Yahoo Tuning Groups Ultimate Backup makemicromusic make microtonal music 2005

Hey Jon, yes, Fallen Nation was another collaboration, and besides
being a serious--and seriously laconic--rap about oppression, it's a
massive a tip of the cap to Richard Burton and all those great bummin
performances like The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Who's Afraid Of
Virginia Woolf and Night Of The Iguana. Happy Birthday was an audio
birthday present and it's hard to say what's more out-of-tune (err,
microtonal I mean), the singing or the calliope collage... for
whatever reason these are two of my personal faves.

The Frank Zappa piece was something I initially wrote for a Zappa
memorial concert; Fz's death was a real surprise/shock to me as I
wasn't aware that he was sick with cancer. At the time I was not
performing, but I still really wanted to contribute, so I wrote a
suite of pieces for Bb Clarinet, fuzz bass and drums. It was not
really music in the style of Zappa per se, no rhythmic unisons, no
trills, no mischievous slapstick etc, etc... but I still meant it as
a tribute in that I really respected both his music and his
unmistakably one-of-a-kind contribution to progressive, experimental
rock musicians the whole world over. Anyway, in this music I tried to
mix bitonality, modulation, polyrhythms, rock and melody as rhythm
and rhythm as melody. Unfortunately, even though I took a lot of time
to write out all the parts including the drums, the players I kept
trying to get to play this music didn't work out and I was a no-show
for the concert... grrrrrrrrr! Oh well, after that I figured WTF, if
everyone's going to grumble, and no one's going to play it anyway,
then fu^# fu%^ing 12-tet... I'll rewrite them the way I really want
and make them totally unplayable! So eventually I added a few more
pieces to the set and rewrote them for completely impractical and all
but unplayable tunings... but this is the original demo that was done
quickly by me just to give potential players for the concert a little
idea of what I wanted.

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Jon Szanto" <JSZANTO@A...>
wrote:
>
> Dan,
>
> I liked "Fallen Nation" a lot, and I'm *really* looking forward to
> your Zappa suite!! In fact, I'll go check now to see if it's up...
>
> Cheers,
> Jon

Worcester Telegram Gazette

Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)

February 13, 1994

Column: NIGHTWATCH

WAG TAPS THREE BANDS FOR A TRIBUTE TO FRANK ZAPPA

Author: Scott McLennan

Edition: ALL
Section: DATEBOOK
Page: 9

Index Terms:
BARS & NIGHTCLUBS, OBITS, MEMORIALS, MUSIC, WORC,

SCHEDULES,

Estimated printed pages: 3

Article Text:

"Most rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people
who can't talk for people who can't read," said Frank Zappa in 1970.

"We'll try anyway," I said in 1994.

Frank Zappa may have been tough on journalists, but he was even
tougher on musicians. Few, it seemed, could match his vision or
hyperactive work ethic. So any given band led by Zappa lasted just a
short time before some inevitable lineup change.

Worcester Artist Group is focusing though on Zappa's more endearing
qualities, such as his musical innovations and sense of humor. And
the host of musicians WAG rounded up for its tribute to Zappa can
breathe easier knowing they only have to answer to the easygoing Phil
McNamara and Bob Jordan, instead of a legendary taskmaster.

Zappa died in December at age 52 after a bout with prostate cancer.
WAG's McNamara said he and Jordan had been discussing a WAG tribute
to Zappa for a year and wanted to do something wh! ile he was still
alive. "Apart from the hard core, other bands we worked with cited
Zappa as a mentor," McNamara said. So WAG hoped to have an arts
festival that included music, poetry, and performance all done in a
Zappaesque way.

Obviously, that never came to be, and in the fall, shortly before
Zappa's death, WAG lost its performance space in Cherry Valley. WAG
then found it difficult to book any shows and is just coming up to
speed using a variety of listening rooms around Worcester to present
its avant-garde fare. But in putting together a concert with yeP!,
Gingerbutkis and Supergreg and Waterpark, WAG recognized Zappa
qualities as a common thread, McNamara said. So the original triple
bill rock show took on the look of a Zappa tribute and the lineup has
grown to include those three bands and Dan Stearns, Borderland and
John McKeag. Following the music at 12:30 a.m. WAG will show the cult
classic Zappa film "200 Motels."

In speaking to some of the artists! taking part in the tribute, a
funny thing came to light. They may re mind a listener of Zappa, but
they never necessarily dove wholeheartedly into his music.

"Everyone who sees us says, "You guys must listen to a lot of Zappa,'
and we never really did," said John Shipman, a k a Supergreg, the
guitarist and singer for Supergreg and Waterpark. "I went out and
finally got a few (Zappa) tapes, and I like him. The other guys
don't, though."

Supergreg and Waterpark is a very promising young band that played
pretty regularly at WAG and a few other nightspots in the spring and
summer before going on hiatus. The Zappa tribute will be the band's
first public show since growing into a quartet with the addition of
drummer Jeff Auburn.

