TRANK ZAPPA GRAPPA IN VARESE ?

ADVANCED PRAISE FOR TZGIV’s “MORE LIGHT”
Fazzul Records – Official release date: March 15, 2008
Did Zappa Drink Grappa In Varese? A somewhat hypothetically pataphysical question, which none of the band members seem to have an answer to! Fortunately, the music speaks for itself. Swiss saxophonist Stauss is the main composer of this freewheeling quartet. The compositions are in general short and minimal, acting as a springboard for intense and often lengthy improvisations from Stauss, and Belgians Campion, Delville, and Delchambre, the latter perhaps both best known as members of Belgian nu-jazz outfit The Wrong Object, whose discography and live appearances have included collaborations with top British jazz musicians Annie Whitehead, Harry Beckett, and the late Elton Dean.
The unexpected twists and turns, the uncompromising refusal to be limited by stylistic genres or the listener’s expectations, are the essential ingredients of this sonic adventure, recorded live at two gigs in Belgium and Holland. The sound quality is excellent throughout - every nuance is captured, from the torrent of Stauss’s edgy tenor multiphonics and more subtly understated soprano, to the often barely audible electronics supplied by Delville and Delchambre. Many of the improvised sections are collective rather than solo-based, and each instrument has its own special story to tell in several short solo passages.
Influences are always easy to name (Delville describes the music as “a mix of punk jazz and medieval”), but whether the inspiration comes from 20th century giants like Zappa, Coltrane, Hendrix, Weather Report, Soft Machine, Gong, or the 14th century composer Guillaume de Machaut, the group manages to stamp its own personal touch on every track, a refreshing change from most of the blandness that seems to be filling up the airwaves these days. Enjoy! – GEOFF LEIGH, February 2008
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It is hard to know what to add since Geoff’s insight is keen and it is good to see a player of Geoff Leigh’s calibre acknowledging the talent of Markus Stauss! You’ll remember Geoff Leigh as the sax/flute/clarinet player on the first Henry Cow album and guest saxophonist/flutist on the first Hatfield & the North album!! So his words are high praise indeed! Michel Delville’s guitar playing seems influenced more by the atmospheric explorations of players like Bill Frisell, David Torn and, certainly, Robert Fripp but his technical ability is never in question.
There are hints of Zappa & Holdsworth in his sound, too. However the approach is all his own and never seems derivative. Like Frisell & Torn, Delville can play all around an idea and look at it from many different angles. Delchambre’s drumming is inventive and always appropriate, laying back when needed and then letting everyone know he’s there when the music demands! The unsung hero of this recording might just be Belgian jazz bassist Damien Campion. His playing is powerful and supportive but so imaginative that you want to hear his solo album soon! Certainly he has learned a little something from all the jazz & fusion greats from Mingus to Pastorius to Hugh Hopper but he is inventive and fresh with a monster sound that comes at you in great waves from the speakers! And that brings us to the incredible sax playing of Markus Stauss.
