One hell of a June

This month started out strong, musically, with my trip to New York to see a free concert with my friend Nakie at a club called The Falcon.  It was Ed Palermo's Big Band playing the music of Frank Zappa and this 18 piece band did Frank Proud.  The band has been together for close to 30 years and have been featuring Franks music for well over a decade.

The show was on the first Friday of June in the evening  but Norm and I were so excited (and hungry/thirsty) that we got to the club early.  Early enough to catch the band doing the sound check and running through some new changes like the intro to "Montana".  I asked if they minded if I took some pictures and Ed said sure, no problem and asked if we could sing because they needed someone who knew the words to The Beatles "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".

He was kidding of course but I was ready to take over in an instant should the vocalist become sick or injured and unable to fulfill his singing duties.  He stopped by our table when they were done rehearsing to sa "hi" and shake hands and he seemed pleased when we let him know how much we'd been looking forward to the show.

Norm and I ate (and drank) while we were waiting for the show to start.  The club was pretty packed by the time the band came on and their selections and the skill in which they preformed were outstanding.  In case you don't know, Frank Zappa's music is complex and ofter difficult to preform, but this fine oiled machine under the guide of Mr. Palermo preformed it beautifully.  Without losing any of Frank's intended melody, the band swung and as Frank would say "put some eyebrows on it".  

One of the many highlights was the young lady who was the violin player.  Not only was she a knock out, she played with a visible passion and skill that could take your breath away.

The break between sets featured a fire dancer/eater out on the lower patio and she was almost as talented as the band.  Nak and I realized the she was the young woman sitting in front of us for the first set of the show but she did not return to her seat for the second set so we couldn't let her know how much we enjoyed her performance.  Maybe she had heart burn.


The second set was as impressive as the first and I picked up the bands latest CD of Franks music and had Ed sign it.  All in all, a magical night spent listening to wonderful music played by a top notch band with a good friend and a lot of other Zappa fans.

Ed's only solo of the night