TMers,
This could have been placed in the concert calendar, but it also begs discussion of ways to move ahead in music. Dan Rosenboom, as some of you know, is one of my students at CalArts and is forging a solid career both here and abroad doing wacky and really interesting things.
If any of you are in SoCal and a fan of avant garde music, please go to this (!)
Best,
EC
Stravinsky: Histoire du Soldat/Grande Mothers Re:Invented
Friday, April 14; Saturday, April 15, 2006, 8:30pm
REDCAT (The Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater)
http://redcat.org/season/0506/mus/mothers.php
A raucous two-part concert inspired by the enduring legacy of Frank Zappa.
First, the trio of Don Preston, Napoleon Murphy Brock and Roy Estrada joins
forces with an ensemble of guest artists featuring Joel Hamilton, Amy
Knoles, Marc Lowenstein, Daniel Rosenboom, Sara Schoenbeck, Harry Scorzo,
David Sherr, and Steven Suminski, plus dancer Lillian Bitkoff, for a heady
new interpretation of Stravinsky’s WWI commedia dell’arte traveling show
Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale). In the second half, the full
complement of the Grande Mothers teams up with Miroslav Tadic, Chris Garcia
and other guests to revisit classic Zappa from landmark rock albums such as
We’re Only in It for the Money, Uncle Meat, One Size Fits All, Roxy and
Elsewhere, and FZ:OZ
THE GRANDE MOTHERS RE:INVENTED
http://www.thegrandmothers.com
featuring former members of the Mothers of Invention
Napoleon Murphy Brock (with FZ 1974–1984)
vocals, tenor saxophone, flute, suavenicity, dancing (!)
Roy Estrada (with FZ 1964–1984)
bass, pachuco falsettos, and operatic madness
Don Preston (with FZ 1966–1974)
piano, keyboard synthesizers, electronics, vocals
with
Miroslav Tadic: stunt guitar, snake guitar, loud guitar
Christopher Garcia: drumset, percussion, marimba, vocals
In August 2002, three legacies of former members of the Mothers of Invention
united for the first time to perform the music of Frank Zappa. They have
since performed over 60 three-hour concerts across America, Canada and
Europe to standing-room audiences everywhere, proving that “they can still
do that on stage”.
The evening consisted of classic Frank Zappa material as well as new music
written by Don Preston for the band and chamber orchestra. It would also be
the first time that three legacies of former Mothers of Invention would
reunite and take the stage as a group, the same alumni who helped create
classics like: Freak Out, Absolutely Free, We’re Only in It for the Money,
Uncle Meat, Burnt Weenie Sandwich, Weasels Ripped My Flesh Live at the Roxy
and Elsewhere, One Size Fits All, and FZ:OZ.
On March 27th, 2003 after 6 months of intensive rehearsals, the Grande
Mothers Re:Invented took the stage to a standing-room-only audience. The
event was recorded, filmed, and released by Warner Classics in Europe, and
has been broadcast on European television. Since then the Grande Mothers
Re:Invented have been headliners at the 2003 Frankfurt Jazz Festival, the
14th annual Zappanalle Festival in 2004, and 60 three-hour concerts across
America, Canada, and Europe including Austria, Belgium, Croatia,
Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway, and
Switzerland.
They did an excellent job handling complex pieces somewhere between the
Vienna School, avant-garde rock and improvised music … the program featured
almost exclusively songs by Frank Zappa, including gems such as “Montana”,
“Hungry Freaks, Daddy”, “The Black Page Part 1”, and “Village of the Sun”.
The Grande Mothers did everything perfectly in their concert … The band
answered the call for several encores.
—Volgtland-Anzeiger
Great news for Zappaphiles! Short of Frank himself coming back from beyond
to bend ears and brains, this is about as close to an authentic live version
of Zappa’s music as you can possibly get … Reaction on the fan web sites has
been nothing short of rapturous.
—Prague Post
This isn’t just another comeback by some old rock fogies, this is the
reincarnation of the “Mothers”! The Grande Mothers Re:Invented let it all
hang out. It was clear to see that they were having great fun. Once again
the Zappa jazz-rock big band sound of the ’70s and ’80s rang out. The
amazing virtuoso calibre displayed by the Grand old men must have surprised
everyone. Hats off! —Leipzig-Almanach
The versions of “Orange County Lumber Truck”, “Montana”, “Hungry Freaks,
Daddy”, “Echindas Art(Of You)” and “Mother People” work just fine and
vocally even show some improvements on the originals.” —Jazzwise
“The Mothers set new standards for performance”, Zappa wrote. In terms of
pure musicianship, theatrical presentation, formal concept and sheer
absurdity, this one ugly band demonstrated to the music industry that it was
indeed possible to make the performance of electric music a valid artistic
expression …The Mothers managed to perform in alien time signatures and
bizarre harmonic climates with a subtle ease that led many to believe it was
all happening in 4/4 with a teenage backbeat.”
—from Electric Don Quixote, Frank Zappa
“When the set began with ‘Florentine Pogen’ from ‘One Size Fits All,’ it was
evident straight away that the band was on top of the material.” —Signal to
Noise
REDCAT is located at 631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012, at the
corner of 2nd and Hope Streets inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex.
Parking is available in the Walt Disney Concert Hall parking structure and
at adjacent lots.
Tickets can be purchased by phone at 213.237.2800, on line at
http://www.redcat.org, and in person at the box office at the corner of 2nd
and Hope Streets in the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex, Tuesday-Saturday,
noon-6 p.m., and two hours prior to curtain.