CELESTIAL TERRESTRIAL COMMUTERS
this is a classic Mahavishnu Orchestra composition we have been playing for years, you can see us playing it on YOUTUBE in 1991, (OUCH!) We have been playing this, and our own music since 1987. Our own arrangement, since we have no guitar or violin, bass plays the keyboard part, keys/sax play the gtr/violin parts.
we decided to get together and rehearse our music, try out new ideas for specific pieces and see what we can do with, be a part of it, instead of imposing ourselves on it. The only way to do that is to CREATE and PLAY music.

FOREIGN OBJECTS
this is originally a percussion ensemble piece written by the great musician/composer/percussionist - John Bergamo. CG arranged this piece for the ensemble.

most of our pieces are very different from eachother, it keeps us on our toes. Some tunes have a lot of written material, some have very little. Our joy is in the process of discovering what can't do, then doing it to make it SING.

VOICES
this piece is by keyboardist Craig Ochikubo, it is a ballad(!)
a ferocious one, at that. The sax solo is over the "form", the keyboard solo is over a truncated form. Ochisan gets to blow over this, using his breath controlled synth, the YAMAHA VL1, allowing him to incorporate the breath element into his solo, he grew up playing bass clarinet as well as keyboards. His sound, approach and touch are truly unique. You can also check out Craigs playing on the CRYPTOGRAMOPHONE release, THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ENSEMBLE.

CONTINUUM ACOUSTIC(?)
actually sans drumset
World music with a piano instead of a stringed instrument(?)
sax, piano/synths/electric bass and tabla and cymbals played in real time,
no percussion overdubs
we went into Scott Frasers studio, best known for his work with the KRONOS QUARTET
walked in and 4 hours later we had 9 tunes done

THOUSAND ISLAND PARK
arranged by cg, the John McLaughlin composition, same melody, changed the rhythm

EARLY MOURNING SHADOWS
composed by cg, for the loss of an old friend

CEGO DE ADERALDO
the blind man of Aderaldo, composed by Egberto Gismonti, with a CONTINUUM twidn

We will be posting more and more stuff, THANKS FOR CHECKING THIS OUT
feel free to drop us a line
continuummusic@gmail.com
THANKS
cg

What originally started as a rehearsal band in 1987 in East Los Angeles, has evolved into one of the most original voices in contemporary improvisational music today. Utilizing their considerable skills the group has evolved "organically" over the last few years building a repertoire rich in influences and directions. Whether playing fatback funk, odd-time pieces, standards or open-ended improvisations the group has an easily identifiable sound.

One of the groups that drummer Chris Garcia actively works and tours with is the Grande Mothers.

THE
GRANDE
MOTHERS
RE:INVENTED
IN ENGLAND
2008

Napoleon Murphy Brock
vocals, tenor saxophone, flute, suavenicity, dancing(!)

Roy Estrada
bass, pachuco falsettos, and operatic madness

Don Preston
piano, keyboard synthesizers, electronics, vocals

with

Miroslav Tadic
stunt guitar, electric guitar

Christopher Garcia
drumset, percussion, marimba, vocals

www.thrgrandmothers.com

SAME MEMBERS SINCE FEB 2003
Guitarist Miroslav Tadic replaced original guitarist Ken Rosser in 2005
91 performances and counting since 2003

"I SAW YOU IN ’77"
After taking off a well deserved vacation in 2007,
the GMS hit the road hard returning to England,
playing 13 concerts in 14 days throughout England including:

3/01 Holmfirth Picturedrome
3/02 Manchester Academy
3/03 Brighton The Komedia
3/04 Cardiff The Point
3/05 Penzance The Acorn
3/06 Exeter Arts Centre
3/07 Southampton The Brook
3/08 Deal Astor Theatre
3/09 Cambridge The Junction
3/10 London Mean Fiddler
3/11 Sheffield Boardwalk
3/12 Birkenhead Pacific Road Arts Centre
3/13 Wolverhampton Robin 2

the last time they were in England was 2004

SAME PEOPLE, SAME COFFEE...........
they had 4 sets of music to choose from every night
and instead of playing the same show to every audience
they changed it up for every performance
so the fans were always surprised
the song list for this tour included:

