICS - Looking for love

SECRET CHIEFS 3 - BOOK OF ANGELS VOLUME 9

• secret chiefs 3: xaphan: book of angels volume 9
      (2008, cd, usa, tzadik records #7364) 

With a brand-new Secret Chiefs 3 album ("Book Of Souls - Folio A") scheduled to be released in October, it's about time to shed a light upon their excellent 2008 release: "Xaphan".
Subtitled "Book Of Angels, Volume 9", "Xaphan" is part of John Zorn's "Masada Book Two" series.

Some twenty years ago, John Zorn started writing a number of songs that were inspired by traditional Jewish music. These compositions are known as the "Masada Book", and they got performed and recorded by the Masada ensemble. The sequel of the "Masada Book" is called "Masada Book Two". These pieces are intended to be performed and recorded by other arists. The series of albums that emerged from "Masada Book Two" is called "Book Of Angels". It presents an impressive list of artists that perform compositions from John Zorn's "Masada Book Two".
This list of artists include Marc Ribot (Volume 7) and Pat Metheny (Volume 20) to name two, but also Secret Chiefs 3 (Volume 9).

This is pretty impressive. John Zorn's compositions fit the Secret Chiefs 3 perfectly.

Recommended listening.

Here are some samples.

ZAPPANALE 2013 - - - PART SIX : SHARK GATHERING IN POST INDUSTRIAL BAD DOBERAN 2012

"Shark Gathering In Post Industrial Bad Doberan".
That was the title of the 2012 Zappanale expo, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Frank Zappa's "The Yellow Shark".

By popular demand, or maybe just to please the freaks, the Dieter / Robert team produced a set of three DVD(R)s with the highlights of the 2012 expo.
Not to be missed is the "Exhibition Review", a 20-minute special mixed with concert fragments of Fried Dähn, The Yellow Snow Crystals, George Duke & Jean-Luc Ponty, all playing the music of Frank Zappa. Or the complete concert that Fried Dähn & The Yellow String Quartet did at the expo hall on 2012/08/03.
But the most impressive part is the 40-minute "The Lost Episodes Phase II": Frank Zappa, The Ensemble Modern & L.Shankar rehearsing in L.A., a private movie by the late Wolfgang Stryi.

Table of contents:

a package of 3 dvdr's, each in a seperate dvd box

produced by robert riedt and dieter jakob

DVDR 1

what's the secret word for tonight

o an exhibition review, 19 min

• lothar taube (paintings)
• helmut king (paintings)
• peter bastian (photos)
• leonie duperre (photos)
• wolfram eder (photos)

o music

• fried dähn & the yellow string quartet: uncle meat
• the yellow snow crystals: toads of the short forest
• the brothers of invention - george duke & jean-luc ponty: king kong
• fried dähn & the yellow string quartet: sofa
• the yellow snow crystals: stinkfoot

fried dähn & the yellow string quartet

o live at the zappanale exhibition, bad doberan, august 3, 2012, 36 min

• timo de leo: violin
• konrad balik: violin
• benjamin hartung: altviool
• fried dähn: cello

arte tv spots

o arte tv august 2, 2012

• evening spot, 3 min - featuring mary jane & steve chillemi
• morning spot, 2 min

DVDR 2

daniel schröder

o "ausbruch aus dem zirkel des ästhetischen" und "groovy sound effects"? - die varèse-momente in frank zappas leben und werk

• german zappa lecture - live at zappanale exhibition, bad doberan, august 2, 2012, 54 min

sofa talk

o jim cohen - fried dähn - michael gross

• german interview - live at zappanel exhibition, bad doberan, august 3, 2012, 59 min

DVDR 3

your place or mine?

o dieter jakob und robert riedt treffen

• rumi ogawa, june 12, 2012, ensemble modern, frankfurt
• uwe dierksen, july 14, 2012, darmstadtium, darmstadt
• hermann kretzschmar, july 14, 2012, darmstadtium, darmstadt
  (german interviews, 29 min)

stefan dohr & william forman, im gespräch über "yellow shark"

o german conversation, 11 min

wolfgang stryi's private tapes: "the lost episodes phase II"

o the yellow shark rehearsals, los angeles, july 1991, 40 min

• frank zappa
• the ensemble modern
• l.shankar

ZAPPANALE 2013 - - - PART FIVE : AUGUST 1 – VINYL IS NOT DEAD

This year’s Zappanale expo not only showed some extremely rare Zappa 7”s, it was also the release party for Dieter Jakob’s fabulous “Vinyl Is Not Dead” book.

The book presents 530 pages with info, data and pictures of every Zappa and Zappa-related 7”. Incredible? You bet.

If you’re interested in all the different editions of every Zappa single that you’ve ever heard of, this book is a must-have.

