I recently received digital copies of two Norah Jones albums: "Begin Again" (2019) and "Visions" (2024).
Very enjoyable.
Here's a live fragment, promoting "Begin Again" on The Today Show.
'All This Time" from "Visions":
And from 2013,
Anoushka Shankar & Norah Jones - 'Traces Of You'.
Magical.
Kicking off the day with two extraordinary albums by Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
"Vibrations in the Village: Live at the Village Gate".
Recorded live at the Village Gate in New York City on November 26-27,1963 with pianists Horace Parlan, Melvin Rhyne, and Jane Getz, along with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Sonny Brown.
Released in December 2025.
And, "Seek & Listen: Live at the Penthouse"
Recorded live at the Penthouse jazz club in Seattle on September 8 and 15, 1967 with pianist Rahn Burton, bassist Steve Novosel and drummer Jimmy Hopps.
Also released in December 25.
A superb way to start the day.
-- info: Danny Mathys
The Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere has just released "Theta Seven", their seventh (and final?) release.
Here's the concept:
As with previous releases, basic tracks, either using simple compositional ideas or freely improvised, were recorded live in the studio by the full band over a frenetic 2 day period. These tracks were radically edited and collaged by Martin Archer, and finally overdubbed and arranged by Martin Archer and Jan Todd working in tandem to arrive at the seamless continuity of sound heard on the finished work.
The result sounds amazing.
Hypnotic and amazing.
And (!!), there's even a Sun Ra tune in there !!
Released on Martin Archer's Discus Music record label.
Frédéric L'Epée - "Contre Courant"
Instrumental guitar / baritone guitar music.
Intimate, introspective, and secretive.
Out on Cuneiform Records.
It should of course say "Zappa / Beefheart / Mothers" instead of just "Zappa", but the good news is that this 50th anniversary set is available for pre-order from different shops.
Re-issue on black vinyl
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A 2 LP version, with booklet and litho
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The CD / Blu-Ray box set
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I just received a comment on my post about the MAE's "Zappa House Concert".
From the MAE, who informed me that the CD is out and available.
I haven't seen it pop up in any of my regular shops, but I'm looking forward to it.
The Cuneiform Records label is decisively going for download and streaming albums.
Their latest release is a Nathan Moore, Eddie Prévost & Ray Russel collaboration entitled "Stacked".
Improvised music.
I recently got hold of something rather special.
Three books.
Three collections of xeroxed articles.
Hundreds of articles & 300+ pages in each volume.
Late eighties, early nineties.
Produced by Peter Hinds.
(yes, that's musician, author and Sun Ra specialist Peter Hinds).
"Frank Zappa E Il Ritmo Part I" and "Frank Zappa E Il Ritmo Part II" are two small booklets that got released in 1994.
14 x 10,5 cm.
32 pages each
Here's Avo's entry on his website:
https://www.afka.net/Books/Frank_Zappa_E_Il_Ritmo.htm
I came across these copies recently.
Nice. Ridiculously small, but nice.
"Strips - Werk Van Nederlandse Striptekenaars"
("Comics - Work by Dutch Comic Artists")
"Strips - Werk Van Nederlandse Striptekenaars" got released in the early 1970s in The Netherlands. It was a 92-page reference book; listing over 150 comic book artists with a short bio and an illustration.
The comic :
Gerrit De Jager's entry showed his reworking of 'Billy The Mountain" !!
Marco Dalpane, pianist for the Orchestra Spaziale, with a solo performance of FZ's 'Oh No'.
Ingrid Jensen and the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra - 'Woodcarvings' (I. Jensen)
Recorded in 2022.
"Anagnorisis", the latest in Dharmawan's series of widely varied and impeccably crafted albums for MoonJune Records, might well be the most fully realized expression yet of his expansive musical vision. While deeply grounded in the sophisticated melodic and rhythmic intricacies of his native archipelago, where he’s long been celebrated for his work bridging serious and popular realms, Dharmawan also looks beyond those traditions for inspiration, joining with players from disparate cultures to blend the best of their respective worlds into a meta-music of depth, beauty, and vitality that transcends mere collage.