Andy
AyBe Sea
Big Swifty
The Blimp AKA Charles Ives
The Brain Police
Call Any Vegetable
Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy
Chunga’s Revenge
Click Clack - Beefheart
Debra Kadabra
Dog Breath
Echidnas Arf
Evelyn a modified dog
Florentine Pogen
Holiday In Berlin
Hungry Freaks, Daddy
I come from nowhere
I Am The Slime
Idiot Bastard Son
Lets make the water turn black
Little House I Used To Live In
Let’s make the water turn black
Let’s Move To Cleveland
Lonely Little Girl
Montana
Mother People
Oh In The Sky
Oh No
Peaches en Regalia
Pound for a brown
Pygmy Twylyte
San Bernardino
Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple
Son of Orange County
Sofa 2
T’Mershi D’ween
The Air
Trouble Comin’ Every Day
20 Small Cigars
Uncle Meat
Village Of The Sun

I BLAME A, MYSELF..................
as always,
the GMS played a 2 1/2 hour show,
including encores

they were informed that most groups only play 1 hour(?)
the same set(!)
night after night

so the fans who didn’t come early missed out on about an hours worth of FZ music
but by the end of each gig the place was usually packed and the GMS came out after each show to sign anything and everything for the fans including:

albums
CDS
DVDs
tshirts
body parts(!)

they were also given "gifts" (!) by the fans

Don Preston received a rubber chicken to "measure" things with(!) along with a pair of green panties (more below on that one) he also played his usual from another planet moog solos

Roy Estrada received a popes hat, to reprise his, dejected Mexican Pope from the Uncle Meat movie he also sang HOLIDAY IN BERLIN with Dr. Don Preston on piano accompaniment
holding the down the bottom with his bass and the top end with his pachuco falsetto madness

Napoleon Murphy Brock
was, as always, stellar
giving 1000%,
whether belting it out,
dancing and/or ripping it up with his sax solos
and with a bad cold and cough to boot

Miroslav Tadic and Christopher Garcia

most common ?’s asked these 2:

who are you guys?
where did they find you?
how did you learn to play this music?
do you play with any other groups?
do you have any CDs?

answers

us
LA/CROATIA
lots of listening and playing FZ music for percussion ensemble under the direction of John Bergamo
some a few

Miroslav continued to delight the fans with his guitar playing (without mimicking FZ) while (obviously) playing the music with the respect it deserves and
CG continually held it down and then some

many of the sound crews came forward to tell the GMS that it was the best concert
they had ever had the pleasure of doing sound for
guys who do bands day in and day out,
hundreds of shows every year

ENGLISH FANS SPEAK OUT AND UP

the fans were, as always, mostly gracious, totally alive and FUN

but let them speak for themselves
we have removed their email addresses and full names to respect their privacy
see below

EXETER

Dear Grande Mothers,
Thank you so very much for coming to Exeter last Thursday.
Of all the hundreds of gigs I have seen over the years, your performance at the Phoenix was,
for me, one of the most enjoyable.

It was great to hear your wonderful musicianship and to see you all looking so good.
I would also like to say that I thought Miroslav and Chris were also tremendous.
I was lucky to a have seen Frank perform many times but never with any of you guys in the band.

I never thought I would get the chance, but to actually see you in my home town of Exeter was fantastic. My only major regret was that, as I no longer live in Exeter, and due to my travel arrangements back home, I could not hang around to meet you guys.
Please come back again. I know so many people who would have loved to have seen you.

