Sunday, December 27, 2020

Your Battery Is Fully Charged: Terry Bozzio 70

 
We'll end the Christmas weekend proper with another milestone trip around the sun for another stalwart of the music of our epoch.

I'm trying to remember when or where I first heard of Terry Bozzio... was it as part of the Prog Rock band U.K.? Or did I hear Zappa Live In New York before that?

I'm gonna go with the latter, because I can distinctly remember Titties N Beer early on in high school. Who could forget such a thing?

So my first introduction to one of the greatest drummers of our lifetimes was in a Devil mask, trying to keep time and steal FZ's girlfriend at the same time.

Progenitor of likely the largest and most fully-furnished drum kit in human history, I'm trying to remember if I've ever seen him play in person more than once, and I'm coming up blank.

Well, if it was just the once I sure picked a good one, that's for sure.

Lucky me, I got to see the group I'm about to highlight when they came through Yoshi's in Oakland ten years ago.

I even got to meet the guitarist -- himself gone now but forever the idol of ten trillion other players -- and deliver him to the dressing room area.

For the next two hours the quartet improvised to a packed house, eliciting several standing ovations. I gave the percussionist my A's hat in gratitude as a souvenir.

And, as far as I know, the whole aggregation was masterminded/instigated by today's birthday boy.

I'm not sure how you even fit this much talent and inspiration on one stage, let alone in one zip code, but these guys toured the world and here is part of the proof.


HoBoLeMa
De Oosterpoort
Groningen, The Netherlands
4.11.2010

01 Set I, Part I
02 Set I, Part II
03 Set I, Part III
04 announcement by Terry Bozzio
05 Set II, Part I
06 Set II, Part II
07 Set II, Part III
08 Set II, Part IV
09 Set II, Part V
10 Set II, Part VI

Total time: 1:36:51
disc break goes after Track 04
all tracks are 100% improvised

 Allan Holdsworth - guitar
Terry Bozzio - drums & tuned percussion
Tony Levin - Chapman Stick & bass
Pat Mastelotto - drums & percussion, sampler

digital capture of a Dutch 256/48 digital FM broadcast from 2010
taped, edited and converted to 16/44 CD Audio by Lewojazz;
one dropout repaired, 1st set rejoined & resplit, 2nd set resplit, and entirety of concert boosted +6dB by EN, December 2020
540 MB FLAC/December 2020 archive link


I will be right on back Monday with something to kind of augment this, which I accidentally prepared before I realized today was TB's 70th, so do stay tuned.

And of course we wish Mr. Bozzio the finest possible birthday, and thank him for a lifetime of inexhaustible battery... and for getting this band together!--J.