Modern jazz with Indonesian flavours.
Beautiful.
The album is also out on (coloured) vinyl, with different artwork !
Recommended listening !
Not sure what to make of this.
Is this sampled?
It does have the 'vibe' we know from 'I'm The Slime' or 'Stink-Foot'.
Ready for the guitar solo to kick in...
'Zappa' by Gadzso from the brand-new "Pentecost" album, out on digital music platforms.
Denman Maroney (on hyperpiano), with Herb Robertson (trumpet), Ellery Eskelin (tenor saxophone), Mark Dresser (bass), and Phil Haynes (drums)
Released as a digital download / streaming album on Bandcamp by the Cuneiform Records label.
Black Flower has just announced a new 10" vinyl release: "Motions".
Out early March, but one track can already be enjoyed :
To celebrate their 10th anniversary, Prince's "HITnRUN Phase One & Two" will be released on vinyl for the first time.
a message from Joe Deninzon !
Ladies & Gentlemen,
Joe D here. It gives me great pleasure to announce Stratospheerius’ first show of the year!
We are excited to double a double bill with our good friend Jane Getter & her band Premonition Sunday, March 1st at 8 PM at the legendary Iridium.
1650 Broadway on 51st St in NYC.
Jane is a badass guitarist, singer, and songwriter who blends jazz and prog to create her own unique sound. Along with her incredible band which features her husband, keyboardist Adam Holzman (Steven Wilson, Miles Davis), drummer Gene Lake, and bassist Paul Frazier, she has toured the world and released seven albums to critical acclaim. Joining Jane on guitar that evening will be our own Michelangelo Quirinale, the hardest working man in show business!
Jane is a friend of the band, and after trying to put a show together for years and overcoming many scheduling challenging, we are excited that we’re finally making this night happen!
This show will also serve as a warmup for Jane’s appearance on Cruise to the Edge March 4-9.
As I’ve mentioned before, Stratospheerius shows are rare these days due to my touring schedule with Kansas, so we really hope you can join us for this special night if you’re in the NY area.
Stratospheerius will be:
In their latest newsletter, the Vienna-based Studio Dan ensemble listed all their upcoming concerts.
The "How's Your Bird?" show (28–31.05.2026) might be classified as a concert for children, but if you have the opportunity to go, you should not hesitate.
Visually entertaining and music by Frank Zappa.
The Cuneiform Records label is releasing a live concert by NeBeLNeST.
Recorded at the Saalfelden Jazz Festival in Austria in 2007.
Thursday, May 28, Al Di Meola will be performing with the Metropole Orkest in Eindhoven, NL.
As part of the Bridge festival.
https://mge.nl/agenda/al-di-meola-metropole-orkest/
-- info: Dirk Verschaeve
Rumour has it that a Bongo Fury box set will be announced next Friday.
And, yes, that's tomorrow...
The secret source adds:
To include the 2 May 1975 Armadillo shows as well as 'Portuguese Lunar Landing' and a song called 'Born to Suck'...
The latest edition of Henry Kaiser's Quarterly Show has some great topics, not to mention Henry's version of FZ's 'Outside Now' at the end.
0:00 INTRO True Temperament HK Partscaster with VEGA-TREM
1:22 HK TALK Koll Superior with HIPSHOT TREM
2:50 ENTER BLACK HOLE
7:28 HK’S IMPRESSIONS OF RYPDAL’S TAKE ON LIGETI
9:24 KEEP IT LIKE THAT (TIGHT)
14:20 HK TALK
15:56 HOMAGE TO HENDRIX
19:25 EACH DAY WE GO TO OUR WORK IN THE HOPE OF DISCOVERING
23:21 HK REMEMBERS BOB WEIR + THE VALENTINES IN FUKUOKA
31:36 TICKET TO ETERNITY FOR BOB WEIR
39:49 HK TALK ABOUT THE BAND MU
41:28 A’INT NO BLUES
47:25 WRITE IF YOU FIND WORK HK
52:43 THRENODY TO THE VICTIMS OF THE STRATOSPHERE BOOGIE
58:25 AROUND THE PLYNTH
1:05:54 GIACINTO SCELSI AT THE PLACE FOR FUN
1:11:21 IF HK’S BLUE KLEIN GUITAR COULD TALK
1:17:35 TRIO OF GHOSTS
1:22:15 LIVE BACKWARDS GUITAR WITH 1970’S L.A. COUNTRY ROCK
1:26:35 THE OLD VJP AGAIN
1:30:11 HK END TALK
1:31:25 OUTSIDE NOW
There's a new release by Men & Volts : "Footlights Theater",
recorded in concert in 1985, at the Footlights Theater in Jamaica Plain, MA.