Once again, thank you so very much.
Wishing you the very best and good luck with the rest of the tour,

Best wishes,
David
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOUTHAMPTON

Dear Grande Mothers,
saw you play in southampton last night. it was amazing.
you really are keeping that music alive and well, it sounded so fresh.
you’re all brilliant musicians and it looked like you were having so much fun.
i never thought i’d get to see you guys play, so thanks for coming.
it made my birthday really great. please come back soon.
love
ian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXETER

Dear Grande Mothers,
My wife and I would like to thank you all for a fantastic nite of musical whimsy,
technical genius, great tunes and general good fun when you performed at The Phoenix Arts Centre in Exeter recently.
I was genuinely moved by this truly memorable event and consider it a rare privilege to have had the chance to see not one, but five musical greats who still deliver!
I think Frank would have approved- you certainly blew us away..........
Best wishes,
Paul and Katherine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LONDON

just to say that the Grandmothers were absolutely fantastic the other night at the Astor,
one of the best gigs I have ever had the pleasure of attending anytime, anywhere.
all the best
Howard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just want to say loved the gig and........
I felt very happy (and a great load of emotions that emerged from watching and listening the Grande Mothers Re:Invented).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Exeter

I was at the Exeter show the other night, highlights were Debra Kadabra
(never thought they’d play that one!), Holiday in Berlin/Little House, Uncle Meat,
More Trouble, Village Of The Sun/Echidna’s Arf, Montana...
Roy is hilarious, he cracked up just looking at Don most of the time!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LONDON

The London show last night was fantastic. Don and Napoleon came out after the show to sign stuff, and meet everyone too......
An all round great, intimate night....

Shame those who packed out venues for ZPZ couldn’t be bothered to come out for these shows, they missed out.

Talk about supporting Franks legacy...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Brook- Southampton

What a lovely venue, the sound was crystal clear.
The theme of last nights show was FUN,
Don, Napi and Roy looked liked they were enjoying themselves and I certainly did.
Set list from what I remember was;

Pound for a Brown on the Bus
Sofa
20 Small Cigars
Hungry Freaks Daddy
Lonely Little Girl
Take Your Clothes off
Chungas Revenge
I’m the Slime
Lets Make the Water Turn Black
Harry you’re a Beast
The Orange County Lumber Truck
Oh No
San Berdino
Peaches en Regalia
Take your clothes off when you dance
What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body
Florentine Pogen
Evelyn a modified dog
Son of Orange County Lumber Truck
Montana
Trouble Every Day
In The Sky (featuring Roy’s insane falsetto)
Big Swifty
with snippets from
I come from nowhere
Charles Ives AKA The Blimp
Click Clack
Smoke on the Water(!)
Dog Breath
and of course Evelyn
Andy

There were others but I forget. The Jazz noises in Big Swifty had to be heard.

In fact, Don stuck Evelyn in the middle of it all. Conceptual Continuity Clues were bandied around throughout the night, The Rubber Chicken (with incorporated ruler) found its way on stage, as did a bishops hat, duly donned by Roy, prompting cries of ’the Mexican pope enters the stage’ from Don.

A wet pair of knickers were hurled at Don who, in that Great American Tradition,
took a great big sniff and declared ’either she’s been drinking a lot of beer- or that’s beer’.
Ah well, I could go on….but who gives a fuck anyhow.
Go see ’em if you get the chance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Someone at both shows thought London even better than Cambridge. London sure sounded good to me.
Here’s the set list:

1. Hungry Freaks Daddy
2. Let’s Move To Cleveland
3. Lonely Little Girl
4. Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance
5. Chunga’s Revenge
6. Call Any Vegetable
7. The Idiot Bastard Son (dedicated to me!)
8. Uncle Meat
9. Drum solo/T’Mershi Duween - ODS = obligatory drum solo
10. Pygmy Twylyte

INTERMISSION

11. Peaches en Regalia
12. Montana
13. Big Swifty
14. I’m the Slime
15. In The Sky
16. Let’s Make The Water Turn Black
17. Harry, You’re A Beast
18. Oh No
19. Son Of Orange County
20. More Trouble Every Day
21. San Ber’dino
22. Sofa No. 1
23. I’m The Slime

ENCORES

24. Little House I Used To Live In/Merely A Blues In A actually in F
25. Mother People


were you there too?
if so, drop us a line
every email is sent to the GMS


WHAT’S UP NEXT???
stay tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuned for more
we know you’ll be surprised..........