Author Archives: urbangraffito

About urbangraffito

I am a writer, editor, publisher, philosopher, and foole (not necessarily in that order). Cultural activist and self-described anarchist.

Zappanale (Then & Now) — Sheik Yerbouti

Sheik Yerbouti is a band from Kirchberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. They have been performing and recording their unique interpretations of Frank Zappa‘s music since 1992. Sheik Yerbouti includes Dr. Jörg Heuser (guitar, vocals), Thomas Rath (drums, vocals), Harry Sebel (lead vocals, … Continue reading

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Three FZ Alumni Interviews

During the same week in April, 1996, while in Los Angeles, California, Juha Rompannen recorded several private interviews with Frank Zappa alumni. On April 20th, Rompannen conducted his interview with Tommy Mars (first clip). Mars talks about his musical schooling, … Continue reading

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Zappanale (Then & Now) — Bogus Pomp

Bogus Pomp began in August, 1994, when guitarist Jerry Outlaw and keyboardist Rick Olson got together for some informal jamming. It started out as a quartet  (Jerry Outlaw: guitar, vocals – Rick Olson: keyboard – Alex Pasut: bass – Tom … Continue reading

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Zappanale (Then & Now) — DBRK

From the DBRK MySpace page: DBRK is a Parisian collective of obedience “Fun First” composed of amateurs and professionals musicians. Real Cover Band, DBRK revisits the work of artists from the sixties to the eighties according to a basic principle: … Continue reading

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Zappanale (Then & Now) — Gong

Perhaps it’s the French attitude towards music and musical groups, yet I find the sheer number of incarnations that the band Gong has gone through to be truly amazing. Just imagine if each member of the original Mothers of Invention … Continue reading

Posted in Bizarre, Frank Zappa, Music, YouTubery, Zappanale | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Zappanale (Then & Now) – The Grande Mothers

Between now and August 16th, 2009, the start of Zappanale’s 20th Jubilee, I am going to feature both past and present participants of Zappanale, beginning with The Grande Mothers. The Grande Mothers feature Zappa alumni, Napoleon Murphy Brock (lead vocals, … Continue reading

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Madrugada — Discordant Sounds from EU

Madrugada – Majesty Madrugada (which in Spanish and Portuguese and means “dawn”, “the blue hour” and was suggested to the band by poet/writer friend Øystein Wingaard Wolf) is a Norwegian rock band formed in 1995 hailing from a little place … Continue reading

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Zappa Versus the Packard Goose

It’s easy to understand where FZ got his distaste of rock ‘n roll (and music) writers from — just read some the reviews of his albums and concerts, here. On the other hand, though FZ wasn’t known as a very … Continue reading

Posted in Bizarre, Frank Zappa, Heh Heh, In Writing, Miscellany, Pop Cult | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

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 Café in Wilkes-Barre, PA, … Continue reading

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Jazz Ain’t Dead — Duke/Cobham

In the above clip, from Dutch TV in 2003, George Duke and friends perform “Brazilian Love Affair”, with a closing part of “Echidna’s Arf”. George Duke (piano/vocals) Lori Perry (vocals) Robert Brookings (keyboards) Ray Fuller (guitar) Mike Manson (bass) Gordon … Continue reading

Posted in Music, YouTubery | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments