[LAU] [a bit OT] Sebkha-Chott performs Frank Zappa's Thing Fish feat Ike Willis: crowdfunding call

Aurelien tyranorl at free.fr
Wed Jun 12 08:23:23 UTC 2013


On Thu, May 23, 2013 at 01:00:40PM -0400, Joe Hartley wrote :
> On Tue, 21 May 2013 15:53:50 +0200
> Aurelien <tyranorl at free.fr> wrote:
> > So, here it is, Sebhka-Chott will perform Frank Zappa's Thing Fish in
> > commemoration of his death, 20 years ago.
> 
> Fantastic!  While not my favorite work, it's an ambitious project, and,
> well, it's Frank! 

Hey, that's it. It's obviously not the best musical piece of Frank
(still there are several fantastic tunes, like Evil Prince Aria, and so
on), but we didn't want to cover what has been so much covered already,
like Black Page or what, and by the way, it's easier to play!!! ;)

> 
> > To end up, I must admit, this time, and this time only, we're not
> > speaking about free art, cause Zappa Family Trust does not really manage
> > Zappa's thunes this way....
> 
> It's very sad to me how the FZT has handled itself.  Despite FZ's response
> to how he'd like to be remembered ("Keep playing my music"), the FZT
> has often gone overboard, even harassing tribute bands like the fantastic
> Project/Object for playing Frank's music without paying royalties, even
> though all that's required is that the venue the band plays in has an
> ASCAP/BMI license.  If Gail Zappa was correct in saying the FZT needed to
> get paid by the bands, then there'd never be another cover band ever.

By the way, you won't be astonished that Ike Willis is alonside with us
on that project!!

>  
> I know of one FZ band that stopped playing because of the Trust's
> goon squad approach.  It was sad to see them give up, but they were
> broke and didn't want to have to hire a lawyer.  FZT didn't actually
> sue them - to the best of my knowledge they have never gone that far -
> but the threat was enough.  I know she did sue Zappanale for trademark 
> infringement and lost.

Yes, she finally lost. This was really a shitty sue, but the German
court finally gets it right.

> 
> I have made the decision not to buy any more Zappa material nor go see
> any more Zappa Plays Zappa shows because of the way that the Trust has
> tried to extort money that is not legally theirs from performances of
> Frank's music.

That's exactly the behaviour I've decided to follow, too.

> 
> That said, good luck with this project and I hope you have a fantastic 
> experience at Zappanale!

This will surely be fantastic (as every Zappanale is!).

> 
> -- 
> ======================================================================
>        Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh at brainiac.com
>  Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa
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-- 
Aurélien


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