Here's Gretchen Menn with her trio, plus special guest (husband) Daniele Gottardo, paying tribute to Jeff Beck...
(Sweetwater Music Hall - 4/7/2023)
-- info: Jan van Kemenade
The late Belgian guitar player and composer Pierre Van Dormael founded the Nasa Na band in the late eighties / early ninetees.
A few years later, Nasa Na would evolve into Aka Moon...
Pierre also worked very closely with the Octurn ensemble.
Their "North Country Suite" album / collaboration (from 2007) is a joy to listen to !
Modern jazz, ladies and gentlemen...
from GlassOnyon PR
Award-Winning Singer-Songwriter Jann Klose Announces New 2026 Tour Dates
Just back from performing in his former hometown of Hamburg, Germany, Jann Klose is heading to Los Angeles, CA for several performances. On 1/23 He will be on the Martin Guitar Stage at the NAMM Show at the Anaheim Convention Center as well as a show at Trip Santa Monica on 1/24 and a house show in LA on 1/25.
Jann is finishing work on his eighth studio album due for release in June of 2026. He is once again partnering up with “Surrender” producer Marcus Dembinski. Several guest artists are to appear on the album including Everett Bradley (Bon Jovi, Seal), Marcella Detroit (Shakespears Sister, Eric Clapton), Rachel Flowers (Dweezil Zappa), Alphonso Horne (Late Show with Stephen Colbert) and more to be announced.
Both Marcella Detroit and Rachel Flowers will be joining Jann for his set on January 23rd at 2 PM on the Martin Guitar Stage at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA.
Jann Klose’s latest single “When I’m With You” exploded on YouTube with the official music video passing 150,000 views. Directed by Texan-born filmmaker Sam Casey, the video is shot in true stop motion on location in New York City.
Tour Dates:
1/23: Martin Guitar Stage at the NAMM Show, Anaheim, CA
1/24: The Trip Bar, Santa Monica, CA w/ Marky Lennon & Friends
1/25: Private Event, Los Angeles, CA
3/15: House Concert, Fort Myers, FL
4/17: One Marylebone, London, UK
5/10: Port Washington Public Library, Port Washington, NY
5/25: House Concert, Youngstown, OH
5/29: Private Event, New York, NY
5/30: The Bitter End, New York, NY
5/31: The Bitter End, New York, NY
6/06: The Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA w/ Craig Thatcher
9/26: Brick Hill House Concerts, Orleans, MA
9/27: House Concert, Shrewsbury, MA
Looking for a link between Bob Weir and Frank Zappa, Jan van Kemenade came up with the following:
On one of the Bobby & the Midnites albums, Essra Mohawk is credited as co-author.
Nice one.
Here's the track in question, 'Haze' :
A promising newsflash from Det Skandaløse Orkester
2025 was the best concert year ever for us, and it all culminated with the finale at Kvarteret in Bergen. It must be the best concert we have ever delivered together with the audience, and it was unanimously awarded a 6 out of 6. We got some great audio and video recordings, and now we are planning to release a live album and concert film sometime this year.
Here's what they sounded like at Zappanale
Here's the official video for Nektar's 'Mission To Mars', taken from the 2024 album with the same name.
The band started in the early 1970's and is, apparently, still going strong.
Their eponymous album is out.
Here's a recording of the trio at the North Sea Jazz Festival, 7 years ago:
The unlikely story of the MAE and FZ can be found here:
https://www.meridianartsensemble.com/zappa-house-concert
And it all amounted to some of the best performances of Frank Zappa's music, spread across various Meridian Arts Ensemble albums.
