THE BANNED FROM UTOPIA

The Banned From Utopia is still touring !

Here's one of the highlights from their recent concert at De Boerderij, NL

And a fine recording from De Singer, BE

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TWO ALLAN HOLDSWORTH LIVE ALBUMS TO BE RELEASED IN NOVEMBER

Each album will be released as a blu-ray + 2CD set (and at least one of the two also as a 4 LP set).

The first album got recorded at Yoshi's on Friday 29/09/2006 and the second on Saturday 30/09/2006.

Featuring Allan Holdsworth plus Alan Pasqua, Jimmy Haslip, and Chad Wackerman !

THE BAND FROM UTOPIA AT THE BAKED POTATO, AUGUST 13 & 14

 

ANTOINE FAFARD

Canadian composer, bass and guitar player Antoine Fafard has released 9 albums. If you also count the two that he did with Gavin Harrison, that is.

"Fusion", is what I was told. 
What a discovery. This sounds really great.
And while enjoying some clips, I also noticed that he has worked with several Frank Zappa drummers !

• Antone Fafard: Occultus Tramitis
      (2013, cd, Canada, unicorn digital)
      - Feat. Chad Wackerman, Terry Bozzio
  
  
• Antone Fafard: Ad Perpetuum
      (2014, cd, Canada, unicorn digital)
      - Feat. Vinnie Colaiuta
  
  
• Antone Fafard: Proto Mundi
      (2017, 2cd, --, timeless momentum)
      = compilation + 4 unreleased tracks + “Doomsday Vault” bonus disc
      - Feat. Vinnie Colaiuta, Chad Wackerman, Terry Bozzio
  
  

From "Ad Perpetuum" :

CHAD WACKERMAN AND THE L.A. ALL STARS - QUUBE

Chad Wackerman and the L.A. All Stars performed at the Paradox jazz club in Tilburg, NL, yesterday.
Reason enough to cross the border.

Chad Wackerman on drums. Alex Machcek on guitar, Jimmy Haslip on bass, and Steve Hunt on keyboards.

Here's a recap from Jan:

It was a phenomenal concert. Amazing musicians. And Chad's drums sound so good. No electronics can compete with that. 
They played a number of songs from the new album ("Quube") and some older work by Chad (including ‘All Sevens’ and ‘Between the Dog and the Wolf’). The encore was ‘Fred’ by Allan Holdsworth (originally found on "Believe It" by the New Tony Williams Lifetime and, of course, on "Blues for Tony", with Chad and Jimmy Haslip).

I can only agree with Jan.
Jeff Aug opened solo with some energetic pieces the acoustic guitar.
Chad and his buddies performed an incredible first set. Technically astounding. Fusion jazz, without any sharp edges. It ended with Chad's 'New York City", which sounded almost as a suite with a drum solo opening and various movements. Nice.

Their second set was a bit more powerful. Louder as well. I thought about mentioning it to the person that took care of the sound but I imagined he'd probably be nearly deaf, so that would be a useless effort...
Second set: short and sweet, plus an Allan Holdsworth piece as a bonus.
No Zappa piece, which in my humble opinion was a missed opportunity, but an excellent second set.

Bought "Quube" and will be enjoying that a lot the next couple of days.

• Wackerman, Machacek, Hunt, Haslip: Quube
      (2026, cd, USA, private release)

CHAD WACKERMAN AND THE L.A. ALL-STARS

Drummer Chad Wackerman, best known for his lengthy tenures with Frank Zappa and Allan Holdsworth, and his newly-formed supergroup, The L.A. All-Stars, featuring guitar virtuoso Alex Machacek, keyboardist and fellow Holdsworth alumni Steve Hunt, and bassist Jimmy Haslip, have announced upcoming tour dates throughout Europe. 

