Ed Palermo is a saxophone player who has been fronting his own big band since the late 70s. He put out a few records that went generally unnoticed and played shows in small clubs to sparse crowds…until the mid 90s when he decided to perform a tribute show to Frank Zappa.
That show at The Bitter End in New York City was sold out and since then the Ed Palermo Big Band has been known for their arrangements of Zappa tunes. Between 1997 and 2009 they put out three albums that were exclusively Zappa songs (Plays the Music of Frank Zappa, Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance and Eddy Loves Frank). They were all uniformly excellent. The song selections were fantastic, and the performances were very accurate, yet fun.
At the same time, they started a long residency at another NYC club called Iridium. Here is a great clip from 2011 of The Ed Palermo Big Band at Iridium:
The band still regularly performs at Iridium today. Here are a couple more recent videos of the band performing Zappa songs there:
Over time, they started performing other songs besides Zappa compositions. Anything from classic rock to alternative rock to jazz fusion to classical was fair game. Here is a medley of “America” / “American Idiot” / “Russian Dance” for example:
Here is a pretty wild medley. The video title mentions “All Blues” (Miles Davis) and “Norwegian Wood” (Beatles) but also packed into this clip is “Chunga’s Revenge” (Zappa), “Light My Fire” (The Doors), and “Come Together” (Beatles)!
They also don’t shy away from playing challenging progressive rock. Here is a medley of “King Kong” (Zappa) and “21st Century Schizoid Man” (King Crimson):
The band has been steadily releasing albums over the years (including tributes to Todd Rundgren and Edgar Winter) but none of them have really caught my attention since the early Zappa focused records. That is, until now! Last month they released Prog Vs. Fusion: A War of the Ages, which is today’s pick!
| Don’t Miss A Pick! |
|---|
| Do you want to get Phil’s Phriday Picks delivered to your inbox every Friday? |
| Do you like being social? Follow Phil’s Phriday Picks on Facebook. |
As the name implies, it is focused on progressive rock and jazz fusion (although there is a little bit of alternative rock and classic rock thrown in). Some of the arrangements and segues are bonkers!
For example, take this combo of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” and Steely Dan’s “Bodhisattva” for a spin:
I kind of wish it was longer (but later in the album the band does return to “Black Hole Sun”).
Another crazed melody is “G-Spot Tornado” (Zappa) / “Resolution” (Mahavishnu Orchestra) / “Jingo” (Santana) that must be heard to be believed:
There are other variations on “G-Spot Tornado” on the record focused on melding it with Chick Corea compositions too! Zany!
The band made a music video for their brilliant cover of Yes’ “Long Distance Runaround”:
There are also more obscure selections on the album, like this cover of Wayne Shorter’s “On the Milky Way Express”. It is a bold move performing a song from his 1995 album High Life (which is great, by the way) instead of more popular songs he performed with Weather Report or Miles Davis:
The album closes with an earth-shattering take on King Crimson’s “Pictures of a City”. Kudos for also choosing a King Crimson deep track!
The entire record is a ton of fun with every song weaving into the next one with no breaks. I’ve been frequently playing it on repeat and would not be surprised if it lands on my “Best of 2025” list at the end of the year. A stunning achievement for this long running big band.