I think it is not too much to say that Markus has re-invented the role of the sax in rock/jazz/improvised music and should be viewed alongside players like George Cartwright (Curlew) and John Zorn in this regard. Where Allan Holdsworth always has said that he is trying to make the guitar do what a saxophone does, Markus has approached the problem from exactly the opposite view. While he is certainly informed by the vast history of jazz & improvising saxophonists, his playing takes on the qualities of a rock guitarist in many passages. The power of certain repeated phrases & notes has the effect of reassuring the listener that, no matter how far into uncharted territory Markus might take us, there is still a visceral quality that makes it all understandable and embraceable. This is not to say that this is rock music, but it IS ’rock’ music. And it is jazz, new-music, and fusion. It is also adventurous, experimental and incredible!! "More Light" gets our highest recommendation! - ZNR, March 2008
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THIS ONE'S A SCORCHER! Trank Zappa Grappa in Varese? is a fairly new band/project for the composer/saxophonist Stauss (not to be confused with Strauss). The music is very jazzy, with Zappa-esc flavorings and grooves for good measure. If you couldn't tell by the name of the group, they take on a heavy Zappa influence, yet remain unique. Stauss is one hell of a sax player! His solos are complex and flashy, yet very musical, and there's no hint of bad playing at all. Plus he's got great tone. Deville's soloing/style has a HUGE Zappa influence (his solo in the Intro SCREAMS Zappa!) but he has a unique flavor to his playing, and is quite excellent. The electronic effects are held back in the mix (a good thing, but are very cool and sound awesome.) Campion proves himself a very good bass player laying down some great rhythms and grooves, and melding into the melodies. Delchambre is a great drummer who hits just the right thing when you need it, and plays exquisite licks. This is a live album recorded in November of 2007. I won't go into to many track details, but the highlights include: the blazing "Into with Objects"(with some amazing solos therein), the free jazz/polyrhythmic/compositional tour-de-force "OG", the Jazz frenzy (with a great bass solo) "More Memories", the Zappa-influenced "Little Fragments", and "Surinam". But the whole album is great! This album came to me as a total surprise. I truly had not expected such fine music here! I highly recommend this album to everybody, especially Zappa-files and jazz-heads. 9/10. - PROGRESSIVE EARS - 21st CENTURY PROGRESSIVE ROCK
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Trank Zappa Grappa In Varese? is a band whose moniker suggests they might play Frank Zappa's music, or perhaps lean toward Zappa's big influence Edgard Varèse while heavily imbibing. Though there are traces of the electric guitar sound Zappa employed, and elements of the ionosphere electronic music Varèse patented, these inferences tell only a small portion of the tale. In-concert recordings of performances in Liege, Belgium, and Baarle Nassau, The Netherlands showcase this retro-fusion quartet, with the modern tenor saxophone of Switzerland's Markus Stauss front and center. Belgians Michel Delville on electric guitar, bassist Damien Campion, and drummer Laurent Delchambre are all known for their collaborations with Elton Dean in the group the Wrong Object. In turn perhaps trying to step away from their influences, those elements are still very much present and accounted for. A funky foundation with rock rhythms, linear sax lines and a biting, loud guitar hero attitude identifies their sound. "Surinam" is the one track that somewhat captures a free world vision, not necessarily ethnically, but suggests it harmonically and with percussive elements. The most developed piece, "OG" starts with free-floating layers à la Varèse, merges to Latinized rock, calmed, then to jagged free fragments. "For Jean" is the distinct tip of the hat to Dean and the Soft Machine with its produced balance of fusion jazz, kinetic motion, and the soprano sax of Stauss. Closely resembling the loose, fluid, legato sound of Zappa, Delville laughs in counterpoint with Stauss during the pseudo-swing of "More Memories," and adopts a snarly tone on the true retro-fusion shortie "Alone at Lost & Found." "Little Fragment" is the one cut that moves toward an angular approach. Admittedly a group that embraces a self-devised pataphysical ethos, and one whose saxophonist has listened to John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, and Pharoah Sanders, Trank Zappa Grappa In Varese? is at the least an ensemble focusing their influences in a fashion that is strong on free-wheeling discourse and forging ahead. - MICHAEL G. NASTOS, ALL MUSIC GUIDE
