LIVE - “Pershing’s Own” Chamber Music Recital | The Music of Steely Dan

(click the pic!) or:

https://youtu.be/8HaeM7EmPz8

Steely Dan live 2017: First date announced!

Rolfe!

These days a year without Steely Dan playing live seems like an unlikely occasion, but fans of the band are used to getting the first news of a tour/single dates a few weeks into a new year. February, March... That kind of thing.

However...

December 28, 2016 is the day that the first date of 2017 is official. Official as in up on the venues site. And us noticing it. With the help of a Pete Fogel post to the Facebook fan page.

Steely Dan will be playing the Hollywood Bowl on June 18, 2017 as part of the Special Concert series.

Are tickets for sale? No. And yes. Hollywood Bowl runs a subscripion type of ticket service and informs us all that "Special concerts may be added to your subscription order now, a 5 or More order starting March 15, or purchased individually starting May 1".

Photo: Danny Clinch/steelydan.com

That is, unless you're willing to help resellers like Viagogo where "those who have can sell their tickets for obscene amounts to those that want" ... sorry, where "people can buy and sell tickets for live events all over the world with confidence.".

When we looked Viagogo had 12 tickets for sale running $126 and up.

And while we are happy to see that the ticket industry's promise to stop ticket scalping and ticket touts is working...

;)

...we'd just rather concentrate on what's hopefully to come: A long and extensive Steely Dan 2017 tour. Make that WORLD tour.

Brian Eno on BBC Radio on Boxing Day

Cox. Keaveny and Eno in the London pub where The Boxing Day show was recorded. (Photo: BBC Radio 6 Music)

Brian Eno will join presenter Shaun Keaveny and professor Brian Cox on BBC Radio 6 Music for a three hour breakfast show on Boxing Day (December 26) at 7 a.m. local time.

Brian Eno held a BBC Music John Peel lecture last year and struck up a friendship with Shaun Keaveny and Brian Cox that led to Eno sending emails to the show, as well as making a few radio jingles in his home studio.

A discussion on the connection between music and science is promised. More here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0863sxj

Dweezil Zappa campaigning to keep using the Zappa name

Dweezil Zappa has started a campaign on Pledge Music to keep using the surname Zappa. He writes:

It sounds bizarre but it’s true! I could use your help. I am inviting everyone to please join me to make some noise and raise funds to propel the necessary legal arguments to secure the rights for me to continue to use ZAPPA as my last name.

Let’s band together and form a group called “Dweezil Zappa And The Others Of Intention.” By joining and supporting this group via the Pledge Music campaign your voice will be heard alongside my own in the fight against the proposed Federal Trademark of the surname ZAPPA set forth by 2 of my younger siblings. The trademark seeks to prevent me from using my own full name in the field of music, entertainment and public appearances among other things.

Dweezil is hoping for help from his fans and offer things like guitars, mugs, t-shirts, special signed copies of the CD Live In The Moment Part II, special vinyl test pressings and ... a personal golf tour!
10 US Dollars will get you a download of the track Dinosaur descibed as "A soaring 11-minute guitar instrumental composed by Dweezil Zappa that features guest solos by: James Santiago, David Walliman, Matt Picone, Tom Quayle, Oz Noy, Derryl Gabel, Chris Buono and Frank Zappa!"

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/othersofintention

More on the name controversy:

https://radiodupree.blogspot.se/2016/04/family-feud-goes-on-dweezil-changes.html

https://radiodupree.blogspot.se/2016/06/dweezil-zappa-on-zappa-vs-zappa-spat.html

Yes and ELO to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Photo from Yesworld.com

The Yes Union tour line-up will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2017.
This is how Yes veteran drummer Bill Bruford comments it on Facebook and on Yesworld.com:
"Yes was like my first girlfriend, to whom I was hopelessly committed. Despite a couple of wrinkles, I’m glad to hear the old girl is in fine shape".

http://yesworld.com/2016/12/yes-to-be-inducted-into-the-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-class-of-2017/

Also ELO - Electric Light Orchestra - will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Joan Baez and some more artists. Read all about it here:

https://www.rockhall.com/class-2017-inductions

200 Motels nominated for Grammy Award

The 2013 recording of Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels - The Suites, has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium.

