frogg café

Frogg Café started out as Lumpy Gravy, a Zappa / Mothers tribute band.

They released their first album in 2001. The track 'Questions Without Answers' included Frank Zappa's 'Inca Roads' theme.

July 2004, the band took part in the Zappanale festival, performing a bunch of classic Frank Zappa tracks, featuring Ed Mann as special guest. Part of the concert got released on the "Zappanale # 15" album.

www.froggcafe.com

 

discography

1 frogg café: frogg café
    (2001, cdr, usa, private release cd 01) - incl. 'inca roads' (frank zappa)
2 frogg café: creatures
    (2003, cd, usa, private release)

  various artists: zappanale 15
    (2004, 3cd, ger, arf society) – incl. various artists playing frank zappa compositions

  various artists: zappanale 15 - retrospective
     (2004, dvd, ger, the arf society) - feat. various artists playing frank zappa compositions

  various artists: zappanale # 15
     (2005, cd, ger, arf society) – incl. various artists playing frank zappa compositions

zappanale15b.jpg (10950 bytes)

  various artists: zappanale 15 - bands in concert
    (2005, dvd, ger, the arf society) - feat. various artists playing frank zappa compositions

3 frogg café: fortunate observer of time
    (2005, cd, usa, progrock records) - feat. ed mann

4 frogg café: noodles
    (2005, cdr, usa, private release)

  various artists: nearfest 2005
    (2007, dvd, usa, nearfest records) - incl. frogg café		  
5 frogg café: the safenzee diaries
    (2007, 2cd, usa, 10t records)

6 frogg café: bateless edge
    (2010, cd, usa, 10t records)

froggcafe_bateless_edge.jpg (18272 bytes)
7 frogg café: on the lillypad
    (2010, download, usa, 10t records) - incl. zappa compositions

froggcafe_lillypadd.jpg (20395 bytes)
     

 

concert

 

 

random notes

FROGG CAFÉ JUNE NEWSLETTER

  1. Exit Stage Frogg
  2. Prog Rock Civil War
  3. ProgDay Festival – Support the Cause
  4. FOT, You and Me
  5. The Canadian Duty Free Shop
  6. Start giving me FLAC
  7. Be Like Mike

 

EXIT STAGE FROGG

Lots of exciting shows coming up, details at: http://www.froggcafe.com/live.html

**CD RELEASE PARTY**

 

PROG ROCK CIVIL WAR

All was quiet on the western front until our old friend Pete Pardo of Sea of Tranquility http://www.seaoftranquility.org launched a grenade into the back of Shawn Gordon’s minivan while he was taking his ProgRock children out for ice cream.

Pete has started a website poll entitled “Who is your favorite ProgRock Records artist?”!

As of now, the Froggs are thoroughly getting their asses kicked by our good pals in Man on Fire!  We are in second place trailing by over 25 votes.  And Cryptic Vision is close behind; their scouts have spotted the back of Bill’s head in their telescope!

Now people, I understand that the MOF guys are much better looking then us.  And you might like their music better.  But keep this in mind…a vote for the Frogg is a vote for the chubby kid on the playground getting his ass beat for his lunch money…don’t let this tragedy go on for one more day!

http://www.seaoftranquility.org/ (poll on right)

Man of Fire website: http://www.manonfireband.com/
Cryptic Vision website: http://www.crypticvision.net/
ProgRock Records: http://www.progrockrecords.com (lots of great bands)

 

PROGDAY Festival – Support the Cause

Most of you know that anyone willing to sponsor and organize a prog rock festival does it for the love of the music and not the money.  Most of these wonderful events end up breaking even or losing money and the ones who come out ahead use that dough to book next year’s festival!

ProgDay is a great example of a grass roots operation that puts on a wonderful festival every year!

Lew Fisher of The Progressive Music Society has single-handedly enlisted a number of bands for their help in keeping ProgDay alive.  Nine great bands have donated tracks, six which are previously unreleased, for a compilation disc to raise money for the festival.

Tracks from The Strawbs, Djam Karet, Nathan Mahl, Trettioariga Kriget, Wobbler, Sonus Umbra, Gert Emmens, The Muffins, and Guy Manning.  Many of these bands are friends with the Froggs, it’s important for us to support each other and the organizations that present us to the fans.

Order the CD a Lew’s web page: http://home.mchsi.com/%7Eprogprinter2/
Progressive Music Society: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/progressivemusicsociety/
ProgDay Festival: http://www.progday.com

 

FOT, You and ME

Thank you so much for kind words and the overwhelming support for our third studio CD, “Fortunate Observer of Time”! 

