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| Archive Recordings from Former Zappa's Mothers of Invention Don Preston, Bunk Gardner, Jimmy Carl Black - all former members of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention - have new releases in Crossfire's ongoing Zappa-related series of archival recordings. Don Preston and Bunk Gardner joined Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention in 1966, just in time for the album Absolutely Free. Both were seasoned musicians with considerable recording and/or performing experience. Bunk Gardner first recorded with Bud Wattles' Orchestra in 1959 for the album Themes From The Hip, while Preston had been making home recordings for years prior to joining Zappa's band. One of the recorded experiments that Don Preston and Bunk Gardner undertook in 1965, “Found,” is on Preston's newly released Works CD. Three of Gardner's tracks with Wattles appear on his first-ever CD It's All Bunk!. Many different Preston/Gardner works are featured on their respective CDs now available on Crossfire Records. It's All Bunk! seamlessly time travels from 1959 to 1981 and back, with sound experiments meshing into more structured and melodic works. Regardless of the context - The Grandmothers, tracks with his late brother Buzz, or a big band, Bunk Gardner's sax, flute and bassoon playing remains unique and prized by fans. Works is a new collection of Don Preston's more classically slanted pieces - most of which were recently recorded. Most fans are aware of Don Preston's more electronic or piano works, but Works presents Preston in the previously undocumented role of composer. In this capacity, Works reveals Don Preston to be the equal of his contemporaries. Crossfire released Don Preston's revised version of Vile Foamy Ectoplasm in May 2007. This edition solely contains Preston compositions and features many tracks not on the original release. Originally issued in 1993, Vile Foamy Ectoplasm remains Preston's most popular album. Jimmy Carl Black, an original MOI member going back to their 1964 days as The Soul Giants, took a more roots-oriented path to his own music after The Mothers disbanded in 1969. While in the process of putting together his group Geronimo Black, Jimmy recorded some tracks with vocalist Nolan Porter for the album No Apologies (an upcoming Crossfire release also featuring Roy Estrada and Lowell George). JCB has always wanted to collect together the best of his prolific output in an archival series, and Crossfire kicked off the series with an expanded reissue (with three additional tracks) of When Do We Get Paid?, a UK-only 1996 release. Just released is Where's The $%�@' Beer?, covering the period 1971 to 2002. Like the Don Preston and Bunk Gardner CDs, Jimmy Carl Black's CDs include many rare or unheard recordings that prove that he could produce high quality music on his own. Crossfire Records has nearly 20 releases in production, including the long-awaited first volume in Paul Buff's PAL Studios series. Don Preston's Retrospective, Mother People (a collection of former Mothers recordings), Bob Harris' The Great Nostalgia, Napoleon Murphy Brock's Before Frank and After Frank, Jimmy Carl Black's Can I Borrow A Couple Of Bucks Until The End Of The Week?, Nolan Porter's No Apologies and Nolan, and Candy Zappa's My Brother Was A Mother are just part of Crossfire's upcoming release schedule. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |