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YOU CALL THAT NEWS?
(Hot Poop, Lukewarm Poop…final poop)

(Last updated 11 May 2012)

Hot Poop

· So. Here’s the big announcement. Gail also tweeted us a “Happy Mothers Day”, and the wording on the front of that old Roxy-era Cal Schenkel/Richard Nixon t-shirt also appeared on the Zappa.com What's New page. I consulted the Babel Fish, and he sez this all means “pre-order The Roxy Performances soundtrack CD so we can finish off the fillum, please thank you.” We'll find out if he’s right next week.

· Want to help ensure the definitive memoirs of Mr Ike Willis are published? Then go here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/623789424/the-ike-willis-book-project

· New interviewette with Scott Thunes: http://www.dirtyimpound.com/2012/05/hey-shredder-bass-scott-thunes/

· Lurking in John Peel’s virtual record collection is this picture of him about to play a Mothers album (nice spot, Deepi!): http://thespace.org/content/s000004u/img/photos/studio.jpg

· Following their US tour, the GrandMothers Of Invention are to hit Norway, Switzerland & Germany (again. What about the UK, guys?!). Details here.

· More sad news: ‘Sweet Joe’ Russell of the Persuasions just passed away: http://www.vintagevinylnews.com/2012/05/sweet-joe-russell-of-persuasions-dies.html

· After their US Midwest Tour and LA DVD taping, the wonderful Aristocrats will not be playing anymore dates in America this year…but Marco Minnemann will be on the DW Drum summer tour of South American festivals with Chester Thompson…then the band will resume activities in Europe at the end of October (dates in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium can be found here).

· Still no word on the Ascolta Plays Zappa CD, but the band’s website is being updated and you can now download their amazing renditions of Uncle Sam, Marque-son’s Chicken and Black Page.

· Corrie van Binsbergen has had to cancel her show at Mosae Zappa because she's broken her hand. Ensemble Mosae - comprising Michel Delville (Wrong Object/douBt), Guy Segers (Univers Zero) and Laurent Delchambre (Wrong Object) - are the replacement act.

· Crossfire now has full details of the Highlights From The Pal And Original Sound Studio Archives box set on its website: http://www.crossfirepublications.com/buff.html

· …Universal Music will also now be reissuing Uncle Meat on 26 June…

· Very interesting interview with Napoleon Murphy Brock here – including his views on DZPZ, and mention of the likelihood that Ruth Underwood, George Duke and Bruce Fowler will be joining the Grandmothers on their current US tour (“probably in LA”). Napi’s website has also just been updated.

· Randy Brecker to play a bit of Frank in NYC on 1 May: http://www.bluenote.net/newyork/schedule/moreinfo.cgi?id=9894

· Mike Keneally reports that he’s “back hard at work on the new album, Wing Beat Fantastic...and I will not lift my head until it is complete. This is the album based around a group of songs I’ve co-written with the extraordinary Andy Partridge. During the last year of working on this I’ve generated a bunch of material, more than makes sense for a single CD, so there will be a special edition featuring a second album called The Cavanaugh Chronicles.”

· Update on the Universal Music FZ reissue programme here: http://www.musictap.net/2012/04/20/tapsheet-zappa-reissues-update-us-report/

· Regarding the current scarcity of Ryko CDs, Gail Zappa says: “There is a reason for that and we are going to announce it as soon as some of the dust clears – part lawsuit, part resolution.” Asked about using Kickstarter to help with the Roxy DVD remastering, she further posited “we are working on something that brings an even larger experience to the True FZ Fan – more fulfilling and more pro-active and participatory and even a little bit educational. I am planning to announce by Mothers Day. Our Mothers Day, which is 10 May. So there’s a big meanwhile – during which there will be some releases!” It's all here: http://www.zappa.com/gzsez/category/questions/

· Adam Mantereys tipped me off re. this spoof - which was swiftly followed up in my inbox by this: http://gothamist.com/2012/04/17/the_history_of_the_hologram_as_told.php. Frank as a hologram? It’s surely the next logical step for ZPZ?

· “Universal Music plans the re-release of several essential Frank Zappa titles on June 26...included are Freak Out!, Absolutely Free, Cruising With Ruben & The Jets, Hot Rats, Lumpy Gravy, and We’re Only In It For The Money,” it says here: http://www.musictap.net/2012/04/16/tapsheet-release-notes-04162012/

· Dream Theater and the Crimson ProjeKct (featuring Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto and Julie Slick) are set to hit the road together this summer. More here.

· Coming very soon: Paul Buff Presents Highlights From The Pal And Original Sound Studio Archives, a five CD box set comprising 156 tracks - 58 with Frank Zappa contributions. Here’s the Press Release. You may also find this useful. UPDATE: Just to be clear, this set contains all of the FZ stuff available for download - save for the Tornadoes' tracks, which you'll get for free if you're quick! - plus Why Don't You Do Me Right (Alternate Demo) and High Steppin’, that were previously only available as part of …The Collection. Greg is taking pre-orders right now (via gregrusso@verizon.net). The DVD-sized box will have a 40-page colour booklet (also DVD-sized), and the CD labels will be reproductions of the original Paul Buff record labels (Pal, Yukon, Plaza, Emmy & Vigah). Nice!

· Well here's another clue for you all: http://barfkoswill.shop.musictoday.com/Dept.aspx?cp=971_8837_8835

· Steve Vai’s Digital Nations is proud to present LA Sessions, a new album by JP Cervoni, featuring Vinnie Colaiuta, Albert Wing & Ike Willis (with whom JP has formed a new supergroup): http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=153125

· I’m all set for Zappanale #23 now – flights and tickets sorted – and I thought it worth recounting what’s in store for me. The festival – including Heavy Guitar Day – will last five days this year (1-5 August). During that period, I will get to witness: Gary Lucas’ Beefheart Symposium; the Mother Hips featuring Scott Thunes; Jean-Luc Ponty and George Duke on stage together playing “original compositions and some by Frank Zappa”; Zappanale #16 headliners, Bogus Pomp; Fast 'N' Bulbous, featuring the afore-mentioned Gary Lucas, Phillip Johnston and Ed Palermo Big Band trombonist Joe Fiedler; the mighty Magma; former Grandmother Sandro Oliva performing a Garrick-era Mothers’ set; one-time Scorpion, Uli Jon Roth; the return of Doctor Dark; and, of course, ALICE COOPER! Add to this, lectures by the likes of Co de Kloet & Ben Watson, plus an exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Yellow Shark concerts and much much more, and it looks like I’m in for something good. See you there?

· Here’s a great find (stupid sexy Flanders) – an obscure single from 1967 featuring our Frank: http://www.zappateers.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=24080

· On Sunday 15 April, John Tabacco and Bill Amutis will co-host WUSB’s annual Zappathon: 12 hours of Zappa music and chat, including a live interview with Mike Keneally.

· Congrats to Dweezil: before flying out to Australia, he tied the knot with Megan Marsicano. This is they together at last year’s Grammys: http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Dweezil+Zappa+53rd+Annual+GRAMMY+Awards+Arrivals+yPyWOzMKi7Ul.jpg

· Don Preston has an album of previously unreleased electronic music, Filters, Oscillators & Envelopes 1967-82, out on the Sub Rosa label. More at http://subrosa.itcmedia.net/en/catalogue/early-electronic-music/filters-oscillators-and-envelopes-1967-75.html

· Worrying tweet from Howard Kaylan: “Well kids, it looks like I've got an ending to the long-fabled autobiog tho I probably wouldn't have chosen it. Life lessons coming.”

· Dr Paul Carr has now sent the Frank Zappa And The And: A Contextual Analysis Of His Legacy book to the publisher, and you can read an extract from Chapter 1 here.

· The latest ZappaCast is now up at http://zappacast.podomatic.com/entry/2012-04-05T05_44_00-07_00 – featuring the second (and final) part of Scott Parker’s in-depth interview with Dweezil, Mick Ekers’ special Hendrix Strat edition of Zappa’s Gear, and a drop of the ol’ news from this Idiot.

· Dweezil & Co^TM are about to play down under, introducing new bassist (and Zappa Scoremeister), Kurt Morgan. I’m sure experience of backing teeny-(MMM)boppers is not a pre-requisite for the job, but did you know that Kurt used to “lay down the grooves night after night” for Hilary Duff, while his ZPZ predecessor Pete Griffin previously played with Hanson?

· Billy James (aka ANT-BEE) tells me he “assisted a bit” with a PBS TV special History Detectives on Frank’s early art career. Cal Schenkel, Bobby Zappa and Peter Occhigrosso were all interviewed for the programme, which airs in the US sometime this summer. More info here.

· Foolish behaviour over at the Zappa Forum: on 1 April, Bonny Ploeg of the Packard Goose website thought it would be fun to claim that the ZFT had asked her to “remove every copyrighted symbol from the site: lyrics, photos, the moustache symbol and the names Zappa, Frank Zappa, FZ and Dweezil.” This apparently led to death threats towards Gail. Bonny now feels “guilty and stupid”. Jaypfunk was unusually restrained, and simply called her a “fucking moron”. Read more at http://www.zappa.com/gzsez/questions/re-april-fools-prank-billy-the-mountain/

· UK (Jobson-Wetton-Machacek-Husband) are to play Under The Bridge in London (that’s actually under ‘the scared turf’) on 24 May.

· The GrandMothers Of Invention have a new website: http://www.grandmothersofinvention.com/ And here’s a Press Release about their imminent US tour: http://www.idiotbastard.com/News/PressRelease.htm

· Zappa’s Gear author, Mick Ekers, just visited Joe’s Garage/UMRK: check this Tweet: https://twitter.com/#!/ZappasGear/status/185889677025357825

· After officially issuing the Van Morrison sung Dead Girls Of London on iTunes last December, Zappa Records has now made available Shankar’s Touch Me There album. “Masters transferred at 96K 24B by Joe Travers at UMRK…remastered by Bernie Grundman, July 2011.” [Thanks to Michael Sullivan for tipping me off about this one.]

· Poor Dweezil is being sued by his divorce lawyer for not paying his bill: http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/29/dweezil-zappa-sued-divorce-lawyer/

· Anyone heard of Erica Lindsay, who apparently made a guest appearance with FZ in Europe sometime before 1980?

· Gail says we can expect Dance Me This “within the year from now” (http://www.zappa.com/gzsez/questions/re-the-world-wonders/).

· The second part of Andrew Jacobs’ interview with Freak Out! My Life With Frank Zappa author Pauline Butcher is now up at Decibel Geek here: http://dbgeekshow.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/pauline-butcher-author-of-freak-out-my.html. (Part One can be found here.) And over at Zappa.com, you can now read what Gail has to say about Pauline’s book (http://www.zappa.com/gzsez/questions/re-this-and-that/).

· Anyone know what’s happened to Steve Vai’s Secret Jewel Box? I’m still waiting for the final four discs more than ten years after getting the thing to put ‘em in! Anyone care (but me)? Whatever. Meantime, Steve and Joe Satriani will be joined by Steve Morse for a G3 tour of Europe this summer. Dates in Germany, Italy and Hungary have already been announced, and we can expect at least one UK gig.

· Make of this what you will: a few weeks ago, holders of Zappa At The Roundhouse gold tickets in the London area were invited by the Roundhouse music team “to meet with us to hear your feedback regarding your Golden Ticket experience, the festival itself, and to discuss possible events in the future.” This had nothing to do with the ZFT, who were unaware it was happening - purely a Roundhouse thing. This week, the event was postponed until a later date - no reason (or apology!) given.

· Volume 10 of The Rondo Hatton Report is now up at http://www.rhreport.net/current.html

· Alan Clayson reports that matters are proceeding with his ‘official biography of FZ, “though they appear to be doing so ploddingly. However, an agent who may prove agreeable to both Gail Zappa and I has been approached - although he wants two sample chapters.” See here for the quote, together with one from me (“claret everywhere”: I was that soldier, and I have the scar to prove it.

· Before Dweezilla, there’s Zappa Unlocked: The Mars/Barrow Connection.

· Great review of the excellent Beefheart Bat Chain Puller here. (Yeah, I had trouble with the booklet too!) What an interesting footnote: Hoboism is a different recording from the one widely bootlegged, and that’s NOT Denny Walley playing on it! Anyway, if you’re still unsure about buying BCP, you may wanna check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLRPmrMI_jc&feature=colike

· Terry Bozzio “is able to play U.S., Canada & Japan territories only” for UK reunion.

· Oh Jeez, another one bites the dust: André Lewis passed away in January - http://www.waxpoetics.com/features/in-memoriam/andre-lewis

· Some of what GZ Sez doesn’t make me laugh, but this one certainly did: http://www.zappa.com/gzsez/questions/re-please-respond-availability/

· A very intriguing article about an alternative treatment Frank received for his cancer here: http://www.deankrafthealer.com/CaseHistory-FrankZappa.html. The timeline is particularly interesting.

· The manager of Ike Willis is challenging the ZFT’s copyright claims. See here: http://ikewillis.com/ZFT.html

· Dweezil has posted this about upcoming projects this year - including a mention of Roundhouse 2. The ZPZ Oz/summer US dates (and the new bass player’s name – hey, he appeared all over the last two birthday bundles) are here.

· The ZFT has been busy complaining about videos on YouTube in the past week…could they be gearing up for something big (following Rykodisc losing “the rights to Zappa”)? You probably wouldn’t gauge that from this ‘answer’ from Gail: http://www.zappa.com/gzsez/questions/re-releases/

· New interview with Dweezil, in which he discusses future plans: http://www.fairfieldchampion.com.au/news/local/news/general/frankly-speaking-dweezil-zappa-rocks/2478638.aspx?storypage=0

· According to Fantom Records, ZPZ will play “UK/EU/Israel in Nov/Dec”. Assume this will include Roundhouse 2.

· Dweezil’s F.O.H. is ready to buy - go here: http://www.fantomrecords.com/BUY_F.O.H.html

· The first part of Steve Kusaba’s 47 hour song cycle, Centrifugal Satz Clock, is now available on iTunes. It features Dweezil Zappa, Steve Vai, Chad Wackerman, Vinnie Colaiuta, Novi Novog, Mike Miller (Banned From Utopia/Chad Wackerman), and Billy Hulting (ZPZ). Learn more here: http://satzclock.com/

· Penguins In Bondage – an unacceptable substitute? Check this: http://www.thejambar.com/frank-zappa-lives-on-1.2708942 Would love to hear them.

· The LA Times reports that Chieftain Paddy Moloney is “dying to locate a recording he did in Los Angeles about two decades ago at the home studio of Frank Zappa, a fervent Chieftains fan who name-checked the group three times in his autobiography [oh really?]. The session at Zappa’s house, Moloney said, included one number on which the Irish group and the iconoclastic rock provocateur teamed up with a group of Tuvan throat singers. If he finds the tape, he may have a title ready to go: The Chieftains in Orbit — Again.” (The Chieftains in Orbit being the title of a track on the band’s new album, Voice of Ages.) Hasn’t Paddy asked Gail about it? You can of course see snippets from the session on YouTube.

· London's South Bank Centre celebrates the experimental brilliance of Conlon Nancarrow in a unique weekend festival in April, titled Impossible Brilliance: The Music of Conlon Nancarrow. More at http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/festivals-series/impossible-brilliance-the-music-of-conlon-nancarrow

· The Grande Mothers ReInvented (with Seahag & Miroslav Tadic splitting guitar duites) are to tour the US, starting in April. Details can be found on the Facebook.

· Dweezil is writing a four part ‘Tour Blog 2012’: so far, Parts One and Two are very interesting.

· As well as their imminent few UK dates (see Diary), The Magic Band are to play the All Tomorrow’s Parties festivals in Tokyo (April) and New Jersey (September). Meanwhile, the UK’s wondrous G&S Music should have Bat Chain Puller in stock on Monday (5 March).

· Fantom Records is counting down the days to the release of Dweezil’s FOH album – but you can check Cal Schenkel’s cover artwork right now, down below. And here’s the track list: Brown Shoes Don't Make It/Yo Mama/Wild Love/Road Ladies/You Didn't Try To Call Me/What's New In Baltimore/Beauty Knows No Pain/Beautiful Guy/Catholic Girls/Florentine Pogen/America Drinks And Goes Home/Brown Shoes Don't Make It/Suzy Creamcheese/Son Of Mr. Green Genes/Chrissy Puked Twice/Keep It Greasey/Mammy Anthem/City Of Tiny Lites/Lucille Has Messed Up My Mind/Fifty Fifty/Willie The Pimp/Latex Solar Beef/The Little House I Used To Live In/Easy Meat/Cletus Awreetus Awrightus (snippets of which can be heard at DweezilZappaWorld).

· Hopefully this clarifies the situation regarding Roy Estrada (although it still doesn’t tell us the full story): http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/02/22/3754559/former-frank-zappa-bassist-imprisoned.html

· G3 (that is, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Steve Lukather) are playing down under (in both NZ & Oz) in March & April. Mike Keneally is to play in both Satch and Vai's bands. Mental.

· United Mutations reports on the discovery of an old FZ painting here: http://united-mutations.blogspot.com/2012/02/another-frank-zappa-painting-discovered.html

· Should douBt (Maguire/Delville/Bianco) play Zappanale 2012? Have your say here.

· Caballero Reynaldo & The Grand Kazoo have a new CD/DVD, Li-i-iVE At Larvik - The Yellow Snow Festival 2011, now available from http://www.halloffame.es/caballero-reynaldo-the-grand-kazoo-live-at-larvik/

· Ken Walter’s brass quintet, the Oxford Street Brass, premiered his arrangement of the Opening Theme To Lumpy Gravy at a recent church concert. Check out the video here: http://youtu.be/rM4XTfxvH-M

· Zappa’s Gear head, Mick Ekers, recently interviewed George Duke. See here: http://www.zappasgear.com/GeorgeDukeInterview.html

· Looks like everyone had fun at the Yellow Snow Festival in Norway; the Muffin Men are devoting a new webpage to it here: http://www.muffinmen.co.uk/muffinz/larvik_2012.html

· Okay – get this Straight (*snigger*): Alice Cooper is headlining the Arf Society’s ‘Heavy Guitar Day’ in Bad Doberan on Sunday 5 August; prior to this, George Duke & Jean-Luc Ponty - the Brothers of Invention! - will play the entire King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays The Music of Frank Zappa album during Zappanale on Thursday 2 August. Got that? Blinding! See you there.

· Episode 6 of the ZappaCast is now up at http://zappacast.podomatic.com/entry/2012-02-09T05_08_01-08_00. A Dweezil Zappa special, it features part one of a very recent, lengthy interview with DZ, conducted by Castmeister Scott Parker. Also included are some excerpts from my own 1991 chat with the lad, and a short natter I had with the not-at-all-scary Scott Thunes this past January. Plus some great music too. And who better to kick proceedings off than George Duke. So what are you waiting for? Oh, you're going to see ZPZ on the West Coast. Well lucky you!

· Check out Mike Keneally at the Iridium (playing Martha My Dear and other great stuff!) here: http://www.livestream.com/iridiumlive/video?clipId=pla_29e230d1-71fa-4f4c-97c4-be8c57fb5bf7 (thanks to André for the linx).

· The Muffin Men have produced a very limited edition/promo only/not for re-sale/April 2011 Euro tour memoir CD/DVD, called Powdered Water. You can read my review of this tasty little morsel here.

· Rock Music Memorabilia now has Zappa and Beefheart t-shirts in stock (in both black and white). Anyone who wishes to buy either a Zappa or Beefheart commemorative set will also receive a free t-shirt along with the other goodies - if they mention visiting this website. What the sets contain (and the t-shirts) can be viewed at www.rockmusicmemorabilia.com

· Early in 2010, Scott Thunes visited the UK to record with Adrian Styles. The resultant album, Essential Elements, is now here: http://www.adrianstyles.co.uk/essential-elements/

· Hey, boys and girls – I’ve just been interviewed for the Decibel Geek Podcast: http://dbgeekshow.blogspot.com/2012/01/andrew-greenaway-author-of-zappa-hard.html

· This one slipped under the radar: Grand Wazoo/Ruben And The Jets’ slide guitarist Tony Duran sadly passed away in December. Read more here: http://www.gracegardensfh.com/sitemaker/sites/GraceG1/obit.cgi?user=539436Duran

· Joe Satriani’s Satchurated, filmed live on ‘The Wormhole Tour’ at the Metropolis in Montreal on 12 December 2010 (and featuring Mike Keneally on keyboards), will be the first 3D theatrical concert film release with 7.1 Dolby Surround Sound (in the States, at least). The film is directed by François and Pierre Lamoureux, who produced and directed the ZPZ concert film. A physical release is due in March, although there’s no word on a UK release yet. Check this clip out: http://youtu.be/-nlSGsQY_3o

· Fellow ZappaCaster Mick Ekers tweets: “Had a fantastic day today [24 January 2012] at the UMRK photographing FZ’s guitars, amps, etc. Thanks so much to Gail, Thomas, Todd, Kurt, Joe, Ruth...” That’s Ruth fluffin’ UNDERWOOD, people, who GZ persuaded to come along to talk to the Professor – all for his forthcoming Zappa’s Gear book. Meantime, this Idiot boy interviewed the ever delightful Scott Thunes for a future podcast.

· The Magic Band return to the UK in March - some dates in the Diary.

· Terry Bozzio has a new double CD (“my first in years. New Material, handpicked by me from my 2007 solo tour”), called Live In Japan 2007. You can order it here.

· Chad Wackerman releases his new CD, Dreams, Nightmares and Improvisations in February. It features Allan Holdsworth, bassist Jimmy Johnson and keyboard player Jim Cox.

· Mosae Zappa takes place on 1 & 2 June this year…keep an eye on http://www.mosaezappa.com/ for more.

· For the next few more days, you can hear Gail, Dweezil and Joe talking to Bob Coburn on Rockline Replay (http://www.rocklineradio.com/replay/replay.php). Gail reveals that in 2012, they plan to “revisit” Trout Mask Replica, reissue An Evening With Wild Man Fischer and start a new series of FZ albums – the first of which will include a track named Front Of House – like Dweezil’s own series of albums.

· The Grande Mothers ReInvented - that is Napoleon Murphy Brock, Tom Fowler, Christopher Garcia and Robbie Mangano, with special musical guest Don Preston – have formally announced the dates of their imminent European tour: see the Bastard’s Diary for details.

· Dweezil has revealed that Allan Holdsworth will be joining ZPZ on its West Coast tour (at the Anaheim and Agoura Hills shows). “I am very excited about this. He once showed me a few cool ideas when I was 13 and he came to our house to visit with Frank. I look forward to continuing that conversation all these years later with a new perspective.” In other news, Dweezil plays on the track Gypsy Flee on all-female Norwegian pop/folk band Katzenjammer’s new album, A Kiss Before You Go and has done this car ad: http://vimeo.com/couchmode/bwhsmith/videos/sort:newest/31447261.

· 1982: The Summer Of Frank, a documentary by Salvo Cuccia which revolves around FZ’s show in Palermo on 14 July 1982, is being shown on Italian TV on 20 January. This is the fillum that Dweezil blogged about last November. Here’s a short preview http://video.repubblica.it/edizione/palermo/frank-zappa-i-figli-sulle-orme-del-mito/85092/83481

· Forty odd years ago, FZ and Cal Schenkel contributed this page to a comic book project chronicling the 60s. It has finally been published by Abrams Comicarts in The Someday Funnies (“129 original comic strips by 169 writers and artists from 15 countries”), edited by Michel Choquette.

· Some of you may recall the little story I posted in 2008 by Curtis Sherwood on his first meeting with his cousin, Motorhead (here). Having just seen the clip of Jim on his bike that I linked to below, Curtis today recalls “...that's the man I met. He came ridin' in on his big-assed bike, Lynn on back, ridin' in to that dump in the middle of fucking nowhere Casa Grande, Arizona, USA in the out-of-this-world heat. It was HOT! Jim & Lynn said they had been held up in a traffic jam somewhere in or around Phoenix. Imagine the heat. Asphalt + heat. The desert roads aren't as hot as the city streets and highways are in that heat. I KNOW what they must've went through - and that all to see my Mom & Dad and the rest of us. Damn, that was surely Motor's last big road trip. I hope he enjoyed it as much as he appeared to have done. He was all smiles but from what I can see, that was just Motor being the way he was!”

· More news from the Z-kidz: Moon Unit is to divorce her husband of 8½ years, rhythm guitarist and former drummist for Matchbox 20, Paul Doucette; Dweezil has poured his heart out re. the YCFOSA downloads (here); Ahmet reckons 2012 will be awesome: “I’m gonna make some new movies, new music, new books - and maybe even a new baby!”, he says; and Diva celebrated her father’s birthday with a nice cup of Joe (see pic). Hey, just realised something: haven’t the kids all got funny names?

· ZappaCast Episode 5 is now up at http://zappacast.podomatic.com/entry/2012-01-04T06_13_36-08_00. In this special edition (dedicated with much love to Motorhead), the Fab 3 each have their say: Scott Parker talks about his books on The History And Collected Improvisations Of The Mothers Of Invention; Mick Ekers chats to Tommy Mars about the vocoder (the full interview can be viddied here); and this Idiot takes a look at his favourite music festival (no, not High Voltage, stoopid - Zappanale!) Of course, there's loads of great live music too. So is this our White Album? Or is it more Umma Gumma? You decide.

· Dweezil reports that Mother People and “several other mysterious tunes from the early days” are likely to feature in ZPZ’s repertoire this year. “I’ve also been busy assembling a new FOH CD compilation. It will likely have over 20 songs across two discs. I focused on some of the songs that were featured for short periods on tour - like, Suzy Creamcheese, Brown Shoes Don't Make It, The Little House I Used To Live In, The Mammy Anthem & I’m A Beautiful Guy. There are some tour staples added in there, but overall the collection is intended to display the depth and variety in my dad’s music and the broad capabilities of ZPZ. With a good amount of luck it will be available in the first quarter of the year. In other news, I’ve found myself half way through composing an orchestral composition of my own. I hope to bring it to life on stage before the end of 2012.”

· UK reunion dates: http://www.ukreunion.com/

· The Idiot understands that Warners is advising its customers that Rykodisc has “lost the rights to Zappa”, so the entire Ryko catalogue has been withdrawn from sale with immediate effect. Does this mean it is about to revert back to the family?

· Couple of short reviews for ya: on Dweezil’s LIVE – ‘In The Moment’; and the new Bizarre/Straight documentary.

· Hey, I got a mention in this interview with J21: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=83676

· Tributes are pooting forth for Jim ‘Motorhead’ Sherwood, who sadly passed away on Christmas day: “He was a good friend, and went to High School with Zappa. He had a brain tumour that couldn't be operated on. He died in his sleep with no pain.” - Don Preston; “His wife Lynn, and Jim's son and his wife, were with Jim when he left. Say some healing prayers for Lynn and Jim's family - they need them.” - Candy Zappa. “One of a kind. We miss you already, buddy.” - Howard Kaylan; “He was so handsome - like a movie star.” - Pauline Butcher; “I spoke with Jim's wife, Lynn, only an hour or so before he passed. His son Lance had driven all night on Thursday from Seattle to be with his father. I am glad I visited him last week, and will miss him terribly.” - Lorraine Belcher. Here’s a couple of clips of Motorhead from Freak Out In Cucamonga (which really needs to be finished and released one day soon) - Motor and Hell’s Angels - and a nice obit from the Grauniad.

· More acts just announced for next year’s Zappanale (an impetuous stream bubbled up): former Scorpion Uli Jon Roth, the Mother Hips featuring Scott Thunes, and Fast N’ Bulbous featuring Gary Lucas. Stone me, the festival’s looking good, innit?

· Another Birthday Bundle – and I thought these were gonna be every two years; guess that’s the anytime bit covered, then. But the reason is clear – happy birthday, Frankie: http://www.zappa.com/fz/aaafnraa/2011aaafnraaaaam.html

· The real evil comes to Bad Doberan! Yes, Alice Cooper is special guest at Zappanale on Sunday 5 August 2012, on the main stage. Sunday will be a special "guitar day", with the main event being Alice and band. Tickets and prices will be available from 15 January 2012. Festival ticketholders pay half price, while Arf-Society members with festival tickets get in for nowt. Corks 'n safeties, pigs 'n donkeys, ALICE COOPER, baby...WAAAAH!

· A new Rondo Hatton Report is out for Frankie’s birthday: http://www.rhreport.net/current.html

· As anticipated, on the first anniversary of his passing, the ZFT is taking pre-orders for Captain Beefheart’s original Bat Chain Puller: http://barfkoswill.shop.musictoday.com/Product.aspx?cp=971_54317&pc=ZPCD103

· So here's why Dweezil “might have to learn a few more Hendrix tunes...” (see http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/songs/203): he'll be part of March's Experience Hendrix tour (http://www.experiencehendrixtour.com/dates.php). Says the Dweez: “I've always been a great admirer of Jimi Hendrix. My dad told me some great stories about playing with him. Jimi's ability to express himself so completely with an electric guitar is very inspiring to me. I'm honored to be invited to participate in this tour and I'm really looking forward to playing with everyone!”

· Fantom Records is now working on the next DZ ZPZ release: “It’s going to be epic! More amazing Front Of House sound - as an auditory experience it’s the closest thing to actually being at a show! No fancy studio trickery, just what was served up for the audience on the night. The new release will feature more ZPZ performances of the fan favorites as well as the rare stuff. There will be more Cal Schenkel art and design and we’re going all out to make this release a ‘must have’ for all DZ, ZPZ and FZ fans!”

· New documentary imminent: From Straight to Bizarre - Zappa, Beefheart, Alice Cooper and LA’s Lunatic Fringe – look here http://www.chromedreams.co.uk/from-straight-to-bizarre---zappa-beefheart-alice-cooper-and-lss-lunatic-fringe-872-p.asp for more.

· Check out what you can get for Christmas from G&S Music: http://www.idiotbastard.com/News/G+S.pdf

· ZPZ will be touring the US West Coast in February (with Scott Thunes as temporary replacement for the newly departed Pete Griffin – see http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/posts/1367-february-tour-2012-update) and Australia in April…hopefully they’ll be back in the UK before too long, with Pete’s permanent replacement. Meantime, you can hear Dweezil chatting about his new “In The Moment” live CD on Stuart Maconie's Freakier Zone on BBC Radio 6music this Saturday (well, from midnight Friday). Here’s a short excerpt: http://soundcloud.com/jazzon3/dweezil-zappa-freakier-zone-1.

· The Grande Mothers Re:Invented (with Tom Fowler on bass) will be playing in Germany in February (http://www.scala-leverkusen.de/club/club_detail.php?id=158) ...more dates as soon as I find them!

· New book, Guitar Player Presents 50 Unsung Heroes Of The Guitar, includes a chapter on one Michael Joseph Keneally.

· Julie Slick is working on her second solo CD, and needs a helping hand: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/julieslick/julie-slick-terroir-my-second-album (If you’ve not heard it, her debut album is pretty nifty.)

· Listen to A December Frank Zappa Memorial Barbecue on WUSB FM (you have up until Saturday 17 December), and hear Mr Edison and Nigey Lennon talking about (inter alia) Zappa The Hard Way and Pauline Butcher’s Freak Out! My Life With Frank Zappa. Simply go here, and click the tiny loudspeakers next to 'Ludwig Leopold': http://www.wusb.fm/station/schedule/saturday. Here's the playlist: http://www.wusb.fm/node/12518

· Alice Cooper, Moon Zappa, Steve Vai and (Zappa family friend) Beverly D’Angleo have all written letters to their 16 year old selves in new book Dear Me from Simon & Schuster. Other contributors include Pattie Boyd, Pee-Wee Herman, John Waters, William Shatner, Kathleen Turner, Stephen King and Phil Ramone.

· “I think my Dad was an interesting man - even if I didn't get along all that well with him. He was good at mathematics - he wrote (and published himself) a small book on gambling probabilities,” wrote Frank in The Real FZ Book. And now you can buy Chances: And How To Take Them by Francis V. Zappa – from Crossfire Publications: http://www.crossfirepublications.com/chances.html Crossfire also has Candy Zappa’s My Brother Was A Mother: Take 2.

· Dweezil wants to know what YOU would like to hear ZPZ play next year. Let him know, everybody: http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/groups/195 Meantime, Dweezil’s LIVE – ‘In The Moment’ CD should be hitting letterboxes this week (and you can also let DZ know what you want on the next release at http://www.fantomrecords.com/HELP_.html). Here’s a bit of what I saw him doing last week: http://youtu.be/CYuLjoJIMno

· Dweezil's cousin, Stanley Jason Zappa, heartily recommends checking out this project (to which he is “peripherally involved”): http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/747745719/the-composer-jazz-avant-garde-film-matthew-shipp-a/posts/146789

· Some of the bands you’ll see at Zappanale next year: Bogus Pomp; Dead Dino Storage; Ya Hozna; Doctor Dark; The Yellow Snow Crystals; and (surprise surprise!) Jazzprojekt Hundehagen. More at http://www.zappanale.de/zappanale/en/zappanale-23/bands.html

· The Yellow Snow Festival in Norway next February will feature special guests Denny Walley (playing with our very own Muffin Men) and Ike Willis. See http://www.musikkensvennerlarvik.com/ for more.

· In this interview, Denny Walley confirms that Bat Chain Puller will be released in December (as GZ said it probably would).

· Fireworks Ensemble’s website is now up and running, and it appears that the works left unperformed at the time of Frank's death that the Ensemble will premiere in its 2012-13 season are Number 6, Number 7, Number 8 and Number 9... of course, we already have #s 6 & 7 (see http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/songs/Number_7.html).

· VaiTunes #8 is out now. Blues For Dust was recorded live at a sound-check in 1999, and features Mike Keneally on keyboards. For more, go here.

· Dweezil has posted an interesting ‘on the road’ report at http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/posts/1273-stolen-guitar-and-food

· Vote for Zappanale as ‘best small festival’ http://www.zappanale.de/zappanale/en/news/369-r-festival-awards.html

· The paperback version of my book, Zappa The Hard Way, documenting Frank’s fateful final tour of 1988, was published on 21 November. Featuring interviews with the surviving band members, a Foreword by Frank’s sister Candy, and a new Afterword by his former secretary Pauline Butcher, who interviewed Frank during the tour, this is a must-read not only for Zappa fans but for anyone with an interest in playground psychology. The book can be purchased from: Amazon; Barnes & Noble; and Wymer UK. For more details - including excerpts, reviews and other nonsense - visit: http://www.facebook.com/ZappaTheHardWay. I thank you.

· The ZFT is using TuneSat to monitor TV usage of FZ’s music – read all about it here: http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=148467. Presumably Ryko gets a % of whatever is unearthed?

· Mr Sting is touring Europe next Spring, with Vinnie Colaiuta – see the Bastard’s Diary for UK dates.

· Fantom Records in the UK will imminently release Dweezil’s LIVE – ‘In The Moment’ album. Go here to pre-order: http://www.fantomrecords.com/BUY_ALBUM.html (otherwise, you might be able to pick up a copy on the last few ZPZ UK dates).

· The final part of the Vaudeville band ZappaCast is now up at: http://zappacast.podomatic.com/player/web/2011-11-09T06_35_45-08_00. It features an interview with Pauline Butcher (by the gorgeous Scott Parker and meself), and a Carnegie-related reading from Being Frank by Nigey Lennon.

· John Wetton says “I have a busy touring year in 2012: as a solo artist; with UK - Eddie Jobson and Terry Bozzio; and with Asia. I will also be working with Steve Hackett...” Hubba-hubba!

· Steve Vai talks about his new composition, The Middle Of Everywhere, here: http://youtu.be/Hv7oYnWLD9I

· For those of you who might not know, the Carnegie Hall release has been delayed at tad (should start shipping week commencing 14 November – G&S should have it by the end of the month). And Gail won’t tell us the track-list because she assumes we’ll all go rushing to bootleggers instead (see GZ Sez)!

· The Aristocrats (that is, Bryan Beller, Guthrie Govan and the mighty Marco Minnemann) are playing some dates in the UK next March – see Diary for details.

· Long-time Zappa fan Tom Brown, the guy who compiled the first two Beat The Boots sets for Rhino, has written a book. Summer Of Love, My Ass!, documents Tom’s attempts to avoid the draft. Visit www.summeroflovemyass.com for more info, including a whole chapter from the book - absolutely free!

· Dweezil goes to Sicily: http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/user_updates/8111

· Gary Lucas will present his Captain Beefheart Symposium in the UK early next year - at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on 20 & 21 January.

· Gail Zappa has formally granted Chris Opperman permission to release his version of Blessed Relief (see below). Chris says he has “permission for physical and full digital downloads, no streaming, and it has to say ‘Orchestration by Chris Opperman’," since the arrangement is the same as the Grand Wazoo version but with different instrumentation.”

· Billy James (aka the ANT-BEE) is featured on background vocals on a new 21-minute opus by Yes vocal legend, Jon Anderson, called Open. I’ve penned a few words on the ANT-BEE’s own Electronic Church Muzik album, as well as Doug Lunn’s new CD (which you can get via Audiophile Imports), Zappanale #22 - and there’s also a review of Zappa The Hard Way (but not by moi, natch).

· Pauline Butcher has posted this silent footage from 1969, shot in Cal Schenkel’s back yard: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=304328046246379

· Zappanale #23 has been brought forward – it will now take place from 1 to 4 August 2012.

· All Tomorrow’s Parties at Butlin’s Minehead has been postponed until March 2012 – so The Magic Band (that is: John French, Denny Walley & Mark Boston, plus Eric Klerks (guitar) and Craig Bunch (drums), both from Drumbo’s band) will now play Bristol’s Thekla on 4 December 2011.

· Listen to the Voice Of Cheese 2011: http://pamelagoodheartzarubica.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/400wordsonFrank1.wav

· Flo & Eddie to tour with Dweezil in 2012?…well, according to this blogger, anyway: http://musicofourheart.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/flo-eddie-to-tour-with-dweezil-zappa-in-2012/. But what precisely did Mark say on stage just a few days before Dweezilla 2011 and the ‘one night only’ F&E ZPZ gig in Bearsville? STOP PRESS: Howard Kaylan tells me: “There isn’t one single word of truth in that entire article.” So now you know.

· At the revamped Dweezil Zappa World website, DZ mentions a new double CD project titled Dweezil Zappa - Live “In The Moment” (a Shut Up ‘N Play Yer Guitar- style compilation, sporting a cover by Cal Schenkel) - plus the future streaming of live ZPZ events and interactive ‘create your own’ CD downloads.

· Just in case anyone attending ZPZ’s upcoming UK tour doesn’t already know, each show has an exclusive VIP package. This provides 30 people (for £30 each) with a VIP pass and lanyard; access to the pre-show soundcheck; an exclusive ‘meet and greet’ session; entry to a draw for tickets to a ZPZ show in 2012 and pre-release copies of a forthcoming DVD/CD (personally dedicated by Dweezil). And what dates could they be playing in 2012? Zappa At The Roundhouse II, perchance?

· The Bunk Gardner Story, Part One from Zonic Entertainment is now available to download. This (and part two, which follows shortly) also feature(s) Don Preston. Read all about it here: http://www.idiotbastard.com/News/PressRelease1.htm

· Despite what it says here, Black Milk’s Zap does not actually feature a sample from the maestro’s oeuvre – unless anyone can stand to listen to it longer than me and can tell me otherwise.

· The dynamic Scott Parker has a dynamic new version of his first book, Hungry Freaks Daddy (The Recordings Of FZ 1959-1969), out soom – “thoroughly updated, correcting all kinds of errors and issues both great and small,” he says. There’s also an updated and expanded edition of his The Zappa Supplement: A Box Of History And The Mud Shark Saga, co-written with Zappa historian Phil Lee. Visit www.spbpublishing.webs.com for more.

· This in from ZAPPATiKA: “According to various internet reporting services Joe's Cajun Garage is consistently our most popular FZ cover over the last couple of years since we released the Dodo album - so we made it available as a single.” Buy it here: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/joes-cajun-garage/id471604027?i=471604145

· Next up from the vault (as predicted below): Carnegie Hall…warts and all…on Vaulternative Records…in glorious mono. Says Gail: “We tweaked and we tweezed and did everything possible to be certain this does not sound like a breakfast cereal gone mad somewhere in the Van Allen Belt. I am happy to say The Mud Shark Legend Continues.” Two complete shows by the Vaudeville Mothers (Frank, Flo, Eddie, Ian, Don, Jim, Aynsley) – with the Persuasions - on four CDs. Pre-order here: http://barfkoswill.shop.musictoday.com/Dept.aspx?cp=971_51410 Should be good if An Easy Substitute For Eternity Itself and The Subcutaneous Peril are anything to go by.

· Funny lickle video of Denny Walley with the Muffin Men here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150477416439408

· The paperback version of my Zappa The Hard Way book will be out on 21 November – see here: http://www.wymeruk.co.uk/Store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=1366. For those of you who may not know, the book documents the 1988 world tour and features many quotes from new interviews I conducted with the surviving band members and others associated with the tour. In the run-up to publication, I will be posting quotes from the book on Facebook and Twitter.

· New album, The Doug Lunn Project, features Vinnie Colaiuta (and Doug, of course!) on all tracks, plus Mike Keneally on one.

· Read Andrew Jacobs’ interview with Candy Zappa here: http://www.zappa.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?p=516457#p516457

· New interview with Chester Thompson: http://magazine2.idrummag.com/issue4/page/36

· More from Butcher At The Beeb here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00k8trw and here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15082153. And pieces in the Grauniad, Get Bracknell and Express.

· That infamous firm of solicitors – Flywheel, Parker, Ekers & Bastard - are back with more Vaudeville madness. Yes, ZappaCast, Episode 4 Part Two can be rumpled and fetished right now via: http://zappacast.podomatic.com/entry/2011-09-26T14_05_20-07_00

· Scott Thunes has been gigging with The Mother Hips of late – and on 24 September they had a special guest join them for a coupla tunes at the Belly Up Tavern in San Diego: one Michael Joseph Keneally. A few days earlier, Chick Corea joined ZPZ on stage again to dual with The Dweez on King Kong. Hear a bit here: http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/songs/137. Read about here: http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/posts/1139-i-m-grateful-for

· Dr Paul Carr had a Zappa paper published in Contemporary Theatre Review (Volume 21, Issue 3, 2011) recently. Titled An Autocratic Approach To Music Copyright?: The Case Of The Zappa Family Trust, you can purchase a copy via: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10486801.2011.585644

· In case you have three grand to spare: the UK Freak Out! master tapes.

· Chad Wackerman is currently touring Europe (sadly no UK dates) as a part of the Carl Verheyen Band: http://www.chadwackerman.com/dates.html

· Here’s some footage of Gail at the official FZ Day in Baltimore on 17 September: http://vimeo.com/29234820. As you’ll see/hear, she talks about an imminent Roxy soundtrack album with liner notes penned by Ruth Underwood and a “four record set of a live concert from 1971”, at which the Persuasions also played - could this be from the October Carnegie Hall concert(s)? We'll just have to wait and see.

· One for all you vinyl fetishits (sic): http://www.musiconvinyl.com/releases/Zappa,_Dweezil/Return_Of_The_Son_Of..

· The Rondo Hatton Report: Episode VIII. Available now, in widescreen PDF. Includes a review of Pauline Butcher’s book and another article by Pamela Zarubica.

· Frank’s former secretary, Pauline Butcher, appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme On 21 September): you can hear an ever-so slightly edited vershum of the interview at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9596000/9596226.stm.

· Candy Zappa celebrated “the real” Frank Zappa day in Sylmar, CA with family and friends, including Ike Willis and husband Nolan Porter. She also visited Frank’s unmarked grave in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, though the proprietors (Service Corporation International) were apparently a little obstructive. She will write about this in the forthcoming revised edition of her book, My Brother Was A Mother.

· Rock Music Memorabilia has a new website where its Zappa and Beefheart items (and much much more) are available to see and buy via a secure server. Check it out: www.rockmusicmemorabilia.com

· Chris Opperman, of Vai/Keneally arranging and Zappanale #22 fame, is working on a project called Studio House “which will be an EP of songs by myself, Carla Bley, and Frank Zappa. Currently, Grammy award-winning engineer Neil Citron and I are putting together the final mix on Milliways while Inga Wohlgemuth and Louis Lagonik are busy assembling the artwork.” The FZ track is Blessed Relief. For those of you who may not know, Studio House is owned by the legendary Paul Green.

· A note from Ed Seeman: “Jerry Ford and I have formed this group on Facebook calling for the release by the Zappa family of the 14 hours of footage I shot in collaboration with Frank Zappa and the original Mothers Of Invention during the 1967-1968 years. Frank purchased the film and has used it in dribs and drabs for many of his subsequent releases. At one time Frank had the idea of running it all in theatres and charging people by the amount of time they spent in the theatre. This idea can be updated by posting it as ‘Video On Demand’ and could benefit the Zappa family with huge profits. The group is called ‘Release The Seeman/Zappa Footage’. We are hoping to get as many names as possible to hopefully wake up the Zappa family to releasing this vital film footage which Is part of Zappa’s legacy and that Zappa himself participated in making and would want all his fans to see and share this very important period in his life.” Well, um, good luck with that.

· Apparently comedic actor Martin Clunes would rather take the complete works of FZ than William Shakespeare to his desert island. (Thanks to the numerous Radio 4 listeners who’ve contacted me regarding this – apparently the trailer features Doreen…personally. I’d like to take Kirsty to a desert island…)

· Here’s my review of Freak Out! My Life With FZ by Pauline Butcher: http://www.idiotbastard.com/reviews.htm#FreakOut

· I knew it! The Rage And The Fury will be released on the day the world ends (Frank’s 72nd birthday): http://www.zappa.com/gzsez/questions/the-rage-and-the-fury/

· If a man could be two places at one time…I’d see the Trinity Laban Wind Orchestra perform Envelopes and The Dog Breath Variations at the Blackheath Halls, as well as the Magic Band at the Scala L Anywho, here’s a great place to keep an eye on upcoming Z-orchestral concerts around the world: http://www.schott-music.com/shop/persons/az/frank-zappa/performances/

· Short interview with Pauline Butcher re. her great new book here: http://radiodupree.blogspot.com/2011/09/radio-duprees-interview-with-pauline.html

· Alice Cooper’s new Welcome 2 My Nightmare album not only features the surviving members of the original Straight-signed Cooper band, but also Mark Volman on backing vocals.

· Vinnie Colaiuta is about to go back on the road (in the US) with Mr Sting.

· The Ed Palermo Big Band will play three concerts with Napoleon Murphy Brock and Mike Keneally at the Iridium nightclub in Manhattan in October. “My band has played many times with Napoleon, [and] when we played at the Bottom Line for nine years, Mike would periodically grace us with his genius. Every time was pure magic. I’m thrilled beyond words,” says Ed.

· Alan Clayson has written a very nice obituary for Wild Man Fischer in the October edition of Record Collector (with “special thanks to GZ”).

