Results for "Frank Zappa"

Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa was born on 21 December 1940, in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. His parents were second-generation Sicilian Greeks, the family had arabian and french origins too. His father played "strolling crooner" guitar. At the age of 12 Frank, who had relocated to California with his family, became interested in drums, learning orchestral percussion at summer school in Monterey. In high school he had some more harmony training because he was an unruly senior, and was given permission to take some harmony classes "to occupy his mind with". In fact, he found the training very boring. The first time he had any of his music performed was at Mount St

Zappa

By IAN PATTERSON

Alex Winter Zappa Magnolia Pictures 2020 Composer, guitarist and iconoclast nonpareil, Frank Zappa was never an easy artist to pin down, as Alex Winter's perceptive and entertaining documentary makes abundantly clear. If an artist's music should speak for itself, what are we to make of Zappa's freakish '60s collage ...

Django Bates: Tenacity

By FRIEDRICH KUNZMANN

Few jazz artists go to such great lengths to make their audience feel at the same time bewildered by humor-infused technical exhaustion and smitten by charm and sheer musical beauty as Django Bates does. The English pianist and composer has gained a reputation over the years, for bringing the quirkiest and widest range of ideas and ...

Robby Krieger: The Ritual Begins At Sundown

By KYLE SIMPLER

The Doors are one of the most iconic bands in rock music, and people who collect their albums have recently been treated to some special releases. The 50th anniversary release of Morrison Hotel (Elektra Catalog Group, 2020) features a remastered mix along with over an hour of bonus tracks. The latest Record Store Day drop featured ...

Michael Brecker, Steven Bernstein and the Art of Jazz-Hacking the Pop World - Part 2

By LUDOVICO GRANVASSU

This is the second part of our exploration of Michael Brecker's and Steven Bernstein's work as first-call musicians in the world of high-end pop productions. Their capacity to adapt to the demands of these productions while remaining true to their jazz roots has offered millions of listeners that might have looked at jazz with ...

Django Bates: 60+40—Charlie Parker: 100

By VIC ALBANI

Nel nefasto 2020 molte celebrazioni, anniversari e festival a tema hanno dovuto arrendersi all'emergenza Covid-19 anche se, in calendario, ne sono rimasti alcuni davvero irrinunciabili. Uno di questi è il centenario della nascita del signor Charlie Parker, nato a Kansas City il 29 agosto 1920 e scomparso poi a New York nella primavera del 1955. Ad ...

Gabe Terracciano: A Constant State Of Arriving

By IAN PATTERSON

It may seem strange that a jazz violinist should admit to hating jazz violin, but Gabe Terracciano is not your run-of-the-mill jazz violinist. For starters, what other jazz violinist plays Ornette Coleman tunes in a bluegrass band? Nor are there too many jazz violinists who have taken first prize at an old-time fiddle competition, toured Ghana ...

Hermon Mehari, Ezra Collective, Zappa for piano & New Releases

By LUDOVICO GRANVASSU

The fusion of different musical cultures and genres is at the heart of this edition of Mondo Jazz, where the works of Frank Zappa are given the solo piano treatment by Dave Hartl, Mats Öberg and Stefano Bollani, where a Kansas City expat in Paris, trumpeter Hermon Mehari, explores both his Eritrean roots and his urban ...

Roberto Olzer: Suoni per immaginare Fellini

By PAOLO MARRA

"Fellini 100" è il nuovo progetto del pianista e compositore Roberto Olzer, uno spettacolo multimediale di musica e arte visiva allestito nell'ambito del Festival Piemontese Tones and Stones (in rassegna dal 19 al 26 Luglio) per omaggiare il grande Maestro del Cinema, a cent'anni dalla sua nascita. Ad accompagnare il pianista sul palco, nella giornata inaugurale, ...

Mattias Risberg's Mining: Zauberberg

By KARL ACKERMANN

The Swedish pianist Mattias Risberg has teamed up with a range of well-known northern European born or based improvisers, including saxophonist Fredrik Ljungkvist and vocalist Jennie Abrahamson. He remains largely unknown in the U.S. but garnered well-deserved attention for And Now the Queen--A Tribute to Carla Bley (Lilalo records, 2016), a duo recording with Ljungkvist. Risberg ...