Italian pianist Stefano Bollani’s duo with Brazilian bandolim player Hamilton de Holanda was one of the big hits of the last London Jazz festival, but though this live set often has the same breakneck effervescence, its focus is very different. It’s an extensively improvised tribute to Frank Zappa, featuring Bollani on piano, Fender Rhodes, vocals and whistling; Josh Roseman’s blustery trombone; hard-hitting percussionist Jim Black; vibraphonist (and former Peter Brötzmann sideman) Jason Adasiewicz; and plummy-toned Brad Mehldau bassist Larry Grenadier. Mixing Zappa classics and originals, Bollani celebrates the arts of improv and Zappa’s legacy as both a great melodist and a cultural subversive. He plays (and whistles) Peaches en Regalia as a multi-idiomatic solo extravaganza, sings the explicit original lyric to Bobby Brown (US radio stations wouldn’t touch it in Zappa’s prime), and on the long, winding hook of Eat That Question, with Black’s choppy drumming behind it, delivers the killer track of a real one-off venture. - John Fordham / the guardian.com
Tracks
1. A Cosmik Intro (S. Bollani)
2. Cosmik Debris (F. Zappa)
3. Bobby Brown Goes Down (F. Zappa)
4. Blessed Relief (F. Zappa)
5. Male Male (J. Adasiewicz/S. Bollani)
6. Bene Bene (S. Bollani)
7. Eat That Question (F. Zappa)
8. Peaches En Regalia (F. Zappa)
9. Uncle Meat (F. Zappa)
LARRY GRENADIER bass
JIM BLACK drums
STEFANO BOLLANI piano, voice, electric piano
JOSH ROSEMAN trombone
JASON ADESIEWICZ vibraphone
Recorded live @ the Sheik Yer Zappa Tour 2011
DECCA 0602547051523