· I attended Neil Innes Night at the BFI on Thursday 8 September. During the Q&A session with the great man, I asked (given his one-time comment that the Bonzos were “the mothers of convention”, and his recent fronting of The Idiot Bastard Band) if FZ was an influence: his response was “yes”, citing principally WOIIFTM. He also sang “Fuzzy dice, bongos in the back…” and said what a great song Peaches is. A short while after, Danny Baker asked Neil if he regretted the fact that the Bonzos never got to make their WOIIFTM; surprsingly, his answer was that the band’s contractual obligation album, Let’s Make Up And Be Friendly, was probably the closest they came to that.

· On 27 September, Sundazed Music releases Oxford, UK-June 6, 2005, the first of three live Magic Band UK shows, on CD and vinyl. This one adds half a dozen tracks not included on either Back To The Front or 21st Century Mirror Men. Portsmouth and Penzance to follow.

· J21 has just found some copies of the wonderful Eyeinhand Sampler CD, and will give them away to those who ‘like’ his Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/j21music) up until the end of September. For those unfamiliar with this album, it includes music from Arthur Barrow (with Ike Willis & Ray White), Don Preston, Bunk Gardner, Jimmy Carl Black, The Muffin Men, Thana Harris, Nigey Lennon, Scott Thunes, the ANT-BEE, Mike Keneally, the ever youthful and fantastic Andrew Greenaway and, of course, J21 (aka Joseph Diaz) hisself.

· The ANT-BEE is asked eight questions by Gary Pig Gold here: http://www.rocksbackpagesblogs.com/2011/04/pigshit-eight-questions-for-our-ant-bee/

· The ‘September release’ from the ZFT is Feeding The Monkies At Ma Maison - the recently discovered Synclavier album (intended for vinyl release by Frank) that Gail mentioned at the Roundhouse last year. The track listing is: Feeding The Monkies At Ma Maison/Buffalo Voice/Secular Humanism/Worms From Hell/Samba Funk (the last two being ‘bonus tracks’ added by the Trust).

· Steve is featured on classical guitarist Sharon Isbin’s new release Guitar Passions. For more, check out this video http://youtu.be/8u4krJw-HjM

· In 2008, the ZFT filed suit in the Southern District of New York against Rykodisc for alleged copyright and trademark infringement arising out of the label’s alleged unlawful use of Frank’s recordings (notably, the Strictly Commercial compilation). Ryko counterclaimed (citing the sale of ringtones, MOFO, Lumpy Money and the vinyl version of Hot Rats by the ZFT). On 17 August 2011, Ryko won ‘Part Judgment on Claims Of Infringement’ - the very same day the ZFT’s claims against Zappanale were taken to a higher court. You can read full details here: http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1:2008cv00396/319767/111/0.pdf?1313676451 (Thanks to Peter Brainpang for the tip-off – and Al Fresco for Googling!)

· Robert Martin has a new website: http://multimartinmusic.com/

· GZ sez “the new September release” will contain previously unheard FZ compositions (here) - ooh! Meantime, she is taking her gripe against Zappanale and the Arf Society to a higher court - boo!

· Mike Keneally tweets: “One of the shows from the ’97 G3 tour where I guested during Fripp’s set is downloadable - happy that it’s available!” And here it is: http://www.dgmlive.com/archive.htm?artist=14&show=917

· Diva wants you to check out her website: http://www.divazappa.com/

· Gail wants to clear some brown clouds: http://www.zappa.com/gzsez/questions/168/ Come on, boys and girls – time to ask her sensible, searching questions. Respectfully.

· For those of you on Facebook, type ‘Freak Out! My Life With Frank Zappa by Pauline Butcher’ in the search field, like the resultant page (natch), then read daily teasers from Pauline on her imminent book. Really looking forward to this one…

· On the current Return 2 Forever VI US tour, Chick Corea has guested a couple of times with special guests ZPZ. You can hear him trading soli with Dweezil on King Kong right here: http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/songs/124. And how about Jean-Luc Ponty doing similar on Fifty Fifty: http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/songs/115?

· “EU tours in the works for 2012...stay tuned for info as it comes in,” say the Grande Mothers ReInvented. Tom Fowler will be on bass.

· Mike Keneally’s next album is: “now officially entitled Wing Beat Fantastic and centered upon the material I've written with the lovely and talented Andy Partridge.”

· The George Duke Quartet be playing a European tour in November – including two dates at London’s Jazz Café. Check the full monty at http://www.georgeduke.com/schedule.html. BTW, as well as the Frank Zappa Tribute medley, the new George Duke Band Live In Prague DVD also features a brief reference to Echidna’s Arf (Of You) at the end of a marathon Brazilian Love Affair.

· Wanna play a little game? Go here http://barfkoswill.shop.musictoday.com/Dept.aspx?cp=971_16820&sort=&page=0 and sort the vintage vinyl by best seller.

· Adrian Belew (with the Metropole Orkest)’s e for orchestra is now available as a studio version CD and live DVD (here).

· Gryphon Labs (who are basically the Zappa Plays Zappa band with Rick Musallam on guitar instead of Dweezil) are offering a free album download here: http://gryphonlabs.bandcamp.com/ And the Aristocrats have a little something for ya at http://the-aristocrats-band.com/news/free-download-of-sweaty-knockers/. For those who couldn’t make it, Marco Minnemann was wunderbar at Zappanale; Eddie Jobson’s headline set was probably my favourite ever.

· First part of ZappaCast: Episode VI (A New Hope) now up at: http://zappacast.podomatic.com/entry/2011-08-14T09_59_48-07_00. This episode (which comes in three bite-sized chunks) covers the Vaudeville band period.

· Check out this great bit of animation on YouTube: A Business Lesson with Frank Zappa.

· New book, Surf Beat: Rock 'N' Roll’s Forgotten Revolution by Kent Crowley, stresses the importance of Pal Studios to the genre. Read more here: http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_18662344

· Immediately after Zappanale, Project Object (with Ike Willis and Ray White) will be playing a one-off gig in the UK at the Half Moon in Putney on Tuesday 23 August. Tickets on sale now – click the pic. This will be the first time the band has ever played in this country – and it’s the first time Ike & Ray have graced a UK stage together since 1984. See you there!

· Just a reminder that it’s nearly that time again – yes, the one and only Zappanale in Bad Doberan, Germany, which this year will features performances by Eddie Jobson, Ike Willis, Ray White, Robert Martin, Project Object, Essra Mohawk, Gary Lucas, Colosseum, Evil Dick, The Plastic People Of The Universe, Chris Opperman, The Vegetarians, Sandro Oliva, Co de Kloet… If you’re thinking of going and haven’t been before, this might be helpful: http://www.idiotbastard.com/ZNLTravelGuide.htm If you’re unable to attend, then you can still watch it via a live webstream. Oh yus.

· Dweezil has posted a snippet of ZPZ performing Road Ladies with a shaky sounding Flo & Eddie here: http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/songs/72

· Along with a major revamp of Candy Zappa’s book, My Brother Was A Mother, also expect a reissue of Francesco Vincente Zappa (her father)’s “small book on gambling probabilities” in the not too distant.

· As many of you will have read, Roy “I didn’t do it!” Estrada is currently incarcerated in Tarrant County Jail. Roy has been on the public sex offender registry for some time, following offences dating back to the time of Baby Snakes. In 2009, Gail Zappa alluded to earlier misdemeanors when she threatened to “officially go on record for what he has never taken responsibility for and remind him that we did not report him to the police all those years ago” if he continued to bad-mouth Frank in interviews. With three crimes against children under his belt, I think it unlikely Roy would ever be questioned by the music press again.

· Dr Eugene Chandbourne (of the Jack & Jim Show fame) plays a sole solo UK date at the Café Oto in London on 3 November.

· Get a sneak preview of The Aristocrats forthcoming debut album here: http://the-aristocrats-band.com/music/

· Another batch of wonderment from Crossfire: firstly, Candy Zappa’s …To Be Perfectly Frank is now available for download (from http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/candyzappa); this version excludes all of the FZ radio spot snippets that appear on the CD version. Also available for download are Nolan Porter (husband of Candy)’s first two albums – with oodles of bonus tracks. The backing band for half of the tracks on No Apologies (http://cdbaby.com/cd/nolanporter) consisted of Jimmy Carl Black (drums), Roy Estrada (bass) and Lowell George (guitar). When JCB left to form Geronimo Black, he got drummer Richie Hayward and keyboardist Bill Payne to replace him. A short time after writing the song Somebody’s Gone for Nolan, Lowell left with Hayward and Payne to form Little Feat. Nolan (http://cdbaby.com/cd/nolanporter2) includes the Northern Soul classic If I Could Only Be Sure, featuring Johnny “Guitar” Watson (guitar); other musicians on the album include Jim Gordon and Larry Carlton. Studio-quality versions of all three albums will soon be available directly from Crossfire, with expansive liner notes (including exclusive interview material), photos, credits and discographies.

· Flo & Eddie played the following ditties with Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa: Accept No Substitutes^© in Woodstock on 28 July: This Town Is a Sealed Tuna Sandwich, Magic Fingers, Tell Me You Love Me, Would You Go All The Way, Road Ladies, Do You Like My New Car?, Happy Together and Dog Breath.

· Ahead of their appearance at Zappanale, The Vegetarians have posted a new song online – check it out at http://www.ubetoo.com/player.aspx?mediaid=50643

· Some of FZ’s ditties have just been rescored for classical orchestral instruments, tracked on Sear Sound’s custom Avalon/Sear console, produced by Susan Del Giorno and engineered by Silas Brown. More on this when I get it.

· Find Magic Band UK (& ROI) tour dates in the Bastard’s Diary.

· Surely GZ must get sent some sensible questions? If so, why does she insist on drawing attention to the stoopid ones: http://www.zappa.com/gzsez/category/questions/

· Dutch artist, and Zappa fan, Dennis Teunissen, has a special offer for anyone interested in his painting Is this what Uncle Frank was talking about? For more details, visit his website at http://www.zappa555.nl/

· Sadly, the Essra Mohawk/Sandro Oliva gig at London’s Bridgehouse in September has been cancelled (though it may be re-scheduled for Spring next year). Found this out reading United Mutations’ short chat with Sandro here: http://united-mutations.blogspot.com/2011/07/short-chat-with-sandro-oliva.html

· Pamela Des Barres is about “to record I’m With the Band (unabridged) for Audible. Pretty soon you'll be able to hear the entire book spoken by the, ahem, author!” For those of you who may not know, Miss Pamela recorded an edited version some 16 years ago, which is pretty fine listening.

· The George Duke Band Live In Prague DVD (featuring a tribute to FZ) is finally available – from GD’s website. (“This NTSC disc is region free,” says he.) Hopefully this will make up for the cancellation of the planned Cobham/Duke Band Euro tour…

· Napi’s album is here at last: http://www.idiotbastard.com/News/PressRelease.htm ... and here’s a Press Release for J21.

· For all you guitar freaks oot there (Master Campbell, I’m looking at you), Hal Leonard is issuing another in its series of Zappa album transcription book things - this time, in the shape of One Size Fits All. It’s out next January…

· Pay attention, your Freditor has spoken: yes, Mr Tomsett informs me of a very new compact disc that features “a version of Uncle Frank’s It Just Might Be a One-Shot Deal, taken slightly slower than the old guy’s and with an even creepier vocal performance, if that's possible.” It appears, among other goodies, on Perfavore Sing by Vincenzo Vasi & Giorgio Pacorig.

· Interesting new interview with Howard Kaylan here. But why does the man who writes ‘Eddie’s Media Corner’ – and is not Professor Flo - refer to himself as the ‘Florescent Leech’?

· Tom Fowler has a new album out; Let’s Start Over features brother Walt and Mr Mike Miller. And also, the great vocals of Andrea Miller. Another former z-bassist - little Patrick O’Hearn - also has a new single out (with album to follow - both) called Reaching Land.

· The ‘uncut’ version of my interview with Essra Mohawk is now here: http://idiotbastard.com/Interviews/EssraMohawk.htm

· Don Preston has written a book “of poems and stories”, called Listen: A Thought, Faster Than Light. It is currently only available directly from Don (Brain Publishing).

· Messrs Keneally & Thunes checked out The Aristocrats at the Biscuits & Blues in San Francisco on 24 June. Sounds like everyone had a right old time; sure hope to see said band one day soon meself.

· GZ has offered some more clues re. possible ZFT releases this year here. Based on previous utterances, I believe she refers to Dance Me This (“Synclavier”), Joe’s Menage A Trois (“Corsaga”), Vaudeville band live (“Concert”), and an exciting new deal with iTunes (“Download”). But I could be wrong. And here’s the latest on Bat Chain Puller: http://www.zappa.com/gzsez/questions/orig-bcp-release-date/

· This year’s BBC Proms features Ensemble Modern (playing Steve Reich), Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and a bit of Anton Webern (performed by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta). But no Zappa.

· Michael Kieran Harvey’s 48 Fugues For Frank (see my review) has just won a 2011 Art Music Award (presented by the Australasian Performing Right Association and the Australian Music Centre) for 'Instrumental Work of the Year'.

· Larry ‘Wild Man’ Fischer has died - of heart disease. A tormented soul, may he rest in peace. Dr Demento will pay tribute on his radio show on 2 July. Meantime, you can download An Evening With… here, and listen to one track from it over at Zappa.com: http://www.zappa.com/whatsnew/ofconsequence/wild-man-fischer/index.html

· Mike Keneally and Bryan Beller will be two of the ‘friends’ backing Joe Satriani and Steve Vai at their Benefit For Cliff II concert at the House Of Blues in LA on Sunday 10 July; Dweezil Zappa will again be a special guest. Cliff (Cultreri) is the A&R executive who discovered both Satch and Steve, and is suffering from Auto-Immune & Connective-Tissue disorders.

· Do Ensemble Modern risk incurring the (*cough*) rage and fury of the ZFT with this new CD, Kontinent Varèse? They also have a new companion piece to their Nancarrow Studies CD, As Fast As Possible.

· The Magic Band will play London’s Scala on 30 November - Gad, haven’t been there since a Marx Brothers all-nighter in the 80s! In the meanwhile, GZ now saying the original Bat Chain Puller will be out “later this year”.

· The latest (and best so far, IMHO) ZappaCast is here: http://zappacast.podomatic.com/player/web/2011-05-31T13_43_40-07_00 It covers Frank’s early years and includes a big bunch of rare music, as well as some wondrous special guests. Check it out.

· Another live Keneally CD/DVD (sort of) will be out soon: Joe Satriani’s Live In Montreal is in the mastering phase. Take a sneaky peek: http://youtu.be/yv5k2HP204M

· Candy Zappa’s …To Be Perfectly Frank CD is available now from: http://www.cafepress.co.uk/ZappaPorterMusic.543909140

· Jeff Simmons tells me he has been catching up with some old friends: he met Janet “Gabby Furggy” Ferguson (in LA) and Ray Collins (in Claremont); caught George Duke in rehearsals; and spoke to Aynsley Dunbar and Bruce Fowler ont’phone. More details as soon as.

· English fashion designer Paul Smith’s Winter 2011 Collection is dedicated to Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa and ‘all other space eccentrics that have made the world a more interesting place’. Says Smith “When I started working on the collection, I was interested in exploring Frank Zappa, the Yardbirds and Captain Beefheart — I just really loved that posh rock era and that whole disjointed sound — the randomness of it. There wasn’t any fashion then; it was you just threw on these huge hairy jackets with these skinny trousers and off you’d go. And then, when Captain Beefheart died, it seemed like an awfully dreary subject for a show. Then I remembered that Zappa named his daughter Moon Unit. And the whole interest in the space program dates to the same era, and I figured that was a pretty random thought so that’s where I went.” Now look here: http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/collections/men/paul-smith-autumn-winter-11/autumn-winter-11/ Oh, and that reminds me: Diva’s London art show – Bruce – ended ahead of schedule. So loblolly on you if you missed it.