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Beh, già dal nome di questo gruppo svizzero-belga si capisce subito da che parte si va a parare. Trank sta appunto per Frank (Zappa) e Varèse non è altro che il famoso compositore Edgar, ispiratore dell’opera zappiana (“l’influenza di Varèse, e soprattutto, di “Ionisation” nella musica di Zappa è evidente anche a un ascolto superficiale. L’uso di blocchi di suoni, un approccio timbrico piuttosto che tonale, i tempi pluricomposti sono tratti distintivi del suo lavoro” da Frank Zappa di Barry Miles, Vite Narrate- Feltrinelli, Milano, 2007). Ma questo gioco di parole non è solo un astuto calembour studiato per calamitare i nostalgici dell’ex leader dei Mothers of Invention, è molto di più. Merito di Markus Strauss, sassofonista elvetico e compositore di tutti i nove brani in scaletta registrati dal vivo a Liegi nel novembre 2007, che ha riunito intorno a sé per l’occasione una band straordinaria. Fatta di musicisti davvero “absolutely free” come Michel Deville e Laurent Delchambre, due membri del gruppo belga The Wrong Object, già protagonista di numerose incursioni zappiane e noto per aver collaborato con jazzisti inglesi come Annie Whitehead, Harry Beckett e l’ultimo Elton Dean, e come il bassista Damien Campion, musicista eclettico che passa senza scomporsi dal jazz “mainstream” del John Taylor’s Doublebass Quintet al free punk rock del trio The Friendly Dogs. Un gruppo dove l’ispirazione viene non solo da Zappa, ma anche da Coltrane, Hendrix, Weather Report, Soft Machine, Gong e… Guillaume de Machaut, compositore del 1400. A dirlo è Geoff Leigh, ex Henry Cow, che in una breve ma densa nota di copertina, informa l’ascoltatore sull’humus musicale che nutre i TZGV. Si poteva forse dire qualcosa di più: forse per modestia, Leigh si è dimenticato proprio di citare il gruppo caposcuola del movimento Rock in Opposition, gli Henry Cow. Gli assoli torrenziali di Strauss o i non pochi momenti di improvvisazione dei TZGV ricordano infatti molto da vicino il gruppo di Cambridge. In definitiva, un album riuscito che piacerà a chi non si ferma al primo ascolto, ma ama sperimentare e scoprire tesori solo apparentemente segreti. - CLAUDIO BONOMI, QUADERNI D'ALTRI TEMPI
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Da sind sie wieder, die Avant-Jazz-Rocker, die sich vielleicht eine der seltsamsten Fragen der Musikgeschichte stellen. 2006 hatten sie mit einem kleinen – wir hier in Franken sagen - „Magenträtzerla“ (zu deutsch: Appetithappen) Lust auf mehr geweckt. Jetzt – 2008 – lösen sie das damals gegebene Versprechen – Wir werden mit besserer Ware zurückkommen! – ein. An zwei Konzertterminen im November 2007 standen Trank Zappa Grappa in Varese? wiederum in Belgien auf der Bühne. Diesmal durfte die Band vermutlich einen Soundcheck machen, der Mischer hatte Ahnung von der Musik und letztlich wurde das Ganze professionell mitgeschnitten. Das Album „More Light“ enthält allerdings nur das, was auf der Bühne passierte (Hammill, ick hör’ Dir trapsen) und keinerlei Publikumsreaktionen.
In meiner Rezension zu "Stories from the Shed“ der Belgier The Wrong Object habe ich geschrieben: Der einzige Mecker ist... es geht noch besser. Dazu gibt es dieser Tage bestimmt noch eine Rezension, in der dies dargelegt wird. Hier ist sie nun. 50 Prozent von TZGIV? bestehen aus den Herren Delville und Delchambre, ihres Zeichens Gitarrist und Schlagzeuger von The Wrong Object.
Dazu kommen Markus Stauss am Sax (der auch die gespielten Stücke komponiert hat) und Damien Campion am elektrischen und akustischen Bass. Und ich will gar nicht viel auf Vergleichen herumreiten, aber haben The Wrong Object schon ein tolles Album abgeliefert, so legen TZGIV? noch einen drauf. Da ist natürlich Markus Stauss, dessen exaltiertes, riffiges Saxofon-Spiel schon mal in eine wildere Kerbe schlägt, als die beiden doch eher jazzig-relaxten Bläser von The Wrong Object. Stauss kreischende Ausbrüche, aber auch seine filigranen Zwischenspiele ziehen den Hörer in ihren Bann. Aber vor allem scheinen sie Michel Delville aus der Reserve zu locken, der hier weitaus vehementer, selbstbewusster, rockender, heftiger zu Werke geht, als auf allen anderen Alben, die ich bisher von ihm gehört habe. Seine zerrenden, kratzigen, kantigen Gitarrensoli und -riffings liefern sich ein ums andere Mal Duelle mit dem Sax.
