{"id":32208,"date":"2020-11-06T11:28:02","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T16:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/records\/the-great-un-american-songbook-vol-3-run-for-your-life\/"},"modified":"2020-11-06T11:29:33","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T16:29:33","slug":"the-great-un-american-songbook-vol-3-run-for-your-life","status":"publish","type":"records","link":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/en\/records\/the-great-un-american-songbook-vol-3-run-for-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great Un-American Songbook Vol. 3: Run For Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After volumes 1 and 2, released as a double album in 2017, we needed a volume 3, and are thankfully rewarded. The conductor and outstanding arranger Ed Palermo guides his big band of 16 musicians with his usual precision, to serve up a kaleidoscope of mashups in which a host of English hits are stamped with bits (and pieces) from Frank Zappa\u2019s catalogue. Palermo, who has already released seven albums containing big-band arrangements of Zappa\u2019s music, has gone completely nuts and he\u2019s putting them everywhere (only his preceding record, A Lousy Day In Harlem<\/em>, didn\u2019t touch Zappa, tapping instead Ellington, Gismonti, Coltrane, Monk, and his own compositions). Having said that, the fan won\u2019t complain, especially because it\u2019s always done with great accuracy, but also because if you like Zappa, you\u2019re bound to like the kind of collage Palermo does, even if sometimes it\u2019s a bit like a quiz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The programme is strongly tinted, after Zappa, by the Beatles, and certainly less diversified than the previous volumes, on which Cream, King Crimson, the Rolling Stones, The Nice and even Radiohead crossed paths. Here, Traffic, Jethro Tull, and Procol Harum are back, along with The Moody Blues (\u201cNights in White Satin\u201d mixed with Zappa\u2019s \u201cMoggio\u201d), The Hollies (\u201cStop Stop Stop\u201d, which emerges from \u201cWithin You Without You\u201d, then slaloms between \u201cLittle House I Use To Live In\u201d and \u201cG-Spot Tornado\u201d), and even Thunderclap Newman (a short \u201cSomething In The Air\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some amalgams almost make you dizzy, like Zappa\u2019s \u201cLet\u2019s Move To Cleveland\u201d, with the Beatles\u2019 \u201cFixing a Hole\u201d, from which the \u201cKing Kong\u201d riff eventually steps out, or \u201cCome Together\u201d, its rhythm serving as the basis for \u201cChunga\u2019s Revenge\u201d, with a small dose of \u201cLight My Fire\u201d from The Doors and a hint of a reprise of the theme from \u201cG-Spot Tornado\u201d… And that\u2019s not counting the microcitations that the various soloists swing one after the other in the mix. Violinist Katie Jacoby shines particularly brightly in \u201cStrawberry Fields Forever\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, for the fan of these bands, it\u2019s a celebration. An outstanding ensemble sound and a most eclectic selection from the great Palermo, with polished production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n