kev rowland There is no doubt in my mind, and also in that of many others, that two of the most important musicians to come out of America in the Sixties were Frank Zappa and Todd Rundgren. They both had/have a unique take on music, and were never afraid to follow their own paths and do exactly what they wanted. I was lucky enough to see Todd in concert, when he made his first appearance on NZ soil a few years ago and he was incredible, but sadly only really started investigating Zappa in the last five years or so, long after his passing. Ed Palermo has now brought together two major influences from his high school years, and has created the album ‘The Adventures of Zodd Zundgren’, which is a homage to both of them. Here we have 25 songs, from either Zappa or Rundgren, fully arranged for his big band. Some are treated as instrumentals, while others do have wonderfully laid-back vocals, and the result is an album that captures the spirit of both of these musicians, and is absolutely essential to anyone who has ever remotely enjoyed their music.

Zappa’s soaring fanfare “Peaches En Regalia” is inspirational, with a particularly eloquent alto sax solo by Cliff Lyons, while a brisk and forthright version of Rundgren’s “Influenza” showcases violinist Katie Jacoby, Palermo reaches deep into the Rundgren songbook for “Kiddie Boy,” a stinging blues from 1969’s ‘Nazz Nazz’. Drawing from the original horn arrangement, Palermo displays some impressive guitar work on a vehicle for Bruce McDaniel’s blue-eye vocals. Napoleon Murphy Brock delivers a poker-faced rendition of Zappa’s surreal “Montana”, (one of my personal favourites, both as the original and on the album) and McDaniel and Brock join forces on Rundgren’s deliriously silly “Emperor of the Highway”.

I really do feel that I could rave about this album for hours, with numbers such as “Song of the Viking” (Todd) just superb with an introductory arrangement for harpsichord and tuba that is inspired. The original was on the classic ‘Something/Anything’, and one has to say that playing one after the other I actually prefer the new version! Apparently Rundgren has also given this release his seal of approval, as I saw some photos on Facebook the other day of him attending one of the gigs promoting this, and having his photo taken with the band. This is an essential purchase, as is the case with many of Cuneiform’s albums.

kev rowland

Here we have Volumes I and II of The Great Un-American Songbook, and band leader, conductor, arranger, and alto sax player Ed Palermo is currently working on Volume III. If it is going to be half as interesting as what I am listening to now then I can’t wait! It certainly sounds as if the 18-piece EPBB is having a load of fun, and there are characters having conversations between songs that certainly add to the humour, while the final uncredited song bookends the album incredibly well. These songs have been totally rearranged, sometimes they are close to the original, while others they are miles away yet still retain the melody if you listen hard enough, while some have been transformed into instrumentals and others partly so.

But, one of the things I really enjoyed is the sheer variety of the songs that have been given this treatment. While The Beatles are an obvious choice, King Crimson and The Nice probably not quite so much, but anyone who can bring in both Blodwyn Pig and Traffic is the owner of a record collection I know I’ll appreciate. The mixing and melding of The Beatles with Miles Davis also must be heard to be believed, and who thought that Radiohead would appear as a jazz act? If I was going to pick just one song to highlight all that is great about this album (and it was a toss-up between this and the combining of “America” and “American Idiot”) then it is “I Wanna Be Your Man” which has been given an almost tribal beat, and a wonderful call and response between violin and electric guitar, a xylophone makes a brief addition, then come the end it is the brass driving everything along with the violin just managing to stay on top. This is a number that builds and builds, with the only disappointment that it fades out when I would have loved for it to have kept going for another ten minutes or more!

This is Ed’s fifth album for the label, and sadly it is the first I’ve come across: I know I’m going to have to go back and find some of his arrangements of Zappa, as they must be incredibly.