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Archive for December, 2009
Project/Object article/interview featuring Andre & Ray White
Dec 23rd
From Montgomery News 12/22/09
Since Frank Zappa died in 1993, his music has enjoyed a remarkable posthumous career. His albums are still in print and easily available on CD, but that’s true of John Lennon and Jerry Garcia, too. What makes Zappa unique among the rock stars of his generation is that his work is continually being rearranged, performed and recorded by musicians outside the rock sphere. A search of his name at Amazon.com turns up recent recordings by classical ensembles, big bands and even a Baroque chamber orchestra.
In other words, Zappa is not just an oldie, an object of ’60s nostalgia. He is on his way to becoming a classic in the mold of George Gershwin, another American composer whose music has been mined and adapted by generations of singers and instrumentalists.
Project/Object, which returns to Sellersville Theater 1894 this weekend, adheres more closely to the format Zappa established for his stage shows, particularly those from the late 1970s and early ’80s. André Cholmondeley, guitarist, Zappaphile and driving force behind the group, likes the sound of the stripped-down rock groups — guitars, bass and drums overlaid with some synthesizers and vibraphone — that Zappa employed after his mid-’70s flirtation with big, horn-laden orchestras…
For full article go here
New Site!
Dec 17th
Welcome to the updated Project/Object site! We’ve made a bunch of changes and have a few more coming soon. We wanted to make the site a real hub for fans, that easily connects and integrates with where many of you are hanging out –Facebook, Twitter, Myspace etc. While there have been challenges this year — there have been some great moments for Project/Object – from our two tours with the fantastic triple threat of IKE WILLIS, ED MANN & DON PRESTON, to the European tour with IKE and DON, culminating in our Friday night spot at the 20th Annual ZAPPANALE festival, on a bill with bands like GONG and ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE. It’s been fantastic and all a celebration of the wide spectrum of music possible within a Zappa-themed band.
- Andre
Tour Info!
Dec 16th
This website launching coincides with one of the most anticipated tours we have launched thus far — this winter run will of course feature none other than – Ike Willis & Ray White. To hear these guys together again — as we have a few times on the Project/Object stage and no where else since 1984….has been fantastic. There is something about the combination and harmonies Ike and Ray come up with — clearly this was a big part of why Frank Zappa recorded & toured with one or both of them from 1976 till his last tour in 1988. Together, they created some of the most memorable performances of Frank Zappa’s music & we will bring them together for the fans, performing songs they are each known for, as well as songs from classic Zappa albums they recorded together. For the fellow fans…this is how we roll!
We welcome our regular bassist DAVID JOHNSEN back onstage, Dave has been incredibly busy this year with teaching and many projects, including GLINT. Check out Dave’s site for more info. This tour also re-connects us with an old friend, drummer Jim Ruffi. Jim returns to the Project/Object fold, having done some brief touring with Project/Object and Ike back in 1999. Our regular drummer, Eric Slick, is taking a sabbatical to recover from a very exhaustive year. Look out for his various musical projects in 2010 as well….
We are all very excited to get out there again — with one common goal — to celebrate and salute the timeless music of Frank Zappa. Project/Object celebrates this in a unique fashion and always has — we honor and highlight the PEOPLE WHO MADE THE ALBUMS. We also very much appreciate YOU, the fans, without whom we could nat have done this for all these years, It’s hard to believe that Frank Zappa died over 16 years ago (!!), but here we are, the first band to nationally tour this music after he died — and we are proud to look out and see the many great bands all around doing the same thing, here and in many countries on the globe.
This tour will kick off what we hope is a busy year for all of us — we are all involved in various projects – touring and recording, as well as myself , working for other artists like Adrian Belew and Eddie Jobson in the technical, stage crew and touring realms. We have some plans for some interesting Project/Object shows as well — so stay tuned. You can join our newsletter by entering your email on the right side of the page, and please connect up with us on the various social sites as well.
See you on tour!! Say hi!!
Thank You
André Cholmondeley
Thank You!
Dec 7th
Hello!! Andre’ here of Project/Object
Hoping you are well and the holiday season isn’t too stressful… As many of you know I am struggling through a difficult year — and again I want to thank people for the outpouring of sympathy when I suddenly lost my Mom in July. It’s been a day by day process and this tour will be hard because it will be the first tour with which I’m involved in….. ages….. that she will not attend in this realm. Every time P/O was near her (MD/DC area)…or every time I was on tour working for Al DiMeola or Adrian Belew….she would be there. So — moving ahead has been tough, but I know she loved what I did and was so fully supportive of my musical career that – the show must go on, of course. Life is for the living, right? So– make sure you tell those you love that they mean everything to you — life is short and can change suddenly!
I also want to thank you for the very kind support many have provided towards my partner Cheri’s fight against breast cancer. She is doing well, still a ways to go until completely clear of this, and we are real-life statistics of the health-care debacle in this country. It comes down to PROFIT… all the debates rage on, and I don’t hear enough about THAT part of it — let me tell you — being in the trenches trying to pay medical bills– your head would spin if you saw the percent profit the pharma-giants are allowed to get. It makes no sense. But she is on a new protocol and doing well, I just wish Mr. Obama would send us a check….!
Thanks for the support when we did the PROJECT/OBJECT ACOUSTIC benefit show for Cheri in September — many of you have asked and YES we will plan another one for the late winter/early spring so stay tuned on that as well. Right now if you’d like to donate to the cause -THANK YOU – and we have two methods — direct to a paypal account –or send to a PO box. here’s more info:
You can go to paypal.com and make payments to projectobject (at) earthlink.net
You can send a check or money order written to CHERYL JIOSNE to:
Cheri Jiosne Cancer Fund
PO BOX 16672
Asheville NC
28801
- Andre