· Want to see Doctor Nerve at this year’s Zappanale? You can help them here: http://kck.st/jZXwPK

· Scott Parker is busily editing together our next ZappaCast, which promises to be a goodie – a lot of interesting folk involved in this one. Meantime, if you haven’t already checked out the first couple of episodes, they’re here: http://zappacast.podomatic.com/

· Dale Bozzio and Warren Cuccurullo are reforming Missing Persons (again) for a US reunion tour in June celebrating the 30th anniversary of Spring Session M. No Terry Ted, Patrick or Chuck this time, but the great Doug Lunn will be on bass.

· Arriba, riba! Mike Keneally has recorded “keyboards on four tunes for the next Chickenfoot record”. Chickenfoot is of course the American super-group comprising former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, Red Chili Pepper Chad Smith and Joe Satriani.

· Candy Zappa has some t-shirts that were designed by her friend Larry Rogak, and they look pretty spiffy: http://shop.cafepress.com/zappa-porter

· Following on from the Jukebox, Roots Of... and Classical Selection CDs comes a download-only package: The Blueprints Of Frank Zappa - The Original Recordings By The Original Artists adds four tracks not included on the afore-mentioned (St. James Infirmary by Louis Amstrong; Sweet Leilani by Les Paul; Little Girl Of Mine by The Cleftones; and Mary Lou by Buddy Knox).

· Some ho-ho stuff from the Muffin Men and Professor Walley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6bM5beTHro (and there’s more new wonderment over at www.muffinmen.co.uk).

· Slightly off topic, but I attended the launch of Glenn Hughes’ new book, Deep Purple and Beyond: Scenes From The Life of a Rock Star, on 12 May and who else should be there? None other than fellow Z author, Neil Slaven (Electric Don Quixote). Neil produced Trapeze (Glenn’s first band) way back when. Also in attendance was the inspiration for The Mud Shark, Mr Richard Cole.

· You've got to hand it to [REDACTED]; we can grumble and gripe all we want about what the [REDACTED] should and should not release from the vault - and in what format - but [REDACTED] consistently surprises us with stuff we didn't know we wanted. Laddies and inverted genital-peeps, it’s: Penguin In Bondage and The Little Known History Of The Mothers Of Invention (Frank talkin’ Buff to AbFree), a download-only EP “recorded at Auditorium Theater, Chicago, Illinois at the stroke of midnight on one of the Mothers Day Concerts, 10/11/12 May 1974.” Tasty.

· The Muffin Men have posted, for your delectation, their excellent rendition of the Captain’s Suction Prints (featuring Feelers Reebo) at: http://www.muffinmen.co.uk/muffinz/euro_tour_2011.html. And Gary Lucas has posted his great song with Essra Mohawk here.

· Gosh darn it: Kill Ugly Radio has decided to call it a day. Now where will I go to steal news stories? Guess this means PvL (of United Mutations) and me must have a stare-off to the death. It’s the end of the world as we know it L

· Check out this radio interview with Billy Hulting, Cal Schenkel and Howard Kaylan (who confirms he has been busy recording a “rocking teenage album” with Jeff Simmons, and says that Flo & Eddie will be playing more dates with ZPZ “later in the year”).

· Ahead of their Preserving and Protecting the Frank Zappa Archives presentation at the 45^th Annual Association For Recorded Sound Collections in Los Angeles on 12 May, Gail and Joe spoke to Kevin Ferguson: http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2011/04/30/gail-zappa-joe-travers-talk-frank-zappas-archives/ Meantime, GZ (ever the provocateur) seeks to preserve the fanbase here: http://www.zappa.com/gzsez/questions/106/

· Zappa loving guitarist J21's Beyond The Holographic Veil (the album that features the first collaboration between Scott Thunes and Ed Mann since 1988, as well as contributions from Reeves Gabrels, Geoff Tyson, Robert Martin, Don Preston, Marco Minnemann, Mike Garson and (*cough*) andrew greenaway) will be issued on CD by Floating World records in June (along with a re-release of Joseph’s Yellow Mind:Blue Mind, that also featured Mr Mann). Both can currently be obtained as digital downloads from: http://app.artists-first.net/J21/shop.action and http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/yellow-mind-blue-mind/id288674793

· ZPZ US and Canada dates have now been added at http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/events. Flo & Eddie are special guests for one night only at the Bearsville Theater in NY on 28 July. The 10 August to 24 September dates are all in support of Return to Forever 4 (with the exception of the Telluride Blues Festival, where they open for The Flaming Lips).

· Suddenly available: Napoleon Murphy Brock’s This Is What Frank Zappa Heard: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/napoleonmurphybrock

· Here’s Denny Walley with the Muffin Men and Suction Prints: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NaIf6TwyW0

· Gibson has put together a list of songs that feature mistakes that have been incorporated into their iconic sound. Amongst the list is Frankie boy’s We’re Turning Again. You can read the full list here: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/bloopers-0412-2011/

· Ladies, put your legs together as “Dave McMann presents: Pre-High Voltage Festival Evening, Friday 22 July at 7PM, Bridgehouse2, East London. Two great bands: That Legendary Wooden Lion (who headlined our Concert For Jimmy) and Slam. One great cause: Celia Hammond Animal Trust. Tickets 5 pounds by guest list only. Contact dmcmann321@gmail.com to be added to the list, then pay on the door. This not for profit fundraiser is not in any way associated with HV/MAMA Group.”

· Mike Keneally writes on Twitter that he just spent a “long weekend writing/recording music with Mick Mars & Terry Bozzio. Me on bass and synth, probably some guitar later. Pretty damned awesome!” His new live CD/DVD will be titled bakin' @ the potato! Mike will be doing another live studio webcast (The Mike Keneally Show - In The Studio at Chatfield Manor) on Thursday 14 April at 12 noon Pacific time.

· Now available, VaiTunes #7 - and really nice it is, too. It’s called The Bodhi Tree and features Steve experimenting with his Eventide H300 Harmonizer some 20 odd years ago, for a little over 9 minutes. Check it out via: http://vai.com/vaitunes/index.html

· May the fourth be with you...then you can go see Ensemble Modern (conducted by Franck Ollu) performing Varèse’s Octandre, Stravinsky’s L'Histoire du soldat and Webern’s Op. 6. In Athens.

· This Idiot was interviewed by Nigey Lennon for the above-mentioned Zappathon – be sure to miss it. Please!

· Chad Wackerman will travel outside the US on James Taylor’s current tour – check the Bastard’s Diary for details.

· Pauline Butcher’s memoir of what happened to her while working for FZ (1968-1972) will be published by Plexus in October, titled Freak Out! My Life With Frank Zappa.

· Grand Funk’s Mark Farner tells an interesting story 'bout gun-toting Frankie here: http://www.southbendtribune.com/entertainment/inthebend/sbt-farner-still-plays-energy-music-20110403,0,7526839.story

· Sandy is here at last…yes, Essra Mohawk (the real Uncle Meat) is the latest addition to the line-up for this year’s Zappanale. Hear her ‘duet’ with Frank here.

· You can now listen to Scott Parker’s entire second ZappaCast (it’s a monster in two parts) at PodOmatic or on iTunes. Episode 2 takes a close look at the 1988 Broadway The Hard Way tour, and includes rare rehearsal and live material, a tribute to the tour by The Vegetarians, an exclusive airing of excerpts from my interview with Ike Willis, the guest spots from Mats & Morgan and Dweezil, and FZ giving his thoughts on the end of the tour.

· Evil Dick & The Banned Members, under the leadership of English composer and musician Dr Richard Hemmings, will perform at this year’s Zappanale in Germany. Evil Dick’s backwards version of The Idiot Bastard Son is on the album 20 Extraordinary Renditions, and their arrangement, Fraudulent Free Jazz Extrapolations On White Port And Lemon Deuce, is on the CD 21 Burnt Weeny Sandwiches. But you knew that, right?

· Dweezil: “I’ve been in the middle of an emotionally challenging protracted divorce for nearly a full year now. With any luck we will be able to come to a resolution in a few months time...I mention this because I am going to list a few guitars on the site tomorrow that unfortunately I need to sell rather quickly.” http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/posts/828-guitars

· The Muffin Men have updated their website – check her oot: http://www.muffinmen.co.uk/

· On 14 March, the Alice Cooper Group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Rob Zombie, and reunited to perform live on stage. Zombie gave FZ a big plug for his part in Alice’s rise to fame. On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 18 March, Alice performed School’s Out with Dweezil on guitar - check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQWPrwTkd80

· The Vegetarians, under the leadership of Swedish composer and musician Hans Annellsson, will perform at this year’s Zappanale in Germany. They will perform a mixture of rarely heard Frank Zappa songs, together with other progressive covers and some original material. The Vegetarians’ latest release, Remustered & Remixed Salad, features a lot of prog rock classics as well as two FZ covers. The Vegetarians version of The Idiot Bastard Son is on the album 20 Extraordinary Renditions and Hans Annellsson's arrangement, Igor’s Holiday In The Little House By The Sea, is on the CD 21 Burnt Weeny Sandwiches.

· Here’s an update on Dr Carr’s Zappa And The And… tome: http://paulcarrmusings.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/zappa-and-the-and-book-progress/

· ZPZ are to play a UK tour this winter – see the Bastard’s Diary for details.

· Candy Zappa: “I am in the process of re-publishing my book My Brother Was A Mother: A Zappa Family Album, originally released in 2003. I was given a great idea of using pictures of Frank and his fans. If you have a picture of you and Frank and would like to include them in my book, please email me and I will put them in - with an honorable mention, of course!”

· John ‘Drumbo’ French has been blogging. He talks about a “final Magic Band tour” of the UK this November, which might also take in Dublin. He advises that Sundazed Records will finally release three live Magic Band shows in 2011 (from Portsmouth, Oxford and Penzance 2005). And finally: he informs us that Bat Chain Puller will also come out this year; “Gail Zappa has assured me that it will after one project that is already in the works is finished.” Wonder what that other project is?

· Ed Mann, who performed G-Spot Tornado as guest percussionist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on 21 January, will also guest with the Orchestra for its Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow - The ESO Plays Zappa symphony special on 15 March - together with Ike Willis! More info: http://www.edmontonsymphony.com/symphony-specials/2010-11-symphony-specials/dont-eat-the-yellow-snow-the-eso-plays-zappa/

· Onion bass-boy Bryan Beller is about to release an album (and also an DVD) featuring Mike Keneally and Joe Travers, (both) called Wednesday Night Live. Mr Mike is also currently mixing a live sister (or should that be brother?) ‘they’re-both-the-same-band’ album/DVD for issue a little later on - but you can pre-order Bryan’s stuff right this very minute. Go on!

· First the bassist from Metallica covered The Torture Never Stops, now former Megadeth lead guitarist, Glen Drover, has taken a stab at The Purple Lagoon and Filthy Habits (and some Jean-Luc Ponty and Al Di Meola too) - check it out: http://www.magnacarta.net/glendrover/

· The Guildhall Ubu Ensemble (conducted by Simon Wills and Ben Gernon) will perform FZ’s The Dog Breath Variations, Dog Meat, The Girl In The Magnesium Dress, The Perfect Stranger, G-Spot Tornado, Harry, You’re A Beast, Orange County Lumber Truck and Questi Cazzi Di Piccione at LSO St Luke's, 161 Old Street, London on 24 March.

· More additions to the line-up for this year’s Zappanale festival, so here’s the full list of those confirmed thus far (with the new acts emboldened): Chris Oppermann; Colosseum; Eddie Jobson (headliner); Fido Plays Zappa; Gary Lucas and Co de Kloet (performing the world premiere of their Don Van Vliet tribute, I Have A Cat); Ike Willis; Jono El Grande; Lazuli; Plastic People Of The Universe; Project/Object; Raoul Petite; Ray White; Robert Martin. Don’t that sound mighty grand?

· The Ed Palermo Big Band is about to record a new album - likely to be a two-disc project: one of FZ music (featuring Napoleon Murphy Brock); t'other, all original material. Bring it on, I say.

· Billy James (aka ANT-BEE) was recently interviewed for a new documentary about Bizarre and Straight Records; Billy talks about some of the acts that were signed to the labels, such as Alice Cooper, Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, Wild Man Fischer, The GTOs, Jerry Yester and Judy Henske. The documentary is scheduled to be released this summer.

· I have just interviewed head Muffin Man Roddie Gilliard about the band’s new album (out next month) – check it out: http://www.idiotbastard.com/reviews.htm#L4

· The wait for the ANT-BEE’s Electronic Church Muzik is over – see here: http://www.idiotbastard.com/News/PressRelease3.htm

· Interesting find over at Zappateers: an interview with supposed ex-Zappa drummer, Anthony White: http://www.duckinalightbulb.com/podcast_005. This reminds me, anyone know what/when Wham! bassist Deon Estus played with Frank?

· Rock Music Memorabilia has designed a website especially for its Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa commemorative sets - check it out: www.rockmusicmem.com

· Here’s three things of interest on YouTube: a new snippet from Zappa At The Roundhouse; some rare Beefheart; and how ZPZ might’ve sounded had Gary Moore joined them. RIP Gary.

· New Reviews up of Diva’s art show launch party and the new MufFinZ CD.

· Lucy Landymore, who won the percussion class of the 2010 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition playing The Black Page, returned to her home city of Cambridge to performs as part of Anglia Ruskin University’s Lunchtime Concert Series on 25 February. She performed works by Eric Sammut and FZ in the free concert at Anglia Ruskin’s Mumford Theatre.

· I dunno - you sit writing a Zappa book of your own, then a bus-load come along: the very lovely Dr Paul Carr is compiling one for publication in late 2012, titled Zappa And The And: A Contextual Analysis Of His Legacy. Read more at http://paulcarrmusings.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/new-frank-zappa-book/ And one Mick Ekers is writing an apparently ZFT-approved tome on FZ’s guitars and effects pedals (Zappa’s Gear - The Guitars, Amplifiers, Effects Pedals And Studio Equipment Of Frank Zappa). This too should hopefully be out by the year’s end.

· Scott Thunes is featured on November by the San Francisco Free Jazz Collective (http://freejazzcollective.bandcamp.com/album/november), and Vinnie Colaiuta plays on Lágrimas Mexicanas, the new album by Vinicius Cantuária & Bill Frisell.

· Drummer Mike Portnoy (the estranged co-founder of Dream Theater) has previously played tribute gigs to that well-known firm of solicitors Moon, Starkey, Peart & Bonham. He now tells Rhythm magazine, “There's a few other tributes I'd like to do and now I have some time, who knows. One of my biggest heroes is Frank Zappa and I'd love to do something, but I think the problem is it would be so unbelievably musically intense, I don't know how much fun it would be! The Zeppelin, Who and Beatles tributes were light and fun. A Zappa tribute would make my head explode. I don't know if it would be as fun as it would be a serious challenge.”

· Yo! Yo! Yo! Zappa indahouse: http://www.shorefire.com/index.php?a=pressrelease&o=4622

· And now, a further few more answers from GZ: http://www.zappa.com/gzsez/2011/01/questions-3/

· Ooh look – I’ve been chewing the fat with André Cholmondeley: http://idiotbastard.com/Interviews/AndreCholmondeley.htm

· ‘Ere’s something for ya: Whitesnake's new album, Forevermore, will initially be issued as part of a Classic Rock magazine ‘Fan Pack’ that adds two bonus tracks: Slide It In and Cheap An’ Nasty, recorded live at the Castle Donington Monsters Of Rock festival in 1990 - when little Stevie Vai was in the band. But wait…according to the Deep Purple Appreciation Society, the entire Donington concert is to be issued on DVD, and as a double CD, in the Summer. Criminy!

· The Muffin Men, with special guest Denny Walley, have added a couple of UK dates to their Spring 2011 European tour: the Bakers Vaults, Stockport on Tuesday 19 April (for tickets, email arnie.furniss@hotmail.co.uk) and the Cavern Club, Liverpool on 20 April (tickets from the club and other outlets such as http://www.safeconcerts.com/gigs.asp?gn=188718). For a full list of dates, check the Bastard’s Diary. Expect a new album to tie-in with this, titled Just Another Band From L4 (tee-hee), featuring no Zappa music but a couple of tunes from their Zappanale #21 set with Denny and Robert Martin.

· Jon Larsen’s surrealistic audiobook, Willie Nickerson’s Egg, is now available to download (check http://www.hotclub.musiconline.no/shop/displayAlbum.asp?id=40796). A modern fairytale narrated by Tommy Mars, who composed and performs the music. Arthur Barrow also appears. Here’s a Press Release.

· Eddie Jobson’s Ultimate Zero Tour: Live album is now out…in Japan. But you can pick up copies via the Zealots Lounge, Amazon and DGM Live. A bit pricey, but looks pretty darn good.

· In the February issue of The Wire, Richard Henderson, Brian Morton, Savage Pencil, Gary Lucas, Mike Barnes and Byron Coley pay strictly personal tributes to the departed Don Van Vliet.

· The Grammy Museum presents S’Talking Zappa with GZ, Todd Yvega and Joe Travers, on Thursday 27 January: http://www.shorefire.com/index.php?a=pressrelease&o=4611

· The Grande Mothers Re:invented will be back in Europe (“with performances in Holland and Germany and more TBA”) between March and April 2011. More details as soon as…

· This just in: “During 2010, Crossfire rolled out 35 download volumes (a total of 417 tracks) from Paul Buff's archives of Pal and Original Sound recordings. Many of you wanted lossless files rather than MP3s, so we've gone and done it! After more than four years of meticulous work, we are proud to present Paul Buff Presents The Pal And Original Sound Studio Archives: The Collection. We're offering the entire 35-volume set of recordings as WAV files along with a large, 138-page PDF featuring Greg Russo and Paul Buff's historical liner notes, photos and credits. Of course, all of the tracks that feature Frank Zappa as a performer, writer, producer or engineer are part of this set. Not only that, you also get 56 bonus tracks (two featuring Zappa) that were not part of the series. All of these bonus tracks were discovered and/or remastered after the series was completed, and you have to buy the entire set to get them. The price for Paul Buff Presents The Pal And Original Sound Studio Archives: The Collection (a total of 473 tracks) is $350 US (for a flash drive, including shipping to any location).” For the records, the two FZ bonus tracks are: Why Don't You Do Me Right (Alternate Demo) (the one with Floyd, but without the background noise); and High Steppin’ (the piece on Lumpy Gravy played at double speed, now in real time).To order your copy, visit http://www.crossfirepublications.com/purchase.php. For more details about what the set comprises, look here and here.

· Trombonist Uwe Dierksen, who appears on The Yellow Shark, Civilization Phaze III and EIHN, has a solo ‘Ensemble Modern Media portrait CD’ out called ROOR. It features his rendition of Revised Music For Low Budget Orchestra. See/hear: http://www.ensemble-modern.com/en/em_media/new_releases/91

· The next physical FZ CD from Chrome Dreams (following its fab and groovy Frank Zappa’s Jukebox) will be Frank Zappa’s Classical Selection - see here: http://www.idiotbastard.com/News/PressRelease1.htm. Also in the pipeline, from the same label, is a Beefheart/Trout Mask documenta’y.

· Check out this great rendition of Reagan at Bitburg by Ascolta: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE7iTTDZeF4. If there is a Roundhouse 2, lets hope they get to play it and that the ZFT finally releases the long-awaited Ascolta Plays Zappa CD featuring some of Frank’s unpublished Synclavier works, recorded in July 2007.

· Todd Grubbs' new CD, Return Of The Worm, is out very soon. It features special guests Jerry Outlaw, Blues Saraceno and Mike Keneally (for more, see http://www.idiotbastard.com/News/PressRelease2.htm) and you can hear the latter’s guest solo right now at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JquJTT9NLvA&feature=recentu

· Rock Music Memorabilia still has a few Captain Beefheart commemorative sets left. It consists of: a programme, a flyer and a 20ins x 30 ins black and white poster from the 1975 Knebworth Festival; 12 pictures of Captain Beefheart during his 1972 tour and Frank Zappa at the 1970 Bath Festival; the book There Must Be A Better Way by Freddy Bannister, with many anecdotes of being on tour with Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa in the 70s; Captain Beefheart At The Albert Hall, 23-3-72 (2CDs); Captain Beefheart At The Dome Brighton, 29-3-72 (1CD); Captain Beefheart At The Manchester Free Trade Hall, 1-4-72 (1CD); Captain Beefheart At The Bataclan Paris, 15/4/1972 (CD); Captain Beefheart At The Knebworth Festival, 5-7-75 (1CD); Captain Beefheart At New Victoria Theatre, 14/11/75 (CD); Captain Beefheart At Portsmouth Locarno, 1/12/75 (CD); Captain Beefheart At The Tivoli Gardens Copenhagen, 31-10-75 (CD); a DVD entitled Spirit Of Knebworth; a DVD with Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band from Rome Goes Pop 68, Cannes Beach - Bouton Rouge 68 and Beat Club 72. It is priced at £49.99. Anyone interested should either phone Wendy Bannister (on +44(0)1954 268088) or by email (info@rockmusicmemorabilia.com), or contact Paul Brown via psb251@live.co.uk.

· First acts announced for the upcoming Mosae Zappa festival (at the Muziekgieterij in Maastricht, 6-8 May) are: Lilo’s Zapmospheres, The Wrong Object (featuring Ke on violin) and Tarentatec Play Aufrichtiges Zappa. More news as soon as…

· There’s a very interesting interview with a fired-up Scott Thunes in the January 2011 issue of Bass Guitar Magazine. Catch it if you can.

· Frank’s house mixer, Harry Andronis, sadly passed away on Monday 27 December. Says Dweezil: “He came to our LA show recently and really enjoyed it. It was great to see him enjoying something in his challenging times.” I corresponded with Harry several times while researching my Hard Way book, and knew he was suffering from ALS (‘Lou Gehrig's disease’), which meant he found it hard to type. A very nice man who would’ve helped me more if he could. Sad loss. My sincere condolences to his family and friends.

· Here's a nice little reminder of Zappanale #21 from the Arfs: http://www.zappanale.de/zappanale/en/news/259-r-for-the-love-of-the-music.html

· Ahmet has just become the proud daddy of little Halo Violetta Zappa - all together now: “Ahhh!”

· From ZPZ bassist Pete Griffin’s blog: “Unfortunately it looks like we won't be working again with ZPZ until summer 2011, but there's a very exciting tour being planned...and also, Dweezil’s latest album is up for a Grammy, which is exciting, even if I’m not going to be receiving one since he changed the name of the band on the record.”

· The recently reunited classic incarnation of Return To Forever is hitting the road again next year in an expanded line-up that adds Jean Luc-Ponty. It subtracts Al di Meola, who is replaced by Frank Gambale, and will be supported by ZPZ in the summer.

· J-Roc sent me this link a while back: it’s a brilliantly edited together version of various official versions of Strictly Genteel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf1nO5JMZkQ

· As predicted, a 70th Birthday Bundle was unleashed; no Lucy Lawless, and a truly awful version of Willie The Pimp (as Hoops over at Zappateers rightly points out, just the thing that DZ spoke out against in the Sky Arts At The Roundhouse programme). The rest is pretty neat, though – especially Treacherous Cretins. And you can listen to the alternate version of City Of Tiny Lites (from the Hammersmith Odeon in January 1978) here: http://www1.rollingstone.com/hearitnow/player/frank.html

· RIP, Don. See tributes at Zappa.com and Beefheart.com.

· The 25th anniversary remaster of Steve Vai’s Flex-Able seemingly snuck out in June as a download only release – see http://www.amazon.com/Flex-able-25th-Anniversary-Re-master/dp/B0040I7WZY And here’s another download that seems to have completely by-passed me...until now: the Mike Keneally Band Live at Schubas, 6 July 2005.

· Eat this, in remembrance of Frank - a short instrumental track, Letter To Frank, composed and performed by Hans Annellsson: http://soundcloud.com/annellsson/letter-to-frank

· The ‘Zappa At The Roundhouse’ behind-the-scenes documentary premiered on Sky Arts 1 on Saturday 4 December. Throughout, we saw GZ, DZ (and, later, the ‘Vaultmiser’) yakking in the green room to whispering Bob Harris, with Dweezil again airing the possibility of the ZPZ band playing their own (or his own) compositions at some point. Gail stated her hope that this could become an annual festival (she “couldn’t imagine it happening anywhere else”), where they could premiere things like Sinister Footwear and the full score from 200 Motels. Harris, in his role as narrator, described The Adventures Of Greggery Peccary as one of Frank’s most popular classical pieces, and the Scott/Jeff Q&A session (more accurately) as “riotous”. There were very brief clips of the London Contemporary Orchestra (playing Dog Breath and Ruth Is Sleeping), the Mighty Boosh Band (playing Willy (sic) The Pimp), ZPZ (playing Cosmik Debris with FZ, Pick Me, I’m Clean with Thunes, Wino Man with Simmons, and Valley Girl with Moon). There were other brief interviews conducted in the corridors of the Roundhouse with Ali N. Askin, Todd Yvega, Frank Filipetti, Scott, Frank’s daughters, and a few fans. It was all very interesting to watch, and a nice reminder of just what a great weekend it was. I would though have preferred some more complete music clips. Also, the whole thing was slightly vignetted, for some odd reason. Here’s hoping the ZFT have an expanded DVD version in the pipeline. Meantime, it will be repeated on 12 & 14 December and, for those who are unable, you can watch an eight-minute excerpt right now at http://www.skyarts.co.uk/video/video-sky-arts-at-the-roundhouse-zappa-festival/

· Tuesday (30 November) was our dear friend Gamma’s funeral. Many Zappa fans will know of this gentle giant, whose departure earlier this month left a huge void. An incredibly sweet and funny guy, I’ll never forget the time when, at the end of an international coffeehouse chain-sponsored free gig by the Zappatistas in Trafalgar Square, he turned to me and asked, “When did the band change their name to Starbucks?” Anyway, a very nice service took place in North London, with only those who knew him speaking - including his three sons, his ex (Elaine) and, of course, Mr Ben Watson (who’d written a po-em, but left it at ho-em). Gamma’s wicker coffin was carried in by his boys to the sound of Valarie, which set me off straightaway. His eldest boy, Leon, acted as MC. Elaine told us that within a few weeks of their meeting, Gamma had insisted that Winos Do Not March be played at his funeral - which it duly was. We learned that Gamma believed that Jake (his beloved pet poodle, who also died this year) had gone ahead to look for traps. A Crowley-inspired song - Gamma Delta 9 - was performed by old friend, Johnny, and Ben spoke eloquently about their friendship and suggested holding an annual Memorial Barbecue - which is a very nice idea, though naturally many of us will remember Gamma a lot more than once a year. Watermelon In Easter Hay brought the service to a thrilling conclusion, as we repaired to a bit of a do in Kentish Town. Les Fils De l’Invention joined us there, as did Simon Prentis. I sadly had to leave early, but not before raising a pint of the black stuff to my dear friend. Now you can rest your poor old feet, Gamma. (Here’s a nice obit: http://david-hodson.blogspot.com/2010/11/its-pink-rays-from-sirius-man-memories.html. And here’s an apt reminder of the man: http://www.idiotbastard.com/Music/Valarie.mp3)

· Dweezil has been nominated for a Grammy, in the category of ‘Best Rock Instrumental Performance’, for his wondrous rendition of The Deathless Horsie on the Return Of The Son Of… album.

· The second Yellow Snow Festival takes place in Norway on 4-5 February 2011. Scheduled to perform are Caballero Reynaldo, Bongo Fury, Dead Dino Storage and Jon Larsen - sounds pretty amazing. More details at http://www.musikkensvennerlarvik.com/yellow-snow-festival-2011.html

· In celebration of Don Van Vliet’s 70th birthday, Gary Lucas will present a two hour Captain Beefheart Symposium at The Echoplex in LA on 13 January 2011, with special guests TBA. More here: http://garylucas.com/www/capt/

· Joe Coleman’s painting of Captain Beefheart is currently on display at ‘Dickinson Of New York’. It features a mini portrait of FZ, as you can see here: http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images_145714_611774_joe-coleman.asp

· Here’s a preview of Emil Richards recalling the first Lumpy Gravy sessions in new film, The Wrecking Crew, coming soon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB7dGnC46gE

· Visitors to Dweezil Zappa World are asked “Would you be interested in a Dweezil Zappa guitar solo compilation record that would be downloadable only and would be comprised of front of house reference mixes not multi-track mixes?”

· Several months back, I told y’all ‘bout a track one Thierry Deruelle had worked on with Dweezil. Well, since then, a three track EP has slipped out featuring various members of ZPZ, called Asynchronous. And it’s pretty nifty.

· The 52-minute Keneally/Minnemann improvisation on the DVD that came with the Evidence of Humanity CD, Elements of a Manatee, is now available as a very reasonably priced audio download (http://store.moosemart.com/servlet/Detail?no=56).

· My Zappa At The Roundhouse diary is here: http://idiotbastard.com/Reviews/Roundhouse.htm

· Two new FZ books to tell you about: Frank Zappa by Ingo Meyer is in German (see here: http://www.reclam.de/detail/978-3-15-018811-8?query=zappa - the blurb describes Frank as “undoubtedly one of the most irritating figures in pop music”, according to Babel Fish); and The Hook: The Recordings Of Frank Zappa Volume 4 1973-1974 by Scott Parker, which is in American and is now available for pre-order at http://spbpublishing.webs.com/. Says Scott of this latest little beauty, “the book chronicles the Roxy period from Fall 1973 through to the Tenth Anniversary Tour of Spring 1974. It's 247 pages, and thanks to the dilligent work of diligent artist/proofreader par excellence Rob Ross, it's the best one to date technically. It's also the first 100% professionally-printed book and looks, well, great!” I believe him.

· Two new albums featuring Mike Keneally to tell you about: first up is Chris Opperman’s The Lionheart. Chris, you’ll recall, helped orchestrate Steve Vai’s Sound Theories and Mike’s The Universe Will Provide. This, his fifth solo album, features ten new compositions, including The Porpentine, “an epic 15-minute 12-movement piece for orchestra plus rhythm section. Most of the album was recorded at Steve’s Mothership Studios with Grammy award-winning engineer Neil Citron. It also boasts a double guitar solo by Mike on the song White Willow and artwork by award winning comic book artist Mark Buckingham”. More info at http://www.chrisopperman.net/lionheart.html And next is Todd Grubb’s Return Of The Worm. Todd, of course, contributed tracks to my two Zappa albums for Cordelia Records (and hopefully the next), and his last album featured Don Preston. As well as Mr K, this new one has a guest appearance by Bogus Pomp’s Jerry Outlaw. More info here.

· Australian actor Joel Edgerton will star opposite Jennifer Garner in a fantasy based on a story by Ahmet. The Odd Life Of Timothy Green follows a childless couple who bury all their wishes for a baby in a box in their backyard. One day they wake up to find that a child is born, but the child is not all that it appears...

