George Duke, ZPZ, Gail: Zappa.com News

1st: George Duke will be joining ZPZ in Los Angeles, I think on the 4th of december. Possibly in the Aposrophe tunes. Hey hey.

2nd: Gail Zappa answers 50 questions before Christmas. Follow the link – and ask!

3rd: Here’s an interesting solo by Mathias Eklund with the ZPZ in Gothenburg (from Dark Clothes). Fun. To me.

That’s all for today, folks.

KUR’s 2nd Annual Virtual Zappanale Mix

Welcome to KUR’s 2nd Annual Virtual Zappanale Mix for August 2010. For those of us who cannot make it to this year’s festival in Bad Doberan, I have compiled an eclectic mix of some of my favorite FZ covers by well known alumni – and some other not so well known. On this virtual stage, time and space does not matter as acts appear fresh from 1969, while others are temporarily brought back from the hereafter for just one more kick at the can, so to speak, all together in one mix. Of course, I’d love to be there in Bad Doberan, and perhaps I will go there one day, myself. Until then, enjoy the music of the maestro. And the spirit of the Mothers…

Click here to listen to the mixtape.

Note: my sincerest appreciation and thanks to Andrew Greenaway and MagicFingers for their assistance in the compiling of this mixtape.

Baltimore Plans Zappa Dedication & Tribute Concert

Barfies in my mailbox:

Since last month’s confirmation of the September 19th date for Baltimore City’s dedication of a bust of Frank Zappa, community support has been growing for a concert and festival in tribute to the legendary musician, composer and social icon, whose birthplace is Baltimore. The bust, donated by a Lithuanian fan club, will be placed at the Enoch Pratt Free Library Southeastern Anchor Branch in Highlandtown, and plans now include an outdoor concert featuring Zappa Plays Zappa (fronted by Frank’s son Dweezil), and various events at the library and nearby Patterson Theatre in support of the dedication ceremony.

The date itself is especially significant as September 19th is the anniversary of Zappa’s 1985 testimony on Capitol Hill in favor of free expression by Recording Artists at the Senate hearing instigated by certain congressional wives (members of the PMRC) concerning record labeling. Frank Zappa’s widow Gail commented on the remarkable coincidence, stating, “Frank’s legacy rests in his uncompromising defense of the First Amendment and his uncompromising pursuit of excellence clearly demonstrated in the standards he set in all areas of Music and the arts and sciences associated with it. He was self-taught and self-realized. It is hard to imagine how that is possible except for the 4 cornerstones he had going for him: a talent for music, a hard-core curiosity, a keen sense of humor and access to a library. He was a cheap date for History.”

More info here and here.

Best FZ Covers – DZPZ & Eric Johnson’s “Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy” & “Muffin Man”

For those who think Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa is a cold, “note-by-note” band, incapable of improvisation, I’m obviously not going to alter your view with a few posts, and neither would I endeavour to try. For those willing to look past original preconceptions, though, might be pleasantly surprised, as I was, when I dug deeper into this band.
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Call Any Vegetable – 1970 versus 2006

One of the fantastic advantages of the advent of current technologies such as YouTube and the Internet, is it allows one to compare and contrast particular songs – in this case, Frank Zappa‘s “Call Any Vegetable” – with particular groups and bands of completely different eras: FZ‘s 2nd MOI band’s vaudeville-style with that of Dweezil’s Zappa Plays Zappa. Merely just a cover? Or an improvement on the original? Zappa Plays Zappa‘s clip is from their DVD/CD released in 2006 of two shows filmed and recorded in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA, respectively. While the two Vaudeville Mothers clips (the complete audio) and the edited version, both from the “Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA, 6 Nov 1970” show. Personally, I’ll always have a bias toward the earlier versions. Still, Napoleon Murphy Brock does one hell of a rendition.
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Best FZ Covers: Battle of the YouTube Muffins, Or, Some People Like Cupcakes Better…

I’m really not certain which of these groups belongs in a compilation of best FZ covers – each has something different and unique in their version of Frank Zappa‘s Muffin Man that the other two groups do not. Give them a hearing and decide for yourself. MazMyth at LMCS Auditorium on January 9, 2009; Zappa Plays Zappa at Villa Arconati, July 15, 2008; or Pappa Plays Zappa at The Upperfloor (known as Stalloftet) in Hamar, Norway, August 3, 2008:
Continue reading “Best FZ Covers: Battle of the YouTube Muffins, Or, Some People Like Cupcakes Better…”

Dweezilla!

Looks like Dweezil is branching out into new territory. From the inbox:

Get ready to expand your harmonic horizons and ignite your musical creativity this summer at DWEEZILLA! DWEEZILLA is a unique five-day experience where musicians will be surrounded by Dweezil Zappa and members of his core band for a musical bootcamp. From June 21-24 in the Catskill Forest Preserve in upstate New York, DWEEZILLA offers aspiring musicians a wide range of master classes at all skill levels in addition to one-on-one sessions with Dweezil himself.

DWEEZILLA

Quoth The Dweez: “I decided to create a diverse music boot camp for people of all skill levels hoping to increase their musical prowess. It would make me very happy if I could help a fellow musician take their skills to the next level.”

Pricing? Here’s the cheapest admission as stated in the Dweezilla press kit: $485 — Day Use (No Accommodations/Camping): Includes all daily activities and workshops from breakfast to the evening activities.

More Dweezila info here.

Ahem… is this the beginning of the end of ZPZ?

RDNZL – The Truth

I honestly like those tiny little (previously unknown) factoids that time after time see the light of day and reveal something we did not know before. Here’s something I know you all were wondering about (just like I did), and this is one more reason why one should follow the ZPZ reviews:

Dweezil proved an easygoing frontman, (…) explaining song titles like “RDNZL,” pronounced Redunzel a contraction of redundant and Repunzel.

Finally. There were several guesses before, and the New Knowledge is already on the site Information Is Not Knowledge as well.

Dweezil Zappa: A Son of (a Mother of) Invention

Another big thing for next year is another DVD, our Roxy concert that we did 35 years to the date that Frank last played at the Roxy. We’re also working hard to complete Frank’s Roxy film, so hopefully both of those can get released by the end of 2010.

In an interview including also some other news: a new ZPZ CD, some other musical experimentations, Dweezil’s guitars, and the What the Hell Was I Thinking project – with a downloadable part from Zomby Woof’s solo.