THE GRANDE MOTHERS RE:INVENTED
*featuring former members of the mothers of invention

performing at the REDCAT THEATRE,
i.e., the Roy and Edna Disney Cal Arts Theatre
located in the WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
in downtown Los Angeles, California
on 4/14/Friday and 4/15/Saturday

http://redcat.org/season/0506/mus/mothers.php

Napoleon Murphy Brock(with FZ  1972 - 1984)
lead vocals, tenor saxophone, flute, suavenicity, dancing(!)

Roy Estrada  (with FZ  1964 - 1984)
bass, pachuco falsettos and operatic madness, (gas mask)

Don Preston(with FZ  1966 - 1974)
piano, keyboard  synthesizers, electronics, vocals

with
Miroslav Tadic - stunt guitar, snake guitar, loud guitar
Christopher Garcia - drumset, percussion, marimba, vocals

ANYTHING ELSE IS NOT AN ORIGINAL
the only FZ alumni on the planet consistently performing the music of the maestro
www.thegrandmothers.com for additional info

"Short of Frank himself coming back from beyond to bend ears and brains,
this is about as close to an authentic live version of Zappa's music as you can possibly get."
PRAGUE POST

"We had developed the music of the group to a stage where it had really evolved. We would go on stage and we didn't need to play any specific repertoire. I could just conduct the group and we could make up an hour's worth of music that I thought was valid. On the spot it would be spontaneous and new and interesting. It would be creative because the personalities of the people in the group were contributing just as much as their musicianship."
NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS DEC 5TH, 1970
"Metamorphisis of Frank Zappa", interview by Richard Green

"The MOTHERS set new standards for performance", he wrote. In terms of pure musicianship, theatrical presentation, formal concept and sheer absurdity, this one ugly band demonstrated to the music industry  that it was indeed possible to make the performance of electric music a valid artistic _expression....The Mothers managed to perform in alien time signatures and bizarre harmonic climates with a subtle ease that led many to believe it was all happening in 4/4 with a teenage backbeat."
From ELECTRIC DON QUIXOTE, FRANK ZAPPA


Grande Mothers performance in Los Angeles
THE GRANDE MOTHERS WILL BE performing at the REDCAT THEATRE,
i.e., the Roy and Edna Disney Cal Arts Theatre
located in the WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL in downtown Los Angeles, California
on 4/14/Friday and 4/15/Saturday
the concert(s) will be in 2 halfs

The first half will be Stravinsky's  L'Histoire du Soldat
with:
Roy Estrada performing the part of the narrator
Don Preston performing the part of the soldier
and
Napoleon Murphy Brock performing the part of the Devil
all in full costume featuring some of LA's finest,  
including :
Joel Hamilton - acoustic bass
Amy Knowles - percussion
Marc Lowenstein - conductor
Daniel Rosenboom - trumpet
Sarah Schoenbeck - bassoon
Harry Scorzo - Violin
David Sherr - clarinet
Steven Suminski - trombone
plus dancer Lillian Bitkoff"

as most of you know FZ did his first post-wheelchair appearance [in 1972] as a reciter,
in a performance of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du soldat at the Hollywood Bowl,
conducted by Lukas Foss.
FZ on The Real Frank Zappa Book, p. 116:
www.redcat.org for ticket info

the second half of the concert will be the GRANDE MOTHERS performing the music of FRANK ZAPPA


more festival dates for upcoming performances in CANADA have been added for June 2006
go to the website for details

"This isn't just another comeback by some old rock fogies, this is the reincarnation of the "Mothers"! The Grande Mothers Re:Invented let it all hang out. It was clear to see that they were having great fun. Once again the Zappa jazz-rock big band sound of the 70s and 80s rang out. The amazing virtuoso caliber displayed by the Grande old men must have surprised everyone. Hats off!"
LEIPZIG -ALMANACH

"The versions of 'Orange County Lumber Truck', 'Montana', 'Hungry Freaks Daddy', 'Echindas Art(Of You)' and 'Mother People' work just fine and vocally even show some improvements on the originals. "
JAZZWISE

"They did an excellent job handling complex pieces somewhere between the Vienna School, avantgarde rock and improvised music. ....the program featured almost exclusively songs from Frank Zappa, including gems such as "Montana'', "Hungry Freaks, Daddy'', "The Black Page Part 1",  and "Village of the Sun''. The Grande Mothers did everything perfectly in their concert......The band answered the call for several encores¥¤
VOLGTLAND -ANZEIGER

"When the set began with "Florentine Pogen" from One Size Fits All, it was evident straight away that the band was on top of the material. "
SIGNAL TO NOISE