The quartet will be supporting their new album, "Quube", which will be available exclusively on this tour. Quube is a galvanic collection of nine original pieces that showcase the synergy between all four band members. The album is steeped in the traditions of eclecticism that defines and carries the torch of Holdsworth, Weather Report, and Mahavishnu Orchestra, while the upcoming dates offer a rare opportunity for European fans of modern electric fusion to witness these four renowned musicians performing the material in a setting with no musical guardrails.
The tour launches February 26 in Prague, CZ., and concludes on March 30 with a show at Ronnie Scott’s in London

 Chad Wackerman & the L.A. All-Stars

BELEDO & CHAD WACKERMAN

A message from the MoonJune Records label:

New York City based Uruguayan born multi-instrumentalist, predominantly a guitarist and pianist, BELEDO, will record a new studio album for MoonJune Records after two concerts in Los Angeles with
CHAD WACKERMAN (drums)
ANTHONY CRAWFORD (bass guitar)
NICK MANCINI (vibraphone)

January 14 - Los Angeles, CA
The Baked Potato, 2 shows
thebakedpotato.com/events/beledo-january-14-2026

January 15 - San Pedro, CA
Alva's Showroom
alvasshowroom.com/event/beledo-mechanism-featuring-chad-wackerman

BELEDO NEW ALBUM CROWDFUNDING

Following two above listed warm-up shows in Los Angeles, Beledo, Anthony Crawford, and Nick Mancini will gather at with Chad Wackerman at Chad's recording studio in Long Beach, California, to record a new album to be released by MoonJune Records between May and June of this year. For the occasion, Beledo prepared 4 short demo audio snippets that you can listen to on Bandcamp:

beledo.bandcamp.com/album/new-album-crowfunding

Beledo - electric guitar, electric bass, midi drums, keyboard, composer

These are just ideas, and each tune will be between 5 and 10 minutes long, in addition to several others that will be recorded. The collection of short audio clips serves the purpose of this crowdfunding campaign to help with travel expenses, car rental, accommodations, musicians, and studio fees.

beledo.bandcamp.com/merch

BELEDO MECHANISM, FEATURING CHAD WACKERMAN

Beledo Mechanism - - - two great nights in So-Cal

Beledo (guitar, electric piano)
Chad Wackerman (drums)
Anthony Crawford (bass guitar)
Nick Mancini (vibraphone).

• January 14 - Los Angeles, CA (The Baked Potato, 2 shows)
• January 15 - San Pedro, CA (Alva's Showroom)

CHAD WACKERMAN & THE L.A. ALL STARS

New concert dates for Chad Wackerman & the L.A. All Stars 

• Tuesday, March 3, at Porgy & Bess, Vienna, AU
• Saturday, March 7, 2026 at Paradox, Tilburg, NL
• Sunday, March 8, 2026, at De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, NL
• Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at Spirit of 66, Verviers, BE
• Friday, March 20, 2026, at Herr Nilsen, Oslo, Norway

The legendary drummer Chad Wackerman and the L.A. All-Stars is a unique showcase of incredible musicality, chemistry, and energy that is not to be missed. This is a very rare chance to see this group of contemporary musical heavyweights perform together on the same stage.....Chad WACKERMAN drums (Frank Zappa, Allan Holdsworth,… ) ** Alex MACHACEK guitar (Terry Bozzio, Brand X, Planet X, CAB, ...) ** Jimmy HASLIP bass (Yellow Jackets, Jeff Lober Fusion, Allan Holdsworth,…) ** Steve HUNT keys ( Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham, Allan Holdsworth,..)

The Impossible Rock Fusion Tour

-- info: Philippe Lamoot

CHAD WACKERMAN & THE L.A. ALL STARS WILL BE TOURING EUROPE

Chad Wackerman & The L.A. All Stars, featuring Alex Machacek, Jimmy Haslip & Steve Hunt

The first dates have been announced :

• 03/03/2026 - 'Porgy & Bess', Vienna, AU
• 06/03/2026 - 'Soundcheck One', Waldbronn, DE
• 07/03/2026 - 'Paradox', Tilburg, NL
• 08/03/2026 - 'Poppodium De Boerderij', Zoetermeer, NL
• 12/03/2026 - 'Colos Saal', Aschaffenburg, DE

-- info: Dirk Verschaeve

ARTHUR BARROW - THE SHIFT

Former Frank Zappa bass player (and clonemeister) Arthur Barrow has just released 'The Shift' through Bandcamp.
The piece features none other than Chad Wackerman on drums.

