Sheik Yer Zappa
| Sheik Yer Zappa | ||||
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| Live album by Stefano Bollani | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Decca / Universal Group | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
9 |
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running time |
58:25 |
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| occupation | ||||
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Stefano Bollani |
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Sheik Yer Zappa is a jazz album by pianist Stefano Bollani . It was recorded at several concerts in 2011 and released on October 27, 2014 on the Decca Black sub-label of the Universal Music Group . It contains u. a. Compositions by the band leader and guitarist Frank Zappa (1940–1993) and alludes to the title of his album Sheik Yerbouti .
background
Bollani recorded the album over the course of several concerts in 2011; In addition to Bollani's own compositions, it contains six compositions by Frank Zappa, the title track of the album " Uncle Meat " (1969), "Eat That Question", "Blessed Relief" (both from the 1973 album The Grand Wazoo ), "Cosmic Debris". (from Apostrophe (') , 1974), “ Peaches en Regalia ” (from Hot Rats , 1969) and finally “ Bobby Brown (Goes Down) ” (1979), “the hymn of America's failures”, which the pianist mockingly serious also sings. Josh Roseman (trombone), Jason Adasiewicz (vibraphone), Larry Grenadier (double bass) and Jim Black (drums) played in Bollani's band .
In an interview, Bollani commented on his approach, which differs from the usual Zappa cover bands :
- “We used the pieces as a starting point for a lot of improvisations. What we did: we 'shook' Zappa to accomplish other things. But Zappa's shadow was on us. The spirit with which he made use of all the music in the world, mixed them up and combined them in an interesting way by, so to speak, 'placing a sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissecting table' (an allusion to an absurd metaphor by the French surrealist Lautréamont ) ”.
Track list
- Stefano Bollani: Sheik Yer Zappa (Decca / UMO 00602547051523)
- A Cosmik Intro (Bollani) - 3:55
- Cosmik Debris - 6:35
- Bobby Brown Goes Down - 5:59
- Blessed Relief - 12:21
- Male Male (Jason Adasiewicz / Stefano Bollani) - 3:56
- Bene Bene (Stefano Bollani) - 4:43
- Eat That Question - 3:55
- Peaches En Regalia - 4:58
- Uncle Meat - 12:03 pm
- All other compositions are by Frank Zappa.
reception
Thomas Steinfeld wrote in the Süddeutsche Zeitung : “The line-up is distinctive because the vibraphone is a strangely out of fashion instrument, but not only reminiscent of Zappa's own instrumentation , but also of a bygone avant-garde, and because the trombone is much softer, more flexible and sounds warmer than a saxophone or a trumpet , on which the original compositions often relied. "This creates a" homogeneous sound that preserves the connection to New Music just as it does with the apparent pleasure of rock music ("Cosmic Debris") ), in which the vibraphone beats the ' power chords ' - even if it is ultimately the case that a multi-fingered piano and very precise drums hold the whole thing together. "
Jim Bungey awarded the album four (out of five) stars in the Times and praised the acoustic, chamber music arrangements especially of "Cosmik Debris", "Uncle Meat" and "Eat that Question".
The Guardian critic noted that this was “a largely improvised tribute to Frank Zappa [...] With the mixture of Zappa classics and original compositions, Bollani celebrated the art of improvisation and Zappa's legacy as both a great melodist and a culturally subversive . The highlight of the album is the long and winding version of "Eat That Question", with Jim Black's choppy drumming. "
In the opinion of the culture magazine , Bollani has found “congenial brothers in spirit with Adasiewicz, Black, Grenadier and Roseman who do not interpret Zappa pieces with him, but recompose Zappa, reinvent it, make use of it - so anarchic, unorthodox and sometimes biting as he once did it himself with thieving joy. "" Although there is by no means a lack of structures, there is still plenty of room for spontaneous improvisational flashes of inspiration, unexpected twists and turns and above all for that incomparable musical fun that can only result from perfect skill . "
The critic of Südwestrundfunk similarly called Bollani's album “a winking bow to the great Frank Zappa. [...] Bollani is playful and idiosyncratic with originals like Bobby Brown . "
Michael Rüsenberg , on the other hand, views Bollani's Zappa project rather critically; Compared to the attempts of others to interpret Zappa's music, Bollani “probably [...] didn't think so much and just used a few Zappa tunes to let off steam. This is what this company sounds like. ”On the other hand, the author praises the contributions of the rhythm section with Larry Grenadier and Jim Black:“ It is hard to imagine where this performance would have taken without them, which repeatedly demands attention and respect for the two Americans. For example the drum breaks in “Cosmik Debris” and the bass flageolets in the same piece, the bass intro to “Blessed Relief”, or Black's nervous patterns in “Eat that Question”. ”Adasiewicz and Roseman, on the other hand, would become clear fall away, and also the band leader "- apart from a few details - certainly not his greatest moments here."
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Thomas Steinfeld: Even a Zappa finds its master . Süddeutsche Zeitung of February 2, 2015, p. 10.
- ↑ http://www.marlbank.net/reviews/2174-smells-funny
- ↑ http://www.jazzecho.de/stefano-bollani/news-und-rezensions/news/article:230737/bollani-plays-zappa-geschuettelt-nicht-geruehrt
- ↑ http://www.universal-music.de/stefano-bollani/diskografie/detail/product:222271/sheik-yer-zappa
- ↑ http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/music/albumreviews/article4265674.ece
- ^ Review of the album in the Guardian
- ↑ http://www.kulturzeitschrift.at/kritiken/cd-tipp/stefano-bollani-sheik-yer-zappa
- ↑ http://www.swr.de/swr2/programm/sendung/jazz/swr2-jazz-sheik-yer-zappa-neu/-/id=659242/did=14929124/nid=659242/m4lzoj/index.html
- ↑ http://www.jazzcity.de/index.php/reviews-2014-neu/1544-stefano-bollani-sheik-yer-zappa