Today’s Headline: ZFT vs Arf Society

Der Spiegel, on the day of the ZFT vs Arf Society/Zappanale trial:
Mother Of Intervention: Zappa Festival Defends Itself from… Zappa.

Quoth Goil Zeepee:

“One of the reasons you file a trademark is to protect the works of a person,” Gail Zappa told SPIEGEL ONLINE in a telephone interview. “I felt we were getting into territory where we were putting the audience at risk in terms of who Frank was. You become concerned.”

Thomas Dippel:

Dippel says that the Zappanale has long tried to get the kind of official rubber stamp that Gail Zappa insists is available. He claims that letters have been sent and that Zappanale people even met with Gail in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 1990s. He also says that he invited the Zappa family — including Gail, Dweezil and Moon — to an unveiling of a Zappa statue that now graces Bad Doberan.

Gail — who refers to the statue as an “impish creature” that “doesn’t look like Frank Zappa unless you argue that putting a moustache on any face looks like Frank Zappa” — says that very little communication has taken place with the Zappanale.

I guess you know where our sympathies lie, right?

Bylyder: Frank Zappa

Når Kringkastingsorkestret stiller opp i konsertserien “Bylyder” tar de med seg musikk av blant andre Frank Zappa.

Fredag 11. april kl. 19.30
Lindemansalen, Norges musikkhøgskole (Oslo)

  • Giovanni B. Pergolesi: Musikk brukt av Stravinsky i Pulcinella
  • Igor Stravinskky: Pulcinella, suite
  • Frank Zappa: G-spot Tornado
  • Frank Zappa: Dog Breath Variations
  • Frank Zappa: Revised Music for Low Budget Symphony Orchestra
  • Jon Øivind Ness: Fierce Kentucky Mothers of Doom: konsert for to tromboner og to ensembler

Zappanale #19: The Line-Up

Thomas, aka Head Honcho of Zappanale, just confirmed the following bands for this year’s edition:

  • Anti Agressive Action Band aka “Underground Sensation”, USA, feat. members of Voice of Cheeze, Ugly Radio Rebellion Band, DOOT
  • Low Budget Research Kitchen, Portugal
  • Wrong Object, Belgium
  • Finnish Zappa Tribute Band, Finnland
  • Paul Green School of Rock plays Zappa and YES, USA
  • Electric Orange, Germany
  • Panzerballett, Germany
  • Delicious Band Research Kitchen, France
  • INDUKTI, Poland
  • Alamaailman Vasarat, Finnland
  • Zappa Circus, Hungary
  • UZVA, Finnland
  • Jazzproject Hundehagen, Germany
  • Fattore Zeta, Italy
  • Bogus Pomp Semi Acoustic Orchestra, USA

Special guests:

  • Denny Walley
  • Napoleon Murphy Brock
  • Stanley Jason Zappa

Muchos kudos to Thomas for gathering such an eclectic slash exquisite mix of bands — especially in view of the upcoming ZFT vs Zappanale trial (April 9).

We’re with you bud. Music Is The Best.

Je Suis Dans Ta Vie! (Todeloo Doot)

We interrupt this program for a bit of nostalgia for the old European folk (preferably of the French persuasion).

Over the weekend Sharl and I watched Podium — wait, let me rephrase that. Over the weekend I gently persuaded Sharl to join me in watching Podium. Now before you get any weird ideas, Podium is a comedy about a Claude François imitator whose main character is played by Benoît Poelvoorde of Man Bites Dog fame.

Now who is this Claude François character, I hear you ask. Well, behold:

That’s CloClo performing the classic Alexandrie/Alexandra for you, somewhere back in the late 70s. Pretty shocking for those Young Sophisticates among you, I imagine. Yet I need only hear the beginning notes of that tune and BOOM — there I am: barely 10 years old, fresh out of the bath, hair neatly combed, gushing over those background dansers also known as Les Claudettes. Everything, needless to say, was much better in the seventies. Yes? (No? Discuss.)

Anyway, back on topic: imagine our surprise when during the end credits of Podium, this pops up:

To be fair, it was Sharl who spotted this. It was I who freeze-framed the screen and took the picture. But hey, see that? In their “thank you” list, they actually include Frank Zappa! One can’t but wonder why…

Moving on, here’s another tune that you may actually be familiar with:

Pfeh, a My Way cover, you shrug? Quite the opposite.

Twenty Idiot Bastard Sons

A cool project if ever I seen one:

Says The Idiot Bastard:

Throughout 2007, this Idiot Bastard, in conjunction with Cordelia Records, was busy putting together a CD of 20 different versions of Frank Zappa’s The Idiot Bastard Son to coincide with the fortieth anniversary of the release of the album it first appeared on (We’re Only In It For The Money). Well, we didn’t quite manage to get it together in time, but it’s now finally available.

Contributors include Project/Object, Bogus Pump Orchestra and The Wrong Object — to name but a few.

Oh, and then of course there’s The Idiot Bastard Son #21 — not part of the compilation I’m happy to report.

Small cigar, anyone?

To Protect And Serve

With Zappanale #19 right around the corner this August, I figured people will need some appropriate apparel.

Say for instance, a long sleeve T-shirt (click image for details):

stop-gail-cafepress.jpg

… or how about a nice trucker hat (click image for details):

stop-gail-hat.jpg

Now, we have no idea who this Gail person is, but it just sort of sounded right in a mysterious way — and the “to protect and serve” only makes it more intriguing…

Hungry for more? Check out the store!

Farewell ZGC

“I’m ending Zappa’s Grubby Chamber, not from oppression but because of the sheer difficulty of physically transporting myself to and from the distant radio station very late on Friday nights, and retaining my health and sanity.
Too bad, because there are lots of unexploited ideas for the show. But I have to focus on my actual job.”

zgc.jpg

Kevin L. Hoover tells us that tonight is the last ZGC show (more details on his weblog Crush All Boxes. The show starts at 10 PM (Los Angeles time); details to listen online, here.
Good luck in all your endeavors and keep in touch Kevin!

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…

33% Zappa – in Linz, 2nd of April

Live music alert, in Österreich – the Hungarian Radio Symphonic Orchestra will play some Zappa in Linz, at the Brucknerhaus

F. Zappa: “Bogus Pomp”
B. Bartók: Der wunderbare Mandarin (Suite für Orchester) op. 19
L. v. Beethoven: Symphonie Nr. 7 A-Dur op. 92

Today’s news: Conductor Ádám Fischer just got the highest award (“Kossuth Prize”) given to any performing artist in all of Hungary!

The same orchestra played on the 100% Zappa event (remember David Ocker’s comments? ).