INTERVIEW FOR SLOVENIA DAILY NEWSPAPER
FOR GRAND MOTHERS OF INVENTION TOUR NOV 2014
SLOW NEWS DAY??
for some reason(?) I was asked to be interviewed
for the SLOVENIA DAILY NEWSPAPER
here is the link to the interview
http://www.dnevnik.si/magazin/aktualno/zappo-igramo-kot-ga-sami-razumemo
and here is the translation below
Christopher Garcia – Grand Mothers of Invention
(Kino Šiška, 26. novembra 2014)
You have stated that forming Grandmothers of Invention is not another comeback but reincarnation of Mothers of Invention. I can see what you mean by that, but can you explain me a little bit deeper set of reasons that revive (what is left of) former Frank Zappa bend?
you are actually quoting from this review from our first performance in Leipzig in 2003
“This isn’t just another comeback by some old rock fogies, this is the reincarnation of the “Mothers”! The Grande Mothers Re:Invented let it all hang out. It was clear to see that they were having great fun. Once again the Zappa jazz-rock big band sound of the 70s and 80s rang out. The amazing virtuoso caliber displayed by the Grand old men must have surprised everyone. Hats off!”
from LEIPZIG -ALMANACH
I would never have stated that, out of respect to the MOTHERS OF INVENTION
When and why this reformation took place?
Who came with idea and how did you find each other since many artists went through Frank's band?
The Grande Mothers Re:Invented came about in 2002 when Don Preston was asked by producer Hendrik
Haubold * to reassemble any and all ex MOTHERS OF INVENTION from the earlier incarnations of the band willing to perform a one time concert at the Gewendhaus in Leipzig in 2003 with a string orchestra
*http://www.ndr.de/ndrkultur/team/Hendrik-Haubold-,haubold103.html
http://zappanalata.blogspot.de/2011/07/grandmothers-2003-grandmothers-night-at.html
That group of people included three legacies of MOTHERS OF INVENTION including
Napoleon Murphy Brock,
Roy Estrada,
Bunk Gardner
and
Don Preston
the only non MOTHERS asked to perform by Don Preston for that performance
were guitarist Ken Rosser and myself on drumset and marimba
Roy Estrada of course is a PRE MOTHERS OF INVENTION band member
i.e., THE SOUL GIANTS and is the only MOI Alumni on the first
album that performed in Leipzig.
Frank Zappa was asked to join the SOUL GIANTS, the band with Jimmy Carl Black,
Roy Estrada, Dave Coronado, and later Ray Collins. Those guys never auditioned for the Mothers
of Invention, Frank basically started writing original music for that band to perform
and they eventually became the MOTHERS OF INVENTION.
Both Don Preston and Bunk Gardner auditioned from the Mothers and joined after FREAK OUT
Napoleon Murphy Brock was eventually recruited by Frank Zappa during his
recording of Apostrophe and subsequent MOTHERS OF INVENTION incarnations.
Roy had previously worked extensively with Don and Bunk as a part of the MOI and Don had worked with a later incarnation of the MOI as a special guest with the ROXY AND ELSEWHERE TOUR which Napoleon was a part of, and Roy and Napoleon had toured with Frank Zappa as yet another incarnation of the MOTHERS OF INVENTION in 1975/1976. One of the smaller configurations he ever put together with one of the longer tours he ever put together.
So it was an interesting cast of characters who shared history and experience with the Soul Giants AND the Mothers of Invention who came together for this. When I asked Don why Jimmy Carl Black was not participating I was told that the alumni wanted to have extensive rehearsals for this performance and all of us were in the United States and Jimmy was living in Germany.
What happened after that first concert is that we were asked to stay together for a tour in EU, and since that time we have done over 500 performances in 26 countries on 4 continents which is very surprising.
Mentioning many mothers.
To whom invitations were sent?
Who refuse (and why) participation to the project, to became grandmother?
You would have to ask Don Preston who else was asked that did not wish to perform.
But I know that some no longer wished to perform the music because they had careers
of their own or they were not close enough to Los Angeles to make the extensive rehearsals
for that performance.
Please keep in mind that we thought it would be a one time performance.
We can understand, that basic purpose of the project is keeping Frank's
heritage alive and introduce it to (old again) and newer generations.
Could you draw the line between generations?
There are different incarnations/generations of MOTHERS OF INVENTION and their fans. Some fans like the earlier versions, some like later versions with Flo and Eddie, some prefer the versions with George Duke and some the later incarnations when Frank Zappa dropped the name the MOTHERS OF INVENTION entirely and the band ceased to be a band that rehearsed every day.
Later incarnations basically had members who had to audition and rehearse for specific tours, they did not rehearse every day as the original mothers did and I don't think it had anything to do with musicianship. Jimmy Carl Black and Roy Estrada might not be able to read music but they were always able to MAKE MUSIC and the foundation for everything that came later was because of the Indian and the Mexican of the group as a rhythm section, even when Frank got musicians with better musical skills that could also read music like Ian Underwood and Art Tripp.
The generational difference in the audience mostly comes from what music young people have heard either played at home for them by their parents or stuff that they have found themselves. In ancient times, before the INTERNET you would go to a record store and LISTEN to records BEFORE you bought them and see if you wanted to take them home. With the advent of the internet any type of music became almost instantly accessible. But I have found that when I ask young people how they know this music, most of them tell me that they heard the music because of their parents playing that music in their households.
How are you experiencing people from different generations
experience Franks music and myth, of cause?
What are similarities and what are differences?
People are drawn to the music for different reasons, some like the words, others the music, others both,
some like the virtuosity and some like the classical stuff. I think that the music is very diverse and interesting from a musical point of view and it is of course saturated with the mind set of Frank Zappa and MOI/Zappa fans are very different from each other as people but NOT as ZAPPA fans.
Every MOI/ZAPPA fan has a real devotion to listening to this music and hearing it performed LIVE.
The first time we played in Croatia there was a young man who came up to speak to me, who could barely speak English and I did not speak or understand his language.
I asked him, "how old are you and how do you know this music?"
His reply, " I'm 18. My father, My father"
When I asked him where his father was since he was alone, he pointed out four people in the crowd to me and said, "my mother, my father, my uncle, my brother"
And how you, as Chris, experience Frank's heritage. I mean, do you remember,
when you hear his music for the first time and what were your reactions?
Definitely.
The first record I ever heard was APOSTROPHE and the words were funny to me and the music was astounding to me. I didn't know how it was put together but it didn't really matter to me at that time. Like good food at a good restaurant I don't really care what the ingredients are as long as it tastes FANTASTIC.
The music had a great impact on me on many different levels.
Did this reactions (comprehend) changing through the years?
The more aware I became musically did not change my perception of the music, it appealed to me
on many different levels and continues to do so.
What about your listeners?
What are their reactions listening your show?
We know that they are very skeptical about such projects.
Mainly they experienced them as some "tribute to" or " we're only in it for the money"projects?
The fans who come to our show come because they love the music the way it is played by these guys.
We never try to sound like the original band, because it would be impossible, we have less people and less instruments. We have to do what any good musician has to do and make it our own.
What we do have is members from the MOTHERS OF INVENTION that were there when the band was a band, and band members with a real respect and LOVE for this music, and we have listeners who come to every show every year, sometimes multiple shows in a year, because they like our spin of the music.
There are many musicians, non Mothers, who play the early music, but it does not have
the same "feel" as when the original MOTHERS played it.
How could it?
They are not those people.
The Don Preston of 2014 is still Don Preston, albeit older.
Imagine someone coming to a family dinner trying to impersonate a family member and you get the idea.
You are what you are, and who you is, and the fans know that.
I doubt that they would come if the music was played badly,
but then again there is more to music than just playing the notes.
MUSICALITY has very little to do with MUSICIANSHIP, they are two VERY
different things.
