Category: FZcovers

Glass Ghost, Burning Castle

Flashback to December 17 2008, when KUR received the following email:

I’m recording a new project soon and I wrote NEW music for The Black Page. If I sent you guys a copy of the album and you like it would you mind saying so on killuglyradio? (It is going to be a digital release via my own site so I don’t stuck w/a shitty bitrate.)

Whereupon I responded:

New music for The Black Page? Sounds exciting! I’d love to hear this so by all means, do send us a copy if you want. I’ll be sure to give it a listen and give it a mention at KUR. Do you have a site where I can download the track(s)?

Cue tumbleweeds.

Fast Forward to the present:

As you can tell by the date stamp on the email, it took me a lot longer to get this project done than I thought. New music for the Black Page is here:

Glass Ghost, Burning Castle. Check it out.

FiDO plays ZAPPA – Too Big To Fail (2011)

FiDO plays ZAPPA – the Swiss 10 piece orchestra – has been one of my absolute favorite Zappa tribute bands since I first heard their CDR, FiDO plays ZAPPA Live @Sudhaus Basel in 2007, followed by their incredibly energetic 2008 DVD, FiDO plays ZAPPA on the Dental Floss. Now in 2011, FiDO plays ZAPPA present their first studio album: Too Big To Fail.

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Ascolta: Reagan at Bitburg (2009)

Update from United Mutations:

Ascolta are a Stuttgart based septet, though there were 10 on stage this cold November night. As a contemporary music ensemble they have been at the fore of playing modern music. The two percussionists, Martin Homann and Boris Muller were involved in Zappas infamous Rage and Fury recording of Varese (yet to be released).
After sending Gail Zappa the recording of two arrangements of synclavier pieces from Civilisation Phase 3 (Reagan in Bitburg and Im in a Drum), Gail invited them to LA to see whether they could arrange some other synclavier tracks – not yet released! They played a load of tracks, which Ascolta claim were completely unplayable, apart that is from 2 tracks which they took away, arranged and recorded last year for ZFT. Those tracks were Samba Funk and Uncle Sam. Ascolta play Samba Funk along with the synclavier recording from the vault.

ZAPPATiKA! – Strictly Frankly

Everyone knows I’m always game for fresh new covers of Frank Zappa music, no matter the source, so when Zap Mcinnes of ZAPPATiKA! sent KUR an edited mix (ready for streaming) as a sort of belated Xmas present of their December 18th, 2010 performance at the QBUS Concert Hall, in Leiden, Holland, The Netherlands, where they headlined an event called The Ultimate Rock Party – along with Okham’s Razor who tackled the Stones catalog and Bald As Love, a no-hair Hendrix tribute act – performing 100% Zappa, I was thrilled to hear it.
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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.

Women Drummers – The Black Page

Once considered a boy’s only club, more and more women are taking up the drums as an instrument of choice – such as Lucy Landymore* (above) who performs Frank Zappa’s “The Black Page Drum Solo”, as well as Heather Thomas (below) who also performs “The Black Page #1” with the Central Washington University Percussion Ensemble. It bodes very well for equality of the sexes behind the drums.
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