· Napoleon Murphy Brock is quoted online as saying that in March 2011 he “will be touring with The Absolute Ensemble, a 20-piece ensemble that will be playing compositions by Frank Zappa in a classical style. I will be doing the vocals and Mike Keneally will be handling the guitar.” In fact, this may actually be happening in 2012. In the same interview, Napi complains that Dweezil cut out most of his terpsichorean exploits from the first ZPZ DVD. Meanwhile, in Guitar Player magazine, Dweezil mentions that, when editing the Son Of Roxy DVD, he focussed on the band taking solos rather than letting the camera wander off onto people dancing around on stage. Some coincidence, eh kids?! Anyways, if you wanna see Napi shaking his thing with the Grande Mothers in Manchester next week, you can get two tickets for the price of one (and also discounts off big party bookings) by contacting ruth@thedeafinstitute.co.uk

· New book, 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die, features an entry on Frank’s Valley Girl, written by me! Read more at http://www.octopusbooks.co.uk/books/popular-culture/9781844036844/1001-songs/ (I wrote four other entries, too.)

· The next Zappanale will take place from 19-21 August 2011 (http://community.zappanale.de/community/en/news/68-r-zappanale-22.html).

· George Duke was ZPZ’s special guest when the band played LA in December 2010.

· The Torture Never Stops DVD has been released by Eagle Vision in the UK: http://www.eagle-rock.com/product/EREDV826/The+Torture+Never+Stops

· Great news: FZ’s long out of print book, Them Or Us, has been published by Pinter & Martin for his 70^th birthday. Check here: http://www.pinterandmartin.com/product/Them_or_Us_978-1-905177-56-1 How blessed we are to have had two great Zappa books come out of the UK this year!

· Did FZ try his hand at beat poetry? Deepinder Cheema (he of Milanese fly swattage fame) has unearthed evidence of one Vincent Beldon penning a couplet called LA Night Piece, which is said to be the work of the teenage Zappa. See the various z-Fora for more-a.

· John Tabacco has a new CD out, Patience, My Boy, which can be purchased from iTunes, CDBaby, etc. Among other great pieces (including duets with his girlfriend, Susan DeVita), it contains one track that incorporates some of John’s Burnt Weenie Sandwich Remnants, onto which hes sprinkled some lyrics: a perfect marriage, indeed! Talking of alternate versions of tracks from the excellent 21 Burnt Weeny Sandwiches CD (and I can say ‘excellent’: I only commissioned/compiled the thing - it’s the artists that made it great), Caballero Reynaldo's new Kazoo's Revenge features Aybe Sea with additional Marieta Tamarit content. Bonza!

· Glenn Leonard (of Pojama People & Project/Object fames) is currently hosting a weekly, two-hour Zappa radio show. It can be heard online streaming live at 6am GMT on Wednesdays at krvm.org.

· Free to download, from State Of Shock Studios: an FZ paper toy! Go here: http://stateofshockstudios.com/paper_toys.html

· Art Jarvinen, who worked with both FZ (most infamously as leader of the California E.A.R. Unit, who ‘performed’ While You Were Art) and Don Preston, has sadly passed away. Nice tribute over at KUR.

· The Rondo Hatton Report continues to attract a healthy international interest, the latest stats revealing over 1000 readers from 44 different territories who interface with this organ in 37 different languages. Latest edition now up at www.rhreport.net

· New Zappa book alert: http://www.schwarzkopf-verlag.de/vorschau/herbst-2010/grand-zappa.php

· The Muffin Men have updated their website – some stuff about their spiffing time at Zappanale #21 (including links to some YouTube clips), and a new mp3 of one of the songs they played there. And Jumpy and Mikey have put together their own little vid at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDnTdCHg7Cs

· A new site for you to check: http://www.zappafrenzy.com/ - it’s “a webpage for collectors and those who are interested in Zappa/Mothers and related singles.”

· Here’s an interview with Gail Zappa on copyright, creativity, covers, and more: http://mikeking.berkleemusicblogs.com/2010/09/15/interview-with-gail-zappa-copyright-creativity-covers-and-more/.

· Some Time In New York City (complete with Well (Baby Please Don't Go), Jamrag, Scumbag and Au) is one of eight John Lennon albums to have been digitally remastered from his original mixes by Yoko Ono and a team of engineers. All of the remastered titles will be packaged in digisleeves with replicated original album art and booklets with photos and new liner notes for a global catalogue initiative commemorating the music legend’s 70th birthday on 9 October.

· The wait is nearly over - there will a limited CD release of ANT-BEE’s Electronic Church Muzik in late November on new label, Barking Moondog Records. The album features guest appearances by Michael Bruce (Alice Cooper Group), Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth (Gong), Peter Banks (Yes/Flash), Jan Akkerman (Focus), Bunk Gardner, Don Preston, Buzz Gardner and Jimmy Carl Black (Mothers of Invention), Zoot Horn Rollo and Rockette Morton (Captain Beefheart's Magic Band), Napoleon Murphy Brock (Zappa/George Duke) and Moogy Klingman (Utopia). The artwork and graphics are being created by Cal Schenkel, who also did the artwork for ANT-BEE's Lunar Muzik and With My Favorite Vegetables CDs. Cal is currently having an amazing art sale at his website, offering many rare and limited Zappa related artworks - check it out at www.ralf.com. He is also having an art exhibit on Sunday September 26, 2010, 2-6 PM (free admission). This is a one day only event and will be held at Roller's Flying Fish, 8142 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19119 (corner of Hartwell, in Chestnut Hill).

· Joseph Diaz, aka ace guitarist J21, is near the completion of his second album. Like his debut, it features Ed Mann. But this time around, he’s managed to add Robert Martin, Don Preston and Scott Thunes. And guess what? Ed and Scott have collaborated on one track, their first time working together since 1988. J21 has written all about it here.

· Following his interview with Gail for Record Collector last year, Alan Clayson has been asked to write the official biography of Frank - provisionally titled Project X. On his website, Mr Clayson (who has penned a number of excellent bios, including on the Fabs, the Stones, the mighty Zep & Varèse) writes: “on a second ever trip to the capital not under adult supervision, my fifteen-year-old self had been taken aback that an entire window of Oxford Street’s vast HMV store bloomed with the splendour of the macabre sleeve of The Mothers Of Invention's maiden LP, 1966’s Freak Out!. From listening to it in one of those isolation booths that such outlets had in those days, the impact of Zappa and his Mothers was to ripple across the next seven years of my life - and Project X might be the biography that I have been destined to write.” Alan will mediate the Thunes/Simmons Q&A session at the Roundhouse in November.

· Now that my Zappa The Hard Way book is out, I have posted the full transcript of my interview with Ike Willis on the 88 tour on my Interviews page.

· Ahmet Zappa has sold another script to Disney; his screenplay, co-written with Michael Wilson, is titled Monster Witness Relocation Program.

· The Asphalt Orchestra play a great marching band version of Zomby Woof on their debut album. You can download it here: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2010/08/download_asphal.php

· Julie Slick has recently been jamming with Marco Minnemann and (gasp) Mike Keneally in California: “They have six songs in the can already...they are mind blowing, and the three of them are definitely going to work on a future project, tentatively called Artificial Canadian Bear,” says Julie’s mum, Robin.

· For those of you who, like me, were astonished by the wondrousness that is Evil Dick on my two Cordelia CDs, check out his new album: “Odds/Sods/Bits/Bobs features Evil Dick and the Banned Members’ punky-DIY-jazzish-pysch-avant poo performances and a few songs with words. It features lots of bassoon soloing thanks to Brett Richardson (who is a marvel and who would be asked to play guitar in the new EDBM band if only he wasn't busy doing other things all the time). There's also a psuedo-random encryption of a Beatles melody - not that you’d ever know by listening to it. CRAZZZY. You can download the tracks or buy a hard copy CD with a booklet 'n' shit at http://www.reverbnation.com/store/index/artist_889850“

· I would imagine some of this is likely to appear on a future AAAFRNAA Birthday Bundle: http://www.zappa.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?p=466215#p466215 But I could be wrong.

· How ‘bout this for a nice tribute to Jimmy Carl Black from the Muffin Men? http://www.idiotbastard.com/Music/Jimmywop.mp3

· On 16 July, Dweezil “played Naples, Italy. I was there and he invited me on stage to sing Tengo Na Minchia Tanta. I did it. 28 years later with his fantastic son, it was extreme, really too much for me. Thanks Dweezil, to be you, to be such a great artist, to be such a great guitarist, to be such a great son! I love you.” So writeth Massimo Bassoli.

· You can find some amazing stuff on Twitter, like…Ahmet’s new wife is pregnant…GZ is a huge fan of Miley Cyrus…Mike Keneally has now finished work on Satriani’s new album…so I’ve created an account.

· George Duke has a new album, Déjà Vu, which looks back to his earlier albums (like Brazilian Love Affair)and features flautist Hubert Laws.

· Michel Delville has alerted me to the fact that he new PaNoPTiCoN album is available for free online (at http://enterpanopticon.blogspot.com/2010/04/panopticon-welcomes-you.html - “click on the May 28th – ‘Summer Madness’ link and the tracks will appear”). The music is 100% improvised, but Dark Pumpkins may sound a little familiar…

· Available right now: 21 Burnt Weeny Sandwiches (by Various Friends) from www.cordeliarecords.co.uk. To celebrate its launch, here’s a bonus track that Buzzo Landi put together utilizing Gamma’s input: Valarie. Enjoy!

· You may recall I mentioned the premiere of a musical homage to the life and work of FZ that took place in Australia at the start of the year. Well, now comes the album: composed and performed by Michael Kieran Harvey, complemented by Lingua Franka with concrete poetry by Arjun von Caemmerer, 48 Fugues For Frank is now available to order from Move Records. It will be formally launched (with the music performed live) at the Australian National Academy of Music on 7 July 2010. Read all about it here http://www.move.com.au/disc.cfm/3339.

· A DVD, Live In Germany by the Adrian Belew Power Trio, is out there somewhere.

· Read this new ‘interview’ with Lisa Popeil: http://idiotbastard.com/Interviews/LisaPopeil.htm

· Ahmet married Shana Muldoon in Malibu…Diva finished filming The Bloody Indulgent…Dweezil has a new album.

· Verso Books has just published The Wire Primers: A Guide to Modern Music, a compilation of quick-study guides to 22 non-mainstream artists - including Sun Ra, Stockhausen, Xenakis, The Fall, Captain Beefheart (written by Mike Barnes) and FZ & the MOI (by Edwin Pouncey, aka Savage).

· For some ODD reason, the ZFT is now offering downloads of Buffalo, EIHN, Imaginary Diseases and FZ:OZ - at less than extortionate prices?

· Frank’s ‘buxom red-haired companion’, Lorraine Belcher, has written a review of Nigey Lennon’s book, Being Frank. And I have just interviewed her for this here website. Great lady.

· New ZPZ keyboardist (and little violinist), Chris Norton - http://www.dweezilzappaworld.com/videos/216

· Watch the 21 Burnt Weeny Sandwiches promo video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEZ_x_-H11g

· “I am Neil Carlill, Esquire!” “And I'm Warren ‘Bruce’ Cuccurullo.” “Together, we are…CHICANERY!” Read album review! Read this interview!

· Watch the Theoretical 5 in action: www.theoretical5.com. As well as the imminent release of Chicanery’s debut, Warren Cuccurullo is also working with The Composers (featuring Anthony J. Resta, Eric Alexandrakis and Steve Ferrone). Busy boy.

· Steve Vai appears on two tracks on Meat Loaf's latest album, Hang Cool Teddy Bear (on the tracks Love Is Not Real/Next Time You Stab Me in the Back, which also features Brian May, and Song Of Madness).

· Read about Julie Slick’s debut CD (featuring brother Eric, André Cholmondeley, Marco Minnemann, Pat Mastelotto and one Robert Fripp) here: http://julieslick.com/preorder/. Julie (and Eric)’s mum, Robin, tells me “When Julie got the idea to record this CD, she really loved the idea of inviting special guests to play with her. She was debating who to ask, and I said to her 'Who are your favourite musicians?' Right off the bat she reeled off the names of King Crimson members and three excellent guitarists very special to her - André, Alex, and Jordan. 'But I can't write to them and expect them to say yes.' Naturally I said, 'Why not? You have nothing to lose!' So with her heart in her mouth, she wrote to Robert and Pat, etc. Robert responded graciously within a few hours that while his schedule is packed, Julie was welcome to sample any of his Soundscapes that she would like. To say that Julie whooped for joy when she received his (lovely) email is putting it mildly. I know I'm prejudiced but Julie's bass playing combined with the Soundscapes gives me the chills. Pat Mastelotto wrote from the road that he would be thrilled and would record his drum parts with her as soon as he got back to the States and he was so amazing - he even assisted with production. Marco Minnemann also replied within a couple of hours. Michael Bernier heard from Pat that he was contributing to Julie's CD and he immediately wrote to Julie and said 'I want in!' Can you imagine how thrilling this was for her?”

· Have a listen to Ben Watson’s opened lettuce to the Arf Society (in English or German).

· You can see a short clip of The Sancho Plan’s The Black Page performed live in Newcastle, September 2009 here: http://vimeo.com/8281006

· February 2010 saw the world premiere of FZ's Revised Music For Marimba And Orchestra, performed by Simon Boyar and the NYU Zappa Pickup Orchestra, conducted by Jonathan Haas. Marimbist Boyar had to meet with Zappa's second wife to get the rights to the piece, it says here. You can see clips from the concert and rehearsals on YouTube.

· Robert Martin is a part of the World Rock Symphony Orchestra, whose show ('Britain Rocks’) played in theatres across Canada in summer 2010.

· Nigey Lennon has just written this interesting article about FZ and her former husband, Lionel Rolfe: http://boryanabooks.com/?p=2159

· Herb Cohen has taken his final vacation: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118016565.html?categoryid=16&cs=1. RIP.

· Mr Warren Cuccurullo tells me: “Me, Arthur and Tommy have hooked up again over the last few months...been filming and recording jams every couple of weeks...Andy Kravitz is on drums and Larry Klimas on tenor...it's sounding really great...we should be getting some clips up on YouTube soon...Arthur wants to call it the Venice Chamber Orchestra or the Theoretical Five...also, my Chicanery project got signed to dPulse/Universal...out in April...” Exciting or what?

· Heard The Artisan Acetate yet?

· Crossfire Publications has revised some of its downloads (because the licensing period for some of the tracks was coming to an end): so check out the new versions of Welcome Back Geronimo Black, Where’s My Waitress? and It’s All Bunk! One of Jimmy Carl Black’s final recordings (I believe his very last was the vocal for his duet with Candy Zappa on Stolen Cadillac, recorded in July 2008 and premiered at A Concert For Jimmy the week after his death) can now be purchased as part of artist Peregrine Honig’s Widow project – see below and here for more.