I was never in the MOTHERS OF INVENTION but I have had the privilege of playing the music of Frank Zappa
while studying with John Bergamo (who was also Ed Mann's teacher)
who rehearsed, recorded and performed with Frank Zappa either in orchestral settings, or overdubbing on the following:
• Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra (September 1975) percussion
• Zappa In New York (1978) percussion
• Studio Tan (1978) percussion
• Orchestral Favorites (1979) percussion
• Tinsel Town Rebellion (1981) percussion
• Läther (1996) percussion
• QuAUDIOPHILIAc (2004) percussion
• One Shot Deal (2008) percussion
John also brought Ruth Underwood to teach master classes at Cal Arts, back in 1979-1980, so we were getting the music when John was getting the music and rehearsing it to perform concerts with the CAL ARTS PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE along with coaching from the people who played and MADE that music with THE MOTHERS.
Are they very picky and rigorous (we call it - looking under your fingers)
during your performance?
And comment later, you did this here, you did this there …?
The real hardcore fans know many different versions of the music,
they know if you made a mistake, if you forgot the words etc.,
they know if you are singing the verse the way it was sung in 1968 and if you are singing the bridge the way it was done in 1971, etc., the real fans really KNOW THE MUSIC.
I should say that there are also peripheral fans that don't know the music that well, they just know it as a brand name and maybe have 3 or 4 albums, while hardcore fans own every version of the album, video, cd, dvd etc.,
but they also appreciate and understand why it is changed or different.
This band has never been about trying to replicate a recording or a performance.
This band has always been about being in the moment at the moment, and like LIFE itself,
ANYTHING can and will happen whether we want it to or not.
That leads me to the questions – how much are you trying to perform as much close
to the original version of the piece and how much freedom for improvisation you have during “execution?”
It just depends on the song, some guys in the band like a very specific version much like a fan does and some like other versions, and sometimes we mix then all together, because this is A BAND, and a not a dictatorship. Everyone in the band has a say, an idea, a commitment or a comment in regards to their parts. Guitarist Max Kutner and bassist Eric Klerks have done their homework and can show you very different ways of playing the same music based on their personal experience of LISTENING and LEARNING this music.
It is definitely a world unto itself,
this world of ZAPPA music.
And what about the programme? What was or is your policy about which material to play?
How did you choose the songs? Is there any concept behind?
We play anything the band wants to play, sometimes it is music that they played on and sometimes stuff they never recorded but only rehearsed and performed that was not part of a commercial release.
Other times we play music that they never played on at all, like
APOSTROPHE
BIG SWIFTY
DEBRA KADABRA
MONTANA
etc.,
the one thing we want to do is make sure that the spirit of the original MOTHERS OF INVENTION
is kept alive, and you do that by it being a band, and not some MOTHERS with a back up band.
How would you compare Mothers and Grandmothers of Invention?
I would never compare them. They are very different animals from two very different times
separated by the times that they live in.
We are not stuck in the 1960's, the band and its members are cross generational as is the timelessness of the music.
I have heard many fans after the show who say that they came for the nostalgia and were totally blown away by the music,
and many fans come up and say that was amazing and fantastic and I always say that THE MUSIC is amazing and fantastic.
You are not only one who restore or reincarnate Frank Zappa's music.
Here's his son in Zappa Plays Zappa,
here's Dweezil. What do you think about them?
ZPZ.
They started playing ZAPPA music in 2006.
I was first asked to participate in 2002 and continue to be doing this and everything else I do.
I have only seem them once, and that was the first time that they played in Los Angeles with musical guests,
Terry Bozzio, Napoleon Murphy Brock and Steve Vai.
The band was very good and is still very good musically.
I think that it must be difficult for Dweezil sometimes, as he is not his father and I am sure that a lot of people,
sometimes expect him to be.
We are who we are and we aren't who we aren't.
Which is why we never try to replicate anything
But to give you another point of view on this
I am sending you a quote from a George Duke interview, along with the link,
so that it is not taken out of context.
Where he mentions the concert where he performed with ZPZ and his personal
experience when he played with that band.