Zusammen mit Schlagzeuger Delchambre sorgt Delville außerdem mit „Electronics“ und Gitarren-Synth wieder für einigen ausgefallenen Klangwaber. Aber nicht nur Delville wirkt angestachelt und ausgelassen, auch der jungen Laurent Delchambre geht noch ein Stück mehr aus sich heraus und trommelt, dass sich die Felle biegen. Groovige Rhythmusarbeit in den jazzrockigen Abgeh-Passagen, filigrane Begleitung zu den teilweise avantgardistischen Klanggebilden, wenn sich die Band quasi besonnene Momente gönnt, Delchambre trifft den richtigen Ton und die richtige Stimmungslage.
Besonders beeindruckend sind die Quasi-Unisono-Parts zwischen Gitarre und Schlagzeug in „Perpetuum“, die immer wieder von Sax-Explosionen getoppt werden. Bei soviel Kraft und Power verschwindet Bassist Campion fast ein bisschen im Hintergrund. Aber zu unrecht, denn seine melodischen Läufe und sein knarziger Basston bilden letztlich Grundlage und Zusammenhalt für das wilde Wirken seiner Kollegen. Die teilweise bekannten Stauss’schen Kompositionen klingen in den Interpretationen von TZGIV? wieder ganz neu und ganz anders. Was vielleicht auch an der vordergründigen Stellung der Gitarre liegt, die ja in den meisten anderen Stauss-Projekten keine große Rolle spielt.
Trank Zappa Grappa in Varese? beantworten ihre Frage natürlich auch hier wieder nicht endgültig, aber die hochanregende und hochaufregende musikalische Diskussion des Themas lässt eigentlich keine Wünsche offen. Zu schweißtreibendem Rock und elegant-avantgardistischem Jazzrock gesellt sich hier noch ein guter Schuss energetischer Punk. Ein Cocktail den man heiß genießen muss. Viel Spaß! - THOMAS KOHLRUSS, BABYBLAUE Prog-Reviews
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For those who want it short and sweet, TZGIV is Markus Stauss of the group Spaltkang along with two members of The Wrong Object. That right there tells you quite a lot! Complexity meets improvisation meets rock meets 21st century... - STEVE FEIGENBAUM, WAYSIDE MUSIC / CUNEIFORM RECORDS
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TRANK ZAPPA GRAPPA IN VARESE. More Light. Fazzulmusic 2008 – 69’39’’. Ci sono molti indizi che potrebbero predisporre ad un benevoloascolto di questo nuovo progetto svizzero-belga: il riferimento alle influenze che Edgar Varese ebbe su Frank Zappa, un nome decisamente “patafisico” (chiedersi se il buon Frankie sorseggiò grappa nel ridente capoluogo lombardo rappresenta un dubbio legittimo…), le cover-notes vergate dal grande Geoff Leigh (già nella formazione originaria di Henry Cow) e, non ultima, la presenza di quel Michel Delvilleche costituisce il nucleo centrale dei belgi The Wrong Object … Musica ruvida e “barbara” che ruota attorno a Markus Stauss, potente fiatista svizzero (qui impegnato al sax tenore e soprano nonché autore di tutte le musiche registrate “live” nel novembre 2007) a cui danno man forte Laurent Delchambre (percussionista arruolato nei TWO), Damien Campion (basso elettrico edacustico) e un Delville che non temedi mostrare il suo lato più umorale e solistico. Opening with Objects chiarifica immediatamente la direzione della band con quel suo incipit percussivo in cui si innesta l’irridente tenore di Markus con Damien e Michel a disegnare sfondi oscuri. Musica che sa digrignare i denti così come certe cose nei nostrani Zu oppure, se vogliamoandare a ritroso nel tempo, sulla sciadi Peoria di Crimsoniana memoria… Perpetuum non abbassa certo la guardia con quel suo dinamismo quasi esasperato che sa passare da situazioni smaccatamente “punk” ad ampie aperture elettropsichedeliche. Molto più frastagliato e free il suond di OG con il soprano di Markus in bella evidenza mentre la successiva MoreMemoriessi apre ad emergenze jazzistiche molto suggestive non del tuttoestranee al “non-jazz” di Zappa, per non parlare del rock illuminato di Little Fragment, il tutto corroborato daquel taglio “impro-live” che rende lenove tracce di More Light molto piùche un promettente esordio. www.fazzulmusic.ch —VINCENZO GIORGIO, WONDEROUS STORIES
