Ed Palermo: We’re Only In It For The Music

It’s got to be love, hasn’t it? Why else would someone bother to transcribe 200 of Frank Zappa’s tunes? For what other reason would someone dedicate himself for over 15 years to presenting his arrangements of Zappa’s music in the setting of a 17-piece jazz big band, and at a loss to boot?

A fantastic interview with the fantastic Ed Palermo – about music, about transcriptions, about his first time he saw the Mothers, about rehearsals, about his goals… (have you heard his latest album, Eddy Loves Frank?)

Once all the notes are down the way Frank Zappa’s band played them, then I think to myself: “Right, what do I want to do with this?” I wanted to use all the parts that Frank wrote but to juggle them around, to make it more interesting for me but mainly so that the hardcore Zappa fans can listen to it and be surprised.

Night School, 2009:

Me loves Eddy.

Big Band Zappa — Ed Palermo


Three reasons to purchase every Ed Palermo Big Band CD you can possibly get your hands on:

One:

Ed Palermo’s Big Band performs “Echidna’s Arf” with Mike Keneally during the early show at River Street Jazz CafĂ© in Wilkes-Barre, PA, on August 16th, 1998.

Two:

Ed Palermo Big Band performs “Cruising For Burgers” at the Iridium Jazz Club, NYC, November 10th, 2004.

Three:

The Ed Palermo Big Band probably has the greatest horn section since the 1988 Zappa band disbanded (Ed Palermo’s interpretations of Frank Zappa compositions are always a delight to hear).

Yes, Balint, I can feel Eddie’s love for Frank.

UMV Playing FZ – and Vault News

The University of Vermont Jazz Ensemble will present the music of Frank Zappa at a concert on March 25 at 7:30 in the Grand Maple Ballroom of the Dudley H. Davis Center. Alexander Stewart, director of UVM’s Jazz Studies program, will lead the ensemble.

Live music for our American friends – for free, with tunes like Montana, the Idiot Bastard Son, King Kong, Peaches en Regalia, the Grand Wazoo, and Uncle Remus. The quality of the music lies in the fact that the orchestration was made by none other that Ep Palermo! Hey, a recording would be fine…

Some Other FZ News:

A 1966 concert from MOI is up at Wolfgang’s vault thanks, hipbone!

Some Other Maybe Related DZ News:

New ZPZ releases are to be available: 1, 2, 3. Details? Noooo. Setlists? Noooo. Infos on the Official homepage? Noooo! Infos on the ZPZ homepage? Hey, forget it…