GEORGE DUKE:
"I mean hopefully Zappa Play Zappa, those guys will begin to understand, that that’s what made this stuff really work, is the fact that it’s not only played well, and even the musical complexity, and you had to have that type of expertise, but there was also this other side, which was just total trash, just “throw the wrench in it!”, I mean it was for comedy’s sake, and it was a whole other level of Zappa, this is missing in Zappa Play Zappa right now, and I think they need that “off the cuff” kinda thing, y’know, to really make it work.
In terms of playing it, they’re playing the music as well as we ever played it, for sure."
http://www.zappasgear.com/GeorgeDukeInterview.html
I should point out that George came out to see us when we played in Los Angeles (8/8/12)
and had nothing but wonderful things to say about the performance and the band after the show. He just came to check us out, didn't want to sit in, just check us out, and you can see by the pics taken after the show that he had a ball just listening to the band.
MUSIC is much more than the notes, and the best band leaders tend to hire those who are not only musically astute but characters in and of themselves.
ZAPPA QUOTE
"For me it was always more interesting to encounter a musician who had a unique ability, find a way to showcase that and build that unusual skill into a composition so that forever and ever afterward that composition would be stamped with the personality of the person who was there when the composition was created."
FRANK ZAPPA
a part of BBC Late Show with Matthew Collings
"BBC Television Tribute" 1993.
You have also co-operated with Miroslav Tadić, who is well known here.
How he, as classical trained guitarist (with love for Balkan, especially Macedonian music) fits into the Grandmothers.
What he brought to the Grandmothers?
How did this co-operation take place?
Well Miroslav no longer performs with the Grand Mothers mostly due to scheduling conflicts.
But I can tell you that I was speaking to Arthur Jarvinen at the time we were looking for guitarists and he suggested Miroslav.
We had known each other since 1978 when we attended Cal Arts, and I was surprised to find that Miroslav would even consider playing the music of Frank Zappa, not because he could not play the music but because I did not think he would be interested in playing this music.
He was in Croatia on vacation at that time and we connected via email and he came in and did an amazing job, how could he not,
he is an amazing guitarist and an amazing human being who loves this music.
Each of us continues to do a myriad of things with the Grand Mothers of Invention being one of many projects that we each continue to do.
see link below
http://christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/making-music---links-and-more.html
Miroslav and I continue to play in other contexts including
the MANRING/TADIC/GARCIA TRIO
http://manringtadicgarcia.weebly.com/
and the
NEW CINEMA BAND
with Rade Serbedzija
Did you ever meet Frank Zappa?
And if, what are your memories about him?
If not, who is your mentor to guide you, give you directions about secrets of his music,
how to play and "behave?"
No, I never had the privilege of meeting Frank Zappa,
I know him first thru his music and later thru the musicians who played with him
including how I met them,
and this is in chronological order:
John Bergamo
Ruth Underwood
Ed Mann
Bruce Fowler
Paul Carman
Roy Estrada
Napoleon Murphy Brock
Don Preston
Bunk Gardner
Art Tripp
John French
Denny Walley
Tom Fowler
Albert Wing
George Duke
Ray Collins
David Parlato
they all shared their stories with me about their time with Frank,
not only about the music but about Frank as a human being and how he would rehearse
and how he would put the music together with the musicians he had at hand
I learned his music just by listening to it, I still don't have charts for this music
and it is only because of my studies of North Indian music and John Bergamo
that I am able to memorize the music and internalize it.
Even the more difficult music like THE BLACK PAGE PART 1 either for drumset or marimba,
stuff that you really need to practice, and rehearse.
John (Bergamo)showed us how to break it down rhythmically, practice it and rehearse it and breathe life into it.
Will his music survive a next few generations?
What are the reasons for positive or negative answer?
I don't see why not.
the music is resilient and fun, funny and surprising from the listeners point of view
and the performers point of view, like all good music it has stood the test of time and
will continue to astound those who are exposed to it.
All you have to do is LISTEN!!
Hi, Chris.
This is perfect. Thanks and see you in ljubljana.