Lukewarm Poop

· Composer/guitarist Thierry Deruelle has followed up his solo tribute to FZ with a track recorded with Dweezil, Peter Griffin and Joe Travers at UMRK, called Stardust. Read more at www.dztd.ca...schwing! Zooey Deschanel (Almost Famous, The Happening, Elf) is to star as Miss Pamela in a pilot for HBO’s I’m With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie, based on Ms Des Barres wonderful book…just in case any of you missed this, here’s some silent Wazoo film footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA_SXhu8ClQ …Jon Larsen has just been to Arthur Barrow's Lotek Studio to record The Don Preston Story and The Bunk Gardner Story (proposed sequels to his JCB Story CD - but these will be made available for download only, once Arthur has edited them). “From these historical recording sessions, we went directly into another unforgettable recording session: new music composed and performed by Tommy Mars - in my view the most brilliant keyboard player today, he is pure genius! This time, Mars recorded new, almost orchestral music to the surrealistic story Willie Nickerson's Egg, by yours truly. Tommy had already read the story, so now I only have to mix and edit the project before release.” adds Jon…Frank did it. Dweezil and Vinnie did it. Now Steve Vai has had a go...at playing on a cover of the mighty Zep’s Stairway To Heaven. This latest one will appear on Mary J. Blige's next album. Meantime, Sony has released a new compilation: Playlist - The Very Best of Steve Vai…The Chad Wackerman Trio has a Hits Live DVD. You can see a clip at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8ZVU6ma2vg&feature=email, and order it from the Drum Channel here: http://www.drumchannel.com/entertainment/Chad-Wackerman-Trio-DVD--88371.aspx ...Steve Vai is featured on Orianthi (The King Of Pop’s last guitarist)’s new album, Believe. Check this out: http://www.orianthi.com/player/default.aspx?meid=5547 …The Wrong Object's fab Zappanale #19 set, featuring Stanley Jason Zappa, has been released on CD by Fazzul Music. Click here (and scroll down a tad) for more info…Hot Club Records released A Portrait Of Jon Larsen, a ‘best of’ by the Django/Zappa/Piazzolla-inspired guitar virtuoso. Among many others, it features contributions from Tommy Mars, Bruce Fowler and Jimmy Carl Black. Jon should also have his new solo CD featuring Tommy Mars ready soon (Willie Nickerson’s Egg)…artist Peregrine Honig finished six years of work on Widow, a collaboration with 18 other artists. Printed by Landfall Press, the project will take the form of a glossy one-volume fashion magazine that includes an audio component comprising the final studio recording of Jimmy Carl Black. Only 1,500 copies will be published. Peregrine told me: “My husband - Mark Southerland, the saxophonist on the album - and I met Jimmy in Nancy, France in 2007. He was such a great guy and his wife was so sweet. I am proud to have his work in my compilation. The CD, Snuff Black, is a compilation of out-jazz performed live to Jimmy telling stories about his life as Frank Zappa's drummer. He is a great storyteller and the scenes he sets up are beautiful and dynamic. I knew he was sick when we recorded the CD, but his death came as a huge surprise to me. His passing became poetic in the context of the print and title ‘Widow’. Jimmy was full of life during the Snuff Black recording and he recalled amazing moments in his life-performing in Berlin with Zappa while being pelted with unripe pears - working at a Dunkin' Doughnuts with a side job selling marijuana batches.”…Essra Mohawk (aka Sandra Hurvitz and Uncle Meat)’s debut record, Sandy’s Album Is Here at Last! - originally released on the Bizarre label, was reissued on CD by Collectors’ Choice in February 2010. FZ intended to produce the album, but handed the reins over to Ian Underwood. Cal Schenkel designed the album’s sleeve. The reissue contains the bonus track, Life Is Scarlet…Being Frank: My Time With Frank Zappa by Nigey Lennon has been issued as an e-book on scribd.com. It will also be available on the Boryanabooks.com site, and through other outlets including Amazon…finally, ‘Tony Palmer's film of Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels’ was officially released on DVD in March 2010. Restored using the original source material (overseen by Palmer), it features a director’s commentary as a bonus feature. Read more at http://www.frankzappa200motelsdvd.com/ …Volume Two of Billy James's biography about Todd Rundgren, entitled A Dream Goes On Forever - The Continuing Story Of Todd Rundgren, has been issued by Golden Treasures Publishing…Dr Paul Carr’s paper, on ‘the incorporation of time, space and place in performing, composing, arranging and producing Frank Zappa’s music’, can be read here…in the immortal words of the Rt Hon Lord Sir David of Coverdale, “here’s one for ya”: the Muffin Men have sent greetings for a fab Winter Solstice in the form of a taster from the band’s recent recordings. Ladies, put your legs together and listen now to Doobie Stopping…a little FZ music has been used in a car commercial in Holland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw42AcLNL-o …Shenkar has an album out called Face To Face. It features guest appearances by members of Korn…great blogging from Mr John Adams: http://www.earbox.com/posts/45 ...this sounds like an interesting Beefheart cover album: http://www.beefheart.com/datharp/albums/related/messin.htm ...“Watch me now, I'm gonna eat the label!” (Thanks, Dave! Thanks, Tom!)…singalongafrank: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Karaoke-Hits-Frank-Zappa/dp/B0029RO1F2/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1259354882&sr=1-17 …check out Morgan Ågren playing the Swedish archipelago – live!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXzmW-4Z6ms ...Live Music, a ground-breaking animated short film inspired by Romeo And Juliet, features music performed by Steve Vai and his String Theories violinist, Ann Marie Calhoun. You can buy it on iTunes right now (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewMovie?id=339213497&s=143444)...The Drummers Of Frank Zappa (Roundtable Discussion and Performance – you know, that marvelous thing that appeared on the Drum Channel featuring Terry Bozzio, Chester Thompson, Chad Wackerman, Ruth Underwood and Ralph Humphrey) is now available on DVD: http://www.abstractlogix.com/xcart/product.php?productid=24396 …Dale Bozzio started her time in jail for cruelty to cats. Read more here: http://thephoenix.com/BLOGS/phlog/archive/2009/11/13/missing-persons-singer-dale-bozzio-jailed.aspx ...Dweezil knocked out another odd cover: this time, Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime on Purple Pyramid’s An All-Star Salute To Christmas album. (BTW, just discovered that Vinnie Colaiuta played drums on the Dweezil Zappa Plays Zeppelin rendition of Stairway To Heaven.)…The New Dutch Academy's Super Audio CD Zappa Symphonies, Crowning Glory is available now, featuring world premiere recordings of symphonies by Francesco Zappa (and Graaf, Stamitz & Schwindl). A number of sample tracks from the disc appear here: http://www.newdutchacademy.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=31 …watch The Mother People play Willie The Pimp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNv2yDNVmw4&feature=player_embedded# …on 3 February 2010, at Skinny's in North Hollywood, Patrice “Candy” Zappa performed some of Frank's ‘stellar hits’, as well as some of her (and husband Nolan Porter)'s songs. Robert Martin was their special guest. According to her revamped website, Candy is also working on a CD of some of FZ’s music with Ed Palermo…ANT-BEE’s live jam with Don & Bunk, now on YouTube…George Duke: “My engineer and I have been working on this 5.1 mix of the Prague DVD whenever we get a few minutes. You Zappa fans will be happy to note that I did a three song [Cosmik Debris/Inca Roads/Uncle Remus] medley tribute to Zappa in the middle of the show which came out great. You fusion fans may be in for a treat – the original Cobham/Duke Band has been in discussions about organizing a tour hopefully next year schedule permitting.” The Prague show was filmed in May 2009, but we may have to wait to see it until after the GD Band’s Montreux concert has been released on DVD…and the Rob Pruitt Award on Sculptor goes to...Cynthia Plaster Caster! See http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/33122/first-annual-art-awards-winners-announced/...listen to excerpts from Blues For Tony by Holdsworth Pasqua Haslip Wackerman - a live double CD tribute to Tony Williams - here: http://www.moonjune.com/MJR029.htm ...read Geoff Willis' entry on Don Preston in the Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians section of jazz.com…some bright spark tried to edit FZ's Wikipedia entry to include the following detail of his love affair with The Lizard King: “For a brief period in the 1960's, Frank Zappa and Jim Morrison were seen together quite often. There is a photograph not well known to the public, a photograph featuring Zappa standing on his head naked in a hotel room with Morrison, ‘playing him like a fucking tuba’.” I'd love to see that!...read about FZ's friendship with American comic book artist, writer and editor, Jack Kirby at http://royalflushmagazine.com/2009/10/13/zappa_meets_kirby/ …in the latest instalment of the continuing story of Michael Myers, Halloween II (written and directed by Rob Zombie, and starring ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic), Howard Hesseman’s character is called Uncle Meat, the owner of the Java Hole which sports the famous FZ on the crapper poster (you can see the bottom of it here: http://www.dreadcentral.com/img/news/jul09/hallochicks.jpg)...Panzerballet (who played Zappanale #19) have a new album out called Hart Genossen - von Abba bis Zappa. It features two FZ medleys. Find out more via http://www.myspace.com/panzerballett ...AMD’s director of digital media and entertainment, Charlie Boswell, has been tweeting: “I directed/produced the [ZPZ] Roxy and Hogg [Auditorium in Austin] shows. Frank Zappa’s original Roxy show will release before we drop ZPZ's Son of Roxy,” he says…The Trame Trio, founded by hurdy-gurdy virtuoso Gilles Chabenat, have an album out called Changer d'Air that features an interesting cover of Peaches En Regalia. Look, hear: http://www.gilleschabenat.com/audio/audio.htm#trametrio …Snapper Music has released a CD of doo-wop, R&B and experimental moments that inspired FZ called The Roots Of Frank Zappa. Happily, it only duplicates a few tracks on Chrome Dreams’ earlier Frank Zappa’s Jukebox. And Chrome Dreams has yet another FZ disc available: Frank Zappa – The Interview Sessions…anyone want an art print featuring a Zappa quote? Look here: http://www.urbangraphicshop.co.uk/Products/Prints/Scrawl/Something-To-Remember.html ...The Fall’s Last Night At The Palais CD/DVD features a cover of Hungry Freaks, Daddy (on which the band also briefly quotes Beefheart’s Plastic Factory)…new CD, Inside Out by Tom McCaslin, features FZ's Outside Now Again performed by Tom on his tuba. Unaccompanied. “This is definitely not for the faint of heart. This rocks my world,” says Gail…The Big Picture by Fred Frith and Arte Quartett, with special guests Katherina Weber and Lucas Niggli, features a track called T. Square Park Lark (for Frank Zappa)…Andrew Bean tells me that an issue of The Comics Journal has a huge story on an unpublished book edited by Michel Choquette and constructed in the early 70s. Choquette spent 14-26 February 1972 on the West Coast, where he met a wheelchair bound FZ who “promised to write a strip and have Cal Schenkel...illustrate it. He did, but Choquette is still trying to figure out what it is about.”…Abbey Road: A Tribute To The Beatles by various artists came out a few months back. It features Dweezil covering Tomorrow Never Knows. Dweezil, of course, previously performed a Lennon/McCartney composition (Anytime At All) on his Confessions album. He also contributed to the Fat Boys’ rendition of Baby You're A Rich Man, and the Peace Choir's Give Peace A Chance…The Magic Band has recently signed a new record deal with Sundazed Records. The label will be releasing a double live CD from the band’s 2005 UK tour…Steve Vai guests on two tracks on the new Mike Stern album, Big Neighborhood…reading The Gangster of Love - Johnny “Guitar” Watson: Performer, Preacher, Pimp by Vincent Bakker has got me listening to the likes of Space Guitar, digging out my copy of The Funk Anthology and marvelling at Johnny’s great contribution to music and, of course, his influence on our Frankie. I’ve started to review the book here…if you’ve watched Grey’s Anatomy, or seen the movies Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Sex And The City, then you’ve probably heard The Bird And The Bee - a duo from LA comprising Lowell George’s daughter, Inara, and Greg Kurstin. At the tender age of 12, Greg co-wrote and played on Dweezil’s Crunchy Water (the b-side of My Mother Is A Space Cadet)…cheepnis: http://lileks.com/bw/scifi/itconq/ …a cover of Peaches En Regalia was to have been included on How I Got Over by The Roots…Howard Kaylan is finishing up a memoir, How Not To Be Me, which he hopes will be turned into a film…Grand Funk off-shoot Flint has its eponymous 1978 debut album now out on CD (from Wounded Bird Records). FZ plays guitar on two tracks (Better You Than Me and You’ll Never Be The Same)…this Idiot understands that the ‘great singer from a well known group’ who ‘had not done any of the required preparation’ for the gig of singing with ZPZ was Living Colour’s Corey Glover…other Minds Records has just issued Conlon Nancarrow’s Studies for Player Piano: The Original 1750 Arch Recordings, Volumes 1–4 on CD. If you’ve not heard and of this, it’s crazy, mind-blowing stuff. Go here to sample some brief excerpts: http://www.otherminds.org/cgi-bin/shop.pl/page=Nancarrowstudies.html/SID=PUT_SID_HERE/buy=1 …interested in hearing Edgard Varèse conducting Charlie Mingus? Go here: http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2009/06/edgar-varèse-and-the-jazzmen-mp3s.html ...oh my - a new interview with Ray Collins: http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_12484780. And some interesting chats with Jimmy Carl Black here: http://sprisk.com/kultur/jimmy-carl-black-1938-2008.html ...back in 2003, Gail said we “can expect a new batch” of Beat The Boots. And here they are: six ‘discs’ now being sold by AmazonMP3. Apparently Rhino passed on flogging these particular ‘unpolished turds’ a while back. Here’s some helpful info on what the discs contain: http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.frank-zappa/msg/dad9046b7600f47b?hl=en …Gail’s former boyfriend, Bobby Jameson (for whom Frank arranged Gotta Find My Roogalator) is in intensive care after emergency surgery for an aortic aneurysm. His condition is stable. Read his mother’s blog: http://thinkaboutitworld.blogspot.com/ …Steve Vai appears on the Spinal Tap album, Back From The Dead. Steve is also to release a 25th Anniversary Edition of his first solo album, Flex-Able…if you were unable to attend our concert for Jimmy Carl Black in November 2008, you can hear The Thurston Lava Tube‘s Caravan (with a drum solo) and The FrazKnapp Fusion Project (featuring Carlo Bowry and Andy Frizell)’s Ra Ja For Jimmy from that evening on their MySpace pages. And you can also hear even more of the Thurston’s set on the band’s fifth album, The Year Of The Dog. Material from the concert is included as mp3 format in the “CD extra” content doings. The actual album includes recordings of four of the songs (Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, The Beatles’ I Wanna Hold Your Hand, and their own Don’t Borrow Dominoes From A Black Man and Ianisation) that they played that night. I like the Thurston Lava Tube…out now from Rykodisc, New York Times, a two-CD set of live performances from Flo & Eddie recorded at The Bottom Line in New York City from 1979 to 1994. The second disc includes their FZ medley (Who Needs The Peace Corps?/Concentration Moon/The Ugliest Part Of Your Body/Absolutely Free/Peaches en Regalia/Magic Fingers) from the 1993 show. “This was a great collection of songs we did while singing with The Mothers of Invention. Howard and I loved the early Zappa records and this medley showcases some of our favourite songs from We’re Only In It For The Money.” says Mr. Volman. “We can’t ignore the late Mr. Zappa whenever we are doing a history of our careers. One day, we’d love to work with Dweezil too, just to keep the genius of his father alive. There was never a more brilliant musician and he was, of course, a well-acknowledged father figure to both Mark and me as well.” says Mr. Kaylan. Also available is ‘Save The Turtles’ The Greatest Hits of The Turtles…in Germany, the May 2009 edition of Playboy featured the lovely Moon Unit in the naughty naked semi-rude:

· In the May 2009 edition of Record Collector, Alan Clayson talked to Gail Zappa – principally about Lumpy Money and her own pre-FZ musical career. In this interesting article, Mrs Z reveals that The Rage & The Fury may never be released (“Frank didn’t care if anyone [else] heard it – and I feel the same,”), that FZ ‘ordered’ her to sell the master tapes of a second un-issued Wild Man Fischer album to Rykodisc, that she’s thinking of taking guitar lessons, and that she is keen to write her autobiography…out now from Zonic Entertainment/Hot Club Records, No Forest Fire by the Mar Vista Philharmonic – that is: Tommy Mars, Arthur Barrow, Bruce & Walt Fowler, Larry Klimas, Kurt McGettrick and VINNIE COLAIUTA! Says Artie: “It is a wild and cool free improv from August 2002. It is the one and only assemblage of this group, sadly, as Kurt is no longer with us. This session led to the BBC sessions after the BBC guy heard this and asked if we could do something to go with their 10th anniversary show. It’s for the hard core fans who might like to hear what some of the vets might do left to their own devices!” See more butts here: http://www.idiotbastard.com/News/PressRelease1.htm ...Walt Disney Studios has signed a multiyear deal with Ahmet Zappa to help oversee its newly christened Kingdom Comics, which will shortly announce which graphic novelists and artists plan to collaborate on upcoming projects.

...and finally, Esther...

…coming soon from Crossfire Publications…

COMING NEXT: On Broadway!

Contact: disco.boy@blueyonder.co.uk