Short News

Just a few things, in short:
– “Delayed reaction: Uncle Meat” (Frank Zappa Mini Film Festival?…)
– ZPZ: the mix of the 1st Chicago show is ready.
– Lumpy Money: delay
– Project/Object: show cancelled
NOT for the above things: applause machine.
– bloggism: Julie SlickEric Slick. Keep on bloggin’!
– Nowadays I listen to Tool.
– Barry and Sharl are still speachless… 🙂

Drum Jam – The Zappa Drummers

Terry Bozzio, Ralph Humphrey, Chester Thompson and Chad Wackerman in this exclusive preview of Drum Channel’s Drum Jams – featuring the Zappa Drummers (via the Idiot Bastard).

I like it. (I wonder when the 2nd part of the “Zappa Drummers’ Roundtable” comes up.)

¡Hola Lucas!

Some nine months ago, Dr Sharleena and I hatched a cunning plan. It looked something like this:

lucas echo

As of yesterday morning at 9:42 am, upon some seven hours of labour, here’s what our plan looks like:

lucas newborn

World: meet Lucas! More pictures here.

Mother and child are doing fine. The father is dog tired and will probably not be posting as frequently as he’s used to, for the time being…

Persona Non Grata: Adrian Belew Weighs In

With regard to this, here’s what Adrian Belew has to say:

I told dweezil I would try my best to insure he would not see andre. but I put it off and put it off and I want to make this clear: I did not say anything to andre. andre had no idea that he should keep out of dweezil’s sight.

why did I not keep my word to dweezil? andre is a valued member of my crew and a friend. I know how much he loves frank’s music. I could not bring myself to hurt andre’s feeling.

Be sure to read the whole post. Thanks to Joe Crawford for the head’s up.

As The ZFT vs Zappanale Soap Continues

I received Zappanale‘s 19th newsletter yesterday, which talks mainly about the ZFT vs Zappanale trial. Remember that one? Back in August, there was talk of an out-of-court settlement:

The Zappa Family Trust may be willing to compromise. ZFT lawyers now say that the Zappanale can use the Zappa name if they brand the festival as “Zappa music and more.”

Now, my German is as rusty as an early 90s Russian submarine but as I understand it, here’s how things appear to have evolved since then from the ZFT claim’s perspective: if the festival’s organizers wish to keep the festival going, they are to report — at the earliest occasion — name and location of any artists playing, as well as any (FZ) tunes on their playlist.

It would then be GZ’s deity-given, exclusive prerogative to veto any artists she feels “violate the integrity and intentions” of FZ, from playing at Zappanale.

A hostile take-over, if you will.
Nennt man solch eine Forderung vielleicht Zensur? Ist das nicht unheimlich? (Yes Bob Again, I’m way ahead of you!)

The Zappanale guys beg to differ, and so yet another court meeting is scheduled at the Düsseldorf Landgericht where, as Thomas Dippel puts it, “things are in good hands”.

On a completely off-topic note: yes, I’ve been out of the loop lately and yes, there’s a very good reason for this.

“Oh, do tell Barry!”

Any day now, any day now…

Ann Wilson — Hope & Glory

Another CD which I recently picked up was Ann Wilson’s first-ever solo effort ‘Hope & Glory,’ from Zoë/ Rounder Records. Produced by Ben Mink, Hope & Glory features appearances from such artists as Elton John, Gretchen Wilson, Alison Krauss, Rufus Wainwright, Ann’s sister Nancy Wilson and others on unique renditions of songs made famous by Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Neil Young and more. In these two videos, Ann Wilson performs unique covers of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant song” (Track 5) and Pink Floyd’s “Goodbye Blue Sky” (Track 1).