Best, Uros
FOR GRAND MOTHERS OF INVENTION TOUR NOV 2014
SLOW NEWS DAY??
for some reason(?) I was asked to be interviewed
for the SLOVENIA DAILY NEWSPAPER
here is the link to the interview
http://www.dnevnik.si/magazin/aktualno/zappo-igramo-kot-ga-sami-razumemo
and here is the translation below
Christopher Garcia – Grand Mothers of Invention
(Kino Šiška, 26. novembra 2014)
You have stated that forming Grandmothers of Invention is not another comeback but reincarnation of Mothers of Invention. I can see what you mean by that, but can you explain me a little bit deeper set of reasons that revive (what is left of) former Frank Zappa bend?
you are actually quoting from this review from our first performance in Leipzig in 2003
“This isn’t just another comeback by some old rock fogies, this is the reincarnation of the “Mothers”! The Grande Mothers Re:Invented let it all hang out. It was clear to see that they were having great fun. Once again the Zappa jazz-rock big band sound of the 70s and 80s rang out. The amazing virtuoso caliber displayed by the Grand old men must have surprised everyone. Hats off!”
from LEIPZIG -ALMANACH
I would never have stated that, out of respect to the MOTHERS OF INVENTION
When and why this reformation took place?
Who came with idea and how did you find each other since many artists went through Frank's band?
The Grande Mothers Re:Invented came about in 2002 when Don Preston was asked by producer Hendrik
Haubold * to reassemble any and all ex MOTHERS OF INVENTION from the earlier incarnations of the band willing to perform a one time concert at the Gewendhaus in Leipzig in 2003 with a string orchestra
*http://www.ndr.de/ndrkultur/team/Hendrik-Haubold-,haubold103.html
http://zappanalata.blogspot.de/2011/07/grandmothers-2003-grandmothers-night-at.html
That group of people included three legacies of MOTHERS OF INVENTION including
Napoleon Murphy Brock,
Roy Estrada,
Bunk Gardner
and
Don Preston
the only non MOTHERS asked to perform by Don Preston for that performance
were guitarist Ken Rosser and myself on drumset and marimba
Roy Estrada of course is a PRE MOTHERS OF INVENTION band member
i.e., THE SOUL GIANTS and is the only MOI Alumni on the first
album that performed in Leipzig.
Frank Zappa was asked to join the SOUL GIANTS, the band with Jimmy Carl Black,
Roy Estrada, Dave Coronado, and later Ray Collins. Those guys never auditioned for the Mothers
of Invention, Frank basically started writing original music for that band to perform
and they eventually became the MOTHERS OF INVENTION.
Both Don Preston and Bunk Gardner auditioned from the Mothers and joined after FREAK OUT
Napoleon Murphy Brock was eventually recruited by Frank Zappa during his
recording of Apostrophe and subsequent MOTHERS OF INVENTION incarnations.
Roy had previously worked extensively with Don and Bunk as a part of the MOI and Don had worked with a later incarnation of the MOI as a special guest with the ROXY AND ELSEWHERE TOUR which Napoleon was a part of, and Roy and Napoleon had toured with Frank Zappa as yet another incarnation of the MOTHERS OF INVENTION in 1975/1976. One of the smaller configurations he ever put together with one of the longer tours he ever put together.
So it was an interesting cast of characters who shared history and experience with the Soul Giants AND the Mothers of Invention who came together for this. When I asked Don why Jimmy Carl Black was not participating I was told that the alumni wanted to have extensive rehearsals for this performance and all of us were in the United States and Jimmy was living in Germany.
What happened after that first concert is that we were asked to stay together for a tour in EU, and since that time we have done over 500 performances in 26 countries on 4 continents which is very surprising.
Mentioning many mothers.
To whom invitations were sent?
Who refuse (and why) participation to the project, to became grandmother?
You would have to ask Don Preston who else was asked that did not wish to perform.
But I know that some no longer wished to perform the music because they had careers
of their own or they were not close enough to Los Angeles to make the extensive rehearsals
for that performance.
