Gearing Up For Tour/July 1st LA Show

After the longest down time I've had in years, it's time to start getting ready to head back out on tour with Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa for most of the summer. This time around we'll be opening for jazz fusion legends Return to Forever, which is both incredibly exciting and somewhat daunting. Bassist Stanley Clarke is a huge influence of mine, as well as an influence on all my other influences (if you can follow that), so seeing him play every night will be quite the educational experience. The rest of the band doesn't suck either; Chick Corea, Lenny White, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Frank Gambale...
But first, we've got one more Gryphon Labs show here in LA, on Friday July 1st at Molly Malone's. We've been rehearsing our butts off for the last few months and I think we sound better than ever, so see us now before we're gone for a while! You can check out some recent vids of us over at YouTube (including one of brand new tune "Chuck D for President") for a small sample of what you're in for!

Road Zombie

At some point during the last few months of touring I realized I had no idea where I was, or even really where I had been. Sometimes living on the bus, especially when we have ZERO days off like we have recently, really turns you into a brainless zombie. You stumble out of your bunk, wander into the closest building that looks like a venue, (sometimes you're wrong) find some food, a shower, maybe see if there's internet to contact your loved ones, and some days you don't even find out until you walk on stage what city you are in.
Luckily, I usually come alive when we start playing for all the great Zappa fans out there. I still love performing with the guys and gal in this band, I still learn so much every night from Billy, Scheila, Jamie, Joe, Ben, and Chris. Unfortunately it looks like we won't be working again with ZPZ until summer 2011, but there's a very exciting tour being planned...and also, Dweezil's latest album is up for a Grammy, which is exciting, even if I'm not going to be receiving one since he changed the name of the band on the record.
In the meantime, I get to spend the holidays with my family, and then spend the first part of the year promoting Gryphon Labs! As you may already know, we just released our debut album Modern Mythology, and now you can purchase a physical CD copy of the album by clicking HERE.
Also, Gryphon Labs will be playing at WesFest at the Roxy on Feb 27th 2011, stay tuned for more details!

Frank Zappa Day

This past weekend we got to be a part of Frank Zappa day in Baltimore. Frank's music is so strongly tied to southern California that few people know that he was born in Baltimore. Well, now there's an impressive statue proudly informing everyone who comes to the corner of Eastern Avenue and Conkling Street, newly renamed Frank Zappa Way, that Baltimore is proud to call Frank their own. Head over to Zappa.com to see the actual proclamation and some more pictures from the event. I think it's a pretty amazing sign of how things have changed that a controversial public figure such as Frank can finally be recognized in such an official way, for both his musical output as well as his part in the fight for free speech.
Before we go back on tour with ZPZ in November and December (with new video footage!), Gryphon Labs will be playing once again at the world famous Baked Potato on Thursday October 7th, with our good friend Paul Barrere from Little Feat sitting in. Come on out, it may be our last show of 2010!

Break's over...

Well, it's time to get back to work, both with Gryphon Labs and with DZPZ.
You've got 2 chances to see Gryphon Labs coming up, first on May 11th opening for the incredible Scott Henderson Trio at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach. Should be a really fun night, Scott's got my friend (and occasional Lab rat) Andy Sanesi on drums and the always amazing Rufus Philpot on bass.
Then, on Saturday May 15th, I'll be playing a double-header at the Baked Potato. First at 9:30 I'll be playing with Jeff Kollman and Shane Gaalaas with Cosmosquad, then Gryphon Labs will take the stage around 11:30. I'm really excited for this lineup, and not just because I'm playing bass in both bands...
Meanwhile, as I'm rehearsing and gigging at night with those bands, during the day we'll be back at the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen getting ready for this summer's Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa tour. Two solid months of touring is a lot, but we'll be doing all sorts of fun and different things like the Dweezilla music camp, plus we'll have our new keyboardist, as well as a new batch of songs. Keep checking dweezilzappaworld.com for details on all this stuff, and come on out to a show!

Down Time

After enjoying some much needed couch time, my schedule starts to get pretty crazy soon. First of all, Gryphon Labs will be playing a club show at Molly Malone's in LA on Sunday 4/11 at 9pm. Then a crazy week of rehearsals for the next weekend, during which I'll be playing 3 different shows with 3 different bands.
Friday, April 16th I'll be at the Baked Potato with the amazing technical fusion of Cosmosquad, with Jeff Kollman on guitar and Shane Gaalaas returning to the drum chair. I'm really excited to play with these two killer musicians again, we may even break out one of the new tunes we've been writing together.
Then, April 17th, Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa opens for the legendary Jeff Beck at the Nokia in downtown LA. Being slightly younger than the rest of DZPZ, I'm not as familiar with Jeff Beck's earlier work, but I loved his last few records ("Jeff" and "You Had It Coming") for their mixture of Jeff's old school playing and more modern production. If you don't have tickets for this event you should get them soon. Plus, Jeff has the amazing Rhonda Smith (from Prince's band) on bass!
And finally, on Sunday 4/18, Gryphon Labs will be descending upon the Baked Potato one more time. We'll have Paul Barrere from Little Feat sitting in again in the first set, and in the second set Ben Thomas from DZPZ will be joining us for some cover tunes (no Zappa music, though.)
Then we'll be auditioning new keyboard players for DZPZ, several people have posted some pretty impressive clips of themselves on youtube, so maybe you'll be seeing one of them on tour with us this summer. And speaking of tour this summer, check out all of DZPZ's dates for the US, Europe, Tel Aviv, and Tokyo.

Other People's Music

After several fun and well-attended Gryphon Labs shows, I'm headed back to the Baked Potato this weekend to play with two other amazing bands. First, this Friday February 26th I'll be back with Cosmosquad, with Jeff Kollman on guitar and Glen Sobel (filling in for Shane Gaalaas) on drums. Last time I played with Jeff I had a blast, and I've played with Glen in lots of different situations and he always sounds great, including on the album version of "Driven To Drink" by Gryphon Labs.
Then, Saturday Feb 27th I'll be playing with VOLTO! again. Danny Carey was sick last time I played with these guys (and Glen filled in for him, too) so I'm really excited to play with all of them again, especially Danny.
So, come check out my double header at the Potato this weekend! Also, get your tickets to see Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa open for the legendary Jeff Beck on April 17th...