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TRANK ZAPPA GRAPPA IN VARESE?: More Light: Yes, it's a bizarre band name, but boy can these cats crank out some seriously fiery instrumental insanity. More Light is the debut release from Swiss sax player Markus Stauss, bass player Damien Campion, and two members from Belgian act The Wrong Object, guitarist Michel Delville and drummer Laurent Delchambre. Together, they call themselves Trank Zappa Grappa in Varese?, or TZGIV for short, and yes, this is music heavily influenced by the late, great, Frank Zappa, especially The Grand Wazoo era. Recorded live in Belgium in 2007, the nine instrumental songs here feature plenty of white hot soloing, especially from Delville & Stauss, whose scorching guitar leads and hazy sax explorations really light up these tracks in a big way. "Little Fragments", one of the shorter tracks here, shows what this ensemble is all about, with tight rhythms providing some rock solid groove (check out the nimble bass work from Campion) while Delville and Stauss go wild with reckless abandon. The band mixes avant-garde with jazz on "Surinam", and lace up their funk and fusion chops on the upbeat "For Jean". They channel the magic of Zappa on the rocking "Kater Carlo", complete with Delchambre's tricky stick work and some incredible guitar soloing from Delville, who really is a monster player. If you were impressed by the latest from The Wrong Object, there's no doubt that you'll also find this just as mind boggling. Part jazz, part fusion, part funk, part avant-garde, part RIO, and part rock, More Light shows a band that's not afraid to take some chances and go for the juggular. Whether in Varese or anyplace else, it's still damn good in my book.—PETER PARDO, SEA OF TRANQUILITY
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TRANK ZAPPA GRAPPA IN VARESE?: More Light (Fazzul Records) This release from 2008 offers 70 minutes of frantic jazz music recorded live in Belgium and the Netherlands on November 16 and 17, 2007. Trank Zappa Grappa in Varese? is: Michel Delville (on guitar and guitar-synth), Markus Strauss (on saxophones), Damien Campion (on electric and double bass), and Laurent Delchambre (on drums, percussion, and devices). Each instrument seems to commandeer the whole, yet they fit perfectly with each other in a glorious communion. The guitar blazes with fervent power, filling the air with vibrant riffs that threaten to scald the ears. The notes establish a shrill cadence that exudes a bewitching and infectious charm. The horns achieve a transcendent state that rivals the guitar’s authoritative role. Potent strains blare away, scraping paint from the walls with their strident outcries. These brass melodies serve to oust the listener from the influence of gravity, propelling the audience into the air where each chord and sustain buffets everyone with forceful yet elegant caresses. The bass rumbles like a mammoth beast lurking under the floorboards, sending dense vibrations that rattle the audience’s skeletal structures, finally focusing on the gut where visceral pleasure is instigated through fundamental means. The percussion is thunderous, yet refined in its appealing complexity. The rhythms not only compliment the overall melodies, they generate sidereal enhancement through their appetizing constructions of fevered tempos. The compositions are difficult to confine to any single genre. Diverse influences (ranging from modern jazz and esoteric rock to medieval strains) crash and collide to form curious structures of dazzling charisma. The general mood is modern, though, while the vivacity of the performance spawns a breathless appreciation. If sound could generate light, this music would need to be apppreciated wearing sunglasses. —SONIC CURIOSITY
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Die beiden Solisten (Delville & Stauss) ... ein eingespieltes Duo, das sich viel zu sagen hat ... Gitarren-Sax Dialoge nachvollziehbar und durchdacht - SIGGY ZIELINSKI, BABYBLAUE Prog-Reviews
