I just saw the 2024 biopic about Maurice Ravel called "Boléro" that was directed by Anne Fontaine. I saw it out of curiosity because I simply don't know much about Ravel or how the piece was composed. The movie was OK because it is just a dramatisation based on a book. However, at the end, the piece is actually played on its own (about the last half only) with Raphaël Personnaz (the actor playing Ravel) conducting the orchestra with one ballet dancer dancing through and next to the orchestra. That is when I choked up and teared up. I have always loved the piece. Ravel wrote other music, which I don't know as well. Ravel came across - in the movie - as a perfectionist and someone deeply fascinated by sounds around him. I have the impression it wasn't the one piece he wanted to be remembered for, but the last 10 minutes of just playing the music - no film storytelling, just music storytelling - hit some chord in me, and I found beauty in it. Watching the "OK" movie part was worth it for those 10 minutes. (Danes: watch it on Filmstriben, of course.)

By the way, the movie intro was a great collection of various musicians doing their version of Boléro. Very cleverly done. Which is where I learned Frank Zappa had his own version, which includes the slide trombonist doing a bit of ballet at one point!

https://youtu.be/d5nknnhZVs8?si=J07t05QInbCVnh-m

#Ravel #Bolero #cinemastodon #FrankZappa #Filmstriben

#NP: #NowPlaying:

Frank Zappa - 'Road Tapes - Venue #1' (2cd) (2012)

Recorded live in Vancouver BC on 25 August 1968, this is an excellent #FrankZappa concert with the original #Mothers. Super setlist and playing, some great #Zappa guitar, fine sound (all in glorious mono).

#words

#FrankZappa

"Ieri alla televisione
Mi hanno detto di stare tranquillo
Non c'è nessuna ragione
Di aver paura
Non c'è proprio niente che non va"

#francescodegregori
#televisione
#frankzappa

Monday's earworm - yes, Monday's - was a very specific version of Frank Zappa's Peaches En Regalia, arranged by Colin Towns twenty years ago. Which I looked for but couldn't find - very little of Towns' seems to be online.

I watched the Zappa documentary as a result.

But today I came across this concert recording from last year - several tracks played as a suite. I've set it up for Peaches, but the whole tihng is great!

#FrankZappa #ColinTowns #PeachesEnRegalia #jazz

https://youtu.be/t_h3CllQi-k?si=x0bkjmWw7GRgOoB3&t=134

#NP: #NowPlaying:

Frank Zappa - 'Carnegie Hall' (4cd) (2011)

Recorded October 11 1971, this is #FrankZappa & the Veaudeville band in the legendary #CarnegieHall NYC. Two nights, two shows, two totally different set lists, amazing #Zappa performances (long versions of King Kong and Billy The Mountain!), one opening set by The Persuasions and all this in glorious mono.

I've spent the last 71 minutes proving to myself once again that #FrankZappa makes no sense out of context. The context of the album is the most obvious example. If you just hear "Stolen Moments" from his live recording of "Broadway the Hard Way," it's a fairly faithful rendition of a jazz classic, roughly 3 minutes without much more meaning than anyone else's version of the song. Then you listen to the whole album and Sting sings "Murder by Numbers" over the same chords (the next track on the album), and now it makes musical sense. Then you add on the context of the times, and you think back about the scathing takedown of politicians and celebrities of the 20 years leading up to that track that it really makes sense that "Stolen Moments" in that place of the show is the punchline of an elaborate musical joke with a long setup. And having Sting put "Murder By Numbers" after it is just the elbow in the ribs. Of course, that's only one joke of the comedy set that is the whole album.

Best 71 minutes of the week.

Makes me wish I could find a recording of the concert after the intermission he announced at the end of the album.

#NP: #NowPlaying:

Gotan Project - 'La Revancha Del Tango' (2001)

#GotanProject blends tango with triphop using bandoneon, piano, strings and subtle electronics into something adventurous and infective. Includes a marvellous tango version of 'Chunga's Revenge' (#FrankZappa)