In about a month, the MOSAE ZAPPA Festival will take place in Heerlen, NL.
It will be the tenth edition already!
https://mosaezappa.wordpress.com/
As a
special event, MOSAE ZAPPA will feature The Ike Willis Memorial Barbecue, where
Roddie Gilliard and Co de Kloet will share some of their memories, moderated by
Tim op het Broek.
Looking forward
to it.
Let me share
three of my Ike Willis moments with you.
My
favourite one happened when I was queuing to get enter some club in Delft, NL,
to catch a concert by Cuccurullo Brillo Brullo, a fine Frank Zappa tribute
band. And on this occasion, Ike Willis would be featured as special guest.
October 2006.
So I’m in line, or I just bought my ticket, and I hear someone explaining to
the counter clerk that he is Jeff Hollie and that he’s a friend of Ike Willis.
If someone could fetch Ike.
By coincidence, I had just been updating the United-Mutations website with Jeff’s
whereabouts (Jeff was performing with Wicked Jazz Sounds and had been living in
The Netherlands for some years at the time) so when some of the Cuccurullo
Brillo Brullo band members came down to check out this tall, dark fellow, I
could explain who he was and they called for Ike.
My mind can be blurred a bit, but I remember it as a touching moment when Ike and
Jeff finally saw each other again in person after quite a number of years.
I was happy to be invited to join them at their table while they were
reminiscing.
And, yes, Jeff had brought his saxophone and performed a couple of tunes with
the band…
What a night.
And it was Jeff’s re-entry into the Zappa world.
The most
impressive memory happened at Zappanale #22 in 2011 (if my notes are correct).
As those who have attended Zappanale know, Zappanale is a very ‘open’ festival.
There are great opportunities to chat with everyone.
Anyway, Doctor Nerve performed at Zappanale in 2011 and at a certain moment, and
I don’t recall how this came about, I’m standing next to Nick Didkovsky and Ike
Willis.
Nick explained to Ike how he joined the Zappa band on stage during a certain
show, as some sort of audience participation, and Ike not only remembered this
but started adding details to that story with his infectious enthusiasm, but
above all with an incredibly impressive memory.
Loved it.
The most
bizarre memory took place in Eeklo, Belgium, when Ike was touring with The
Muffin Men. I don’t remember the year.
We were there well in advance and we were not the only ones.
A couple of Dutch guys came in, searched for Ike, and they left together with
Ike.
When the concert was about to start, no one knew where Ike was. He had
disappeared and only returned much later. He did have issues at the time…
Anyway, November
21, Heerlen will be the place to be.
And add November 20 as well if you’re up for a pre-party with Project Z.
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