And that was even before the MAE released "The Zappa House Concert".
Pieces by Scarlatti, King Crimson, by the MAE members, and, of course, a fine set of Frank Zappa compositions.
As the liner notes stated 'Frank’s longtime engineer Greg “Marqueson” Coy set up a single microphone in front of us and recorded the concert. That recording is what you hear on this disc.'
I guess this is one what could call an audience recording, but it sounds really good.
Beautiful.
It's being released through several digital music platforms, and I do hope that there will be a CD release as well.
And it includes Joe Newman's (= Rudy Schwartz Project) arrangement of the Black Page !!
-- info & more: Harald Haering
Most excellent news from the U.K.: The Moo-Ah Festival is back.
Scheduled for 20 & 21 March 2026, an incredible line-up has just been announced:
https://www.festivalmoo-ah.com/
Well, two actually.
"Igram Reimagined"
"Bus 24", an animated movie to which Albert Marcoeur provided the music.
From 2006.
Out on DVD & also to be enjoyed on YouTube.
The latest King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard album artwork is a nice tribute to Grateful Dead's "Europe 75" album (from 1972).
Here's a beautiful version of FZ's 'Echidna's Arf (Of You)' by the Pawpaw Orchestra.
Only on YouTube ?
Ossi Duri
Frank Zappa tribute concert
March 28, 2026
Via Bussoleno 50, 10093 Collegno (TO), Italy
Next weekend, the Pulse Festival in Antwerp, BE, will host a screening of the
"Sun Ra - Space Is The Place" documentary.
https://pulsefestival.be/zaterdag
-- info: Dirk Verschaeve
Last month, Warren Cuccurullo released two new albums: "Synthia" and "Synthia Vol. II".
Download / streaming only.
Instrumental electronic, synthesizer pieces.
Contemporary classical music.
You can check them out at:
https://warrencuccurullo.com/discography/solo-collaborations/
-- info: Harald Haering
Dave Thompson wrote "Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare".
The book got published in 2012.
Also out as an e-book.
Jan added that Frank Zappa is mentioned 57 times in the book.
-- info: Jan van Kemenade
An audience recording of Dweezil Zappa's 2024 08 03 Los Angeles concert is up on YouTube...
The complete three hour show.
With special guests Phil X and Chad Wackerman !!
Released on the newly founded (2023) Step By Records label.
-- info: Danny Mathys
A message from J. M. Smig :
I was asked as to what Frank Zappa songs I would use as sexual accompaniment so I came up with a full playlist good for a 3 hour session.
Fucking Pumpkin Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/playlist/pl.u-gxblgd1Txm6meAd
It just doesn't stop. Another King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard release.
Limited trifold green, blue & yellow splattered vinyl 3LP.
It's another release in the "Bootlegger" series.
You can download the files from the KG&TLW website and produce your own release if you agree with the deal:
If anyone wants to release these albums, you’re free to do so.
Below you’ll find links to audio master files and cover art. Feel free to get creative with it if you like - it’s yours.
Only deal is you’ve gotta send us some of them to sell on pdoomrecords.com - whatever you feel is a fair trade is cool with us.
Ideas: double LPs, 7”, remix, reimagined cover art, bizarre looking wax, live show box sets, tapes. Or keep it simple - that’s totally ok.
"The Zappa House Concer" is out:
https://www.qobuz.com/be-nl/album/the-zappa-house-concert-meridian-arts-ensemble/oe5zukppyam5b
Big Round Records adds:
On the menu today:
Album digitally released January 16, 2026
Enjoying October Equus, the Spanish RIO / prog rock / avant-garde rock band.
October Equus: October Equus ( 2006, cd)
October Equus: Saturnal ( 2011, cd)
In 2015, Morgan Ågren released "Batterie Deluxe" on Bandcamp, but also on CD (in Japan) and on LP (in Europe).
I bought the CD at the time, but with the upcoming 'Remastered' version, I couldn't resist and got the LP as well.
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