The Big Fat Surprise Audio

Riccardo Fassi Tankio Band Plays Zappa - The Return of the Fat Chicken (2017) {AlfaMusic AFMCD200}
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© 2017 AlfaMusic | AFMCD200
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Modern Jazz / Experimental Big Band

Riccardo Fassi has often worked around the music of Frank Zappa and, with the Tankio Band, had already recorded in the nineties a first homage to the genius and opera of the great Italian-American composer. Go back to Zappa's material with an articulated, full-bodied project rich in guests and suggestions, able to enter and exit the "non canonical canon" designed by compositions and Zappish interpretations. Fassi conceives a kind of "concert": the seventeen tracks are articulated around ten tracks of Zappa, with introductions and queues, two improvisations conducted by Fassi along with Antonello Salis and Uncle Remus by George Duke. In nearly seventy minutes overall, many things happen, following the spirit of the tutelary labor number.

The Top 100 '60s Rock Albums represent the moment when popular music came of age. In the earliest part of the decade, bands were still regularly referencing earlier sounds and themes. By the middle, something powerful and distinct was happening, which is why the latter part of the '60s weighs so heavily on our list. A number of bands evolved alongside fast-emerging trends of blues rock, folk rock, psychedelia and hard rock, adding new complexities to the music even as the songs themselves became more topical. If there's a thread running through the Top 100 '60s Rock Albums and this period of intense change, it has to do with the forward-thinking artists who managed to echo and, in some cases, advance the zeitgeist. Along the way, legends were made.

Turn up the volume! While the first “Fahrt ins Blaue” (journey into the blue/unknown) album from ACT in 2016 offered classy songs for chilling, a great place just to hang out and relax, the new album “FiB II - groovin' in the spirit of jazz” leads us straight out onto the dance floor. From the moment it opens up, with funky jazz, gritty blues and bucketloads of soul, this compilation sets the tone for a night of partying.

A masterful stride pianist, a playful vocalist, and an influential jazz figure who was enormously popular in the '30s and '40s.
Not only was Fats Waller one of the greatest pianists jazz has ever known, he was also one of its most exuberantly funny entertainers - and as so often happens, one facet tends to obscure the other. His extraordinarily light and flexible touch belied his ample physical girth; he could swing as hard as any pianist alive or dead in his classic James P. Johnson-derived stride manner, with a powerful left hand delivering the octaves and tenths in a tireless, rapid, seamless stream. Waller also pioneered the use of the pipe organ and Hammond organ in jazz…

By 1976, the glam rock that had made Suzi Quatro famous was on its last legs as disco overtook the airwaves and punk rock festered in the clubs. However, Quatro was not going to give up the fight easily, as proven by Aggro-Phobia. This set, produced by British pop mastermind Mickie Most, is a lightweight but tuneful collection of pop/rock. Nothing here hits the manic heights of "Can the Can" or "Devil Gate Drive," but all the songs are solid and listenable. The big surprise this time out is the strong country-rock feel to a number of the songs: the cover of Steve Harley's "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" places barnstorming acoustic guitar hooks where fat power chords once existed on Quatro's past hits, and "American Lady" soulfully combines organ and acoustic guitar riffs in a manner reminiscent of Rod Stewart's earthy early hits.

"Wyndorfian" is the only appropriate phrase to use when describing the rawk machine that is Monster Magnet. Yes, lead Magneteer Dave Wyndorf is worthy of his own descriptive, his impeccable songwriting skills truly standing on their own crater-pecked asteroid in the music-biz cosmos. So it goes with Monolithic Baby!, which marks a couple of superficial transitions for Monster Magnet – off a major and back to an indie; new rhythm section (Jim Baglino on bass and Bob Pantella on drums) – but still upholds Wyndorf's highly entertaining mass of contradictions and vices. Simultaneously whip-smart and cementhead-stupid, smirking and sincere, he can challenge your intellect with an inspired arrangement or pseudo-political left-field lyric, then bash you over the head with a fat, greasy guitar riff; such is his genius.

Grammy Nominated singer/songwriter Beth Hart treats fans to an intimate performance at New York's Iridium in this special episode of Front & Center. She first rose to fame in 1999 with her single "L.A. Song (Out of This Town)". Hart performs some material from her latest album, Fire On the Floor, including "Jazz Man," "Let's Get Together," and "Fat Man." On Friday April 13, 2018 Beth Hart will release "Front and Center - Live From New York" on Mascot Label Group/Provogue. It features a 15 track live CD and the Front and Center broadcast on DVD with an in-depth interview, 3 full band songs and 3 acoustic songs as bonus material.