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Mehr Licht! So ruft die Band im Studio den Tontechnikern zu, dann greifen sie wieder zu den Instrumenten und rocken, was das Zeug hält. Saxophonist Markus Stauss gibt nur einen Kommentar zum neuen Album der abgekürzt unter dem Zungenbrecher TZGIV agierenden Band ab: "Laut hören! Ist ein Rockalbum…" Als weitere Mitglieder sind Michel Delville (g, g-synth), Damien Champion (b, acc-b) und Laurent Delchambre (dr, perc) von der Partie. Die eine Hälfte der Band, Delville und Delchambre, arbeitet hauptsächlich in ihrer eigenen Band The Wrong Object im heimischen Belgien. Der Schweizer Markus Stauss ist in so vielen Ensembles und Projekten aktiv geworden, dass die Aufzählung die Grammatik sprengt, Überfall und Spaltklang sind vielleicht seine bekanntesten Bands. Jazzbassist Damien Champion kommt auch aus Belgien, er ist Leiter von Visite à Gainsbourg und Mitarbeiter in Nom dî Jazz. "More Light" ist ein reines Kein-Zappa-Album. Markus Stauss hat die 9 Songs komponiert. Aber zwischen den Noten steckt viel Zappa. Und die Noten sind längst nicht nur komponiertes Material. TZGIV nimmt die geschriebenen Grundstrukturen der Songs zur Brust und spaltet sie in freier Improvisation rasant auf. Wenn so ein Stück beginnt, ist es tatsächlich Rock, was da aus den Boxen kommt. Und es rockt heftig. Dabei jedoch bleibt es nicht. Das technisch überaus versierte Quartett nimmt jeden Song fein säuberlich auseinander und fügt lebhafte, vitale und äußerst freie Improvisationen ein. Das ist dann kein Rock mehr, geht gleich an Jazz vorbei in die über Zappas Universum schwebenden Wolken und zelebriert genüsslich lange Auseinandersetzungen zwischen Gitarre und Saxophon, Bass und Perkussion. Partiell, wie in "OG", klingt das gar lustig. Zumeist bestimmen freakige, ausgeflippte Improvisationen die Songs. Es wird ordentlich schräg und abgefahren, wenn "Perpetuum", "OG" oder "For Jean" dazu ansetzen. Der Jazz-Rock'n'Roll "More memories" hingegen tendiert mit seinem feinen Basssolo zu modernem Jazz und "Surinam" entpuppt sich als esoterische Ballade (in der schließlich auch alles "Abgefahrene" passieren kann). TZGIV ist die perfekte Schnittstelle zwischen Markus Stauss eigener Musik zwischen freier Improvisation und Jazzrock sowie The Wrong Object, die Jazzrock auf ihre eigene Weise (fast) ganz in Zappa aufgehen lassen. Zappa findet hier nicht in seiner eigenen Sprache statt, sondern in seiner Inspiration auf die beteiligten Musiker. Rock und Jazz gehen in kraftvollem, gemeinsamem Ausdruck in den 9 Songs auf, wobei der kraftvolle, energische Ton von Markus Stauss mir ebenso gut gefällt wie der von verhalten bis metallisch reichende von Michel Delville. Tolles Album voll Kraft und Dynamik, mit viel Jazz im vitalen Rock und enorm verspielter Improvisationslust! - VOLKMAR MATEI, RAGAZZI
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What makes this band stand out ? Is this the ultimate question to find an answer to ? Well, maybe, and strangely enough the answer is an easy one : just listen to the music performed and you’ll agree that this band deserves to be heard. Everything is here : compositions and improvisations played with accuracy and humour, always catching your attention and entertaining to the max. Maybe you don’t know what to expect but you’ll find out that these musicians will deliver whatever you had in mind. That good ? That good ! – DANNY MATHYS
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When I first heard the name “Trank Zappa Grappa in Varese?” what came to my mind was of course that “Trank” stood for “Frank” and “Varese” for “Edgard”, Zappa’s most important musical model. When I announced the gig on an internet jazzforum some members who tend to object to postings that deal with non-jazz topics complained that I was promoting a Zappa cover band. I retorted with a broad smile (which alas they could not see) that the band did not play any Zappa music. I explained that it was a pataphysical experiment and referred them to the Wikipedia entry for “pataphysics”, hoping that it would help to clarify things a little bit … which of course only added to the general confusion! For me part of the answer to the question is to be found in Switzerland where Urban Gwerder once founded the pataphysical magazine “Hot Raz Times” as well as in Belgium where Michel and Laurent regularly draw upon Zappa’s repertoire with The Wrong Object.
