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The Ed Palermo Big Band: Oh No! Not Jazz!!
by Vic Albani
La Big Band di Ed Palermo ha iniziato a suonare le composizioni di uno dei più grandi musicisti del secolo scorso, Frank Zappa, per puro e immenso amore nei confronti di quel genio poco dopo la sua scomparsa avvenuta il 4 dicembre del 1993. A parte la risaputa difficoltà tecnica ed esecutiva delle partiture zappiane, ci sono davvero ben poche band al mondo capaci di tanta fedeltà e bontà qualitativa quanto quella della formazione del sassofonista e ...
Continue ReadingEd Palermo: Not Only In It For The Money
by Duncan Heining
It's been twenty years since saxophonist-composer-arranger Ed Palermo and his Big Band began playing the music of Frank Zappa. Twenty years, not a lot of bread but a whole lot of love from fans and musicians alike. Oh No! Not Jazz!! on Cuneiform Records marks the band's fourth Zappa album and the third for that remarkable independent label but it also adds something new to the mix. It's a double CD set with the second CD devoted to Palermo's own ...
Continue ReadingEd Palermo: Eddy Loves Frank
by Ken Dryden
Since 1994, Ed Palermo has arranged and performed over 200 works by the late Frank Zappa, a brilliant musician whose often controversial lyrics distracted people from his gifts as a composer. Putting together a tightly rehearsed band consisting of New York City-based musicians, Palermo has played his charts in nightclubs around the city for over 15 years, while excelling at putting his personal stamp on Zappa's music in a jazz setting, drawing material from different periods in the rocker's career. ...
Continue ReadingEd Palermo Big Band: Eddy Loves Frank
by Nic Jones
With the dubious benefit of hindsight, it could be argued that Frank Zappa's music could--and on the basis of this release can still be--defined by what it's not. Zappa was both astute and knowing enough to realize that both progressive and jazz rock could easily become stylistic straitjackets. His music was reflective of this knowledge as much as it was infused with a sense of humor so sophisticated as to be entirely at odds with his often low-brow verbal satire. ...
Continue ReadingEd Palermo: We're Only In It For The Music
by Ian Patterson
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?
Yes, it's safe to say that saxophonist, composer and arranger Ed Palermo really, really loves Frank.
Ed Palermo (center, on alto) with Ed ...
Continue ReadingEd Palermo Big Band: Eddy Loves Frank
by Ian Patterson
The Ed Palermo Big BandEddy Loves FrankCuneiform Records2009
Saxophonist and bandleader Ed Palermo loves Frank Zappa, and not just a little bit. It's not only the transcribing of 200 Zappa tunes, the scores of concerts where Palermo has led his big band through the late Zappa's music, nor the three CDs celebrating his music which Palermo has recorded to date; it's also the fact that Palermo considers Zappa worthy of the same ...
Continue ReadingThe Ed Palermo Big Band: Eddy Loves Frank
by Jerry D'Souza
Alto saxophonist/bandleader Ed Palermo returns with his third CD devoted to the music of Frank Zappa. Palermo has now become the jazz face of Zappa, having prepared close to 200 transcripts that leaven the music with jazz harmony, while leaving the inherent flavor and quirkiness intact. The charts lend themselves to lush orchestration as much as they leave room for individual musicians to make distinctive statements. Add Palermo's humor to the dynamic, and it's yet another delicious dollop of enjoyable ...
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