Please keep in mind that we thought it would be a one time performance.
We can understand, that basic purpose of the project is keeping Frank's
heritage alive and introduce it to (old again) and newer generations.
Could you draw the line between generations?
There are different incarnations/generations of MOTHERS OF INVENTION and their fans. Some fans like the earlier versions, some like later versions with Flo and Eddie, some prefer the versions with George Duke and some the later incarnations when Frank Zappa dropped the name the MOTHERS OF INVENTION entirely and the band ceased to be a band that rehearsed every day.
Later incarnations basically had members who had to audition and rehearse for specific tours, they did not rehearse every day as the original mothers did and I don't think it had anything to do with musicianship. Jimmy Carl Black and Roy Estrada might not be able to read music but they were always able to MAKE MUSIC and the foundation for everything that came later was because of the Indian and the Mexican of the group as a rhythm section, even when Frank got musicians with better musical skills that could also read music like Ian Underwood and Art Tripp.
The generational difference in the audience mostly comes from what music young people have heard either played at home for them by their parents or stuff that they have found themselves. In ancient times, before the INTERNET you would go to a record store and LISTEN to records BEFORE you bought them and see if you wanted to take them home. With the advent of the internet any type of music became almost instantly accessible. But I have found that when I ask young people how they know this music, most of them tell me that they heard the music because of their parents playing that music in their households.
How are you experiencing people from different generations
experience Franks music and myth, of cause?
What are similarities and what are differences?
People are drawn to the music for different reasons, some like the words, others the music, others both,
some like the virtuosity and some like the classical stuff. I think that the music is very diverse and interesting from a musical point of view and it is of course saturated with the mind set of Frank Zappa and MOI/Zappa fans are very different from each other as people but NOT as ZAPPA fans.
Every MOI/ZAPPA fan has a real devotion to listening to this music and hearing it performed LIVE.
The first time we played in Croatia there was a young man who came up to speak to me, who could barely speak English and I did not speak or understand his language.
I asked him, "how old are you and how do you know this music?"
His reply, " I'm 18. My father, My father"
When I asked him where his father was since he was alone, he pointed out four people in the crowd to me and said, "my mother, my father, my uncle, my brother"
And how you, as Chris, experience Frank's heritage. I mean, do you remember,
when you hear his music for the first time and what were your reactions?
Definitely.
The first record I ever heard was APOSTROPHE and the words were funny to me and the music was astounding to me. I didn't know how it was put together but it didn't really matter to me at that time. Like good food at a good restaurant I don't really care what the ingredients are as long as it tastes FANTASTIC.
The music had a great impact on me on many different levels.
Did this reactions (comprehend) changing through the years?
The more aware I became musically did not change my perception of the music, it appealed to me
on many different levels and continues to do so.
What about your listeners?
What are their reactions listening your show?
We know that they are very skeptical about such projects.
Mainly they experienced them as some "tribute to" or " we're only in it for the money"projects?
The fans who come to our show come because they love the music the way it is played by these guys.
We never try to sound like the original band, because it would be impossible, we have less people and less instruments. We have to do what any good musician has to do and make it our own.
What we do have is members from the MOTHERS OF INVENTION that were there when the band was a band, and band members with a real respect and LOVE for this music, and we have listeners who come to every show every year, sometimes multiple shows in a year, because they like our spin of the music.
There are many musicians, non Mothers, who play the early music, but it does not have
the same "feel" as when the original MOTHERS played it.
How could it?
They are not those people.
The Don Preston of 2014 is still Don Preston, albeit older.
Imagine someone coming to a family dinner trying to impersonate a family member and you get the idea.
You are what you are, and who you is, and the fans know that.
I doubt that they would come if the music was played badly,
but then again there is more to music than just playing the notes.
MUSICALITY has very little to do with MUSICIANSHIP, they are two VERY
different things.