If you haven’t got yours yet it’s available many places including: http://www.progrockrecords.com/shop/view.php?id=60 (free sound samples)

The CD will also be available at our upcoming, NJ Proghouse and NewEARS shows.  More info and tics at: http://www.froggcafe.com/live.html

Also, thanks to our friend Bill Freeman we have another new Frogg t-shirt to offer you.  This one is white with a frog playing the keyboard on the front and the summer tour dates on the back.  Available in M, L, XL, XXL.  Reply to this e-mail if you would like to purchase one.

 

The Canadian Duty Free Shop

How long does it take Steve Uh to buy maple syrup and smoked salmon at the border?  If you guessed 40 minutes, you’re right!

We had a great time performing in Montreal!  Thanks to Robert, Jerry and Denis of Proglands for putting together a great live experience for us.

Also, a huge thanks to our new crazy friends in Karcius!  Man, these guys jam hard.  My prediction is you’ll be seeing them soon in the USA; they are a very talented bunch of guys.

Proglands: http://www.proglands.com/
Prog Montreal: http://www.progmontreal.com/
Karcius website: http://www.karcius.com/

 Montreal Set List:

 

START GIVING ME FLAC

If you are a “download person” and are sick of CD jewel cases piling up in your house you can get some free Frogg Café downloads (as FLAC files) from:
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=frogg%20cafe

You can also get downloadable versions of our studio CDs (not free…cough it up) at: http://www.mindawn.com

But if you like your free bootlegs to be physically in your hands join the Lillypadd!
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/lillypadd/

 

BE LIKE MIKE

I feel the need to tell you about Mike Keneally’s upcoming tour.  Most of you know that Mike is an amazing person and musician.  He has gone out of his way on several occasions to publicly say nice things about the Froggs.

He just announced a NYC show!

2005/06/17 concert 'The Knitting Factory', nyc, ny, usa (Note early showtime: 7:00 p.m.)

The Froggs will be in the audience, so we hope to see you there.

Mike’s website: http://www.keneally.com (check out his diary where he talks about auditioning for Frank Zappa’s 88 band, it’s awesome!)

Whew, that’s a lot of typing for a big bald guy.  I’m going to see Star Wars now.

Keep in touch, hope to see out at a show.

Best Wishes,

-- Andy for Frogg Cafe  -  http://www.froggcafe.com

February 2006

FROGGS GO PHISHIN’

The last three Frogg shows have been a blast and it was a great honor to have Page McConnell of Phish sit in with us at Nectar’s in Burlington, VT!  Page watched our set and then came up on stage to play keys on 2001, it was pretty wild!  Pic at http://froggcafe.com/

Thanks to Page and Alex Budney at Nectar’s for making this possible.  We will be following the lines north very soon for another show, TBA

Also a big thanks to our friends in Moodras and Fluttr Effect, it was great playing with you guys at Canno’s and The Knitting Factory last week.

OUR LITTLE OLIVE BRANCH

Baby Lieto (Nick’s new daughter) has a name now!  Olivia Rose Lieto, mom and dad are doing great (a little tired, I imagine) and Olivia is thankful that she is not named Deltitnu Gagutz anymore.  She will be starting on Tenor Sax lessons in about 5 years in preparation for the 25 year Frogg Café Reunion at Nearfest in the year 2026.

FROGG CAFÉ LIVE

Come on in, the water is fine!

Saturday, February 25
Lizard Lounge
1667 Mass Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 547-0759
9:30 Frogg Café
10:30 Fluttr Effect

Venue website: http://www.lizardloungeclub.com/main.html

Vessela of Fluttr Effect told me that tickets were almost sold out for this show.  This is going to be a CD release party for the Fluttr peeps.  Plus Vess (marimba) is going to sit in with the Froggs on a Zappa tune or two…         

 

Friday March 3
Ridgefield Playhouse
80 East Ridge Road
Ridgefield, CT 06877
(203) 438-5795
8:00 Frogg Café
9:00 Dave Mason
Tickets are $45 and are available on the Ridgefield Playhouse website or boxoffice http://www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org/

           

Saturday, May 6
River Street Beat Shop
197 River Street
Troy, NY 12180
(518) 272-0433
2pm - Frogg Café will perform 2 sets 

 

Hope this e-mail finds you well, see you out there.

Peace,

Frogg Café

http://www.froggcafe.com

FROGG CAFE SUMMER NEWSLETTER
june 2006

1. FROGG CAFÉ signs with 10T Records!
2. FROGG CAFÉ to play BELLSTOCK FESTIVAL 2006
3. BACK to the NJ PROGHOUSE
4. NEW LIVE CD
5. OTHER UPCOMING SHOWS
6. SET LIST FROM BEERY’S

1. FROGG CAFÉ signs with 10T Records!

We’re happy to announce we’ve signed an exclusive distribution deal with 10T Records! www.10trecords.com . They will also be helping us with radio promotion, tour support and advertising.

10 Tornado President Steve Carroll had this to say, "The Label's mission is to create a cooperative environment where artists, label and promotions work together to elevate the quality of our products, maximize media and press exposure, and increase retail and online sales."