Read more here: http://www.zappa.com/news/frank-zappas-200-motels-suites-nominated-grammy-award-best-classical-compendium

Greg Lake from King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer has died

Greg Lake has passed away aged 69.

Greg was a singer and bassist in King Crimson, before joining Emerson, Lake & Palmer where he played bass, guitar and sang.
He also released a number of solo albums.

BBC has more:

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38251936

Zappa sideman Allan Zavod dies

The Australian keyboardist and composer Allan Zavod has passed away. He may be best known for being in Frank Zappa's touring band from July to December 1984. 
Zavod also worked with Jean-Luc Ponty, George Benson, Eric Clapton, Duke Ellington and others.
Zavod died at the age of 71.

http://www.noise11.com/news/r-i-p-australian-composer-dr-allan-zavod-1945-2016-20161129

Here is a great interview with Allan Zavod where he speaks a lot about his days with Zappa.

Kate Bush: New album, new video, new interview!

With the live album of her comeback on stage in 2014 finally out we'd like to remind you of the interview she did on BBC Radio 6 last week. Her first interview in five years and up on the site for three more weeks. Here's the link:


http://bbc.in/2fHA0pn

She's also released a video of the song And Dream Of Sheep:



Now that the live album titled Before The Dawn - without overdubs - is here, what fans are hoping for is that the video version of the show will be released as well. Eventually.

"Sherlock Holmes" performs Comfortably Numb with David Gilmour

First and foremost known for portraying detective Sherlock Holmes in the currently running BBC series, Benedict Cumberbatch made a surprise appearance during David Gilmour's September 28, 2016 show to sing ... Comfortably Numb.

No, we didn't see that one coming, but here's the clip:

Passepied/パスピエ celebrate five years with Mayday/メーデー

Japanese band パスピエ (Passepeid) celebrate five years since the debut with a brand new single titled Mayday (メーデー):


We found them a couple of years ago thanks to our hunt for something melodic but ... different. Here's one of the songs from the band's debut five years ago. The song is titled 電波ジャック (Denpa Jakku):


Curious? Wikipedia's very basic page about Passepied/パスピエ:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passepied_(band)

An old article from 2011:
http://www.syncmusic.jp/wordpress/?p=12523

5 classic Zappa albums reissued on vinyl

The Zappa Family Trust and UMe are continuing their extensive reissue campaign by releasing five iconic works of the musical innovator on vinyl for the first time in decades: 
Cruising With Ruben & The Jets, Joe’s Garage, Lumpy Gravy, Weasels Ripped My Flesh and We’re Only In It For The Money. The albums will be pressed on 180 gram vinyl and available December 9. All albums are available for pre-order now.

http://www.zappa.com/news/five-monumental-frank-zappa-mothers-invention-albums-be-reissued-vinyl

Pink Floyd live in Sweden 1967 on CD

Recorded in 1967 by an enthusiast.
The release of the Pink Floyd 27 CD/DVD box The Early Years includes a recording of a concert in Stockholm shortly before band leader Syd Barrett left the group. Sveriges Radio has an interview today with Anders Lind, the guy who was allowed to record the show. Unfortunately, the vocals are bearly audible on the recording.
"It was because of a failed PA system. Back then there were no big sound systems. Afterwards I was disappointed and the reels sat on a shelf for years."

Listen here!
(Sveriges Radio's interview is in Swedish but includes some music from the Pink Floyd 1967 Stockholm concert)

Zappa jamming with Pink Floyd

Nick Mason and Zappa.

The Pink Floyd 27 CD/DVD box The Early Years 1965-72 sure is expensive ($ 550) but it does however include som interesting gems. One of them is a film of the Floyds jamming with Frank Zappa at Music Power & European Music Revolution, at Amougies Mont de l’Enclus, Belgium, 25 October 1969. 

Watch the footage here

Zappa was the MC of the festival. For a long time it was debated if this jam really took place since Zappa denied it. Some years ago sound and photos began leaking out and on this film we can clearly see and hear Zappa sitting in with Pink Floyd.
The track is the instrumental Interstellar Overdrive. Maybe not the best jam, but still a historical document.

Leonard Cohen 1934-2016

You all know it by now, and what can we say? This year so many great artists have been taken from us. All of them are highly missed, but listening to the music, reading the poetry and watching the TV appearances can be comforting. Here is a real gem, a 1966 interview with Leonard Cohen.