MEMBERS OF ZAPPOSTROPHE'
"Live Music is Best" - FZ
BLAIR FISHER
Trumpet, vocals, flute
Blair has been involved with Frank Zappa’s music since his formative musical years. A dog-eared version of the Frank Zappa Songbook from 1973 remains a cherished resource. In many ways, Zappostrophe’ represents a culmination of his experience – the wide range of musical styles, intricate and complex arrangements, combined with zany humour make Zappostrohe’ a challenging and fun project.
Blair has a wide range of musical experience, as a performer, educator, and technologist. He holds a B.Mus. (Victoria) and M.Mus. (Miami) both in trumpet performance.
Professional performances include solo performances and work with orchestras, jazz and rock groups throughout Canada, the US and Europe. Although he was trained as a trumpet player, he also performs professionally on vocals, keyboards and flute.
An ‘early adopter’ of music technology, Blair has been involved in recording and creating computer-based music for many years. As an educator, he has directed award-winning jazz and concert bands and developed and Coordinated the Douglas College Music Technology Diploma.
LJ MOUNTENEY
Vocals
LJ Mounteney is an in-demand West Coast singer, performer and songwriter known for her soulful twists on inspired classic tunes. Her first self produced album, Here In The Dark, has received ongoing local radio play and she is currently completing her next album (2022) - a 14 song blues and roots inspired project of original and cover music produced by legendary blues bassist, Jack Lavin. Drawing deep from the well of blues, soul, funk, R&B, gospel and jazz LJ weaves on-stage magic telling her own truths through the power of song.
BLAIR LEWIS
Guitar, synth, vocals
Blair Lewis has been playing the guitar for a really long time, and is mostly self-taught. He took playing the classical guitar pretty seriously for a couple of decades (though he still sucks at sightreading) and managed to study with Ralph Towner (of the band Oregon) in the nineties; this led to his forming and leading the group Out of the Woods, to play some of Ralph's beautifully lyrical and harmonically gnarly tunes.
His major rhythmic influence is the sound of several hundred antique clocks his father used to restore and dutifully kept wound, ticking and bonging in polyrhythmic precision. He really enjoys some fairly weird music, and being able to dip into what Nick calls the “deep well” of Zappa like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. (Where else do you get to comp in 11/16 and play the rubber chicken?)
Playing in Zappostrophe led him to explore the possibilities of guitar synthesizer, which he says “opened up a whole new world of weird and wonderful noises. And it turns out the trombone patch on it is pretty good, so I get to pretend I’m Bruce Fowler.”
In Blair's non-music time he likes to walk uphill, find out new things, and read these things called 'books'.
GUENTER SCHULZ
Guitarist
Guenter Schulz is an accomplished guitarist mastering a variety of styles. Equally at home in Jazz, Electronica, Country, Rock and Pop. His love for handmade live music clearly shows in every performance.
Educated at the Blankeneser Konservatorium and the Universitaet Hamburg (both in Germany), Guenter Schulz's study of classical guitar and influence of Carl Orff and Stravinsky is apparent upon hearing his musical finesse. This training lends a cultured edge to his playing, and combined with the more contemporary influences of John McLaughlin, Goldie and Einstürzende Neubauten, unquestionably contributed to the success of KMFDM, the industrial rock group with which he was main guitarist, co-producer and songwriter in the 90s. With KMFDM, he recorded 9 full length CDs and recorded soundtrack work for Mortal Kombat, Johnny Mnemonic and Bad Boys, all the while touring extensively throughout the USA and Europe.
In addition to this work, Schulz has remixed music for Rammstein, Skinny Puppy, Dink, Front 242, Pig, Die Krupps, as well as produced remakes of songs by Smashing Pumpkins, Led Zeppelin, NIN, AC/DC, and Van Halen. He participated in location sound recording and soundtrack composition for the documentary "So Good, So Far", shot on location in Ghana, Africa, and has had his photographs published in entertainment magazines, including Spin Magazine, Max and various others.
In all, Schulz is credited on over 20 albums. Furthermore, over the last few years, he has produced 3 albums and toured with his band Slick Idiot, participated in the North American tour of "supergroup" Pigface, created various remixes for international bands, and has produced and recorded for a multitude of other bands. Furthermore Schulz was invited three times to tour Japan with his group.
MIKE SIMPSON
Keyboards, vocals
Mike started composing early in his childhood, discovered 20th Century music in his teens, and studied jazz improvisation with Georg Essihos in his formative years.
He did some time at Berklee College of Music, after winning a competition in Keyboard Magazine.
Upon return, he quietly amassed a group of recordings that honed his producing and engineering skills.
Fast forward 10 years, Simpson joined Nick Apivor for 6 years in an
adventure in Latin music with Rumba Calzada. As well as touring and recording with Rumba Calzada, he also recorded with Oscar Lopez, Neuvo Flamenco virtuoso.
Some jazz time followed, playing with the community of Veji and Hard Rubber Orchestra musicians.
One day, Mike was asked to join Zappostrophe, and the rest is history.
BRENT GUBBELS
Bass
Brent Gubbels has been a Vancouver based professional musician and teacher for nearly twenty years. In that time he’s worked with a number of local musicians and ensembles including the Hard Rubber Orchestra, Gypsalero, Rumba Calzada, John Reischman, the Vince Mai Project, Jesse Zubot, Dal Richards, Lee Aaron and Dee Daniels.
Since 1992, he has toured North America and Europe extensively and played a variety of international jazz and folk festivals. Brent can be heard on recordings by Oscar Lopez, Gypsalero, Juno nominees Susan Crowe and Compadres, Juno winner James Keelaghan, and others.
ROBERT CALDWELL
Drummer
Bob Caldwell is currently a free-lance musician in Vancouver with several projects on the go; Zappostrophe’, Digital Guise and prog-rock tribute group Earthbound are just three of the many groups he is involved with.
Since the 70's Bob has performed with Earthbound, Pegasus, B-sides, Club Mango, Current Figures, ‘new music’ groups and the Victoria and Vancouver Symphonies. Co-founding the high-tech band Current Figures, Digital Guise and Percussionworks, an ethnic/world music percussion group, these bands have toured around BC and Canada performing at festivals, concert halls and schools.
Bob currently teaches percussion and Fusion Band at Douglas College.
“I love the challenge of playing Frank’s music. From a drummer’s perspective, performing odd time signatures, crazy arrangements and playing the parts of some of the world’s best drummers, who could ask for more!”
NICK APIVOR
Mallets, percussion, vocals
I have been playing all manner of percussion for over 40+
years. As a professional musician I have played and enjoyed
classical music, rock, jazz, theatrical, and many other styles.
Probably one of the reasons I love playing the music of Frank
Zappa. So many styles of music are in his compositions, and
so many skills are required: reading, improvising, knowledge of
widely varying genres, etc. and humour! Because humour
DOES belong in music!
I received my BMus degree from UVic in 1986. I generally
travel once a year to study and get inspired; whether that is trips
to NY to hear the world's best jazz musicians, or studying with
Brazilian masters at Cazadero Brazil camp. But honestly, every
day playing Frank's music is a learning experience. Music is
Best!