The book was scheduled to be out around the 15^th of August, but, fortunately, it was ready just in time for the Zappanale expo.

An impressive expo and an incredible book. A perfect match.

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND HIS MAGIC BAND - IN PERFORMANCE DVD

• captain beefheart: in performance
      (2010, dvd, uk, mainstreet music company)

I recently acquired the "Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band: In Performance" DVD.
The last couple of years, a number of Beefheart DVD's have surfaced. This "In Performance" DVD is one of them.
The package does not offer any info besides the tracklist, but the majority of the material is from a live performance of the 1974 band. It's not too bad, sound and image-wise, it's just that there are a number of annoying gaps of silence (with a message that says something like: "problems with the master recording"...).

* electricity

* sure nuff yes i do

* i'm gonna booglarize you

* mirror man

* upon the my-o-my

* full moon

* crazy little thing

* improvisation

* peaches

* take me to your house

* you're gonna need somebody

* upon the my-o-my

* this is the day

* mirror man

* click clack

ZAPPA UNION 2013

The second edition of the Zappa Union festival will take place in November in Drammen, Norway.

2013 11 07 - 2013 11 09 "Zappa Union", Drammen, Norway

THURSDAY

• The Band From Utopia
  (Robert Martin, Ray White, Ed Mann, Tom Fowler, Albert Wing, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Don Preston and Morgan Ågren)
• Dead Dino Storage

FRIDAY

• The Grandmothers Of Invention
• ZappaTime

plus an expo by Aagot.no Rokne.

http://www.zappaunion.no/en_about_zappaunion.html

NEW ALBUM BY MIKE KENEALLY

Mike Keneally has a new album out.

"You Must Be This Tall"

You can pre-order it at:
http://store.keneally.com/products/mike-keneally-you-must-be-this-tall

And help promote the album through:

http://jamplify.com/Vj1sKs

Here’s the message from Mike:

Hi! You good? Good. Hi. Hey! This is Mike! Thank you for being there and reading this, and for being kind, thoughtful and courteous and for enjoying finely wrought works of arcane provenance.

I got a new such work ready for you, right now: it's called You Must Be This Tall, my new solo album containing 12 songs, 44 minutes of music, three-quarters of it instrumental and all-quarters of it designed to tickle a special spot in your head that just doesn't get tickled enough.

The release date is August 27, but you can pre-order it here and get an instant download of the album. You can also check out a collage of song samples there.

It's pretty out there. But in a good way, I think - I'm really thrilled with this album. I think all of the composition, arranging, production and playing is strong and it all just comes off right, to my ears.

There's a lot of guitar playing on it, a lot of crazy writing, and we focused hard on doing mixes which got the best out of the arrangements. A number of people who don't lie to me have said they think it might be my best album. I sure can't say, but I know I really enjoy hearing it.

I play a lot of the instruments myself, and also had some killer assistance on key tracks from Bryan Beller, Marco Minnemann, Joe Travers, Rick Musallam, Missy Andersen and Andy Partridge.

It is a real pleasure to bring you You Must Be This Tall and I hope you dig the hell out of it.

Here's 'Popes' (from the new album), animated by Dimitriya.

A CELEBRATION OF GEORGE DUKE BY LIONEL ROLFE

Lionel Rolf recalls the 70's, attending Zappa's rehearsals and hanging out with George Duke.

He also talks about Nigey Lennon (his former girlfriend and wife) and her recording the "Re-Inventing The Wheel" album.

Check it out:
http://www.randomlengthsnews.com/a-celebration-of-george-duke-a-great-musician-and-good-guy/

A ZAPPATIKA UPDATE

Following the recent months of rehearsal , ZAPPATiKA have confirmed their first live show with the new Bass player, Indian Joe, on Saturday 5th October at The Musicon in The Hague.

The evening will also feature a support band and ZAPPATiKA will take to the stage around 22:30h for a 2 hour show featuring both their own songs and lots of Zappa tunes too !

ZAPPANALE 2013 - - - PART FOUR : AUGUST 1 - CHECKING OUT THE EXPOS IN ZAPPATOWN

After an entertaining (and tasty) evening at Steffen’s, first row seats during the night’s snoring contest and a fine breakfast (Thanks again, Steffen !!), we took off to Mad Doberman / Bad Doberan / Zappatown.

Taking two passengers along made the time fly by. We arrived around noon. Perfect.

My notes told me that I should try to check out the expo on Thursday so I implied.

The biggest part was taken up by “The Singles”, showing an enormous amount of 7”s that the Mothers and Zappa had released throughout their career. They were nicely displayed, with a bunch of information, and even including singles that Zappa had contributed to. Very impressive.

