the don preston trio

transformation
    - incl. 'eric dolphy memorial barbecue' (frank zappa)

don preston: piano, voice
joel hamilton: bass
alex cline: drums, percussion

1. the eric dolphy memorial barbecue (frank zappa)

2. walking batteriewoman   (carla bley)

3. inner blues (not a blues)  (don preston)

4. i love you  (cole porter)

5. the lind sonata  (don preston)

6. ode to the flower maiden  (john carter)

7. the donkey  (carla bley)

8. transformation  (john carter)

9. the prehistoric eons  (don preston)

random notes

     from: "bryan stone" (stone.bryan@gte.net)
i thought you might be interested in a new release by don preston, zappa's pianist. "transformation" by the don preston trio features the ex zappa pianist preston, playing inventive treatments of music by frank zappa, carla bley, john carter, cole porter, and don himself. transformation presents a survey preston's multifarious career: his stint as keyboardist with frank zappa's mothers of invention, his association with pianist-composer carla bley, his synthesizer work for the late distinguished composer-clarinetist john carter as well as his own reputation as a writer of powerful though twisted music. it also features bassist joel hamilton and drummer alex cline. listen at http://www.cryptogramophone.com/

     from: john corbett, down beat [april 2001]
"preston's roots are deep in jazz. transformation shows what he can do twisting  a standard around and delving a bit into his own compositional bag as well.
preston explores two carla bley compositions, the classic "walking batteriewoman"  and more obscure "the donkey." he leaps out of the first track's purposefully clunky theme into sprightly freeplay and group interplay; on "donkey" he engages  in full-on swing. " pieces like "inner blues," the two john carter compositions ("ode to the flower maiden" and "transformation"), and the frank zappa piece that kicks off the record all have quite clear centers of melodic gravity. preston resides on the edge of tonality, toying with it."