I was never in the MOTHERS OF INVENTION but I have had the privilege of playing the music of Frank Zappa
while studying with John Bergamo (who was also Ed Mann's teacher)
who rehearsed, recorded and performed with Frank Zappa either in orchestral settings, or overdubbing on the following:
• Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra (September 1975) percussion
• Zappa In New York (1978) percussion
• Studio Tan (1978) percussion
• Orchestral Favorites (1979) percussion
• Tinsel Town Rebellion (1981) percussion
• Läther (1996) percussion
• QuAUDIOPHILIAc (2004) percussion
• One Shot Deal (2008) percussion
John also brought Ruth Underwood to teach master classes at Cal Arts, back in 1979-1980, so we were getting the music when John was getting the music and rehearsing it to perform concerts with the CAL ARTS PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE along with coaching from the people who played and MADE that music with THE MOTHERS.
Are they very picky and rigorous (we call it - looking under your fingers)
during your performance?
And comment later, you did this here, you did this there …?
The real hardcore fans know many different versions of the music,
they know if you made a mistake, if you forgot the words etc.,
they know if you are singing the verse the way it was sung in 1968 and if you are singing the bridge the way it was done in 1971, etc., the real fans really KNOW THE MUSIC.
I should say that there are also peripheral fans that don't know the music that well, they just know it as a brand name and maybe have 3 or 4 albums, while hardcore fans own every version of the album, video, cd, dvd etc.,
but they also appreciate and understand why it is changed or different.
This band has never been about trying to replicate a recording or a performance.
This band has always been about being in the moment at the moment, and like LIFE itself,
ANYTHING can and will happen whether we want it to or not.
That leads me to the questions – how much are you trying to perform as much close
to the original version of the piece and how much freedom for improvisation you have during “execution?”
It just depends on the song, some guys in the band like a very specific version much like a fan does and some like other versions, and sometimes we mix then all together, because this is A BAND, and a not a dictatorship. Everyone in the band has a say, an idea, a commitment or a comment in regards to their parts. Guitarist Max Kutner and bassist Eric Klerks have done their homework and can show you very different ways of playing the same music based on their personal experience of LISTENING and LEARNING this music.
It is definitely a world unto itself,
this world of ZAPPA music.
And what about the programme? What was or is your policy about which material to play?
How did you choose the songs? Is there any concept behind?
We play anything the band wants to play, sometimes it is music that they played on and sometimes stuff they never recorded but only rehearsed and performed that was not part of a commercial release.
Other times we play music that they never played on at all, like
APOSTROPHE
BIG SWIFTY
DEBRA KADABRA
MONTANA
etc.,
the one thing we want to do is make sure that the spirit of the original MOTHERS OF INVENTION
is kept alive, and you do that by it being a band, and not some MOTHERS with a back up band.
How would you compare Mothers and Grandmothers of Invention?
I would never compare them. They are very different animals from two very different times
separated by the times that they live in.
We are not stuck in the 1960's, the band and its members are cross generational as is the timelessness of the music.
I have heard many fans after the show who say that they came for the nostalgia and were totally blown away by the music,
and many fans come up and say that was amazing and fantastic and I always say that THE MUSIC is amazing and fantastic.
You are not only one who restore or reincarnate Frank Zappa's music.
Here's his son in Zappa Plays Zappa,
here's Dweezil. What do you think about them?
ZPZ.
They started playing ZAPPA music in 2006.
I was first asked to participate in 2002 and continue to be doing this and everything else I do.
I have only seem them once, and that was the first time that they played in Los Angeles with musical guests,
Terry Bozzio, Napoleon Murphy Brock and Steve Vai.
The band was very good and is still very good musically.
I think that it must be difficult for Dweezil sometimes, as he is not his father and I am sure that a lot of people,
sometimes expect him to be.
We are who we are and we aren't who we aren't.
Which is why we never try to replicate anything
But to give you another point of view on this
I am sending you a quote from a George Duke interview, along with the link,
so that it is not taken out of context.
Where he mentions the concert where he performed with ZPZ and his personal
experience when he played with that band.
