Back in February, I announced a new version of the KUR forums: newer, better software, and a nicer look to boot. That forum has since turned out to be an avid gatherer of dust and tumbleweeds — mainly I guess, because this weblog has become the de facto place to discuss topics.
And so, we say goodbye to forum.killuglyradio.com. Its predecessor by the way, now an archive of sorts, can still be browsed.
The top main nav “forums” link needed to be replaced with something else, so I brought back a golden oldie: Gilles’ (does that name ring a bell?) repository of field recording CD jackets/covers, which I have dubbed: the crypt.
explores Zappa as a composer, and is told through the memories of some of those who knew him best — family, his friends, and some of the musicians who worked with him. You’ll hear from Zappa’s wife, Gail Zappa, Ruth Underwood, the percussionist who first heard him at a famous concert at New York’s Garrick Theatre in 1967; Elliot Ingber, a guitarist in the early Mothers of Invention, and Joe Travers, drummer and vaultmeister of the Zappa archives.
Part Three of which has been copied and uploaded to YouTube (Thanks to ‘tomtiddler’) in the clip above (and in Parts 2/3/4/5).
Enjoy! Especially if you didn’t hear it the first time around!
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.
In 2009, Unverschämtheit (Insolence) Vol. 2, is due for release. A particular focus of the album are songs with the woodwind phrase “Horny Hornz”. Estimated track of the album include: Heavy Duty Judy, Brown Shoes Do Not Make It, The Grand Wazoo, Tinseltown Rebellion, The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing, and Strictly Genteel. Recorded over the last 3 years at various concerts, including the band’s 15-year anniversary at Café Hahn, Koblenz.
On Tuesday, the 11th of August, 2009, in the St.Katharinen Kirche in Hamburg, Sheik Yerbouti will team up with Napoleon Murphy Brock for a “live and unplugged“ session that will kick off Zappanale #20. They will play the festival, itself, on Saturday, the 16th of August.
In the three clips above, Sheik Yerbouti with Napoleon Murphy Brock at the German club Objekt5, in Halle (Saale) on October 14th, 2008, perform “Village Of The Sun”, “Black Page #2”, and “St. Etienne”.
Sheik Yerbouti performed at Zappanale 4,5,8,10, and 14.
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, his time with Frank, synthesizer and keyboard technology and current projects. Mars is a keyboard player who played piano, organ and synthesizers in Frank Zappa’s touring and recording band between 1977 and 1982.
On April 17th, Rompannen conducted his interview with Robert “Bobby” Martin (second clip). Martin talks about his musical development, early music career, his time with Frank and composer jobs. Martin is a vocalist and multi instrumentalist who sang and played keyboards, saxophone and french horn in Frank Zappa’s band during the tours of 1981, 1982, 1984 and 1988.
On April 14th, Rompannen conducted his interview with Bruce Fowler (third clip). Fowler talks about his time with Frank, the movie business, the music scene, and his musical schooling among other things. Fowler is a trombone player that played in Frank Zappa’s touring and recording band during 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and also during Franks last tour in 1988.
All three alumni are members of The Band From Utopia. Partly known under that name, The Mar Vista Philharmonic: No Forest Fire, released this year (2009) also features Tommy Mars and Bruce Fowler (Walt Fowler, Larry Klimas, Kurt McGettrick, Arthur Barrow and Vinnie Colaiuta).
We here at Barfko-Swill are pleased to begin our digital release schedule (that includes FZ, DZ & other artists) with Warren Cuccurullo’s Playing In Tongues. And speaking of Playing In Tongues this is the launch of releases available through Barfko-Swill in 256 Kbps & FLAC formats. How you like it.
With Terry Bozzio on drums. You can order it here, listen samples from it here, read about it (history and all) here. Warren adds:
and here’s the BIG news… this disc contains a never before recorded piece of music by frank zappa…”recollection”, a 14 chord progression that was part of my 1978 zappa audition is now a ZFT approved new work by fz…
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 Mccowan: drums), but quickly grew to a 10 piece ensemble. The Bogus Pomp Orchestra consists of Bogus Pomp (the 10-piece electric band), plus a 15-piece chamber ensemble. They’re based in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA.
The band has performed concerts with New York Big Band leader Ed Palermo, and in 1998 and 1999 performed with Zappa alumni, Ike Willis. Since October 1999, Napoleon Murphy Brock has been a permanent member.
In the clip above, performing as the “Bogus Pomp Semi-Acoustic Orchestra” feat. Napoleon Murphy Brock at the St. Katharinen church in Hamburg, Germany, on August 13th, 2008 (organized by the Arf Society and opener for Zappanale 2008), the band performs “The Idiot George Bush Son” and “Sleep Dirt”.
Click here to download or listen to German radio broadcast of this Hamburg concert (It’s well worth the listen).
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: to explore each title must seduce each of the 9 members of the collective. It’s repertoire ranges from David Bowie to Frank Zappa, through Patti Smith, Bob Marley, Roxy Music, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Joy Division, Jimi Hendrix, The Fall, The Wolfgang Press, Brian Eno, Neil Young, Lou Reed, Talking Heads, Wire, Robert Wyatt, Martin Circus, Cream, John Lennon, Genesis, Nick Cave, etc… The commercial potential is not the main objective of DBRK, so do not you cross animating a wedding or a bar mitzvah, though… In a wink to Zappa, DBRK means: Delicious Band Research Kitchen.
In the first clip, DBRK performs a fantastic jazz-infused version of “Uncle Remus” live in Paris at the “Les Fils de l’Invention” FZ festival on July 5, 2008 (now my favorite version of this Zappa/Duke composition). In the second clip, they perform “Wino Man”.
Click here to catch up on the other goings on in Paris, in general, and in France, in particular (a pretty lively bunch of Zappa freaks, I must say). It’s entirely in French, so you’ll need to translate the page (use babelfish)
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 decided to start their own version of the Mothers after Frank called to tell them he was breaking up the band (then you’ll get an idea).
Gong is a progressive/psychedelic rock band formed by Australian musician Daevid Allen in 1967, after Allen—then a member of Soft Machine—was denied entry to the United Kingdom because of a visa complication. Allen remained in France where he and a London-born Sorbonne professor, Gilli Smyth, established the first incarnation of the band.
While the “Classic Gong” line-up retired from regular touring in 2001, there have been one-off reunions since, most notably at the “Gong Family Unconvention” (Uncon), the first of which was held in 2004 in the Glastonbury Assembly rooms as a one day event. The 2005 Uncon was a 2-day affair featuring several Gong-related bands such as Here and Now, System 7, House of Thandoy and Kangaroo Moon. The most recent Uncon was a 3-day event held at the Melkweg in Amsterdam on 3-5 November 2006, with practically all Gong-related bands present: classic Gong, System 7, Steve Hillage Band, Hadouk, Tim Blake & Jean-Philippe Rykiel, University of Errors, Here & Now, Mother Gong, Zorch, Eat Static, Acid Mothers Gong, Slack Baba, Kangaroo Moon and many others.