Avant-guitarist Dan Stearns is another seeming Zappa acolyte, but
simply is not. "I got a lot of my influences early on, and Zappa
wasn't one of them. That's simply because I wasn't exposed to him. I
got a lot more influence from European-based bands that I can tell
now drew from Zappa," Stearns said.

Stearn's dense, dissonance-laden compositions bring to mind
Zappa's "serious" music, the neo-classical jazz fusions. For this
concert, Stearns wrote two new arrangements featuring guitar, banjo,
bass and drum. Unfortunately he has been hamstrung for a rhythm
section and may have to shift gears before the show. Stearns' band,
Private World, has had 20 members come and go since forming a year
ago. There's another similarity between Stearns and Zappa.

The Boston-based trio Gingerbutkis is made up of Zappa fans, but has
never tried to play his music. "We love his approach to arranging,
using lots of movements in one song. That's something we do," said
bass player Stephen Villane. Gingerbutkis has found an audience here
with its multi-textured musical forays and plays at the invitation of
WAG every couple of months. "You need to be open minded when you come
to see us. And people who are musically inclined tend to like us. But
others get frustrated and leave the room! ," Villane said.

yeP! is one band though that has done its bit of worshiping at the
shrine of Zappa. Matt Laurence, yeP!'s bass player, recalled one band
meeting where everyone sat around and watched the Zappa performace
video "Baby Snakes" for inspiration. The group plays Zappa's "I Am
the Slime," but would love to tackle the warped "St. Alphonso's
Pancake Breakfast" at some point, Laurence said. "Frank Zappa was, no
doubt, a genius of bizarre and wonderful proportions. He stood as a
contradiction in the rock world. He rallied some of the best rock
players, yet was influenced by weird and obscure composers."

yeP! plays more of a funk-fueled freewheeling brand of rock than any
Zappa project did. But yeP!'s approach to songwriting takes on a wry
edge that Zappa would appreciate.

Most of the acts playing the tribute will stick to their own
material, but it should be clear what each shares with the one-of-a-
kind guitarist/composer/social critic/depraved humorist.

WAG TRIBUTE TO FRANK ZAPPA When: 7 p.m. Friday Where: ! White Eagle
Hall, 86 Green St., Worcester How Much: $5

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "daniel_anthony_stearns"
<daniel_anthony_stearns@y...> wrote:
>
> Hey Jon, yes, Fallen Nation was another collaboration, and besides
> being a serious--and seriously laconic--rap about oppression, it's
a
> massive a tip of the cap to Richard Burton and all those great
bummin
> performances like The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Who's Afraid
Of
> Virginia Woolf and Night Of The Iguana. Happy Birthday was an audio
> birthday present and it's hard to say what's more out-of-tune (err,
> microtonal I mean), the singing or the calliope collage... for
> whatever reason these are two of my personal faves.
>
> The Frank Zappa piece was something I initially wrote for a Zappa
> memorial concert; Fz's death was a real surprise/shock to me as I
> wasn't aware that he was sick with cancer. At the time I was not
> performing, but I still really wanted to contribute, so I wrote a
> suite of pieces for Bb Clarinet, fuzz bass and drums. It was not
> really music in the style of Zappa per se, no rhythmic unisons, no
> trills, no mischievous slapstick etc, etc... but I still meant it
as
> a tribute in that I really respected both his music and his
> unmistakably one-of-a-kind contribution to progressive,
experimental
> rock musicians the whole world over. Anyway, in this music I tried
to
> mix bitonality, modulation, polyrhythms, rock and melody as rhythm
> and rhythm as melody. Unfortunately, even though I took a lot of
time
> to write out all the parts including the drums, the players I kept
> trying to get to play this music didn't work out and I was a no-
show
> for the concert... grrrrrrrrr! Oh well, after that I figured WTF,
if
> everyone's going to grumble, and no one's going to play it anyway,
> then fu^# fu%^ing 12-tet... I'll rewrite them the way I really want
> and make them totally unplayable! So eventually I added a few more
> pieces to the set and rewrote them for completely impractical and
all
> but unplayable tunings... but this is the original demo that was
done
> quickly by me just to give potential players for the concert a
little
> idea of what I wanted.
>
>
>
> --- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Jon Szanto" <JSZANTO@A...>
> wrote:
> >
> > Dan,
> >
> > I liked "Fallen Nation" a lot, and I'm *really* looking forward to
> > your Zappa suite!! In fact, I'll go check now to see if it's up...
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Jon

make microtonal music 2005

🔗daniel_anthony_stearns <daniel_anthony_stearns@...>

🔗daniel_anthony_stearns <daniel_anthony_stearns@...>

🔗Jon Szanto <JSZANTO@...>

🔗daniel_anthony_stearns <daniel_anthony_stearns@...>

🔗daniel_anthony_stearns <daniel_anthony_stearns@...>