GEORGE DUKE:
"I mean hopefully Zappa Play Zappa, those guys will begin to understand, that that’s what made this stuff really work, is the fact that it’s not only played well, and even the musical complexity, and you had to have that type of expertise, but there was also this other side, which was just total trash, just “throw the wrench in it!”, I mean it was for comedy’s sake, and it was a whole other level of Zappa, this is missing in Zappa Play Zappa right now, and I think they need that “off the cuff” kinda thing, y’know, to really make it work.
In terms of playing it, they’re playing the music as well as we ever played it, for sure."
http://www.zappasgear.com/GeorgeDukeInterview.html
I should point out that George came out to see us when we played in Los Angeles (8/8/12)
and had nothing but wonderful things to say about the performance and the band after the show. He just came to check us out, didn't want to sit in, just check us out, and you can see by the pics taken after the show that he had a ball just listening to the band.
MUSIC is much more than the notes, and the best band leaders tend to hire those who are not only musically astute but characters in and of themselves.
ZAPPA QUOTE
"For me it was always more interesting to encounter a musician who had a unique ability, find a way to showcase that and build that unusual skill into a composition so that forever and ever afterward that composition would be stamped with the personality of the person who was there when the composition was created."
FRANK ZAPPA
a part of BBC Late Show with Matthew Collings
"BBC Television Tribute" 1993.
You have also co-operated with Miroslav Tadić, who is well known here.
How he, as classical trained guitarist (with love for Balkan, especially Macedonian music) fits into the Grandmothers.
What he brought to the Grandmothers?
How did this co-operation take place?
Well Miroslav no longer performs with the Grand Mothers mostly due to scheduling conflicts.
But I can tell you that I was speaking to Arthur Jarvinen at the time we were looking for guitarists and he suggested Miroslav.
We had known each other since 1978 when we attended Cal Arts, and I was surprised to find that Miroslav would even consider playing the music of Frank Zappa, not because he could not play the music but because I did not think he would be interested in playing this music.
He was in Croatia on vacation at that time and we connected via email and he came in and did an amazing job, how could he not,
he is an amazing guitarist and an amazing human being who loves this music.
Each of us continues to do a myriad of things with the Grand Mothers of Invention being one of many projects that we each continue to do.
see link below
http://christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/making-music---links-and-more.html
Miroslav and I continue to play in other contexts including
the MANRING/TADIC/GARCIA TRIO
http://manringtadicgarcia.weebly.com/
and the
NEW CINEMA BAND
with Rade Serbedzija
Did you ever meet Frank Zappa?
And if, what are your memories about him?
If not, who is your mentor to guide you, give you directions about secrets of his music,
how to play and "behave?"
No, I never had the privilege of meeting Frank Zappa,
I know him first thru his music and later thru the musicians who played with him
including how I met them,
and this is in chronological order:
John Bergamo
Ruth Underwood
Ed Mann
Bruce Fowler
Paul Carman
Roy Estrada
Napoleon Murphy Brock
Don Preston
Bunk Gardner
Art Tripp
John French
Denny Walley
Tom Fowler
Albert Wing
George Duke
Ray Collins
David Parlato
they all shared their stories with me about their time with Frank,
not only about the music but about Frank as a human being and how he would rehearse
and how he would put the music together with the musicians he had at hand
I learned his music just by listening to it, I still don't have charts for this music
and it is only because of my studies of North Indian music and John Bergamo
that I am able to memorize the music and internalize it.
Even the more difficult music like THE BLACK PAGE PART 1 either for drumset or marimba,
stuff that you really need to practice, and rehearse.
John (Bergamo)showed us how to break it down rhythmically, practice it and rehearse it and breathe life into it.
Will his music survive a next few generations?
What are the reasons for positive or negative answer?
I don't see why not.
the music is resilient and fun, funny and surprising from the listeners point of view
and the performers point of view, like all good music it has stood the test of time and
will continue to astound those who are exposed to it.
All you have to do is LISTEN!!
Hi, Chris.
This is perfect. Thanks and see you in ljubljana.
Best, Uros