Événement

Ike Willis & We Used to Cut the Grass w/s/g Ithaca Bottom Boys

The Ultimate Zappa Tribute comes to The Range on Monday, June 5th feature Ike Willis & We Used to Cut the Grass. Don't miss this one of only 7 east coast shows! Ithaca Bottom Boys will be opening the show.

Ike Willis, Frank Zappas lead
vocalist and guitarist,
appeared on over 30 albums and
is most recognized for his
performances on records such as
Joe's Garage, Tinsel Town
Rebellion, You Are What You Is,
Broadway the Hard Way and as
the main character and narrator
in Zappa's conceptual musical,
Thing-Fish. Ike's
distinctive, booming baritone
on virtually every album and
every tour from 1978 to 1988
earned him the title "The Voice
of Zappa" for the second half
of Frank's career. Ike is still
touring internationally with
tribute acts such as Dweezil
Zappa and Project/Object,
playing the music just as Frank
had asked him to just before
his untimely death in 1993.

We Used to Cut the Grass is an enigmatic experimental ensemble from
Asbury Park, NJ. The group, led by bassist, thereminist and composer
Cody McCorry, most often features a large horn section and multiple
percussionists, but the ambitious collective is constantly appearing
in different configurations and tackling new music,
both original and adapted.
The band's accomplishments include recording and releasing their
debut single "Woodpecker" using 100% solar power, collaborating with
Philadelphia's Vanguard Strings to release a new arrangement of Igor
Stravinsky's 1940 "Tango," composing and debuting their 45 minute
experimental piece "How to Seduce a Cactus" in Asbury Park, and
performing at the New Jersey premiere of Thorsten Schütte's Frank
Zappa documentary, "Eat That Question." Among a wide array of other
endeavors, touring their interpretive arrangements of Frank Zappa's
music with Ike Willis has become an annual ritual for the group.

With members of Thank You Scientist, Electron, Stratosphere AllStars,
Karmic Juggernaut and Swift Technique as regulars in the
ensemble, putting Ike at the front of the bandstand makes for an
utterly unique approach to Zappa, an eclectic mix of the tight,
brass-heavy sound of the 80's "Make a Jazz Noise Here" era with the
sheer recklessness and heavy percussion of the early Mothers of
Invention, all driven by Willis' unmistakable baritone voice and
blues-infected guitar playing.