#joe travers

The Press Release: One of the most ground-breaking, original, and fearless figures of popular music was undoubtedly the legendary Frank Zappa. And paying tribute to his late icon is The Zappa Band – a group largely comprised of former members of Frank’s bands. And for the first time ever, the group (who had previously opened a string of shows for prog greats King Crimson) will be headlining their…

This week in DD History – February 21-27, 2021

We’re already about to begin the third week of February! Time is flying by, yet we’re still feeling like it’s Groundhog Day every single day of the week (at least *I* am). Hope everyone is safe and well out there! February 21 Planet Earth peaked at #12 on the UK charts (1981)Duran Duran performs in Madison, Wisconsin (1984)Skin Trade peaked at #22 on UK charts (1987)Extraordinary World…

Up Close & Personal Tour 2001

Does anyone remember Wes Wehmiller and Joe Travers?

They played bass and drums, respectively, for Duran Duran while touring in the early 2000s.

Wes Wehmiller  was born in New York City and grew up in Pennsylvania and Delaware. He was a very accomplished bass player, and studied at the Berklee School of Music in Boston on a scholarship.  After college, he moved to Los Angeles and formed his own…

Let There Be Talk – #326:Joe Travers/Drummer/Vaultmeister for the Zappa Family Trust

On today’s episode of LET THERE BE TALK my guest is Drummer/Vaultmeister for the Zappa Family Trust Mr Joe Travers. Joe stops by and tells all kinds of amazing stories about his life in the music biz. Joe has played Drums for some amazing people including Duran Duran,Dweezil Zappa,Rich Robinson and Lisa Loeb. Joe’s Full Time job now is taking care of the entire Frank Zappa music library. http://…

Album Review - Frank Zappa - ZAPPAtite: Frank Zappa’s Tastiest Tracks

When you’re dealing with a discography as deep - more than 100 albums - and diverse as Frank Zappa’s, compiling a representative retrospective is an impossibility.

So the folks at the Zappa Family Trust, led by curators Ahmet Zappa and Joe Travers, decided to put together a food-centric cross section of the late musician’s songbook to give potential new fans a taste of the eccentric composer’s output. The resulting ZAPPAtite: Frank Zappa’s Tastiest Tracks features 18 songs and 85 minutes of music and is largely successful as a sampler of the many musical concoctions Zappa, who died in 1993, cooked up over the years.

Divided into three sections - Appetizers, Entrees and Desserts - ZAPPAtite works like a walk-through cafeteria; listeners may not want to stack everything on their turntable, but they’ll find plenty to fill their ears.

There are novelties like “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” (Single Version) and “Valley Girl.” There are epic instrumentals like “Peaches En Regalia” and “Zoot Allures.” There’s straight songs (“Joe’s Garage”), non-straight songs (“Bobby Brown Goes Down”), songs that would never make it on the radio (“Titties & Beer”) and songs that should have (“Sofa No. 1”). There’s also Synclavier-created “jazz from hell” in the form of “G-Spot Tornado” and London Symphony Orchestra-created classical in the form of “Strictly Genteel.“

Frankophiles needn’t bother with this one; they’ve heard all this before. But for neophytes, ZAPPAtites is an ample smorgasbord from which to choose the Zappa that works best for them.

Grade card: Frank Zappa - ZAPPAtite: Frank Zappa’s Tastiest Tracks - B