The most amazing lot was to be found at the end of the singles section: two extremely rare and early Japanese singles. I had only seen pictures of these before. Beautiful.

Next to the singles section, the expo showed paintings and sculptures by Helmut King. On the other side of the hall, one could find paintings and assemblages by Aagot.no Rokne.

Nice. Very nice.

The 60-page exhibition guide lists all of the singles that were displayed, as well as artwork by Aagot.no Rokne and Helmut King.
Cover art by Calvin Schenkel.

Congrats to Robert Riedt and Dieter Jakob (and all of the other contributors) are in place. The funniest thing to see was demonstrated by the both of them: a little record player truck.
Here’s a little movie that Bazbo made:

SUMMER 82 WHEN ZAPPA CAME TO SICILY

a message from Massimo Bassoli :

Frankie Goes To Hollywood......in Venice

The long awaited movie "Summer 82 When Zappa Came To Sicily" by Salvo Cuccia will have the world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Italy, on August 29th 9.00 am at Sala Grande, August 30th 5.00 pm at Sala Perla, August 31st 5.00 pm at Sala Darsena. Do not miss it. It's amazing......more to come, stay tuned

MORGAN ÅGREN ALL-STARS AT MELLOBOAT CRUISE 2013

Morgan Ågren All-Stars

MelloBoat cruise from 6 to 8 September

MORGAN ÅGREN ALL-STAR TEAM + DEVIN TOWNSEND INCLUDES:

Morgan Ågren

Devin Townsend

Gustaf Hielm (Pain of Salvation / Meshuggah)

Robert Elovsson (Robyn)

AND ALSO:

Opeth

Cressida

Icecross

Trettioåriga Kriget

Änglagård

SAGA

+ Many others!

As always there will be time for hang around at the bars, restaurants and the casino. Relaxing in the sauna so don't forget to bring your swim suit with you. There will also be a record and clothes fair. The boat M/S Festival leaves "Frihamnen" in Stockholm for Riga on Friday 6th of September at 5 pm (CET) and will be back in Stockholm on Sunday 8th of September at 10.30 am (CET).

- More information www.melloboat.se ", phone +46(0) 733-870 950, e-mail: melloboat@mellotronen.com

ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA UPDATE & GEORGE DUKE MEMORIAL

The ZpZ website doesn't list that many dates after the upcoming november 3 concert at Ridgefield, CT.

Check out Andrew's Bastard Diary list for the updated info, including the Yuripean dates.

http://idiotbastard.com/BastardDiary.htm#ZPZ



And here's Dweezil's recent upload to YouTube :

Zappa Plays Zappa 2010 - Uncle Remus -
George Duke Memorial

ZAPPANALE 2013 - - - PART THREE : THE JULY 31 HAMBURG CONCERT

Wednesday, July 31, 2013. 18:00 h

I was able to park the car about 60 meters from the St. Katharinen church. Timing was good. I shook hands with Georg and two of his friends (seated on the square in front of the church) and went off for a stroll.

Wandering through the new harbour part of Hamburg, I ran into Steffen, Marga, Clint, Shaun, Klaus, Giles and Rob. Some familiar and some new faces. It was great to see them. You have to understand that Zappanale is the best music festival that I know. The music is great, and in addition to that, it’s also the place where you get to meet like-minded people and friends from all over the world.

After a short break (with refreshments) we walked to St.Katharinen where we saw Tim, Chantal, Mick, Steve, Mary Jane and Joe. The party was really getting international with freaks from Germany, Holland, Belgium, the UK and the US of A. Everyone was feeling good and rather eager to hear the Bonnen ensemble.

(picture by Steffen Schindler)

“Dietmar Bonnen, Alexei Aigui and Lothar Burghaus, performing the music of Dylan, Hendrix and Zappa.”
The Bonnen / Aigui duo & Bonnen / Aigui / Burghaus trio played a diverse set. Actually, two diverse sets. Lots of Hendrix and Zappa, a bit of Dylan, and a Sonny Boy Williamson piece, plus some classical pieces.
Hmmm. I guess my expectations were a bit too high…

As I said earlier, I have fond memories of a certain Bonnen concert in Brussels. Furthermore, the Zappa tunes on Bonnen’s albums are a treat.
Somehow, at the Hamburg concert, the sparkle wasn’t there. Or at least, it didn’t reach me.

The sound in a church is never easy to control. There’s just too much resonance. In this particular case, the result sounded too muddy. A pity.
And they should have kept it instumental. Dietmar Bonnen’s parlando didn’t do it for me.

Don’t get me wrong. This was an OK happening and a fine start for Zappanale. However, mainly because of the excellent company.

Here's 'Let's Make The Water Turn Black' from the excellent "Black Water" album.