MICHAEL VILLMOW'S KBB FEATURING BENDIK & CHAD WACKERMAN - -N-

• Michael Villmow's Köln Big Band featuring Bendik & Chad Wackerman: -N-
      (1991, cd, Germany, lipstick records)

With a band name like Michael Villmow's Köln Big Band featuring Bendik & Chad Wackerman, it seems obvious that you only have little space left for the actual title of the album.
Maybe that was the reason to call this album "-N-".

Anyway, this one goes way back to 1991 and I'm a bit puzzled that I had never heard of it.
Excellent Big Band jazz from Cologne.
All original compositions.
Featuring former Zappa-drummer Chad Wackerman (next to tenor saxophonist Bendik).
And it's not that there were no Zappa freaks living in Cologne at that time.

An excellent find. Even if I say so myself.

Here's a nice video about the KBB and their two albums:
With some nice words about Chad Wackerman around 14 minutes into the video

WHAT'S IT LIKE DRUMMING FOR FRANK ZAPPA? - - - CHAD WACKERMAN

What’s It Like Drumming For Frank Zappa? | Chad Wackerman

YOUTUBE VIDEO: CHAD WACKERMAN HEARS THE MARS VOLTA FOR THE FIRST TIME

From the Drumeo channel.

I guess this is 'the new thing'.
Musicians get to hear an incomplete song and have to add their input.
Afterwards they here the complete, original track and they can comment.
Fun.

And in this case, it shows what an amazing musician Chad is...

THE CHAD WACKERMAN GROUP

March 15, 2025, will see the Chad Wackerman Group performing at The Baked Potato.

• Chad Wackerman: drums
  
• Jimmy Johnson: bass
• Alex Machacek: guitar
• Steve Hunt: keyboards

DWIKI DHARMAWAN - SO FAR SO CLOSE

• Dwiki Dharmawan: So Far So Close
      (2015, cd, USA, moonjune records)

Indonesian's jazz keyboard player and composer Dwiki Dharmawan's "So Far So Close" album got released in 2015.
Next to Jimmy Haslip on bass, Dewa Budjana and Tohpati on guitar, and Jerry Goodman on violin, the album also features Chad Wackerman. On the drums.

Dwiki Dharmawan has several albums out on the MoonJune Records label, but "So Far So Close" was his first album for Leonardo Pavkovic's MJR label.
Recommended listening.

DWEEZIL ZAPPA BAND FEAT. CHAD WACKERMAN

Dweezil Zappa- "Zomby Woof" live 8/3/2024 with Chad Wackerman on drums, Orpheum Theater L.A.

 

A MESSAGE FROM CHAD WACKERMAN

A message from Chad Wackerman (on FB):

Plotting surprises for Saturday with Dweezil Zappa and his killer band.

Check out the tour dates for Dweezil's tour, that kicks off today !! https://www.dweezilzappa.com/pages/tour

THE CRANKTONES

Chad Wackerman mentioned that he performs with The Cranktones from time to time.

 Seems like a lot of fun.

May 2022
The Cranktones,
Carl Verheyen… guitar,
Jim Cox… B-3 organ,
Chad Wackerman… drums,
John Mader… drums,
Tom Child… bass,
rehearse for their gig at The Baked Potato on a front lawn in a Long Beach Neighborhood

DR. JAZZ TALKS TO CHAD WACKERMAN

The Dr; Jazz YouTube series.
Episode 438
Chad Wackerman