This is a great label and the Froggs are excited to be a part of it!

2. FROGG CAFÉ to play BELLSTOCK FESTIVAL 2006

This is an awesome jamband festival that includes a weekend of camping, hanging, and general debauchery…pack up the Weber and hit the highway, my friends. The Froggs will be super Noodley this weekend…James is even going to wear his purple moomoo from the 60’s.

Sunday, July 16
BELLSTOCK FESTIVAL
East Jewitt, NY 12424
12pm – Doors
12:30pm – Frogg Café
2pm – Ryan Montbleau Band
Tickets - $30 weekend pass
Camping on site
Other bands on Friday and Saturday include: Dynamic Stew, Positive Mental Trip, Wreckloose, Cliff Street, Licorice, School Bus Yellow, Dr. Jah and the Love Prophets and many more!

Thanks to Billy of http://www.albanystage.com/ for hooking us up with this show and for the TV gig up in Saratoga! (we’re back there on 7/28, actually)

3. BACK to the NJ PROGHOUSE

Yes, it’s official, we are back to see the godfather of prog, Jim Robinson and the crew. We’ve got a tasty surprise for you this night….mmmm…tasty surprise…

Saturday, September 16
NJ Proghouse Progressive Music Series
Old Franklin Schoolhouse
491 Middlesex Ave (RT 27)
Metuchen, NJ 08840
Time and Ticket info TBA

4. NEW LIVE CD

We are finishing up production at the new Capt. Cabesa studios and hope to have this bad boy in the can (hehe, in the can) by the fall. This will be our first release with 10T records. We’re also going to let the tape run this week on a group improv session, similar to our 2002 CD-R entitled Noodles. Speaking of Noodles, it will be available for the first time for retail sale on the 10T website in a couple of weeks. It has previously only been available at our live shows.

5. OTHER UPCOMING SHOWS

Thursday, June 29
Knitting Factory
Old Office
74 Leonard Street
New York City, NY 10013
212-219-3132
9:00 – 11:00 Frogg Cafe
Tickets - $8 at the door

Thursday, July 6
Nectar’s
188 Main Street
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 658-4771
9 pm - Fluttr Effect
11 pm – Frogg Café will perform 2 sets
It great to be headlining for the first time up in Burlington. And I just found out today that our friends from Fluttr Effect will be there also!

Friday, July 21
Towne Crier
130 Route 22
Pawling, NY
(845) 855-1300
9 pm - Frogg Café
10:15 – Izz
Tickets are available by calling (845) 855-1300
CALL SOON TO RESERVE, great food--$20/$17.50 for members
A night of Hudson Valley Prog…hop on route 22 North and throw a couple back (after you get there, not in the car).

Friday, July 28
Kings Tavern
241 Union Avenue
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
(518) 581-7090
9:45 pm - Frogg Café will perform 2 sets

Friday, September 22
Canno’s Swiss Tavern
100 Ocean Avenue
Lynbrook, NY 11563
(516) 599-0896
9PM
Tickets - $6 at the door

6. SET LIST FROM BEERY’S

Good time at our friend Beery’s…here’s the selist:

KING KONG into
SMALL CHUWAWA
RELUCTANT OBSERVER
HURRY UP AND WAIT into
ALL THIS TIME
TERRA SANCTA
LEAVE OF ABSINTHE

Ok, gotta run. Thanks for reading this far, see you soon!

Best,
Frogg Café
http://www.froggcafe.com

2006/07

The Frogg Cafe group improv limited edition CD-R is now available for retail purchase only from 10T Records.

http://www.10trecords.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=17

Here's a short blurb about the recording:

"If you are familiar with Frogg Cafe’s two studio albums you know the band has always sported an inventive, improvisational spirit. On "Noodles" this spirit takes center stage. Recorded live in the studio on June 26, 2002, all of the material on the album was performed in one take over the period of four hours (with humorous voice over’s by Dr. Mac and Brother Bam).

"Noodles", founding guitarist Frank Camiola’s Frogg Café swansong, is a fascinating look at a band’s creative process and demonstrates its many influences – jam, jazz and avante-garde classical and good old fashioned prog. Perhaps the album’s highlight is “Tagliarini” a 14 minute jam built on a fascinating rhythmic figure full of possibilities – somewhat reminiscent of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. Bill Ayasse first offers a colorful violin lead before handing the figure’s reins to Nick Lieto and his trumpet. From there the piece builds in intensity in a very Crimsoid manner.

While offerings of a band’s studio improvisations or demos often disappoint and sometimes seem gratuitously commercial, "Noodles" is a rare example that satisfies. "

2006 09 05

Hi friends!

The lazy rib smoking days of summer may be over but the Froggs are really busy and looking forward to a great fall with new shows and a new live CD.