As for the Italian reference, it remains obscure to me (although I hear that one of the band members is of Italian origin). It is impossible not to try to look for more associations and analogies but, as I said before, they rarely refer to Zappa’s music itself. Occasionally, Michel’s guitar style reminds me of the solos and impros of the great Frank. And I heard a fragment of Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys and discovered petals of edelweiss in the opening title. The music often sounds ecstatic – one thinks especially of Markus’s sax themes and solos. The tempi and rhythms are rather wild but they often alternate with passages that confer a more meditative character to a music which is hard to place within easily defined categories.
It straddles across jazz and rock, sometimes veering in the direction of free jazz and hard rock. Some pieces spew accents of Celtic folk but never in a cheap way. The music is and remains highly original and idiosyncratic, diverse, authentic and uncompromising, which will probably not make it a commercial success. – FRED BLECK
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Guitarist Michel Delville and drummer Laurent Delchambre are mainstays of the Belgian Fusion group The Wrong Object. They have also teamed with bassist Damien Campion and reedman Markus Strauss for a journey into related realms with the side-group Trank Zappa Grappa in Varese? Their latest, “More Light” (Fazzul Music), is a free-wheeling set that incorporates progressive elements in a heady mix of metal and melody. It’s one of those that will keep you guessing what’s next. Serious and fun at the same time!. – GAPPLEGATE MUSIC
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A question might be an answer an answer might be a phrase a phrase might be a sound a sound might be music and music is the best, with or without a caffè corretto. – PETER VAN LAARHOVEN
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An einem dieser heissen Sommertag hat sich eines dieser Trios mit wechselnder Besetzung (Arbeitstitel: TRIO INFERNAL) gefragt, TRANK ZAPPA GRAPPA IN VARESE? Auch andere bohrende Fragen sind hin und her gewälzt worden: Was ist noch neu, wenn das Neue so neu ist wie ein neues Waschmittel? (Wolfgang Dauner) ... Heinrich, wie hälst du es mit der Religion? (J.W.v.Goethe) ... Does humor belong in music? (Frank Zappa) ... Wie würdest du die Welt aufwecken - wenn du ein Musiker wärest? Mit einer Sonate für rostige Büchsenöffner? Hast du jemals darüber nachgedacht? Oder schläfst du lieber weiter? (Edgard Varèse) ... Aber ist das Musik oder organisierter Lärm? (Die Menschen) Und siehe da, auf diese unvermeidliche Frage, die immer wieder auftaucht, haben wir Antworten erhalten: Da die Bezeichnung "Musik" offenbar nach und nach zu einer weit geringeren Bedeutung zusammengeschrumpft ist, als sie sollte, ziehe ich es vor, den Ausdruck "organisierter Ton" zu verwenden und die monotone Frage: "Aber ist das Musik? " zu vermeiden. (Edgard Varèse)
Aber ist das Musik? Sagt, was ihr wollt, die Leute drehen durch, wenn sie nicht benennen und katalogisieren können. Immer Ängstlichkeit, immer Panik angesichts des Neuen. Das Neue enthält immer etwas von Gewalt, von Sakrileg. Was tot ist, das ist heilig. Was neu ist, das ist anders, ist schlecht, gefährlich oder umstürzlerisch. (Henry Miller) TRANK ZAPPA GRAPPA IN VARESE? Diese Frage blieb bis jetzt unbeantwortet. Das neue Line up mit Michel Delville, Markus Stauss, Damien Campion & Laurent Delchambre wird sich diesem Problem in Zukunft vermehrt annehmen.