1. The first good cause is to support Frogg Cafe trombonist John Lieto and his annual Multiple Sclerosis bike-a-thon. Last year, thanks mostly to Frogg fans, John raised a lot of money for the MS Society.

http://msnyc.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=173935&u=173935-98975689&e=725554214 to donate.

2. The second good cause is the support of original music!

Frogg Cafe Live at the NJ Proghouse, please order your tics now!

Saturday, September 16
NJ Proghouse Progressive Music Series
Old Franklin Schoolhouse
491 Middlesex Ave (RT 27)
Metuchen, NJ 08840
7:30 - Opening Act TBA
8:30 - Frogg Café

http://www.njproghouse.com - for tickets
$25 in advance (online) and $30 the day of the show

All the best,

Andy for Frogg Cafe
http://www.froggcafe.com

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE FROM 10TRECORDS

ATLANTA, Georgia - March 1, 2007 (10T Records) -10T Records is thrilled to announce the release of the first official double live CD by Frogg Cafe, entitled "The Safenzee Diaries" on April 10, 2007.  This will be the New York based band's 4th official release and their first new release on 10T Records.

Frogg Cafe is a 6 piece band making music that incorporates elements of progressive rock, pop melodicism and fusion jazz into a sound that is wholly their own.  Peppered with an appealing variety of other flavors including Latin music, bluegrass, modern chamber music and avant-garde/experimental, their energetic live shows feature extended flights of group improvisation that draw grins from hardcore jam-band fans. 

In fact, it is these live performances that have historically set Frogg Cafe apart, with each show being a unique and exhilarating one of a kind event.  "The Safenzee Diaries" fully captures Frogg Cafe on stage, preserving the world-class musicianship and unexpected interplay that have garnered the band praise from around the world.  "The Safenzee Diaries" also incorporates live in the studio jams intertwined between tracks. Additionally, there are energetic reinterpretations of classic Frogg Cafe tunes featuring different solos and sometimes entirely new arrangements, plus three brand new tunes never heard before. 

"I'm really excited that Frogg Cafe is releasing our first live (double) CD!" says Frogg Cafe bassist Andrew Sussman." This is a true representation of the energy of our music, which on a studio album is very hard to achieve. This release represents the best of hundreds of hours of live shows and live in the studio jams. We're also psyched that this is our first release with 10T Records, who have been there for us every step of the way. This really is a road trip musical diary of all of our great memories and crazy moments on stage and off."

"We couldn't be happier with our partnership with Frogg Cafe," says 10T Records president Steve Carroll.  "They were one of the bands that we launched our label with and it's very satisfying to be able to bring this fantastic double live CD to the ears of all of their eager fans around the world!" 

"The Safenzee Diaries" is available for immediate pre-order through the 10T Records website.  All orders received between now and the official release date will ship on or before the end of the week prior to the official release.  Additionally, all tracks from "The Safenzee Diaries" are available to listen to in their entirety through the 10T Records website:

http://www.10trecords.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=24

After April 10, "The Safenzee Diaries" will be available at your favorite retail outlet for immediate purchase.

2008 01 05

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year, we have some exciting news! 

Frogg Cafe will begin recording a new studio CD with the original members of the band!

The line-up will be:

Steve Uh, guitarist on Fortunate Observer of Time and The Safenzee Diaries, will be stepping down from the band due to creative differences.  We consider Steve a dear friend and wish him success with his new project called Sidecar Agogo: http://www.myspace.com/sidecaragogo  Check it out, it's really good! He plays guitar and fiddle on this project and his band just performed for a packed house in Boston a couple of weeks ago.

Also, we will have many special guests including Jim "Skitty" Mullen on Sax and John Lieto on Trombone.  We're planning on having some other people drop by too...more on that later.  With Frankie back in the band you can expect some crazy stuff to happen.  If you want to see what he's been up to since Creatures (besides changing poop diapers) check out: http://www.myspace.com/cardboardamanda

The new CD will be released at the end of '08 through our good friends at 10trecords http://www.10trecords.com/ where you can also find all 5 of our CD releases for sale. 

More to come soon as things shape up. See you around!

Best,
Frogg Cafe
http://www.froggcafe.com

about the 2002 04 12 show & recording:

This is an interesting document of relatively early Frogg. Recorded at the infamous and now defunct and unmourned Downtime club just south of Madison Square Garden in midtown Manhattan, scene of many memorable Frogg shows over the last couple of years. I believe, if shaky memory serves, that this was actually my first Frogg Café show, where I first met Frankie and the guys in the flesh. ( I had known Frankie from FlowerKingsMail for some time.)

In the Spring of '02 Frogg Café is still feeling their way through new material that would ultimately be included on the Creatures album. I believe this was actually the first onstage performance of Waterfall Carnival, if I'm not mistaken.

 

 

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soundtracks various artists